Second paragraph of third chapter:

‘Lol?’ Katie calls from the sitting room. She’s the only person who stills calls me Lol. It was my nickname in school but, unsurprisingly, it faded from use once people started using LOL as an acronym. I like that Katie still calls me Lol, though. It makes me feel … I dunno. Known. ‘Everything okay?’

I admit that I only bought this because I know the author a bit (I know her sister better). I really really enjoyed it. It’s a romance novel set in Dublin, jumping between student days around the turn of the century and grown-up days in 2019. Quite apart from the excellent and excruciating portrayal of the protagonist’s emotional journey with her love-interest, it also catches the passion of creating music together, along with some clear-eyed commentary on infertility (and on tabloid journalism and social media). I am glad to say that I actually understood the Irish-language joke on page 78 as well. You can get Our Song here.

I am conscious that I’ve been reading a few more romance novels this year, all by people I know; perhaps I’ll broaden that out.