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Serendipity
A warm, funny story of one woman's brave quest to avoid love. Best friends Hero and Sunday are holidaying in New York when Sunday persuades the normally conservative Hero to don a siren red wig and the persona of Lola, a do anything, anytime trapeze artist.
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First published January 1, 2007
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209 people want to read
About the author
Melanie La'Brooy
12 books73 followersMelanie La’Brooy is the author of five novels: Love Struck, The Wish List, Serendipity, The Babymoon and Bittersweet. For several years, Melanie worked for the art auction house Christie’s, in both Sydney and Melbourne, where she trained as a specialist in Australian paintings. Following the success of her debut novel she gave up her career in the art world to become a full-time writer. Melanie is very happily married and has two young sons. She usually lives in Melbourne but is currently residing in South Africa, where she is hoping to fulfill a long-term dream by finally having a genuine reason to wear a safari suit and pith helmet.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 152 reviews
March 7, 2016
If your type of guy is the one that stalks you, sends you unwanted gifts, and won't take no for an answer then go ahead and read it!
Extra bonus is racist use of different culture for comedic use.
Really a shame because Melanie is a good writer, but obviously likes unwanted advances are a must have in men.
As a woman it scares me that she would promote this as all right and no I won't be donating the book. It goes straight in the bin so no one else can be brainwashed into thinking that behavior is normal or right.
Extra bonus is racist use of different culture for comedic use.
Really a shame because Melanie is a good writer, but obviously likes unwanted advances are a must have in men.
As a woman it scares me that she would promote this as all right and no I won't be donating the book. It goes straight in the bin so no one else can be brainwashed into thinking that behavior is normal or right.
September 16, 2022
I had a hard time with the underlying theme here. When a woman says, “no,” it means no. The idea that a man thinks he knows what’s best for her despite her protestations kinda pisses me off.
I do, however, understand that there would be no story without the two main characters taking these positions, so I was willing to give it far more leeway as a work of fiction. It is meant to be fake after all. I also found the personalities and general quirkiness of the female characters, Hero and Sunday, helped balance out that “men know best” sentiment. The women were all intelligent, hard working, self sufficient, and also mostly immune to the wooing.
On a side note, George W. Bush makes an appearance in this book, which is sorta hilarious. I am an American and I remember how hated he was during his presidency. Now he seems like a tame house cat compared to the feral beasts that ravage American politics these days.
I do, however, understand that there would be no story without the two main characters taking these positions, so I was willing to give it far more leeway as a work of fiction. It is meant to be fake after all. I also found the personalities and general quirkiness of the female characters, Hero and Sunday, helped balance out that “men know best” sentiment. The women were all intelligent, hard working, self sufficient, and also mostly immune to the wooing.
On a side note, George W. Bush makes an appearance in this book, which is sorta hilarious. I am an American and I remember how hated he was during his presidency. Now he seems like a tame house cat compared to the feral beasts that ravage American politics these days.
December 13, 2021
I could swear that this is YA because these characters are so immature
DNF @ who knows
DNF @ who knows
January 28, 2022
If you want a hate-read of toxic-dating culture if not, straight up assault-culture apologism, you'll enjoy this book. All the lead character's toxic damaging behavior will be swept away with a pithy trauma excuse, gaslighting, blackmail and if you don't like it - you just don't believe in romance and living in the moment!
August 28, 2022
I am so sick and tired of the “you're with the wrong guy so I’m going to show you how wrong you are for each other in hopes you’ll finally fall in love with me” trope. Don't get me wrong, it absolutely can be done, it’s just rare. And this book does it all wrong.
This story follows Hero, who had a fling with a stranger in New York under the guise of Lola, a fun-loving, easy-going redhead. Two years later, the stranger, Oscar, sees Hero and is determined to get back together with his “love” no matter the obstacles—no matter that she is in a committed, long-term relationship.
And that’s where I draw the line. There is no romance in denying consent or the express wishes of the person you supposedly care for. Entering a friendship for the sole purpose of starting a romantic relationship with that person is not romantic, and it’s a blatant crossing of boundaries when that person told you no to romance beforehand.
Throughout the majority of this story, Oscar is told time and again to stop pursuing a relationship with Hero, and time and again Oscar continues to ignore her wishes and her threats, charging on with no regard for Hero or her emotions. This is not romantic.
