Review: 'The Trouble with Henry and Zoe' by Andy Jones (2016)

Henry and Zoe have more in common than they realise. For a start, they both have pasts they'd rather leave behind.
After jilting his childhood sweetheart on the eve of their wedding in the small town where they both grew up, Henry runs away to London, planning to reinvent himself and start afresh.
Zoe has her own healing to do and so she plans to leave London, travel the world, and figure out just what it is she wants out of life. She doesn't know where she's going, but she is determined to go there alone.
If Henry and Zoe had met one year ago, perhaps things could have worked out differently. But that's not the way it works; they meet seven months after their worlds have been turned upside down. And four months before Zoe is due to climb on a plane...
I hardly ever read books written by male authors. I guess this probably has to do with the genres I enjoy the most, particularly chick lit, so whenever I do stumble upon a male author whose books I enjoy I always keep an eye out for them. So, when Andy Jones' second novel 'The Trouble with Henry and Zoe' was released on the 28th of July by Simon and Schuster UK, I straight away added the book to my TBR-list. I read and reviewed Andy's debut novel 'The Two of Us' last year and really enjoyed it, so was definitely curious to see what this new novel would be like!
Henry never planned on leaving the small town he grew up in. Yet, when he decides to leave his childhood sweetheart April the day before their wedding because he's afraid he doesn't love her enough, he doesn't see any other choice than to go to London and start over. Zoe is content with her life with her boyfriend Alex, even though she can't help but have some doubts every now and again. Then her life is unexpectedly turned upside down, which eventually leads to Zoe deciding to go and book that trip around the world she always wanted to make. But then Henry and Zoe meet...
Andy Jones is one of those authors with a distinctive and own writing style and I'm very happy it's a writing style I personally really enjoy. His debut novel 'The Two of Us' told the story of a couple and 'The Trouble with Henry and Zoe' follows that same pattern, with a main focus on both a male and female character that are linked to each other in a specific way. While I love a good dose of romance and happy-ever-afters, I can also really appreciate the realism of Andy's novels and the familiar portrayal of relationships/dating in his books. I liked both Henry and Zoe (even though I definitely warmed to Henry a bit more), and was curious to read about their lives and see how their paths would eventually cross.
While I really enjoyed reading this novel I have to admit I did miss something, namely the spark between Henry and Zoe. I just didn't feel the chemistry between them and while I hoped this would change as the story progressed, it unfortunately didn't. That being said, I want to stress I did really enjoy this read and have become an even bigger fan of Andy Jones, particularly his comfortable writing style. Overall, 'The Trouble with Henry and Zoe' is a well-written and enjoyable realistic portrayal of our modern-day world of relationships and dating; a great second novel by Andy Jones and I'm already looking forward to his next one!

Rating:8,5/10

  For more information about this book: Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.