I Think I Love You by Allison Pearson

When I saw the cover of this book, it instantly brought back memories of my dad teaching us girls to dance.  We had one of those TV's with the record player on top. Memories to cherish.

I grew up watching The Partidge Family and alot of my friends were gaga over David Cassidy.  I wasn't, but my sister was.  So opens up I Think I Love You by Allison Pearson.  Petra is your average thirteen year old girl with a crush on star David Cassidy.  Her mom, a cold woman, doesn't understand, but Petra's friends do.  They find him groovy too. 

Bill is a college grad who gets the unlikely job of ghost-writing responses of David's fan letters.  They get published in the magazine, The Essential David Cassidy Magazine.  Petra falls in love with David after reading the magazine.  There's a contest where the winner gets to meet David, and Petra and her friend immediately enter, hoping beyond hope that they win.  

Enter the second half of the book, where Petra is an adult woman still trying to find her path in life.  Her husband has left her for a younger woman, and her own daughter has her own celebrity crush.  But when she is looking for her mom's things, she finds letter - a letter that her mom had hidden of Petra winning that David Cassidy contest.  Obviously, the contest is years over, but makes a phone call anyway.  This begins the journey of her meeting Bill.  Bill, who answered the fan letters with his own ideas instead of facts, may be a huge disappointment to Petra,who thought herself in love with David.  Did she fall in love with the idea of David or did she fall in love with Bill?  Petra will do her own soul-searching and self-discovery before she can move forward into her future.

I Think I Love You is a coming of age novel and a mid-life crisis novel all in one.  The characters are very believable, warm, humorous and complex.  Pearson has well-researched her novel, and the interview with David Cassidy at the back of the novel pays tribute to that.  You're in for a delectable treat ith I Think I Love You! A very satisfying read.