Written by Frances Sims-Williams

London on My Mind — by Clara Alves

Originally published in 2022 as Romance Real; translated from Brazilian Portuguese to English by Nina Perotta in 2024.

After her mother’s sudden death, sixteen-year-old Dayana leaves Rio de Janeiro for London, a place she’s always longed to go to… but not like this! Not alone, not forever, and certainly not to live with the father that abandoned her more than half her life ago – however much he and his replacement family want to make her welcome. But her outlook changes when, out walking one day (One Direction filling her ears), she encounters a mysterious girl mid-escape from Buckingham Palace, and an unlikely friendship – and romance not that long after – blooms.

Part romance & part family drama, with compelling characters all around, and a fun mixed-media element in the form of royal-gossip news reports, London on My Mind was such a fun read! Dayana and Diana’s relationship was really cute, and the progression from friendship to romance, though quick, felt very natural to me, and will definitely appeal to those who prefer a romance with less angst and pining. Where this book really shines, however, is in its portrayal of family: Dayana’s love – and grief – for her mother is palpable throughout the novel, and only exacerbated by being in the city that they had always wanted to visit together; and I loved the complicated relationship she had with her step-mother and step-sister, and how her determination to dislike them slowly broke down into genuine friendship as she really got to know them. I did find the beginning of the book a little difficult to get into, partly because it was a little too sweet and drama-free for my taste, and partly because Dayana’s hostility towards her father’s family (though understandable) made her a little unlikable. But she grew on me quickly, and it wasn’t long before I was invested in all the characters – even the most minor ones, like Dayana’s best friends back in Brazil.

Another thing I appreciated about this book was the body positivity; Dayana is plus-sized and completely comfortable in her body, and there’s barely a glimpse of fatphobia to be seen (except very briefly, from her clearly toxic ex-boyfriend). Likewise, none of the conflict in this book is about homophobia, which I found very refreshing. Even the press seemed to be supportive! And of course there was the mystery of the events leading up to Dayana’s mother’s death, which was unravelled slowly in the form of flashbacks as Dayana processed her grief and misplaced guilt, and hit incredibly hard once everything was finally revealed.

I do have a couple of criticisms, however. The version of the British royal family in this book is entirely fictional, and mostly just on the periphery of the plot, but also very romanticised. Your milage on this issue will vary depending on how you feel about the monarchy & how easily you’re able to separate this fictional monarchy from the real one, but it left a slight bad taste in my mouth. I also thought some of the names were a little unfortunate: Dayana/Diana was obviously a deliberate choice (it took me an embarrassingly long time to realise that they were pronounced the same), but left me wondering how easily audiobook-readers would be able to follow – especially with a third Diana (the Queen)! And although I can see that Alves was trying to use traditional royal names for her fictional royal family, I wish she’d named the queer icon Crown Prince Andrew anything else, even though he is clearly not supposed to bear any resemblance to the real Prince Andrew… Thankfully he’s not a character that’s mentioned much.

In short: London on My Mind is an incredibly cute romance, with a heartfelt exploration of grief and reconciliation, and becoming part of a new family. At times it was a little too saccharine for my personal taste, but I would highly recommend it to royal romance lovers, and readers looking for a low-drama sapphic story, and a very strong storyline outside the romance.

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You can buy a copy of London on My Mind here or find it in a library here. (Book purchases made via our affiliate link may earn GLLI a small commission.)

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Further Reading / Recommended for fans of:

 Gwen & Art Are Not in Love (2023) by Lex Croucher (and probably also their most recent book, Not for the Faint of Heart (2024))

Heartstopper (2018) and I Was Born for This (2018) by Alice Oseman

XOXO (2021) by Axie Oh

Geekerella (2017) by Ashley Poston

My Mechanical Romance (2022) by Alexene Farol Follmuth

& for older readers (18+):

 Red, White & Royal Blue (2019) by Casey McQuiston (of course)

Infamous (2022) and Trouble (2023) by Lex Croucher (again)

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Frances Sims-Williams is a bookseller, a small-time bookstagrammer, and a great lover of books – particularly of the fantastical variety. She has an undergraduate degree in Classical Studies from the University of Wales, Lampeter, and a postgraduate diploma in the same subject from the University of St. Andrews, where the focus of her studies was on Classical languages and literature. A member of the 2025 GLLI Translated YA Book Prize committee, she can most often be found on Instagram (@nightjarreads), where she likes to chat about all the books she’s reading (or planning to read), and leaves the occasional review.

Katie Day is an international school teacher-librarian in Singapore and has been an American expatriate for almost 40 years (most of those in Asia). She is currently the chair of the 2025 GLLI Translated YA Book Prize and co-chair of the Neev Book Award in India, as well as heavily involved with the Singapore Red Dot Book Awards. Katie was the guest curator on the GLLI blog for the UN #SDGLitMonth in March 2021 and guest co-curator for #IndiaKidLitMonth in September 2022.