📝 What is Frequent Fliers about?:
Lanie Turner, with her nearly completed PhD and job she enjoys, has a lifelong crush on her best friend, who is now engaged to her cousin. During wedding preparations in London, she meets Dr. Ridley Aronsen, a widower and single father, and sparks fly. As their relationship deepens, Lanie grapples with her feelings for Ridley and the challenges of maintaining a long-distance romance.
📚 Genre: romance
🎧 Format: ARC E-Book
💞 Feels: ⭐⭐⭐.5
The book started out a bit rough for me. I was glad to see that it was going to give me dual perspectives, so that I could get to know both characters. Lanie’s view of Ridley was not complimentary, and in turn I found myself not really liking either one of them.
Once I got past that initial hiccup, they both grew on me and I started having fun and worrying if they would make it work. Somehow a lot happened, but didn’t at the same time, if that makes sense. Most of the story is contained within 5 months time and revolves around planning a wedding. New and old relationships are being tested, and through it all the main characters are evolving. They’re either creating boundaries or opening up, to meet each other in the middle. I like how they made each other better in the end.
Ridley’s daughter is my MVP for this book. She’s coming in second after the daughter from Seven Days in June. Acting age appropriate and making good points for their parents to heed. I thought she might be an issue for the couple, but she wasn’t THE problem. Lanie and Ridley both had hurdles to sort out, I liked that I couldn’t predict all of the issues.
Getting technical
At the beginning of the book there was a lot of telling me, rather than showing me through actions. Lanie perceives Ridley to be attractive through the lengthy amount of time they’re around each other. But we are told through her reflection on the matter, hours pass, and wham she’s caught feelings. We haven’t been privy to what he did or said to make her feel this way, but insta feelings are insta feelings.
Lanie’s first chapters weren’t selling Ridley very well. Being told repeatedly that they’re vibing instead of showing me through more dialogue was not fun. Having hours pass where they’re enemies to suddenly flirting and showing none of how they got there wasn’t appealing. Was definitely happy when the perspective changed to find out more about Ridley. Changing POVs helped me like him more, ‘cause he definitely did not make a good impression through Lanie’s eyes, no matter how much she says she likes him.
The text got better about showing actions and dialogue further along in the book, once the first POV switch happened. We get to know the characters a little better and see how their masks and neuroses influence their chapter perspectives. Lanie is the anxious optimist to Ridley’s careful realist.
While I thought the issue of telling rather than showing had been put to bed early on in the book, it did come back at the end of the book. I’m not sure how successful the passage of time for the ending was without a little more detail. It’s very much a “she believed she could, so she did” ending; with an epilogue added in to provide some tidbits for your imagination.
You’ll like this book, if…
You’ll like this book, if you enjoy romances with real life challenges, a very light sprinkling of rom-com vibes and Black main character energy.
✅ Spinoff novella nomination:
I want to see Gavin redeem himself or find out more about Lanie’s cousin, Les.
What are you reading? Let me know in the comments.