Serendipity by Melanie La%u2019Brooy (Penguin)

An Australian tale of star-crossed lovers, or cross lovers at any rate, Serendipity is a bit of soft romance.

Aussie girl, Hero, is in New York for a bit of a working holiday and on her last night there she is convinced by her friend to dress up and pretend to be someone else.

A generally stable and conservative girl, Hero becomes ‘Lola’, a trapeze artist with a bright red wig.

She meets a lovely bloke, Oscar, a bartender who just happens to be Australian as well. They have a lovely night and agree to meet up the next day.

This time Hero decides to go as herself … naturally enough mixed messages occur and Hero heads back home, sans bloke.

Years later Hero bumps into a familiar looking guy – yep, it’s the fellow from New York, now back in Australia.

But Hero is about to be married, to a very sensible man with an excellent job.

Turns out, Oscar’s been searching for Hero for years and he’s not going to let her go again without a fight.

Much humour ensues, but the plot is obvious, even the sidebar of Hero’s friend, and the conclusion clear as day.

This is a light, romantic read but the characters are not entirely endearing – Oscar is irritating and Hero needs a good slap.

Still, with all the light romance novels on the shelves it’s great to find one that’s actually set in Australia.

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