This Love Story Will Self-Destruct

Cohen’s charming, if uneven, debut finishes strong after a slow start, and will appeal to fans of boy-meets-girl comedic stories in the When Harry Met Sally tradition. As in Ephron’s screenplay, New York is a character in this witty and romantic story, which opens in 2005 and features Eve Porter, a music writer with psychological struggles. She’s in her 20s and never recovered from her father’s abandonment and her mother’s death on 9/11; she overanalyzes everything and constantly waits for the other shoe to drop. Her love interest, Ben, a structural engineer working on the Freedom Tower, may be a bit of an overgrown college boy, but he exudes logical calm. Their paths cross more than once over the years before they finally hook up, and Ben gently nudges them toward becoming a couple, a label Eve wants to avoid. All is adorable until Ben reveals disturbing information he shouldn’t have kept from Eve. Cohen overdoes the zaniness in the early chapters, but the characters come into their own as the story progresses and Eve and Ben get closer. After that, the narrative becomes a living thing, and once a little of Eve’s quirkiness rubs off on Ben, readers will know they can expect a satisfying ending. (Jan.)