The Situationship

LoveReading Says

‘Situationship’ is one of those words which appeared and suddenly felt like it was so relatable to so many people that it was impossible to imagine how we’d all been going around without it. With this debut novel, Taylor-Dior Rumble has written the defining rom-com of this depressingly familiar situation: more than friends, less than official, never having the ‘what are we’ chat until… he arrives out of nowhere with a different girlfriend. 

Rumble’s writing feels effortlessly dynamic, carried forward by a lovely energy that it feels like you’re reading about real people. It’s so rare to read dialogue which feels like it really genuinely captures day-to-day joshing with friends, so it’s such a treat to read here. The back-and-forth jokes with her friends are laugh-out-loud and I particularly enjoyed moments like her best friend, sarcastic Luca and romantic Hannah, trying to persuade Tia onto dating apps. 

The love interest for most of the novel is the suave Nate, and crickey! Rumble writes his dapper, hipster sweet talk so brilliantly, I think all readers will completely fall for him too. I adored their flirty but genuine conversations getting to know each other, and their lovely meet-cutes and very hot kisses… 

As characters of colour are still obviously sorely underrepresented as the leads in rom-com novels and as authors of colour continue to be under-valued it's exciting to see the brilliant marketing and promotion of The Situationship by the brilliant publishing imprint Merky Books. I received my early copy about a year ago (!) when there was already a buzz around it, and the ticketed launch party has already sold out, but I’m sure we’ll all have more opportunities to hear more from author Taylor-Dior Rumble when it publishes on the 17th August. Kudos to the author and publishing team! 

Lily Lindon

Find This Book In