THE MISSED CONNECTION - Tia Williams
Grand Central Publishing
BUY
Jennifer Brown (A+)
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
REVIEW: Sasha Cruz is a woman who knows exactly what she wants — professionally, at least. As a casting agent, she spends her days finding the perfect person for every role, and she is exceptional at it. Relationships, however, are another matter entirely. Then, on a first-class flight to Paris, she finds herself seated next to a broodingly attractive mystery man, and something shifts. Sparks fly at thirty thousand feet — and then he vanishes, without so much as a last name. Convinced she has let her soulmate slip away somewhere over the Atlantic, Sasha fires off an email to a work friend begging for help — and accidentally sends it company-wide. The international manhunt for the man in Seat F is officially on. To find him, she turns to Wes Dane — a former private investigator she has deeply complicated, unresolved history with, who has since traded his detective badge for a chef's apron and wants nothing to do with this case, or with Sasha. What follows is wickedly funny, intensely romantic, and absolutely unputdownable.
Sasha is one of the most entertaining heroines I have encountered in recent romance reading. She is sharp, delightfully chaotic, and fiercely self-aware — except about the things that matter most. The contradiction between the woman who casts everyone else's love story perfectly and the woman who cannot cast herself in one is both hilarious and genuinely moving. Watching her chase a phantom while the real thing stands right in front of her is the kind of romantic irony that makes you want to shake your book — and you mean it as the highest compliment.
Wes is a revelation of a hero. Brooding, guarded, and maddeningly reluctant, every wall he has built makes complete sense once Williams reveals why it is there. His reinvention as a chef adds warmth and surprising dimension to his character, and his history with Sasha crackles with unfinished business that builds with exquisite patience and pays off beautifully.
What elevates this book beyond a brilliantly executed romantic comedy is the emotional depth running underneath all the laughter and longing. At its core, this is a story about what we pursue versus what we actually need — about how fear of being truly seen drives us toward the safe illusion of a perfect stranger rather than the terrifying reality of genuine connection. The man in Seat F is not just a plot device; he is a mirror. What Sasha discovers about herself while chasing him is the real love story of this book, and Williams handles that revelation with the lush, layered prose and emotional intelligence that has made her one of the very best writers in this genre.
THE MISSED CONNECTION is funny, sexy, surprising, and deeply satisfying. This is Tia Williams at the absolute top of her considerable game. An enthusiastic and unequivocal A+.
9th June 2026 | romcol@caribsurf.com | romcol1962@gmail.com
Sasha is one of the most entertaining heroines I have encountered in recent romance reading. She is sharp, delightfully chaotic, and fiercely self-aware — except about the things that matter most. The contradiction between the woman who casts everyone else's love story perfectly and the woman who cannot cast herself in one is both hilarious and genuinely moving. Watching her chase a phantom while the real thing stands right in front of her is the kind of romantic irony that makes you want to shake your book — and you mean it as the highest compliment.
Wes is a revelation of a hero. Brooding, guarded, and maddeningly reluctant, every wall he has built makes complete sense once Williams reveals why it is there. His reinvention as a chef adds warmth and surprising dimension to his character, and his history with Sasha crackles with unfinished business that builds with exquisite patience and pays off beautifully.
What elevates this book beyond a brilliantly executed romantic comedy is the emotional depth running underneath all the laughter and longing. At its core, this is a story about what we pursue versus what we actually need — about how fear of being truly seen drives us toward the safe illusion of a perfect stranger rather than the terrifying reality of genuine connection. The man in Seat F is not just a plot device; he is a mirror. What Sasha discovers about herself while chasing him is the real love story of this book, and Williams handles that revelation with the lush, layered prose and emotional intelligence that has made her one of the very best writers in this genre.
THE MISSED CONNECTION is funny, sexy, surprising, and deeply satisfying. This is Tia Williams at the absolute top of her considerable game. An enthusiastic and unequivocal A+.
9th June 2026 | romcol@caribsurf.com | romcol1962@gmail.com
