A review by maureenlikethetango
Modern Love by Beau North

5.0

"Love at first sight isn't for the Tinder generation" -- this is Allie's aphorism, one that any millennial reader will feel the pangs of all too well. Beau North has crafted a love story that cuts through to the heart of what we're all looking for as we futilely swipe right -- someone who knows us, all the parts of us, and loves us all the more for it. In a remarkably short amount of time, she makes you fall hard for a litany of characters, from the aloof Will Murphy (he make think he's Claude Rains, but the man is all Bogart) to our damaged but very lovable protagonist Allie and their wide group of friends and family. It's a romance novella that is poignant, touching, sexy, and hits all the right notes. Characters are kept apart by very real misunderstandings rather than plot contrivances, and it acknowledges the difficulty of cutting through the bullshit and letting down your guard enough to get that "modern love" we hunger for. What's more -- North weaves a tale of multiple types of love, not just romantic, but the love we have for siblings and our complex love for our parents and loved ones who have left us. She wounds with her incision into an understanding of how musicians, actors, etc. can come to stand in for something much greater in our lives than the sum total of their talents -- and why their loss can be such a potent form of grief for those that love them. And she acknowledges that our sense of loss, but more importantly our love for those who have gone, never truly leaves us. It deepens and grows and heals as new love enters our life. The book might be titled "Modern Love," but the thrust of this story that will have you weeping by the end is a very old truth indeed.