Lonely, and living a life of quiet desperation, expat Tom Halloway meets the woman he’s meant for—only it’s in the wrong circumstances.

 

Stuck “pushing verbs”—teaching English as a foreign language at a second-rate school—and desperate for a change, he grabs at a chance to substitute at a local high school, a job that might become full-time. There’s only one catch: taking the subbing means lying to his current employer, his friend with benefits, and practically everyone he knows.

 

When the woman he meets, Christine, a quick-witted Irish teacher, falls for him as well, romance blossoms—threatened by the fact they’re competing for the same job. 

 

While dealing with clear-eyed Christine, stubborn administrators, wayward students, and a FWB gone mad with jealousy, Tom must also somehow impress the principal of the school enough to land a permanent job.

 

Amid hijinks in the Swiss Alps and misunderstandings among lovers (did I mention a hurricane?) matters come to a head. The result? A richly comic, poignant novel about success and failure, in work and in love.