Can’t Wait for London, Can You Wait?

Have you ever found a book where you can relate to the characters SO much? Last year, I discovered London Belongs to Me and I instantly fell in love with the story and the characters. Alex, the book’s protagonist, is a geek girl chasing her dreams while struggling with anxiety. Alex is basically the younger version of myself. I’ve been excitedly waiting to get my hands on the sequel, London, Can You Wait? and I was thrilled to receive an ARC copy last month.

Alex loves Mark. Mark loves Alex. But is love enough?

Since moving to London from the US, twenty-four-year-old Alex Sinclair seems to have it all: a coveted job writing for the theatre, supportive friends, and the man of her dreams gorgeous Irish actor, Mark Keegan. But in the year since the acclaimed debut of her play, Alex and Mark’s lives have been turned upside down.

 

Thanks to his role on a smash-hit British TV show, Mark is catapulted to stardom. Alex couldn’t be happier until her boyfriend’s popularity and insatiable drive to succeed means they’re apart more than they’re together. Forced to share Mark with showbiz heavy-hitters, intrusive press, and unrelenting fangirls, Alex’s hopes for a stable and committed life with him start to fade. Her struggles with panic attacks, career uncertainty, and Mark’s increasingly worrisome behaviour make her wonder: how much more can she bend before she breaks?

 

A passionate tale of secrets, loss, and ambition, London, Can You Wait? is the eagerly-awaited sequel to Middleton’s debut novel, London Belongs to Me.

 

Everything about London, Can You Wait? was so much fun. It took me a few chapters in to remember all of the nuances about the characters (and I wish I had done a re-read of London Belongs to Me first), but once everything came back to me, it was like picking up right where we left off. I really liked getting to know more of the backstory on many of the characters and really getting to learn about what makes them who they are today. In the first book, we learn a lot about Alex, but in London, Can You Wait? not only do we get more Alex, but more of everyone else as well (with my favorite backstories coming from Lucy, Freddie, and Mark).

Although some parts were hard for me to read, because I love it when everything is happy and going well, I enjoyed watching Alex and Mark’s relationship progress through good and bad. It was also difficult for me to read/watch Alex experience her panic attacks. As someone who suffers from depression and anxiety, reading along was so very real to me, and author Jacquelyn Middleton was spot on in her writing of this. I was so beyond proud of Alex when she took her first steps to getting help and made her even more inspiring to me.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading London, Can You Wait? and I am beyond ready for the next book!

London, Can You Wait? releases on October 26, but you can a copy pre-order now.