The Year I Met You

Blurb: A thoughtful, captivating and ultimately uplifting novel from this uniquely talented author

Jasmine know two things: one, she loves her vulnerable sister unconditionally, and will fight to the death to protect her from anyone who upsets her. Two, she's only ever been good at one thing – her job helping business start-ups.

So when she’s sacked and put on gardening leave, Jasmine realises that she has nothing else to fill her life. Insomnia keeps her staring out of her bedroom window, and she finds herself watching the antics of her neighbour, shock jock Matt, with more than a casual eye. Matt is also taking a forced leave of absence from work, after one of his controversial chat shows went too far…

Jasmine has every reason to dislike Matt, and the feeling appears to be mutual. But not everything is as it seems, and soon Jasmine and Matt are forced to think again…

Review: I fell in love with Cecelia's writing with P.S. I Love You many years ago. It instantly became one of my all time favourite books and then I loved Where Rainbows End (which is now going to become a movie with the title Love, Rosie) but after that I read a couple more of her books that didn't convince me and I felt a bit out of love with Cecelia. I actually haven't read yet her previous book How to Fall in Love. But I instantly liked the sound of The Year I Met You and the cover caught my attention so I decided to give it a try, and I am really glad that I did because I might even dare to say that this one, for me, is Cecelia's best and has become an all time favourite that I will be re-reading soon.

What I think captured me from this book is that it's not a love story, it's the story of Jasmine, who has been fired and has to wait a year before she can be hired again, and Matt, who has been suspended from his famous radio show for going too far. They live on the same street and even if they don't know each other in person, Jasmine knows very well who he is. She can't help but spying his every move from her window. Especially every night when he arrives late and drunk, way too drunk, and starts banging on the door like a crazy man. When they find themselves in quite a similar situation, they start to see each other more, and talk more. From here, Cecelia could have started a love story, they falling in love and saving each other from themselves but that's not the case. Jasmine and Matt share a quite parallel path during a year and with each month they start seeing the other with a different eye but also seeing themselves with a different eye. They help each other without even realising and their friendship becomes their pillar.

But Jasmine and Matt's story wouldn't be so special without the secondary characters. I loved Jasmine's sister, Heather. She has Down's Syndrome and Jasmine is overly protective of her. I think Cecelia made an exhaustive work of research with her as we see her as woman who yearns for independence and is not afraid to ask for it even if her family is not ready to let her fly. She adds a unique touch to the story and makes you think a lot. And then there are the neighbours in the residential street, mainly pensioners. The retired doctor who lived next to Jasmine was always the voice of reason with both of them and Mr. Malone who lived on the other side of Jasmine made me shed a tear when he was reading to his wife on their garden whe she no longer could. A true love story.

Cecelia writes a story about friendship and support, about not judging before knowing and about life. I trully loved this book and will stay with me for a long while. I fell in love with Cecelia's writing again, with her special way with words that transported me to that residential street where Jasmine and Matt struggled to find meaning in life and made me reconsider the term friendship. 

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