The Name Game
Author: Beth O’Leary
Reviewer: Jen
Rating: A
What I’m Talking About:
Charlie Jones (female, Charlie) and Charlie Jones (male, Jones) both plan to start a new life on the remote island of Ormer by accepting a job to run the local farm shop. When both show up with the same letter of job offer in hand, the farm owners decide to let them share the job and accommodations until the fall harvest festival. Is it a clerical error or is there an imposter?
The Name Game is a lovely, slow-burn romance, featuring two desperate people who get a second chance at life and love. The story is told in four different POVs; two are in first person with Charlie writing events in her diary and Jones sending details of this days via emails to himself. Then there are flash backs shared in third person POVs of Charlie and Jones, outlining the events that lead each to the island.
Charlie is determined to make everything okay by forcing herself to be happy all of the time. She wants everyone to like her and is feeling a bit out of control. She also is hiding a secret: she plans to become a single mum via fertility appointments and a sperm donor. Jones is a recovering alcoholic, with his first day of sobriety the day he shows up for the job. Each is a bit suspicious of and yet utterly attracted to the other, and then one night after being stuck in a rainstorm, the pair becomes friends.
The story is filled with quirky island residents who, for better or worse, force Charlie and Jones to evaluate their lives. Several are misfits themselves who welcome broken souls, while others are suspicious and hesitant to make changes. The supporting characters challenge both Charlie and Jones, and at times, gives them a common problem which brings them together.
I was completely drawn into the story and the simmering romance. The author is able to convey emotions so poignantly. Charlie’s anxiety is tangible. Jones’ fears of backsliding are real. Their budding romance is tender and fragile. I loved watching Charlie and Jones learn about themselves and heal. I loved how both grow both externally as residents and internally with their own issues. The slow reveal of their pasts and the tangled mess they find themselves is absolutely riveting. And O’Leary packs a doozy of a punch about three-quarters into the story.
The Name Game is a treasure. Charlie and Jones realize that life is big and scary, but there is hope and love.
My Rating: A Loved It
Jen
About the Book:
Charlie couldn’t be happier to take the job of farm-shop manager on the remote, wild Isle of Ormer. She’s grieving, a little lost, and in desperate need of a fresh start.
Jones has come out of a difficult breakup and is looking forward to some peace away from the noise of his city life. Moving to Ormer couldn’t have come at a better time.
But when Charlie Jones and, ahem, Charlie Jones both turn up at Ormer’s one and only farm shop, claiming to have been offered the role of manager, everyone is baffled. How could this have happened? And just who is the real Charlie Jones?
Release Date: April 7, 2026
Publisher: Berkley
Series: Standalone
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format(s): paperback (384 pages), e-book, audiobook
Book Source: Publisher/ NetGalley
#RRBC: Small Town romance