A perfect landing of two love birds

Everybody deserves a little happiness and romance in their lives. Celebrated author Jo Watson’s Love at First Flight, a fake date romcom is one read that will lift your spirits and put you on cloud nine. It is a perfect holiday or flight read. Watson manages to add a sprinkle of love-hate drama, a dash of sexual tension, and witty one-liners between air traffic controller Pippa Edwards and irresistibly handsome pilot Andrew Boyce-Jones.

Pippa is single and ready to mingle, but she is wary of falling in love. Most of her past relationships ended even before they could take off. The guys usually dumped her. She enjoys her job as an air traffic controller and has a thorough knowledge of different airplanes and their schedules. Occasionally, she loves catching up with her school pal Jennifer and her family but is fed up with friends and relatives constantly pestering her about her ‘single’ status. Adding to the tension is her old school reunion in Cape Town which is a few weeks away.

Pippa dreads going there alone and wonders about the lame excuses that she can conjure up while sipping coffee alone in the crowded airport staff cafeteria. Lost in her chain of thoughts, Pippa suddenly hears a familiar voice. The commanding baritone of Flightbird Six Zero Zero (pilot Andrew) whom she has been interacting with over the intercom for the past six months during take-offs and landings but never met.

She is gobsmacked by his sexy looks and floored when Andrew seeks permission to sit down and have coffee at her table. The two of them chat about their jobs, families, friends, failed relationships, and how awkward it becomes when people question their single status. That is when the penny drops and Pippa comes up with the fake boyfriend-girlfriend plan, which could help both get people off their backs. The Pippa-Andrew fake dating pact takes off. The only hitch is that sparks fly and the duo is irresistibly attracted to each other. As much as they try to control their feelings and remain ‘friends with benefits’ they find themselves hopelessly falling in love. Pippa and Andrew are excellent at their respective work but complete failures when it comes to matters of the heart.

A brilliant light read from beginning to end, Watson keeps the reader guessing till the end whether the Pipa-Andrew love affair will be a pleasant flight or end up in a turbulent crash landing.