I originally picked up Kerry Winfrey’s romantic comedy, Waiting for Tom Hanks, just because of the premise. Then, when I started to read it and discovered it took place in German Village in Columbus, Ohio, I was completely sold. One of the scenes takes place in the Book Loft, the wonderful independent bookstore there. I know that has nothing to do with why others might appreciate the book, but it was one of my favorite scenes.

Annie Cassidy is writing a screenplay, and dreaming of her life as a romantic comedy. She hangs out at Nick’s, a coffee shop in German Village where her best friend, Chloe, works and argues with her boss, Nick. In fact, Annie doesn’t tell Chloe, but her rom-com is based on Chloe and Nick. Now, if only Annie could find the hero of her own life, someone like Tom Hanks from some of her favorite movies. Those movies that she shared with her mother before her death signify hope for her own future, and the love her parents had.

Annie doesn’t necessarily have the perfect set-up for romance. After her mother’s death, Annie’s Uncle Don moved in to take care of her. She’s devoted to him. He loves her unconditionally, works, cooks for her, and, once a week has fellow geeks over for a hot game of Dungeons & Dragons. Uncle Don has a few surprises for her, though. When he learns Tommy Crisante is filming a romantic comedy right there in German Village, he announces Tommy was his college roommate at Ohio State, and, with one phone call, he gets Annie a job on the set as Tommy’s assistant.

It’s too bad Uncle Don can’t get Annie a do-over on the set, though. The first time she runs over to see the area where they’re filming, she whips around and spills coffee all over Drew Danforth, the star of the movie. While Chloe insists it’s a “meet-cute” and Drew and Annie will fall for each other, Annie is angry. Once she’s working, Drew calls her Coffee Girl. And, he saw her in Nick’s with a disastrous blind date. Annie knows the actor known as a prankster has no hidden depths, and he definitely isn’t her Tom Hanks.

I loved the setting of the book. I had problems with Annie, who definitely has issues, and she sees problems where there aren’t any. Let’s face it. She is a lonely young woman who is basing her whole idea of love on romantic comedies. In a passionate outburst at Nick’s, she tells Drew why she loves them. “It’s the hope that you deserve happiness and that you won’t be sad forever, and that things will get better. It’s hope that life doesn’t always have to be a miserable slog, that you can find someone to love who understands you and accepts you just as you are.”

Annie Cassidy just has to get past her “misreading the signs”. Once the reader accepts that Annie is afraid, something her best friend, Chloe, sees, it’s easier to like Annie. Waiting for Tom Hanks has a wonderful cast of characters, including Drew, Chloe, Nick, and Uncle Don. Even some of the characters at Nick’s are fun characters. And, the scene in the Book Loft is perfect for anyone who has been there.

Waiting for Tom Hanks is just what a romantic comedy should be with an interesting setting, a likable cast, and a lot of misunderstandings.

Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey. Jove, 2019. ISBN 9781984804020 (paperback), 274p.

*****
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