Brief

Career woman and social media addict, Mel wants to settle down and find a man. Online dating isn't
working - after a long line of losers, she decides a social media detox is in order. By going back to
old-fashioned ways of communicating, she reconnects with herself and finds her way to love.

What We Liked

This is an entertaining story about unplugging and finding love the old-school way. It's Bridget Jones
for today's times, and has the makings of a modern rom-com. The issues the lead grapples with as a
single woman in today's times could make for a comedic film or episodes of a television series. Her
two best friends have their issues as well, one of whom is newly out as a lesbian, and so they would
round out the subjects and scenarios that get played out with during the film or each episode. The
drama of having two potential love interests and how she decides which one to follow gives the
audience something to invest in right until the end.
Key points: It's a story for our times; the lead character is endearing; it's set in Manchester, and not
London, which would be typical; it's an entertaining story; there is a satisfying payoff.

Synopsis

Melissa, a single writer living in Manchester, is on the cusp of her 35th birthday. When she wakes up
from another drunken, Tinder-induced one-night-stand, she decides enough is enough. She’s become
fed up with how much social media and technology have fueled her anxieties and wishes the world
would be a little less connected to our phones. She decides to write about it for the column she has at
the local magazine. It goes viral, becoming a hot talking point. Melissa’s editor, Dee, gives her a
follow-up assignment to go without technology for a month and write about it.
Melissa embraces the challenge and goes to visit her sister, instead of Skyping her, as she usually
would. While babysitting her sister’s kids, she finds out her mother and her mother’s neighbor had
wanted to set up her up with the neighbor’s newly divorced son, but they’d written a list of reasons
why the match wouldn’t actually work. Melissa is strangely intrigued by this person she is supposedly
a terrible match for. Meanwhile, with no way of reaching her friends and family, through her usual
means of texting and calling, Melissa starts to find new ways to communicate. When she goes to her
local coffee shop, without her iPad or iPhone, she notices a handsome man and they end up talking.
His name is Joseph and he invites her out on a date. Melissa is attracted to him and they stop short
of having sex. But she finds out Dee had organized the date, as a way to spice up the article.
As a means of apologizing, Dee sends Melissa to her house in Scotland for a week of relaxation.
Coincidentally, this is where Scott, the aforementioned neighbor’s son, is skiing with some friends on
holiday. Joseph, too, shows up, to try apologize for what Dee did. Joseph and Scott get into a bit of a
fight, and Melissa tries to fix things with Scott, who she realizes she has feelings for. When she goes
to his place to apologize, she sees a picture of his ex-wife, Emma, and it looks oddly familiar - it’s
actually the same girl her best friend Gemma is dating. She goes to tell Scott that his wife likes
women and is dating her friend, and he reacts by leaving her in haste. Melissa gets her phone back
and reflects on all she’s learned and experienced without it. Scott comes to see her at work to tell her
he and Emma talked it out they’re both okay with the situation. He wants to take Melissa out that
night, but not before giving her an epic kiss. In the rain, of course. At the story’s epilogue, Melissa and
Scott move to Scotland, where they are living as a happily married couple, whose friends and family
are coming to celebrate the forthcoming arrival of their baby.

About The Author

Victoria Cooke grew up in the city of Manchester but now lives in Huddersfield with her husband and two young daughters. The Secret to Falling in Love is her first novel, and she has written two more since, including Who Needs Men Anyway?, which became a digital bestseller in 2018.