Young single mum Ally is a college professor who needs some maintenance work carried out around her home. Her usual handyman has let her down so Jake, a student who is dropping out, offers to help her out. Instead he makes his move, confessing he has always fancied her. And so Ally embarks on a steamy weekend with Jake - even though she is meant to be marking papers while her young daughter is staying with her mother. The story is told in two timeframes - around that first weekend, and then 10 years later, when Jake turns up again, in somewhat surprising circumstances, admitting he has never forgotten her. This is a highly entertaining debut from a TV screenwriter and such a heartwarming romance. Ally's relationship with her daughter Lizzie - an actress willing to take desperate measures to pay for a nose job - is also explored. I initially found some of the dialogue a bit choppy and hard to follow, but in a way it works to highlight Ally's sharp mind and hectic life. All in all, well worth a read.
Ally Hughes Has Sex Sometimes, the debut novel by American screenwriter Jules Moulin, is about the surprises that love has in store. The summary says: "Life is a juggling act for single mother Ally Hughes. Between the classes she teaches at the local university, a monster of a boss, a home that's falling apart at the seams and a young daughter who doesn't miss a trick, there isn't time for anything else in Ally's life. Especially romance. Then she meets Jake, and for one incredible, mind-blowing weekend, anything seems possible. But timing is everything and as the weekend draws to a close, fate is not on Ally's side. Ten years later, and fate has Jake knocking at Ally's front door. Now the one that got away is back, and Ally has some serious decision-making to do. Is there such a thing as perfect timing? Or is love always a game of chance?" Moulin has been a writer for TV series including Party of Five and The West Wing. Ally Hughes Has Sex Sometimes is out in August 2015.
