Published: 4 August 2022

Author: Bethany Clift

Published by: Hodder & Stoughton

Genre: Romance

Length: 480 pages

Reading dates: 31 Jul-3 Aug 2022

A book synopsis is fundamentally ridiculous. How can I possibly convey, in only 100 words, the events of the past year and their impact on my perfectly ordered existence?

It is insufficient space to accurately detail how I was blackmailed into demonstrating my flawless algorithm to find a soulmate, despite having no desire for one.

In my former life I avoided trivial human connections. I was alone, accomplished and brilliant.

Unfortunately, that solitary and driven woman no longer exists.

My name is Indiana Dylan and this is the extraordinary account of how I fell in love.

There: 100 words exactly.

Indiana Dylan is a very clever lady – she owns her own company and has developed her own software, TRU, a data harvesting solution which is able to find your soulmate. Indiana lives alone with her AI Peggy and her robot Spider in an office block in London, follows routines as much as possible and is very clear how she thinks things should be.

Lina Galaz works for JaneDoe, the company that wants to buy Indiana’s software. She is overworked, stressed and not balancing home life very well – her wife and son don’t see her as much as they’d like and all her energy is focused on working hard to keep her job and be promoted.

Jack Hunter also works for JaneDoe – he is handsome and popular but it is all a show. He is coasting at work, still devastated by his wife’s death, and spends his evenings drinking and his weekends sitting by her grave.

Set in 2030, in Love & Other Human Errors we hear from all three characters and I enjoyed each of them equally. Indiana doesn’t want to sell her product to JaneDoe but the CEO essentially blackmails her and as part of the deal, Indiana has to find her soulmate using Tru to prove that it works. She is woefully unprepared for socialising in any way, preferring her relationships to be one night stands, but having no choice, she finds her soulmate and embarks on a series of dates with a man called Daniel that her programme has matched her with.

I loved Clift’s debut, Last One at the Party and it made my top 10 of 2021 and I loved Love & Other Human Errors equally as much! As well as the 3 main characters I loved the supporting cast – Peggy especially was brilliant. Despite being an AI, they are able to teach Indiana how to act in social situations, they care about a homeless man who lives outside her building and even develop a sense of humour. I also liked the glimpse into the near future that Clift imagines – a London where no one owns their own car and where coffee shops run by robots never get your order wrong!

Clift writes with humour and emotion and this is a fantastic rom-com which is just a bit different. A very talented writer who has a brilliant imagination, I think this will be the 2nd year in a row this author’s book makes it into my top 10 of the year!

Thank you to Steven Cooper for inviting me on the blog tour and for my copy of the book. Please check out the other blogger reviews below:

About the author

Bethany Clift is a graduate of the Northern Film School and the director of her own production company, Saber Productions. Her debut novel, Last One at the Party, was published in 2021 and the television rights have been optioned by Scott Free Films.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Beth_Clift