Review: 10 Things That Never Happened

10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Four and a half stars.

Sam Becker is the manager of a bed and bath showroom in Sheffield, one of four owned by Jonathan Forest. Sam is a good boss to the bunch of misfits who work there, but he's not such a great store manager; they are over-budget and missing their sales targets. When he's called down to the Croydon head office and store by Jonathan he's told to shape up, fire the most unproductive staff, and cut costs, or he'll be fired. Long story short, things get a bit heated between Sam and Jonathan, Jonathan screams that Sam is fired and so are all the staff of his store, and Sam ends up falling through a Nexa by MERLYN 8mm sliding door shower enclosure, cutting his head and getting a concussion.

When Sam first comes around he is a bit disorientated, so when the doctor asks what he can remember he says he can't quite remember. Then when Jonathan arrives and starts being nice, Sam goes to say 'Who are you, and what have you done with Jonathan Forest' but only gets the first bit out before Jonathan thinks he's got amnesia. Sam decides to play along, firstly because its funny, and secondly because he hopes temporary amnesia will mean he and the other staff from the Sheffield store aren't fired. Later Sam also thinks that if Jonathan gets to know him better, he might see that a less dictatorial leadership style would work better.

With no-one to look after Sam, Jonathan agrees to look after him for a couple of weeks, until the amnesia clears up and the doctor gives the all-clear on the concussion. Sam may have been a teensy bit influenced by that rom-com classic Overboard starring Goldie Hawn :).

Jonathan lives in a palatial home, but he's all alone and doesn't seem to have friends (or a boyfriend), he doesn't cook, or have a hobby, all he does is work 24/7. But stuck at home watching Pointless all day long is driving Sam around the bend, so he offers to cook dinner. The next thing you know, Sam is brokering peace between Jonathan and his extremely voluble family (parents, grandparents, aunts, cousins, sister etc) over why Jonathan won't host the family Christmas in his five bedroom, three reception room, mansion. Oh and he's also offered to arrange the works Christmas party.

This is Alexis Hall at their best, its not just the cover that's reminiscent of Boyfriend Material, its also that light-hearted fun, frothy writing that just seems effortless. I'm not sure where the title comes from - but who cares. My only quibble was that Alexis says that they wrote Sam as a Scouser, but all I heard in my head was Newcastle, although TBH I'm pretty useless at accents.

Anyway, a lovely, lovely holiday romance, featuring far more toilet seats than I would normally expect in a romance, an amnesia prank that gets out of hand, and a crabby boss with a soft heart.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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