The Casanova

This contemporary romance novel follows the enemies-to-lovers relationship between Elliot Miles, CEO of Miles Media's UK office, and Kathryn "Kate" Landon, the head of the company's IT management team.

The novel opens by establishing the combative dynamic between Elliot and Kate, who have clashed for seven years at the London office, with Elliot's brother and colleague Christopher regularly intervening in their fights. Outside work, Kate shares an apartment with her friend Rebecca and a new flatmate, Daniel, a fashion graduate who becomes her closest confidant and begins styling her wardrobe. One evening, Daniel and Rebecca create a dating app profile for Kate under the fake name "Pinkie Leroo," which Kate deliberately sabotages with absurd details, an ugly cat photo, and a riddle, expecting no responses.

Elliot's attraction to Kate ignites unexpectedly when he spots her dancing on the office security cameras. He is also an obsessive art collector who owns 27 of 30 publicly circulated paintings by a reclusive artist named Harriet Boucher, whose identity no one knows, and has hired a private investigator to find her. On the dating app, a user named Edgar Moffatt, whose profile lists his profession as "Garbologist / dick fondler" (51), a garbologist being a garbage collector, correctly answers Pinkie's riddle and sends a witty message. Kate is charmed.

Elliot begins behaving differently toward Kate, visiting her office for the first time in seven years and asking her to use his first name. Daniel styles Kate in a gold gown for a charity gala, where Elliot stares at her all night, and their physical tension builds through encounters in the office gym sauna and at a nightclub, where they share a passionate first kiss. The key revelation comes when Kate takes painkillers for her endometriosis, a condition causing severe menstrual pain, and passes out on her office floor. Elliot sees her on the security camera, rushes to her aid, and drives her home. That night, Edgar messages Pinkie about finding a coworker unconscious and names her as Kate Landon, admitting he has "a bit of a crush on her" (99). Kate realizes Edgar is Elliot. She keeps this secret, using their online friendship to gain insight into his inner world. As Edgar, he confides that his attraction to Kate is purely physical and that he is searching for someone "extraordinary" (103), a woman he will recognize through love at first sight. Kate sadly concludes she is not that woman.

Elliot proposes an exclusive, no-strings sexual arrangement. Kate resists at first, torn between the risk of heartbreak and the desire to feel alive again after years of emotional numbness following her parents' deaths in a car accident. On the night of the office Christmas party, Elliot arrives at Kate's house, and they have their first honest conversation: He explains that media scrutiny destroys public relationships, and Kate asks him to take things slow. They agree to be exclusive.

Over Christmas, their connection deepens. Kate's holiday is marred when her sister Elanor reveals she cleared out their deceased parents' house and donated nearly everything to charity to sell the property, devastating Kate and her brother Brad. Elliot returns to London early, and their first date at a private Italian restaurant launches an intense sexual relationship. He spontaneously takes Kate on a week-long vacation to the Canary Islands so they can be together openly. In a pivotal gesture, Elliot buys Kate Cornetto ice creams, the treat she shared with her late father on special occasions, and Kate weeps at his thoughtfulness. She internally acknowledges she is "utterly and irrevocably in love with him" (346).

Back in London, Elliot, frightened by how attached he has become, reverts to cold behavior at work. A tabloid photograph of him with another woman infuriates Kate. As Edgar, however, he confides to Pinkie that he pushed Kate away out of fear, and her hope revives. After a confrontation at an art auction, Kate tells Elliot she wants to give them a real chance. He brings her to Enchanted, his newly purchased country estate, which comes with a menagerie of animals including aggressive ducks, a goat named Billy, and a violent ram named Humphrey. Elliot arranges for female goats to be brought so Billy can choose a mate, a gesture of compassion that deepens Kate's feelings.

Elliot takes Kate to New York for his birthday, where his family catches them in a mortifying state of undress. His mother, Elizabeth, takes Kate to lunch and reveals Kate is the first woman Elliot has ever brought home. Kate gifts Elliot a framed photograph with "I love you. Always, Kate" written on the back (475).

The central crisis arrives when Elliot's private investigator reports that Harriet Boucher is a young, beautiful woman, the same mysterious figure Elliot has noticed at art auctions for years. A meeting is arranged in Paris. Elliot agonizes: He loves Kate, but he has long believed this artist represents his destiny. He confides to Pinkie that his "fate has come to find me when I've finally found someone who makes me happy" (402). Kate, trapped by her secret identity, advises him to follow his heart, effectively telling him to go. They share a final tender night before Elliot leaves for France.

In France, Elliot meets the artist but feels nothing. She is not Kate. He leaves the next morning, though he takes time alone to process his feelings. Kate, enduring days of silence, resigns from Miles Media. When tabloids fabricate a love triangle involving Kate, Elliot, and Daniel, photographers besiege her apartment. Elliot sends security to extract her, but Kate has secretly booked a flight to Oahu, Hawaii. She slips out during the night, and Elliot arrives at the airport seconds too late.

Over two months in Hawaii, Kate rebuilds herself. She waitresses at a local restaurant, practices yoga, and begins painting for the first time since her teenage years. Elliot writes daily letters addressed to "Pinkie Leroo" from "Edgar Moffatt, Garbologist Extraordinaire, Enchanted Kingdom," each in a red envelope with a tiny bottle of his aftershave. Kate reads every letter but does not respond.

The final revelation comes when Elliot visits Brad and recognizes Kate's sister Elanor in a family photograph as the woman he met in France. Kate confirms the paintings are her old teenage works, which she assumed Elanor donated to charity. Elanor had been secretly selling Kate's paintings under a false name, making millions, and cleared out the parents' house to destroy evidence of her fraud. Elliot realizes his artistic obsession was always a connection to Kate.

Elliot flies to Hawaii and reveals the truth. Kate shows him a painting she has been working on, Forever Enchanted, depicting them in an embrace. Overwhelmed, Elliot proposes, and Kate says yes. Back in London, Kate visits Elanor in prison, where Elanor reveals she always felt Kate was the favored child. Kate promises to get her sister help. Elliot and Kate marry on the grounds of Enchanted Estate before 50 close friends and family. In his toast, Elliot says the paintings and fate brought him to Kate, but "waking up next to you every day . . . is the reason I am here" (498). The reception ends in comic chaos when the gate to Humphrey the ram's paddock is opened, sending the animal charging through the wedding party.