This is the latest novel from Alexandria Bellefleur, a bestselling and award-winning author of swoony contemporary romance, often featuring loveable grumps and the sunshine characters who bring them to their knees. Her debut novel, Written in the Stars, was a 2021 Lambda Literary Award winner.
Bestselling romance novelist Truly Livingston is an apparent expert on happily-ever-afters. She’s even signed on to record a podcast sharing relationship advice. But when she catches her fiancé cheating on her and her parents announce they are separating, she begins to feel like an imposter, and her world is turned upside down. She hopes the podcast will distract her until she meets her co-host, Colin McRory. In her first episode, she and Colin get into a heated argument about his view of love. Despite Truly’s immediate attraction for him, she has no desire to bicker with a cynical divorce lawyer about relationship advice. So she walks out, with no plans to return.
When Colin tracks her down a few days later to apologize and asks for a fresh start, Truly is caught off guard. She can’t deny the little thrill she gets from Colin’s begging, so she reluctantly agrees. As they begin to spend more time together, their relationship shifts from enemies to friends. Truly discovers they have more in common than she ever imagined, including their shared bisexuality. When their attraction reaches a fever pitch and they become intimate, Truly is happy for the first time in years. At the same time, she desperately wants to keep her parents together and concocts a plan to bring them together. But the more she tries to force things with her parents, the more everything backfires, including her relationship with Colin.
This is an entertaining contemporary romance with well-developed, interesting characters. The story covers several meaningful topics, including infidelity, second chances, and queerness. The enemies-to-lovers trope is strongly defined in this book. Although there is a strong physical chemistry between Truly and Colin from the onset, their relationship evolves slowly in the novel. It shifts from enemies to a solid friendship, and then it reaches a boiling point and becomes intimate. It should be noted that there are several spicy scenes in the book, and some are quite lengthy. After Truly and Colin establish a sexual relationship, the story becomes somewhat sacrificed, as there are no major conflicts between them until Truly gets Colin involved in her scheme to get her parents back together. Even this conflict is easily overcome. Where this book does excel is in its dialogue. There is an abundance of meaningful and captivating banter between the characters, and most of them show genuine respect for each other.
Narrator Lauren Sweet does an exceptional job bringing all of the characters to life, especially Truly, using an exuberant, sarcastic tone. Despite some shortcomings in major plot points, Sweet keeps listeners fully engaged by elevating the story with plenty of expression and emotion. Overall, this book will please readers or listeners who enjoy spicy contemporary romances with appealing characters and a straightforward storyline.