The author overlooks and excuses this disregard for Hero by writing her current boyfriend as someone pathologically mismatched for her, someone who does not share her same values, and someone who does not make her laugh. On its own, it’s refreshing to see people who don’t work romantically be written. I think it’s important to explore relationships that don’t work in books and stories so that people in the world beyond the pages can better tell when their relationships do work. And I think Hero and her boyfriend’s dynamic is written well to be all wrong. But Oscar’s determination to plow his way in between them so that Hero can see how wrong they are for each other is not right, and should not have been romanticised as it was in this book.
Hero is written as if her completely normal requests for him to stop are delusional or blown out of proportion, and Oscar is written as apologetic because . I understand he didn’t want to let her go without trying, but he did try, and it didn’t work. He should have left after her first no, and her second no, and every other no after that, but he pushed through in the same way stalkers and killers do in true crime and thrillers.
Consent is the most important thing in any relationship. I hate seeing any examples of purposeful disregarding of consent and boundaries, in books and beyond them. It is, in my opinion, the single worst thing to include in romance stories, let alone romanticised. It leads to men who can’t take no for an answer, who stalk women under the pretense of “love,” who take advantage of women who have said no or are unable to consent, the whole time thinking they’re being romantic. I simply could not get through this book without hating the way the story was going at every turn.
Lastly, and not as important, despite the fact that this book was published in 2021, the term “transvestite” is used.
This story follows Hero, who had a fling with a stranger in New York under the guise of Lola, a fun-loving, easy-going redhead. Two years later, the stranger, Oscar, sees Hero and is determined to get back together with his “love” no matter the obstacles—no matter that she is in a committed, long-term relationship.
And that’s where I draw the line. There is no romance in denying consent or the express wishes of the person you supposedly care for. Entering a friendship for the sole purpose of starting a romantic relationship with that person is not romantic, and it’s a blatant crossing of boundaries when that person told you no to romance beforehand.
Throughout the majority of this story, Oscar is told time and again to stop pursuing a relationship with Hero, and time and again Oscar continues to ignore her wishes and her threats, charging on with no regard for Hero or her emotions. This is not romantic.
The author overlooks and excuses this disregard for Hero by writing her current boyfriend as someone pathologically mismatched for her, someone who does not share her same values, and someone who does not make her laugh. On its own, it’s refreshing to see people who don’t work romantically be written. I think it’s important to explore relationships that don’t work in books and stories so that people in the world beyond the pages can better tell when their relationships do work. And I think Hero and her boyfriend’s dynamic is written well to be all wrong. But Oscar’s determination to plow his way in between them so that Hero can see how wrong they are for each other is not right, and should not have been romanticised as it was in this book.
Hero is written as if her completely normal requests for him to stop are delusional or blown out of proportion, and Oscar is written as apologetic because . I understand he didn’t want to let her go without trying, but he did try, and it didn’t work. He should have left after her first no, and her second no, and every other no after that, but he pushed through in the same way stalkers and killers do in true crime and thrillers.
Consent is the most important thing in any relationship. I hate seeing any examples of purposeful disregarding of consent and boundaries, in books and beyond them. It is, in my opinion, the single worst thing to include in romance stories, let alone romanticised. It leads to men who can’t take no for an answer, who stalk women under the pretense of “love,” who take advantage of women who have said no or are unable to consent, the whole time thinking they’re being romantic. I simply could not get through this book without hating the way the story was going at every turn.
Lastly, and not as important, despite the fact that this book was published in 2021, the term “transvestite” is used.
January 12, 2022
Maybe it was the narrator of the audible book, but I found this book to be an enjoyable and laugh out loud book. Yes, some of the characters did get on my nerves and I thought they could have used some attitude adjustments and A smack up against the head! But, you know, everyone can be a little bit odd, and I found them to be quite entertaining.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 21, 2021
Dnfed at 64%, I just couldn't keep torturing myself.
January 4, 2022
I could not finish this book. Oscar believes Hero to be in love with him despite Hero dating another man and, later, getting engaged to him. Oscar proceeds to enact one cockamamie scheme after another to “make” Hero see that she’s in love with him despite her adamant denial, pleas to cease and desist and threat of a restraining order. They become “just friends” after she suggests getting law enforcement involved, but Oscar keeps moving his schemes forward. At first the story seemed a little charming and I was curious, but as the book continued, it got creepy and just not okay anymore. All unfinished books get 1 star.
April 24, 2022
Book that is transphobic & promotes stalking and harassment
This book used a transphobic slur numerous times. Then had the character referred to by the slur say to a woman in her 20’s that asked what her sex sign was “can you bend over and lift your skirt…” “it’s a bit like palm reading but I need to examine your…” (This is found in chapter 20.)
