Well-known author of historical romance Julia London has also penned several contemporaries, and While it Was Snowing is her latest. It’s a mid-life, forced proximity romance that nails the push and pull that women experience between motherhood, family, work, and the challenges of finding new love in your fifties.

Amy Casey has escaped her family for two weeks and is staying in her bestie’s Texan holiday home to catch her breath and paint some pictures for a local art competition. She’s alone, finally, with just her old dog for company, and she is looking forward to having a break from her very demanding family – two bickering sons, her mantoddler brother and her ex-husband (who wants to reconcile), as well as her needy parents. Amy arrives at the gorgeous holiday home and finds Harrison Keely there, who, it turns out, has booked it for the same two weeks. After some back-and-forth, the two of them agree that the house is big enough for both of them and they settle in to cohabit for the fortnight.

Harrison is a professional golfer who is rehabilitating after a car accident. He needs to decide whether to return to his career, or if he should retire and settle down somewhere. He’s not close to his parents, has never married and has no kids, and while he has an apartment in Florida, it’s not a home. He feels a bit like life has passed him by. The fun here is that Amy has too much family, and Harrison doesn’t have enough.

They get to know each other as they share a beautiful house amid news of an impending ‘snowtastrophe’. With attraction and plenty of chemistry, they open up and it’s warm and lovely, but of course it’s not quite that simple: Amy is deluged with phone calls and texts from her family members – who are oblivious to her need to take some time out. Amy’s mother (and her charmingly named ‘bossy posse’ of septuagenarian girlfriends) turn up and ignore all Amy’s wishes, but it’s not only Amy who has issues with boundaries as Harrison’s manager oversteps, sending a physical therapist who also gets in their way. It’s complicated and comical as Amy and Harrison try to put aside their people-pleasing tendencies and make space for each other while they have all these unwanted visitors at the house. Aside from the immediate challenges of having their escape invaded, they are both thinking about the future and whether what they have is just a holiday fling or something with the potential to be long-term.

I enjoyed every moment, and the secondary characters – especially Amy’s mother – who is both a darling, and someone I could happily strangle – are a lot of fun. While Harrison is buff, and Amy has some insecurities around her mid-life body, I love that this is not significant for them. Harrison thinks Amy is wonderful, and is as keen to hang out talking as he is to get her into bed.

My only quibble is a bit nit-picky but the story is unrealistic at times, like when a character makes a last minute decision not to board an international flight but expects their luggage to stay on the plane, which is impossible, even in romancelandia!

While it Was Snowing is emotional, steamy and fun. It’s not something I’d re-read, but it’s clever and entertaining and I hope it will resonate with busy mid-life readers looking for something optimistic.