Lovestruck

About the Author Laura Jane Williams (she/her) is known as the queen of the meet-cute. She is the author of six novels and a novella. The rights to Laura’s international bestseller Our Stop have been sold for television, and her books have been translated into languages all over the world. She loves romance, being a parent, and lifting really heavy weights. Find out more about Laura on www.laurajaneauthor.com, or on Instagram as @laurajaneauthor. Also by Laura Jane Williams Our Stop The Love Square The Lucky Escape One Night With You The Wrong Suitcase Just for December Laura Jane Williams LOVESTRUCK Contents Cover About the Author Also by Laura Jane Williams Title Page Dedication Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Publishing Credits Read More Copyright Cover Frontmatter Table of Contents Begin Reading i ii iii v 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 This one is for the four women who got on a train, said endless encouraging things, paid for lunch and had me get back on the book-writing horse. Thank you. Like, seriously. 1 ‘All I’m saying is, we’re all going to die. Eventually, I mean. It’s the only certainty. Things before then can be crappy or good – and I’m only interested in manifesting a good time. A lovely time, in fact. Do you know what I mean?’ As she speaks, Becca Calloway can feel scepticism oozing from her best friend Jia Li’s pores. Jia Li isn’t about to surrender to what she calls ‘the woo-woo’ – she’s distinctly science over faith, the founding member of life’s got-to-see-it-to-believe-it society … but unfortunately for her, this is about to be Woo-Woo City. ‘Don’t look at me like that,’ Becca insists with a self-deprecating chuckle. ‘I know what you’re thinking when you look at me like that.’ ‘That no single person can bend the universe to their will with their thoughts?’ Jia Li asks, a similar smile playing across her lipstick-covered mouth. ‘That if good vibes were all that was necessary in life, we’d have no poverty? No cancer or car crashes or paediatric wards in hospitals? That we could simply meditate our way out of a bad situation? Or that you look too cute in that dress and I’m going to have to steal it from you at some point?’ Becca kicks up her left heel in a showgirl-style acknowledgement of the compliment and tells her, ‘Free People. In the sale. And don’t change the subject. All I mean is that, exactly like you say, so much is out of our control. At the end of the day, all we can do is have an attitude of gratitude for what is good. And it’s surely basic physics that what we focus on expands. Think car parking space and you’ll get a car parking space. Think Oh crap, I’m going to have a terrible day and sure enough, bad things will happen to you. That’s manifestation.’ ‘Becca,’ Jia Li says, taking a big gulp of her Prosecco.