Book Review: Worth Waiting For

I have not read that many new books this year. Most of the books that I have been reading have been ones that I have read before -- which has more to do with me wanting to face something familiar under these stressful times. I have tried to read a lot of new books this year, but several of the books that I have started have unfortunately ended up on the do not finish pile. One of the few new ones that I’ve read this year (and finished) is a book called Worth Waiting For, which, if I am to guess correctly, is inspired by the story told by the song The Man Who Can’t Be Moved by The Script.

Credit: Bookotoure

The book, written by Tilly Tennant, is about a reporter named Ellie Newton. She gets assigned to cover a story about a man named Ben who had broken up with his girlfriend and has decided to camp out in the corner where he first met her, much like the story of the song from The Script. He gets the attention of the people who live by the street that he had decided to camp on: the women are swooning over his romantic gesture while their husbands are complaining that he is making them look bad and wants him removed.

After Ellie covers the story on the paper, she starts to develop a friendship with Ben and learns more about him. The story becomes a hit and gets news exposure from outside of their small town. In the hopes of making it an even bigger news headline, Ellie tries to speak to Ben’s ex-girlfriend Gemma to convince her to reconcile with him.

The problem is, while she is interviewing Ben and spending time with him, Ellie starts to develop feelings for him. This places her in a difficult spot because as the reporter who broke the story, she also wants him to get back together with his ex. 

The love story in this book is good, but I felt that the lead characters in this book had room for improvement. Charming romantic gesture aside, I do not think I can blame Gemma for wanting more from Ben and their relationship in the first place. Ben seemed to lack the initiative to do something other than dream of what he wanted to be. It was that breakup that pushed him into doing something, no matter how unusual it was. I would give cupid full credit for having Ellie fall in love with him since apart from the romantic gesture and the good looks, this romance was not based on much. Maybe I am cynical, but I’m not sure that they got to know each other well enough to fall in love the way they did unless it was just about the spirit of romance floating around because of what he did for Gemma. I felt like all the drama should have been based on more than butterflies and all that. 

Nevertheless, Worth Waiting For is a nice, feel-good love story with a happily ever after ending. It has its requisite share of obstacles that get in the way of the inevitable romance, but everything fits in a way that makes the reader invested in getting to that happy ending. In these times of uncertainty and fear, reading books like this that make you believe that things work out, in the end, is just the right thing for relieving stress for someone like me.

Try reading it with The Man Who Can't Be Moved by The Script playing. I kept hearing it in my head while I was reading it!