This book tires to put a positive spin on a man stalking, harassing, not taking no as an answer, and gaslighting a women.
This book used a transphobic slur numerous times. Then had the character referred to by the slur say to a woman in her 20’s that asked what her sex sign was “can you bend over and lift your skirt…” “it’s a bit like palm reading but I need to examine your…” (This is found in chapter 20.)
This book tires to put a positive spin on a man stalking, harassing, not taking no as an answer, and gaslighting a women.
January 27, 2022
Thoughtless. Stalking and refusal to take no for an answer is not romantic or cute or funny.
February 2, 2022
On one hand it is a sweet- if unusual- romance story. On the other, had it had a few differences, it could have ended up as a crime story (Oscar certainly overstepped quite a lot and made Hero fume), but I can also understand his reluctance to let the girl get away. There is some suspension of reality that goes into this story, but the characters were all so wonderful. Well, most of them. I did quite a lot of laughing and Sunday and Hero's friendship is a lot like me and my best friend (except we are both introverts lol). I adore Sunday and her gorilla♡ It played out like a movie and, despite cringing a little with Oscar's overreaching methods, I was still rooting for him the whole way.
P.s. I am also grateful Toby wrote down Benjamin and not Beniffer😅
P.s. I am also grateful Toby wrote down Benjamin and not Beniffer😅
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 7, 2022
It is rare I give a book 1 star, but this book earned it fair and square. This is everything a book SHOULDN'T be. It reinforces everything about toxic masculinity that makes "romance" books set women up for relationships in which men make decisions about what women want. If Hero could truly been the hero of her own romance, this would have been a different story, but unfortunately, she was not given the opportunity to live up to her name. Not to mention that La'Brooy makes fun of lesbians and transgender people, the narrator of the audiobook was quite annoying with her "character voices," and her attempts at humor are strangely far fetched at times. I kept listening to the audiobook, hoping it would get better. It didn't. Oh well. Better luck next time.
December 27, 2021
3.5. One of the first Australian romances I’ve read. Can I just say: Holy Everyone Is QUIRKY Batman!, but it somehow works. It takes Hero FOREVAH to realize to whom her heart belongs, but she gets there.
January 18, 2022
3.5 stars
February 27, 2022
So sweet
April 5, 2022
Entertaining, fun read.
February 12, 2023
This was really problematic.
August 14, 2011
A warm and laugh-out-loud funny story of one woman's brave quest to avoid true love. Best friends Hero and Sunday are holidaying in New York when Sunday persuades the normally conservative Hero to don a siren-red wig and the persona of Lola, a do-anything-anywhere-anytime trapeze artist. Disguised as Lola, Hero crosses paths - and a whole lot more - with gorgeous Oscar. Sparks fly, but Hero can't admit to Oscar that she's not who he thinks she is. Flash forward two years and Hero is back in Sydney, and in a relationship with arch conservative boyfriend Pelham. Life is comfortable, stable. Until she bumps into Oscar, that is. He's determined to pursue and win her back into his arms. He's also convinced that Hero is more like her alter ego Lola than she'd like to admit. No matter how hard Oscar tries, however, Hero insists that she's nothing like Lola, and she's not even slightly interested in him. Or so she keeps telling herself - and anyone else who'll listen. But does she protest too much? From the best-selling author of Love Struck and The Wish List comes a sparkling story about fate, love, cocktails and gorilla-grams.
March 22, 2022
Audible: Gross. It’s all a joke so romantic gag me, but he proposes to her by blackmailing her, after she’d written a smear article about his business, after he’d tried to break up her engagement to another (albeit boring & a bad fit) man, after she tried to seduce him to get him to leave her alone (while she was engaged), after he’d love bomb / stalked her at both home and work, after she’d left him the morning after a one night stand where she pretended to be a stranger. As long as he has a dead fiancé from before he met her!
Plot aside, the characters are the worst and the names are worse than that. Main names are Hero and Sunday, which is only sort of explained and even then was way too late in the book. Also LOLZ they name their baby Benniffer.
Read by Zenia Starr. #booksin22
Plot aside, the characters are the worst and the names are worse than that. Main names are Hero and Sunday, which is only sort of explained and even then was way too late in the book. Also LOLZ they name their baby Benniffer.
