The Love Square is a feisty, fun romance perfect for a summer day! Following Penny Bridge who meets three men in a row who she is interested in we see her having to decide who is 'the one.'
I have A LOT to say about this book so let's start with the quickfire points. There is amazing LGBTQ representation in Williams' novel! It is refreshingly sex-positive and does not shy away from a 'bad sex scene' and finally, there is a cancer storyline that doesn't make cancer the whole personality of the character, but rather something they went through and survived (whilst we are here- check your boobs!)
What stood out to me the most in The Love Square were the characters. At its heart we have Penny- a loveable, funny, emotional and kind individual. Yes, she is flawed but aren't we all? Williams creates a feminist woman who has her fair share of men interested but isn't defined by this. She explores how Penny feels about men, independence and feminism and shows us all that we can be multi-faceted creatures who not only can strike out on our own but can also have fulfilling and meaningful relationships. The Love Square revels in its rom-com genre with the hilarious self-awareness that it wouldn't pass the Bechdel test, yet it still paints Penny as a figure of independence.
The only drawbacks for me were the predictability and one of the male characters. SPOILER ALERT coming up. In terms of predictability it kind of comes with the genre- its a rom-com, people will fall in love, so I can't really say much more here. However, a gripe I did have was with Francesco. One of Penny's suitors there is a scene where he declares his love for her and asks her to say the same. When she can't he gets upset and leaves. Contextually I understood this and when you've read the book you will too. He has a right to be upset, and to some extent, he is showing self-respect. I just couldn't help feeling he was being a tad controlling. For those of you who've read The Great Gatsby, there were echoes of the infamous scene where Gatsby asks Daisy to say she never loved Tom. Although the Francesco/ Penny dynamic is solved- he apologises, she realises he is controlling and also apologises for her role in how she made him feel, I couldn't help feeling quite uncomfortable.
All in all, though, I highly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to all romance and comedy lovers!