Book Review: Love at First Flight
Title: Love at First Flight
Author: Tess Woods
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Source: CLP Blog Tours
Published: April 1, 2015 by HarperCollins Australia
What would you risk to be with the love of your life? A family is threatened by an irresistible attraction in this compelling debut that will appeal to fans of Liane Moriarty and Anita Shreve.
Looking back on it now, I can see it was instant. the second we locked eyes. Boom. Just like that. the me I had spent a lifetime perfecting began its disintegration from that moment. And despite the carnage it brought to all our lives, I still don’t regret it.
What would you risk to be with the love of your life? And what if your soul mate is the one who will destroy you?
Mel is living the dream. She’s a successful GP, married to a charming anaesthetist and raising a beautiful family in their plush home in Perth. But when she boards a flight to Melbourne, she meets Matt and her picture perfect Stepford life unravels as she falls in love for the first time ever.
What begins as a flirty conversation between strangers quickly develops into a hot and obsessive affair with disastrous consequences neither Mel nor Matt could have ever seen coming. Mel’s dream life turns into her worst nightmare.
Love at First Flight will take everything you believe about what true love is and spin it on its head.
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My Review
In a nutshell, Love at First Flight is a story about true love that will make you question everything you think about love. What happens if you fall in love, and you’re already married to someone else? We start off in the novel knowing that Mel does something terrible that she wouldn’t change what she did, but she wouldn’t go down the road she took if she could do it all over again.
Mel is married with two teenaged children and they live in Perth in a spacious home where they have nice things. Mel doesn’t really seem to want those things, as they are a daily reminder of Adam’s success. She’s a well-written and likable character, despite some of the less than favorable things she does throughout the novel. When she meets Matt by chance on a flight to see her friend in Melbourne, Mel begins the slow descent into adultery and a never-ending web of lies.
Love at First Flight was one of the most well-written and captivating books I’ve ever read. Her writing is beautiful and at the same time extremely real and relatable. On the one hand I couldn’t believe that they were doing what they were doing, but at the same time I acknowledged that for some people, their situation is a reality. I don’t usually like a first person narrative that switches back and forth, but this gave the novel a deeper understanding of the relationship that begins to play out between Mel and Matt. 12% into the book, I already knew this novel was going to be a 5 star read and a new go to author on my list.
The major theme throughout the novel was one of love; true love, the concept of soul-mates and destiny, and the crazy things that people will do when they’re in love. It was a truly wonderful novel that brought me through a full range of emotions; humor, happiness, desire, guilt, shame, forgiveness, tragedy, and admiring the way people move on after tragedy. It made me laugh, blush, and cry. 5 stars for this beautifully written story.
Memorable Moments:
And despite the carnage it brought to all our lives, I still don’t regret it. Because by losing everything, I was introduced to myself for the first time.
His eyes were already on me. It’s those eyes I will always hold responsible. ‘Hi’. He smiled at me and I lost my mind.
My Rating: 5/5 Stars
Love at First Flight – Excerpt
At the mention of her husband, I couldn’t help myself asking about him, despite the knot in my stomach.
‘His name’s Adam,’ said Mel. ‘He’s an anaesthetist. We’ve been married fourteen years.’ She bit on her lower lip.
‘Is he a good guy, this specialist who never tells his wife she’s beautiful?’ I asked, narrowing my eyes.
I expected her to laugh at my expression but she didn’t.
‘He is a good guy. He’s a really great guy, actually.’ She looked at me for a second. ‘I do love him.’ She chewed on her cheek, hesitating. ‘But he doesn’t make my belly flip.’ She hung her head as soon as the words were out.
That’s the moment when everything changed. When she said that. That’s the moment she was exposed and I knew for certain I had a real chance with her.
Author Interview – Tess Woods
1. Would you like to start by introducing yourself?
Hello! I’m Tess Woods and I’m a newly published author with HarperCollins, Australia. This is my little author bio that appears in my book and pretty much sums me up:
Tess Woods is a health professional who lives in Perth, Australia with one husband, two children, one dog and one cat who rules over all of them. Love at First Flight is her first novel. When she isn’t working or being a personal assistant to her kids, Tess enjoys reading and all kinds of grannyish pleasures like knitting, baking, drinking tea, watching Downton Abbey and tending to the veggie patch.
2.Can you give us a brief overview of your latest novel and the inspiration behind it?
Love at First Flight is an unconventional love story. It doesn’t follow the typical romance theme and it asks the questions, how far would you go to be with the love of your life? What would you risk? And what if your soul mate is the one who will destroy you?
Mel is living the dream. She’s a successful GP, married to a charming anaesthetist and raising a beautiful family in their plush home in Perth. But when she boards a flight to Melbourne, she meets Matt and her picture perfect Stepford life unravels as she falls in love for the first time ever.