Read by Zenia Starr. #booksin22
June 16, 2017
The main characters names are introduced in virtually the first page as "Hero" and "Sunday" and it got cornier from there. It is a really bad book full of unbelievable characters and all these "chance" encounters. Full of clichés, it just drags on. It reached its worst part when Oscar is at a cemetary talking to his deceased fiancée and a leaf falls and sticks on his cheek like a 'soft kiss' which he a takes as a sign from his fiancée. Really?
May 17, 2022
Stalking. Not. OK.
Which is too bad, because La'Brody actually is a funny writer with description, characters and zanny situations - but its unacceptable to have a character that commits so many scary acts held up as the "good guy" and for the main character to be told by all the people around her, including her own parents (!!) that she is wrong and he is right and that its OK for him to treat her like that. Urgh.
December 17, 2022
This book felt more like a teen drama than a love story for adults. It’s completely unrealistic, it sends the wrong message about what a healthy relationship is. Although it is upbeat it tries to normalise what would be fairly serious controlling behaviour. It idealises that all women want to be chased and are available regardless of relationship status. I wouldn’t recommend.
February 28, 2022
This is NOT a love story, it is a cringeworthy and creepy story of a stalker pursuing his prey. The plot was horrible, long, drawn out, and included details that seemed to materialize from thin air. It was NOT worth the time I spent on it, even though I got it for free. Read something else. Anything else.
April 13, 2022
Quite a terrible book that teaches a misleading message about love and relationships. Basically a story goes like that a girl tells a guy a million times that she doesn't love him and she has a fiance and they just had a one night stand a few years ago and a guy is stalking her and doesn't believe her that she doesn't want him.
February 5, 2017
An Australian based rom-com. Easy read but surprisingly funny in some parts and not too cliche.
May 20, 2023
this book ….. is just all sorts of “wtf” I mean, it’s a very strange book that romanticizes the horrors of a man not accepting no as an answer… setting back feminist and women’s rights back 500 years.
if you have several hours just to passively listen to the audio book and need something drastically different, and completely against women’s rights, and that leaves you bewildered for 90% of the contents then this is for you. I wouldn’t say it’s a waste of time…. Just ummmm. Dang I don’t even know how to put this into words….. but I do believe much of these characters are in incredibly deeply need of a very very very good therapist. Trauma screws the brain major time, the main male character went through back to back loss and hyper fixated unhealthily onto a woman he met once, and then proceeded to unarguably stalk her against her constant wishes to be left alone. Strangely i liked him throughout the entire book, probably because from a Birds Eye view resulting in being able to understand everything… basically seeing what the author wanted. however, putting the events in a real life context - un romanticizing the unhealthy fixation and toxicity: this entire story is absolutely beyond screwed on so many terrifying areas, and though it makes for an interesting story (told specifically through an authors road map) it’s not something that should be romanticized in the slightest. Honestly the author could have easily tweaked the last few chapters and it could be a comedic horror book about a one night stand that ended in obsession rejection and murder; tales of modern dating
😂 these are thoughts that have settled after letting it all sink in. The book it self wasn’t scary, just the fact that this crap happens far too often to real women. A man deciding they want something and becoming hell bent on having it regardless that “it” is a human woman, and getting it through toxic actions, ignoring the plead of women. The fact that this book ends happily is actually getting even more frustrating as I sit here pondering all of this. Yes, it ended happily, but in no way what so ever should that excuse or romanticize the actions the man took to get what he wanted, effectively silencing the woman’s voice in all things concerned. “Kayla it’s just a book, besides it’s not like she didn’t love him aswell, she was just too scared to take the risk” Yeah it may just be a book, but again this type of crap happens daily in real life, secondly regardless if she harbored feelings or not, it’s in no way justifies everything he did, from pestering her at work, integrating himself with her friends and family, all in-line with going against every wish she said to be left alone, after countless attempts of being straight forward and strong in her desire for him to stop….. I am just going to keep going in circles finding new ways to reward the same thoughts, my mind is just spinning at all of the real life horrors…. So I’ll just leave this here
