For the month of September, I let people on my Instagram and Threads choose what books I should read. I narrowed the options down to 12 books on my shelves or Kindle. The top vote getter for the month was Clare Ashton’s Meeting Millie. I am so happy that it ended up winning, as this book has sat on my shelf unread for far too long.
Charlotte Albright and Millie Banks used to be the best of friends. During their years at the University of Oxford, these two women were inseparable. But when Charlotte’s attraction to her supposedly straight best friend got to be too much, the pair fell out and went their separate ways. 10 years later, the women run into each other after Charlotte moves back to Oxford for a new job at a prestigious law firm. Both women’s lives haven’t gone as expected and the prospect of a rekindled friendship just might be the thing both of them need. But when old feelings resurface and new feelings suddenly emerge, the women will have to confront the reality that this life-long friendship may not be enough for them anymore.
Meeting Millie is a romance made up of many relatable moments that touch on very real themes in so many queer peoples’ lives. There is the baby gay crisis of falling in love with your best friend and how that impacts your life. There’s the seemingly out of nowhere later in life bisexual awakening. There’s the pain of a deep and meaningful friendship falling apart as well as the hope in a rekindled connection years later. The book also explores themes of getting older, friendships and how they change and change us, and searching for the things in our youth that made us who we were. Each one of these themes and ideas is explored in incredibly empathetic and meaningful depth all while telling an engaging second chance romance. The pacing of the story is pitch perfect: Clare Ashton allows each theme to have its own time to breathe and maximally impact the overall narrative. Because of this, you come away feeling for every single character and the journey they go on in the story.
Clare Ashton also does a great job handling all of the complex emotions of the narrative. The story seamlessly moves between humor to pain and heartbreak to joy. Each emotional high and low is balanced well with the other and used effectively to drive home the overall impact of the story. It speaks to Clare’s skill as an author that she handles all of this emotional complexity with such a deft touch, creating a story that gripped my heart and refused to let it go.
Another thing that I really liked about Meeting Millie is how well each character’s inner monologue is written. Both Charlotte and Millie’s inner voices came through brilliantly, making it easy to follow each of their journeys through the story and making what they go through feel so real. I especially loved being in Millie’s head and reading her bisexual awakening. The writing in those moments of crisis was so funny and clever. Her inner monologue also gets emotionally devastating when she realizes that what she is going through is exactly what Charlotte went through all those years ago.
I loved my time with Meeting Millie. It’s another fantastic addition to my list of favorite second chance romances. If you’re a fan of this trope like me and also enjoy stories filled with sapphic yearning and friends becoming lovers, you’ll also enjoy your time in Oxford with these two women.
