Okay, so I got really mad at this book because I felt duped by the cover, especially since I had the same thing happen to me with the Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly. Looks like a lovely little romp doesn't it?

Well, this unsuspecting reader wasn't aware and wasn't thinking too hard about what the big *secret* alluded to on the cover might be, and when I found out I was pretty crushed.

Stop now if you don't want spoilers!!






Still with me? The secret is that Ella's love interest Jamie, who was only supposed to be a fling, has incurable blood CANCER. He's been avoiding her because he's getting CHEMO. We find this out about halfway through the story and I was super devastated. My father recently died from incurable brain cancer, so I don't think I would have picked this one up if I had known that going in.

That said, if you are okay with a lot of sadness, this tale was lovingly written and highly engaging. Besides the cancer, Ella's story is a BIT twee and unbelievable, but who gives a shit, I'd do the same for sexy Jamie.

From my Bookstagram:

My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan surprised me. The lovely, cheerful cover hides a surprisingly heart-wrenching and wistful tale. A graduate student finally takes her much planned Rhodes year at Oxford but finds her plans tossed in the wind after meeting and falling for a professor who has a big secret.