Taken at face value, one might take this to be a romance novel.

It's not. This book is about friendship, love, loss, and grief. And when I set aside my preconceived notions, I think it's an excellent book on those themes. Lest I risk spoiling the book, I won't say much more. However this is a well-written book, though I could have done without some of the restaurant namedropping, and certainly memorable.