The Irish Goodbye by Amy Ewing is a contemporary rom-com featuring an American tourist and an Irish chef (3/5 stars)

The Irish Goodbye by Amy Ewing is a contemporary rom-com featuring an American tourist and an Irish chef.

Cordelia is a renowned NYC street photographer with a huge social media following, until the death of her father plunged her into a deep depression. When she sees an ad for a summer gig at a cozy cottage on Inishmore island, she decides she needs a fresh start to get back into the swing of things. When she arrives, she literally runs into Niall, an Irish chef returning to his hometown after betrayal from his fiancé and business partner.

This one was just okay for me, though I really loved the town’s cast of characters. The audiobook narrators, Keval Shah and June DeBorahae, did a great job bringing the whole island to life and I enjoyed listening to them read. There’s also a really adorable doggo named Pocket who wanders the whole island visiting everyone.

I initially picked this one up because the publisher blurb called it “hate-at-first-sight” but I don’t really think the enemies to lovers vibe really comes through here. It felt quickly brushed aside to me. There’s definitely grumpy/sunshine vibes, though!

I also didn’t fully feel the chemistry between our main characters, possibly because everything moved so fast for me. I think maybe if it was a one-year sublet for the cottage, instead of just for the summer, the whole thing would have clicked better.

Tropes in this book include: enemies to lovers, grumpy/sunshine, small town, American transplant

CW: death of parent (prior to book, mentioned), grief

I received a copy of this book to review. Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the complimentary audio review copy. All opinions contained herein are my own.

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