By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

Rom-coms generally offer two basic plot variations: two people who immediately fall in love, but are kept apart because of circumstance, or two people who hate each other at first sight, but later find themselves passionately in love. To readers of the genre, this might sound simplistic because there are seemingly endless variations on these themes. (Just check out the number of bookcases that are filled with rom-coms in any bookstore.) But the fact that these stories always have a happily-ever-after ending is what appeals to the genre’s biggest fans and what makes these works a pleasant change of pace for readers of serious fiction. Examples of these plot variations can be found in two recent novels: “Never Planned on You” by Lindsay Hameroff (St. Martin’s Griffin) and “Unlikely Story” by Ali Rosen (Montlake).
“Never Planned on You” opens with what is known in the genre as a cute meet during its prologue, which takes place years before the main action. Ali Rubin has less than a day left as an college exchange student in Britain. Taking on a drunken bet with Graham, someone she doesn’t know well, the two end up with very embarrassing matching tattoos and a night of passion. Ali never expects to see Graham again. Eight years later, she is back home in Baltimore, living with her parents as she attempts a new career as an event planner. Ali is hoping that this career path is more of a success than her former career as a chef in New York City. 
To her surprise, British Graham turns up in Baltimore and that unexpected meeting is so charged Ali wonders if she has finally met her true mate. To make life seem even more on track, she is asked to help plan what is sure to be the most high-profile event of the year: a wedding between the grandson of the owner of a Baltimore landmark hotel and a Canadian comedian. Unfortunately, Graham turns out to be the groom. That is just the beginning of a great many roadblocks to true love. What’s amazing is that Rosen manages to create complex, difficult situations and find amusing and interesting ways to work around them. In addition to Ali and Graham, there are interesting secondary characters, particularly Ali’s sister and grandmother. The work does contain a great deal of explicit sexual content, so those who prefer more chaste romances should be wary.
“Never Planned on You” is not the only one of these novels to feature a British love interest. In “Unlikely Story,” Nora’s horrible new neighbor, Eli, is also British. Eli has just moved to the condo beneath hers, which used to belong to his grandmother, and is creating noise that greatly upsets Nora’s rescue dog. One reason for their instant dislike is that Eli holds Nora, who is a relationship therapist, responsible for the fact that his girlfriend, a former clients of hers, broke up with him. Unfortunately, he seems to be charming all the older members of the building, which creates even more problems for Nora since she wants to limit the changes he’s making to the condo’s roof, which is directly above her apartment.
But, at least, Nora has something good to look forward to: she has been invited to London for a party to meet a new member of the website that publishes the weekly relationship column she writes. The column, which gives relationship advice anonymously, has paired her with an editor she only knows as J. Nora is eager to attend because her texts to J have moved beyond editing to thoughts about how they approach life. Nora finds herself looking forward to these texts and has finally admitted to herself something she finds a bit embarrassing: she’s fallen in love with someone she’s never met.
Rom-com readers will immediately fill in the blanks about Nora’s love interest, but this review won’t reveal his name in case those new to the genre haven’t already figured out the plot. “Unlikely Story” offers more character development than some rom-coms due to its discussions about life, love and grammar. Of particular interest is the idea that people show different sides of themselves in different situations and with different people.
One note for Jewish readers: while Ali and Nora are Jewish and belong to families that celebrate Shabbat (even if only as a secular dinner with family), neither of their love interests is Jewish, something that is never addressed. Fortunately for readers, that doesn’t affect the happily-ever-after endings.