if you have several hours just to passively listen to the audio book and need something drastically different, and completely against women’s rights, and that leaves you bewildered for 90% of the contents then this is for you. I wouldn’t say it’s a waste of time…. Just ummmm. Dang I don’t even know how to put this into words….. but I do believe much of these characters are in incredibly deeply need of a very very very good therapist. Trauma screws the brain major time, the main male character went through back to back loss and hyper fixated unhealthily onto a woman he met once, and then proceeded to unarguably stalk her against her constant wishes to be left alone. Strangely i liked him throughout the entire book, probably because from a Birds Eye view resulting in being able to understand everything… basically seeing what the author wanted. however, putting the events in a real life context - un romanticizing the unhealthy fixation and toxicity: this entire story is absolutely beyond screwed on so many terrifying areas, and though it makes for an interesting story (told specifically through an authors road map) it’s not something that should be romanticized in the slightest. Honestly the author could have easily tweaked the last few chapters and it could be a comedic horror book about a one night stand that ended in obsession rejection and murder; tales of modern dating
😂 these are thoughts that have settled after letting it all sink in. The book it self wasn’t scary, just the fact that this crap happens far too often to real women. A man deciding they want something and becoming hell bent on having it regardless that “it” is a human woman, and getting it through toxic actions, ignoring the plead of women. The fact that this book ends happily is actually getting even more frustrating as I sit here pondering all of this. Yes, it ended happily, but in no way what so ever should that excuse or romanticize the actions the man took to get what he wanted, effectively silencing the woman’s voice in all things concerned. “Kayla it’s just a book, besides it’s not like she didn’t love him aswell, she was just too scared to take the risk” Yeah it may just be a book, but again this type of crap happens daily in real life, secondly regardless if she harbored feelings or not, it’s in no way justifies everything he did, from pestering her at work, integrating himself with her friends and family, all in-line with going against every wish she said to be left alone, after countless attempts of being straight forward and strong in her desire for him to stop….. I am just going to keep going in circles finding new ways to reward the same thoughts, my mind is just spinning at all of the real life horrors…. So I’ll just leave this here
March 19, 2022
I am so glad that I read this book. I needed something lighthearted and funny. This was it.
I really loved this story. The beginning set the tone of the book. Lots of laugh out loud moments. I would be chuckling and Marie (my wife) would then want to know why I was laughing...so I'd stop and tell her what happened.
I think she will be reading it next. It got to a point where I told her...I think this is right up her alley.
The end of Act II was good, but the beginning of Act III had some rough moments, in the story and in the execution of writing the story. That transitional period was crucial...and I felt it. Pace slowed. I frustrated that IT had gone THAT far. But, it picked back up and finished strong.
Overall, this is a movie that I'd like to see. Not sure it will ever be optioned, but I'd watch it...and I already know the end. Well, this is a RomCom, so we really don't have much mystery about what will happen, but HOW it is going to happen.
The narrator was really good, too. I didn't have a hard time knowing who was speaking (which is a sign of a good narrator). The ability to make the voice tell who is speaking without announcing it in the text all the time.
Not sure if I want to go to another writer, or pick up another story written by Melanie La"Brooy. We shall see. I am going to download it now...but I may read another book, first.
I really loved this story. The beginning set the tone of the book. Lots of laugh out loud moments. I would be chuckling and Marie (my wife) would then want to know why I was laughing...so I'd stop and tell her what happened.
I think she will be reading it next. It got to a point where I told her...I think this is right up her alley.
The end of Act II was good, but the beginning of Act III had some rough moments, in the story and in the execution of writing the story. That transitional period was crucial...and I felt it. Pace slowed. I frustrated that IT had gone THAT far. But, it picked back up and finished strong.
Overall, this is a movie that I'd like to see. Not sure it will ever be optioned, but I'd watch it...and I already know the end. Well, this is a RomCom, so we really don't have much mystery about what will happen, but HOW it is going to happen.
The narrator was really good, too. I didn't have a hard time knowing who was speaking (which is a sign of a good narrator). The ability to make the voice tell who is speaking without announcing it in the text all the time.
Not sure if I want to go to another writer, or pick up another story written by Melanie La"Brooy. We shall see. I am going to download it now...but I may read another book, first.
June 5, 2023
I’m not one to DNF, I just don’t like to do it, but I almost quit this book, but I decided to finish it solely so I could write a review. This book is awful. Oscar is absolutely obsessed with Hero, to the point where he stalks her, endangers her life, embarrasses her and inserts himself into her life in very inappropriate ways. He will not take no for an answer and some of the things that comes out of his mouth are so misogynistic and disgusting. Hero is a victim in this story, however she is so unlikable because she decides to string Oscar along, playing cat and mouse, and emotionally cheating on her boyfriend that I can’t even feel bad for her. Then instead of calling these 2 out for their gross behavior, the author decides to villainize the boyfriend and give Oscar a sob story so that we can accept all of it. This book gave me so many icks. Definitely one of the worst books I’ve ever read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 152 reviews