Transport Yourself ‘In Every Possible Way’ with a Summer Romance

Summer is coming to an end. But if you’re missing your Euro trip or the excitement of the World Cup, may I suggest a trip to Ireland? My favorite romance novel of the summer, In Every Possible Way, transports readers to the streets of Dublin and the Irish countryside, where a whirlwind romance – and a slight concussion – await. Author Alicia Thompson injects some extremely needed whimsy into contemporary romance with this novel, out in June.

In Every Possible Way
By Alicia Thompson
Berkley, 400 pages

Our protagonist Jess suffers through a bad first date – on her birthday! – and then gets mugged in the Florida lot where she parked. She is hit on the head and passes out. But when she awakens, she is in Ireland, where she meets Eamonn, a gruff mechanic who more or less drops everything to help this luggage-less, passport-less American. Very reminiscent of Before Sunrise, Jess and Eamonn spend the next 48 hours taking in the sights, running the conversation gamut between dirty talk and parental death, and obviously falling in love.

I first read Thompson’s work in her debut, Love in the Time of Serial Killers (Berkley, 2022), and was blown away. She writes a budding relationship, and the lovers in it, with a mix of realism and charm. I relate so hard to her characters’ places in life and inner monologues, but their dialogue and love stories have the air of being re-written in the shower. You know how all your comebacks sound way better hours later as you rehash it yourself? It’s like a funnier version of the real world, where hope and romance and the impossible can happen. It helps that her protagonists lean curmudgeonly: if someone who is as over dating as Jess is can fall in love, so can I. In Every Possible Way, along with every other romance she has published in between, is no exception.

Named after The Cranberries lyric in “Dreams” (Oh, my life / Is changin’ every day / In every possible way / And oh, my dreams), Thompson’s latest is indeed so dreamy. Infused with the impossibility and magic of its premise, the novel takes on a really other worldly feeling, especially with so much plot compressed into a few days. And by the end, I, a very harsh woman in my 30s, fully believed in the fast-paced love story, fueled by the Irish landscapes and a pinch of whimsy.

It is also undeniably sexy. I looked back at my copy for this review, to see if there were any quotable lines, and all I highlighted were various, incredible sexual metaphors.

Let’s just say that Eamonn is a dirty talker. But for some non-graphic, but undeniably very tender, prose: “Eamonn sighed, reaching into the pocket of my jacket to retrieve the car key. He seemed to do it thoughtlessly, automatically, but it suddenly struck me as the most romantic thing anyone could do. I wanted him to take keys out of my pockets every day.”