What begins as a flirty conversation between strangers quickly develops into a hot and obsessive affair with disastrous consequences neither Mel nor Matt could have ever seen coming. Mel’s dream life turns into her worst nightmare.
I’ve always been inspired by the tragic love story, the story of great love that just can’t be. My favourite book The Bridges of Madison County stayed with me years after reading it and played on my mind. Then I read Twilight and out of nowhere I had to write my own book. Before this I had never entertained the idea of writing. But the longing in Twilight and the knowing that the one you love is the one that is dangerous for you resonated with me and I just had to write about that. So with the themes of desire and danger, I wrote a book about a married mother, because I wanted to write of what I know. I wanted to bring the great love story into the world of the typical suburban mum who is chasing after kids, working and running a home. I wanted her to have that Romeo and Juliet moment. So I wrote ‘Love at First Flight’.
3. How long did it take you to write Love at First Flight? What is your writing process like?
I wrote the first draft of Love at First Flight in just a few days but it took six years and nine re-writes for it to end up getting published. My writing process is all or nothing. I will live on very little sleep for a month at a time while I write four to five hours a night when my family are asleep, and then I crash and burn for a month or two doing nothing. I should not be held up as a good example on the process of writing!
4. Can you tell us a bit about what you’re working on at the moment?
I’m writing my second book and I’m very excited! I am writing a contemporary romance called Flat White With One which is about my main character Mel’s son as an adult (he is a teenager in Love at First Flight). Nick is Australia’s most popular football player, a real playboy who falls for a young, conservative Egyptian girl named Anna with a tragic past who is anything but the typical footballer’s girlfriend. Flat White With One is their love story. Nick and Anna are tested by her family, Nick’s football community and the Australian public as nobody seems to approve of them being together.
5. If you were given an offer to turn Love at First Flight into a movie, who would you want to see playing the roles of Mel and Matt?
Hugh Jackman is the ultimate Adam, Orlando Bloom would make a convincing Matt and Rose Byrne (with dyed black hair) has Mel written all over her. Nobody gets to make a movie though unless my daughter Lara gets to be Mel’s daughter Lily.
6. What would you be doing if you weren’t an author?
Being an author is my night job. By day I’m a physiotherapist and have been for the past twenty years. Along with my hubby, I own and operate three clinics around Perth. It is crazy busy so writing is definitely my night job. But I also love my day job working in private practice. Every Tuesday I run exercise classes for the over 75s and we always finish with a dance number like the Hokey Cokey or the Macarena, best job ever.
7. What kind of environment do you write in?
Snuggled up in bed. I’ve tried to be bohemian and trendy and take my laptop to hipster cafes to write, but I am just too distractable and get nothing done. I need to be tucked up in bed, late at night, hubby snoring peacefully next to me and that’s where I do my best work.
8. Where is your favorite place in the world?
I love my hometown of Perth in Western Australia and we are lucky enough to right on the coast of the stunning Indian ocean. But my heart belongs to Venice. Nowhere in the world has captured my heart like Venice did when I was there last year. Oh, to have just one year of my life spent listening the church bells ringing from San Marco’s cathedral as gondoliers navigate past my balcony, singing “That’s Amore” and then wandering the tiny cobbled lanes in search of fresh pastries to eat. It doesn’t get much better than that!
9. A few of your favorites…
Favorite scent? Anything by Marc Jacobs, I love his beautiful bottles too.
Favorite color? To look at- blue, to wear- black.
Favorite food? Lamb souvlaki
Favorite word? Fragile
Favorite song? Love Is All Around by Wet Wet Wet
Favorite book? The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller
Favorite/dream vacation spot? Venice
Favorite time period in history? The 1950s
Favorite article of clothing? My Pat Cash fanclub T-shirt that I bought when I was thirteen years old and that I still wear to bed.
Favorite drink of choice? Coke zero- addicted. Shamefully addicted.
Favorite celebrity crush? George Clooney. The king. The master.
10. Either or…
Dogs or cats? Both, can’t choose!
Red wine or white? Neither, give me cocktails please.
Coffee or tea? Green tea.
Summer or Winter? Winter on account of the fashion.
Sleep in or get up early? Up with the birds.
Apple or PC? PC but I have Apple envy.
About the Author – Tess Woods
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Tess Woods is a health professional who lives in Perth, Australiawith one husband, two children, one dog and one cat who rules over all of them. Love at First Flight is her first novel for HarperCollins. When she isn’t working or being a personal assistant to her kids, Tess enjoys reading and all kinds of grannyish pleasures like knitting, baking, drinking tea, watching Downton Abbey and tending to the veggie patch.
What a beautiful review!
Thank you so much Arielle, I am so touched by this beautiful review xx
I loved this book so much. Great interview!
Great review. Glad you liked it so much! 🙂