Naturally, Charlie

In a city as big as Manhattan, is it possible to meet your soul mate? When boy meets girl, or even girl meets boy, is it destiny for them to forge a relationship together, of any kind? Is it simply possible that someone is there to enter one’s life for a moment, serve their purpose and then move on? In S.L. Scott’s premier novel, Naturally, Charlie we are led down the path of those very questions.

The two main characters, twenty something auction house agent, Charlie Barrow and freelance writer, Charlie Adams are both searching for something in their lives. A chance encounter, several actually, have thrown these two together, building a connection that becomes instrumental to both of them in finding those very answers; ultimately though, will they end up on the path of life together?

Barrow, recovering from a recent loss and reeling from its consequences, is trying to find the girl she knows she was, but she isn’t certain she can be again. Fate has handed her a direction in life that she didn’t choose and isn’t sure of how to move on from. She has chosen to hide from her past, and its consequence may be that she avoids her future. Adams, having given up and given away relationships from his past, is also struggling to find his future, but does that future include Charlie Barrow?

I was quickly drawn in-to the story as the writing and the characters had this reader laughing and crying throughout. Although both main characters share the same name, the author has done a fantastic job of never confusing the reader. Alternating the narrators captured my attention as we slowly learn just how intertwined their pasts were, how important their present is and how solid their futures can be.

With the secondary cast of characters as interesting as the main two, Scott has woven these spectators into the story in an endearing way. Barrow’s best friend and co-worker, Rachel, portrays the typical woman of this century, trying to find her way through the dating world, holding onto her “virtue” while enjoying herself in her quest.


“Oh, no. They have to wait until the third date.”

“The third? I thought it was the second?”

“Oh my, no! That was so one month ago. I tried the fourth date after that, but I lost their interest and they would all move on. So, I deducted through my research that the third date is the magic number. Four’s too long, and two dates is too soon to be a serious contender for marriage.”

I smile at her logic and can appreciate the effort involved to get to this point. “Great! That sounds like a good plan.”

I like her persistence, even though her assumption that all men think the same is a little off base. She hasn’t factored that into her calculations.

For the lover of romance, for the lover of interesting and charismatic characters, and for the lover of someone who wants to read a tale where the twists and turns will lead you through a timely story of finding yourself again, I highly recommend “Naturally, Charlie”.

A love story of friendship and trust, truth and faith, interspersed between funerals and fun, this reader thoroughly enjoyed Scott’s first and hopefully not last novel.

Written by Cejsmom on www.southernfictionreview.com

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Naturally, Charlie, at its core, is a romantic comedy. It has the humorous vibe from the very first word and retains it all the way through the book. A lot of novels in this genre lose steam in the middle or toward the end, the comedy fizzling as the romance takes center stage, but NC doesn’t fall into this trap. Their love story was beautiful, but it didn't change the dynamic. It was easy to tell SL Scott knows her characters well, because she never lets them become someone they aren’t.

Charlotte “Charlie” Barrow, Chicago girl now living in New York, is struggling to pull herself together from total heartbreak. Her life feels to her like one horrible mishap after another, anything that can go wrong going wrong (imagine those cartoons where it’s a beautiful day outside but there’s that one character with the rain cloud hovering above them, following their every move… that would be Charlie Barrow). I sympathized with the girl from the very beginning, hoping she’d finally catch a break.

Charles “Charlie” Adams V, the son of a wealthy Manhattan family, is trying to distance himself from the high society he grew up around. He’s practically shunned by his parents because of his choices in life and makes it on his own as a freelance writer. For being a former “rich kid”, he’s extremely gracious and humble, so much so that his politeness is one of the things the heroine notices first.

The two Charlies start off with a series of chance encounters mixed with some unfortunate circumstances before they start seeking each other out on purpose. “Friends,” they say. “Platonic.” But we know that after sharing a steaming night together, there’s no turning back for either (even if they try to deny it).

The book is easy to read, the pages flying by at an alarming rate the deeper you get into the story (and by alarming, I mean “OMG NO I can’t be almost done, I need more, more, more!"). SL Scott’s writing is fluid, the dialogue and banter between the characters believable and charming, and not once did the humor feel forced. There was never a single moment where I felt it got cheesy or that it made me roll my eyes from overkill. It was just… natural. Every word, every page, every action. Completely natural. They felt like real people, every single one of them.

There were moments, when reading, that vaguely familiar feelings stirred in me, and I couldn’t stop grinning like an idiot. I realized about halfway through that it was because it reminded me of my favorite movies. It was Serendipitous, When Harry Met Sally and Bridget Jones Diary-ish, The Prince and Me and A Lot Like Love-esque. It has the same elements as those movies do, igniting the same hopeful romantic side of me that yearned to live vicariously through the characters in their journey through love. Naturally, Charlie has the makings of an epic romantic comedy. We just need to find a role for Hugh Grant to play ;)

I give it a straight five stars. I leaned toward 4.5 a few times, because there were some moments where it had me really wanting to yell at someone for their reactions (mainly the females in the story… Rachel made my head spin once and Charlie Barrow is an extremely stubborn ass woman) but at the end of the day, it only added to the story in a positive way.

I highly recommend Naturally, Charlie and hope you love the charming Mr. Adams as much as I do. Review from J.M Darhower - author of Sempre