A SHEERLUXE READING LIST PICK FOR 2025

'Fans of Bridget Jones will love Lizzie Frainier's tales from the dating front line' Sunday Times Style

'Lizzie Frainier is admirably frank and deeply likeable. She takes you along for the ride of her love life like a British Carrie Bradshaw' Catherine Gray, Sunday Times bestselling author

From Bridget Jones to Notting Hill ― do romcoms prepare us for the good, the bad and the disconcerting of dating?

Many of us who grew up on a strict diet of romcoms know all about the perfect meet cute that turns into a head-over-heels relationship. So when Lizzie was offered the chance to take part in a The Holiday-style festive house swap for an article, she knew she had to say yes and just do it for the plot - oh, and the trip to New York. In romcoms you always meet your match, your one true love, your soulmate, but in reality things don't always end with a happily ever after. Or at least the one we expected.

From falling for the emotionally unavailable 'cool boy' at school to receiving hideous dating app messages, and succumbing to the magnetic pull of a situationship to riding the incomparable high of an instant connection, Lizzie shares her experiences of the intensity of falling in love, the heartbreak of falling out of it and the friendships that have seen her through it all.

Charting a decade of electric first dates, meaningful encounters and lessons learned along the way, Main Character is an open-hearted celebration of romcoms and to the many ways in which love can show up in our lives.