I always enjoy good suspense thrillers and historical fiction. When these are blended together, and with a love story thrown in, what more could I have hoped for? Come November is one such novel that delivers all these and more. It’s a fascinating story of two young reporters who were given the rare opportunity to witness history in the making in 1947: the UN vote to create the State of Israel. They found more than that as they got themselves unwittingly sucked into a deadly plot of assassination that would have swung the outcome of the vote had it succeeded. Jeanne and John, the novel’s main characters, managed to foil the plot in the nick of time.
The novel is written with two timelines. The first took place in 1947 when Jeanne and John first met as they set out to cover the events at the United Nations. They fell in love but their romance was short-lived. After the events concluded their lives took on different paths: John took on a new job that required him to stay in Europe and Jeanne, a graduating high school student, entered college.
The second timeline takes place in the 21st century, 2003 to be exact. At 72, Jeanne has grown a bit weary of life itself. She still misses her husband who died a year ago and now she has what is potentially a life-threatening health issue. But life must go on as she continues with her teaching and writing activities. In the midst of these, she is shocked to receive an email from John, her ex-lover, asking that she visits him in Italy. The visit is to discuss a memoir he’s going to write about their shared experiences in New York in 1947.
Reading John’s email raises questions in her mind. Is John trying to rekindle the love they once had? Isn’t she too old for second-chance love? What if John has other motives? She can’t decide if she wants to meet John again after what happened in the past between her and John in 1947. After some persuasion from her daughter she relents and embarks on a journey that finally provides the answers to all the questions that had been nagging her for over 50 years.
Scott Lord’s splendidly crafted story, inspired by real events and his mother’s work as a reporter, is heart-warming. He makes a good case for the idea that second-chance love is possible if both parties are determined to give it a try. There are some cliff-hanger events and misunderstandings that threaten their attempts to patch things up. That’s what kept me reading on in order to discover what would happen next. This is a love story like no others that I’ve read thus far. I really love it.
I received the ARC for free from Booksirens and I’m leaving this review voluntarily.
Book Information:
Title: Come November
Author: Scott Lord
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group
Publication Date: 18 July 2023
Genres: Historical Thriller, Romance, Fiction
My Rating: 5 Stars
Passion For Books 
interesting read