by Winona (link)
Genre het, romance
Pairings Isaac/OFC, Taylor/Natalie
Length 13 chapters
Status Completed
Isn’t it a shame when a good fic has a bad title? It’s even worse when the title is totally misleading. Both are the case for When Isaac Met Aria, as they already know each other even in the prologue set years before the main events of the story. When Aria Realized She Was In Love With The Boy She Used To Babysit is a bit too long, I suppose.
After showing Isaac and Aria’s awkward first kiss, Winona skips ahead several years. The two have kept in touch via email, but it’s Taylor and Natalie’s shotgun wedding that really brings them back together. From there, the relationship progresses quickly, with only a few minor dramatic diversions. Not a lot can happen in only thirteen chapters, after all, even if they do cover two years in Isaac and Aria’s lives. I appreciate that Winona spends half the story building up the beginning of the relationship, so that the happy domestic bliss is mostly glossed over. That keeps things from getting too boring, at least.
The title makes a bit more sense at the end, when it becomes obvious (maybe it was to all readers other than me) that it’s a reference to When Harry Met Sally. There’s a smartness and maturity to the references Winona uses in this fic that makes me think she’s definitely as old as the older woman character she’s writing. That’s not a bad thing, though, even if the characters sometimes feel a bit wrong for the age they’re meant to be. Still, Winona’s writing is strong enough that I think she could have sustained a much longer story and I’m a little sad that she didn’t try, whether with When Isaac Met Aria or another fic entirely.
Review by Bethany (website)