How Not to Fall in Love

When her soft-hearted best friend Theo has his heart broken for the umpteenth time, love cynic Harper offers to teach him not to fall in love. A disastrous summer camp affair has made her swear off relationships, and she feels she’s an expert. Besides, years of watching squabbles among her mother’s bridal store clients have convinced Harper that love is just a marketing tool.
Theo agrees to be tutored, but only if Harper dates someone without falling for him, “because you don’t hire a coach who’s never played the game.” Harper steels herself to ask out Felix, a handsome athlete who flexes his muscles in the gym across the road from her mother’s shop, and Theo’s lessons begin. But as Theo plays the dating field, Harper has mixed feelings. Felix is handsome, kind and charming, and Harper can’t help being physically attracted. She also finds it hard to watch Theo date other girls, and, as her cold heart thaws, so does her conviction that romance is not worth the pain.

In a light and entertaining teen romance, Vancouver writer and costume designer Jacqueline Firkins has nailed the cynical anti-love voice of her protagonist and effectively reversed male-female emotional stereotypes. Boys are emotionally vulnerable, and girls are strong and sometimes repressed. The story is sweet and familiar, yet the details of characters make the novel stand out. Harper is hard-working and ambitious, a whiz at business detail. Theo is unselfconsciously himself, with strange clothing choices, a deep knowledge of just about everything, and an obsession with costumed roleplay. Minor characters are also carefully drawn. The irrepressible Pippa, Harper’s co-worker, is an optimistic foil to Harper’s cynicism. Harper’s mother is a brilliant artist but not very good at running a business. Felix seems to be a typical jock, but, as his relationship with Harper develops, he shows a complex emotional side.

The book also goes beyond the standard boy-girl romance. As Harper explores her physical attraction to Felix, the friendship between Theo and Harper sparks and deepens. Among other characters, readers see a wide range of ways of being happy in relationships, including gay fantasy relationships and her mother’s choice not to have one at all. Love isn’t simple, and it’s not always easy to recognize.

How Not to Fall in Love also provides a fresh take on the popular “wedding planner” motif. Harper rejects the fuss her mother’s clients make over what she sees as meaningless wedding extravagance, but she also appreciates her mother’s artistry and design genius in creating wonderful outfits. Firkin’s costume background provides convincing detail, yet, while the book celebrates beautiful clothing design, the story moves past the fairy tale wedding fantasy. Harper loudly voices convincing feminist views about the “love industry”, and she is a feisty defender of progressive political opinions. In her personal life, Harper finally learns to embrace her true feelings and forgive others who are as confused as she is.

The fast-moving romantic narrative sweeps a reader along, yet the swelling love music at the climax does not drown out the message of honesty, tolerance and openness, to oneself as well as to others.