Synopsis – To Feel Like This Again
Nicholas Thomas is young and handsome and he’s moving up the corporate ladder at State Foods. He’s also a womanizer. When his crush, Lisa Davis, the CEO of State Foods visits Jamaica for a conference, Nick is determined to get her, despite their age difference.
Lisa is smart and successful. As CEO, she’s at the top of her game, having made her mark in the corporate world, but Lisa is in a dead-end marriage and longs for more.
At the conference Lisa meets Nick, whose boldness intrigues her and so she accepts his invitation to tour a coffee farm in the Blue Mountains. What begins as a weekend fling becomes much more.
Things get complicated when Nick meets Emily, the daughter of Lisa’s best friend. Emily is not only beautiful, she’s also smart; a quality that Nick admires. The chemistry between them is undeniable. Nick is drawn to both Lisa, his crush, whom he looks up to and Emily with whom he feels a deep connection — but he can’t have them both.
Faced with this dilemma, Nick is forced to choose, but at great cost.
Author Bio
Christopher Lai has worked extensively in the food industry, the banking industry and as an economist. Outside of his career, he’s into coaching football at his club, which he represented as a player, teaching math at his alma mater and working with the Down Syndrome Foundation. He can be contacted at chris.paul.lai@gmail.com.
Author Q&A
How did you get into writing?
Growing up, you’d never find me reading a book, let alone writing a story (or even a poem). In fact, I shied away from the arts and opted not do literature past the 9th grade. But I’ve always liked to be creative, so I found ways to express myself.
Around 2009, I wrote (and shared) a personal piece with a close friend. She absolutely loved it but did not believe I had authored it. Embarrassingly, I spent a long time trying to convince her that it was my work, but she remained sceptical (likely till this day, as we eventually lost touch). Her disbelief frustrated me because we were more than just friends, and while we always kept our feelings ziplocked (because she migrated) … we still had that connection. And still, she did not believe me.
Eventually I got over it. Then it dawned on me one day that I might actually be a decent writer. So I started a blog in the summer of 2010, covering random topics.
Fast-forward to 2013. I published a book designed to help men respectfully approach women in various scenarios. Then, launched an offshoot blog which essentially built on the foundation of the book and covered most aspects of relationships. Not long after, I was given the opportunity to contribute relationship articles to HuffPost, Thought Catalog and the two major newspapers in Jamaica.
Where did the idea for this book come from?
As women are becoming more prominent in society and getting more visible opportunities, I strongly believe that we are on the verge of seeing a notable rise in reverse age-gap relationships. In fact, if you just look around, you’ll see mainstream media finally recognizing the allure of beautiful older women — from producing movies like Lonely Planet to selecting Salma Hayek Pinault for the cover of the 2025 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit.
So, I wanted to get ahead of the proverbial curve and project the dynamics of what relationships between older women and younger men will look like ten years from now.
Do you have plans for other books?
Yes, I definitely do. It was always my intention to publish a sequel to To Feel Like This Again. And based on feedback (and requests) from readers, a prequel is definitely in the making.
I’m also keen on producing a sports romance story, centred around a football (soccer) club. Spoiler: a female coach becomes the first woman to manage an English premier league team.
I’m currently in the process of doing “research”, before I move full speed ahead.
In keeping with modern books, I write in the first person, present tense, and alternate perspectives. So, I have to spend an incredible amount of time learning how to write from the perspective of women (especially since my main female characters are from a different country). This includes watching romantic movies (and even chick flicks), with my eyes glued to the captions to understand everything; from their everyday language to their mannerisms.
At the end of the day, most romance readers are females… so I can’t skip a beat.
My Review
To Feel Like This Again by Christopher Lai
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Very Cute story
I enjoyed this cute story. As a Jamaican I appreciated the Jamaican elements to the story and the way the culture was positively represented.
The story was told in alternating points of view. The MMC grew on me. I did not like him at first. Some of the behaviors were a bit unbelievable but once you put that aside it was a quick, interesting read.
I’m glad I picked up this story. This is Christopher Lai’s debut novel. I look forward to reading more of his work.
3.5 stars
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