You're The One That I Don't Want by Alexandra Potter

Title/Author: You're The One That I Don't Want by Alexandra Potter
Publisher/Publication Date: August 5th 2010 by Hodder & Stoughton
How I got it: I bought it.
Why I read it: I really liked Me and Mr. Darcy and Do You Come Here Often, so I thought this would be a fun read as well.

Lucy and Nate meet in Venice when she's 18 years old. Both following a coarse abroad, they wish the summer would never end because then Lucy will have to go back to England and Nate to the US. A man sitting on the streets tell them the way to guarantee they'll be together forever is to kiss underneath the Bridge of Sighs at sunset when the bells are tolling. Caught up in the moment, they do exactly this and promise to stay in touch. Of course this isn't as easy as it sounds, with long distance phonecalls as the only contact. They break up and Lucy finds out through her sister who's living in New York that he's gotten married to another woman.

10 years later, Lucy still can't get Nate out of her head and her relationships since haven't been very succesful. When she moves to New York, the last thing she expected happens: she bumps into Nate again. They get together again, but find that both are different from the image the other had in his head of them. They break up, but fate throws them together again. And again. And AGAIN.

I really liked the concept of this book: what if you can't get away from someone who isn't the one after all? Lucy and Nate keep getting stuck together in the most unlikely ways, even though they'd rather not see each other again. They even manage to get stuck in the same hotel room with nothing else available. This of course causes trouble with Lucy's new love interest (who is a lovely guy by the way).

Lucy was a likeable main character. She sometimes makes really bad decisions, is clumsy and gets arrested for breaking into a park at night, trying to get rid of Nate by casting a spell and burying his boxershorts (yes, really). All at the advice of Robyn, her roommate, who's a bit different so to speak, but very lovely. I liked that Lucy also shows a more responsible side of herself when her sister needs her.

On the other hand, I really didn't like Nate. The way he's described at the beginning of the book as a fun guy Lucy fell head over heels in love with in Venice is completely different from the way he acts when they meet again. It's like there are two different Nates. He's very anal and doesn't really seem to care about what Lucy does and what her dreams are.
In comes Adam, the moviefan who's incredibly sweet and likes Lucy for herself. He was such a complete contrast to Nate and I really adored him.

Anyway, all in all this was an enjoyable read. Some things were really predictable and I saw the ending coming for miles, but it was a relaxing read, which was just what I needed while being anxious about my test last Friday. If you haven't read anything by her, I'd suggest starting with Me and Mr. Darcy, as I liked that one better (could also be because I'm obsessed with anything Jane Austen related, but still).
My rating: 3 stars.