Review - - The Bodyguard Affair

The Bodyguard Affair

by Amy Lea

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: December 2, 2025

Reviewed by Hellie

 

Andi Zeigler lives a double life. By day, she’s the no-nonsense, steadfast personal assistant to the Prime Minister of Canada’s wife. By night, she slips out of her heels and writes romance novels under a top-secret pen name. But when her steamiest book, The Prime Minister & Me, unexpectedly becomes a bestseller, rumors of a real-life affair between her and the PM start swirling out of control.

Enter Nolan Crosby, the PM’s new close protection officer (aka bodyguard) – and Andi’s failed one-night stand from three years ago. Nolan’s in town very temporarily to care for his mother, who’s battling early-onset Alzheimer’s. But when the scandal erupts, Andi ropes him into a fake-dating plan.

As loyal employees, they’ll pretend to date for the summer, just long enough to put the scandal to bed and save their boss’s reputation. In an unexpected plot twist, Andi and Nolan discover that keeping their romance strictly fictional might be easier said than done.

Hellie’s Heeds

Thank Goodness for Winter break because this was just the book I needed for my travels and it was all the things I adore about a “vacation book.” The book goes back and forth between the two main characters (in a first person writing, which allows a deeper POV for readers to connect to the characters immediately.) Rom com humor can be a bit subjective for readers, but I adore Amy Lea’s style of absurd humor (the “meet cute” happens when the hero walks into the bathroom stall as the heroine is using it) is blended with real emotional pulls as the heroine is dealing with a breakup, only to learn her best friend now wants to date her ex. And in fact, the ex had wanted to date her friend the whole time–their relationship had been a mistake. Seriously, dude? I just…related with this heroine so hard with her need to keep this friendship and to put aside her needs and reactions in order to please everyone else. But her character arc isn’t even the bigger one! The hero’s struggle with his complicated relationship with his mother and her new diagnosis of Alzheimer's just kicks the reader in the chest as you wonder how is this author going to make a positive resolution to this story.

Amy Lea does what I feel is an awesome thing with her “one night stand” scene. (I feel having sex so early in the story can deaden the sexual tension, which is why I love to read romance, so it can be a chancy thing to have the sex too early in my opinion.) It’s a one-night stand that doesn’t connect at a physical level, but instead connects at the emotional level, providing each character with something they need at this point of their lives before they part ways in the morning. Therefore when they meet again a few years later, the heroine, Andi, has been outed as a romance author who wrote a book called The Prime Minister & Me, when she is an assistant to the Prime Minister’s wife–and it seems the obvious choice she forges a fake dating relationship with her former one-night stand, now the PM’s bodyguard, to deflect the scandal. 

Their “summer of love” is filled with the easy connection they had experienced when they met three years ago and it deepens into an even better friendship, but also, oh, the sexual tension! Neither seems to want to ruin things with sex, especially Nolan, who knows he’s leaving at the end of summer. However, they finally come to their senses–and oh, the scenes are steamy. So worth the wait. Even better, the heroine starts writing again–and with the new popularity of her scandal-producing book–this couldn’t be timelier. The character arc for Andi had exactly the elements needed to make her the more confident, “I’m worthy” character in the end, but it was Nolan’s arc that broke me. Oh my God, the dog, people. You have to read this book for the dog. 

I kept reading scenes and dialogue to my husband–and would say, “Does this sound familiar?” because the heroine honestly felt like my doppleganger. Then I would read scenes with the hero, and my husband would sniffle (he’s a notorious Disney crier) and I would be like, “I know! Right?” This book is on my top 5 books I’ve read this year (2025). All the feels. If you haven’t put it in your TBR pile yet, do so. Top Dish all across the board. 

Review - - Her Time Traveling Duke

Her Time Traveling Duke

by Bryn Donovan

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: December 9, 2025

Reviewed by Hellie

Rose Novak, a free-spirited museum employee who dabbles in magic, has had her share of disappointments. So when she tries a little spell for a romance with an “old-fashioned gentleman,” she doesn’t really expect it to work…especially literally. And yet, the duke from a painting she admired at the museum is now standing in her apartment, demanding to know who abducted him.

A man of science and truth, Henry Leighton-Lyons, the Duke of Beresford, has searched tirelessly for a way to turn back time and be with his late wife again. Instead, just as he’s about to pose for his portrait, he’s ripped centuries forward by a feckless, scantily dressed—and utterly bewitching—woman who believes in nonsense like magical crystals and astrology.

Unable to immediately reverse her spell, Rose vows to help Henry return to his own century, even though disguises and high jinks are required to get their hands on an enchanted astrolabe and master the art of time travel. But it’s hard not to fall for the irritable yet honorable duke.

Little does she know that he’s starting to wonder: did a reckless love spell get it right, after all?

Hellie’s Heeds:

I snatched up this frothy feel-good book after having had the opportunity to read Donovan’s debut, Her Knight at the Museum (November 2024), and it did not disappoint. For fans who loved the swoony rom-com, Kate & Leopold, as well as for those of us who wish we could bring the real Mr. Darcy into the modern-era to bypass all those Tinder ads–this is wish-fulfillment at its finest. 

Tropes: Grumpy and Sunshine, also Mr. Rational Science Guy with Miss “I Perform Magic in my Nightie while Sipping Chardonnay" and a little Marvel Universe hilarity with a secondary character named Jason, who I would love to know more about in future books–and I hope there is more time-traveling books to come–or even a time-traveling damsel for Jason–that’d be fun. If you read the first book, you get to meet up with some beloved characters there as well, but you don’t need to have read the first one to enjoy this one. (There are other secondary characters that I wouldn’t mind learning more about–but Jason really stands out.) 

I have to hand it to Ms. Donovan–she had me scared. There was a Black Moment where the hero really futzed it up and I thought, “Oh, my girlfriend is not going to get over this! What was he doing?” But fortunately–ruining it for all of you–they work it out. You’ll have to read it to see how though. 

I took this book with me on a trip–and I was supposed to go and look at art museums and eat out in a big city–and I refused to leave my hotel room so I could keep reading it. It makes you forget whatever is happening outside of you–which is the best recommendation I can have about a book. My husband would return from work and I’d be like, “Listen, listen, I’m going to let you talk about your terrible day, but isn’t this the funniest thing you ever heard?” and would read a scene to him. And it did make his day a little better. And I had the best vacation, staying in the hotel, in bed with this delicious novel. (I also recommend a chocolate bar–that also upped the experience too.)

I’m recommending this to all my rom-com readers this holiday season. Please rush out and put it on your last minute stocking stuffer because once the presents have been torn through, you deserve a little me-time to dream about stuffy dukes from England and modern day wallflowers who deserve a happily ever after.

Review - - Accidentally Amy

Accidentally Amy

by Lynn Painter

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: January 14, 2025

Reviewed by Hellie

Isabella Shay is usually a very honest person. But when she’s running late for her first day at her dream job and the barista yells for “Amy” three times with no answer, she does the unthinkable.

Izzy takes that PSL.

It’s the exact drink she ordered and paid for, only way further ahead in the queue—and she’ll take whatever bad karma is coming for her; she’s desperate and very late. But when she turns around and runs directly into the most attractive man she’s ever seen, spilling the drink all over his made-for-GQ shirt and tie, she ends up having the ultimate meet-cute. Karma who? Sparks fly and things feel beyond promising, until he says to her: “See you tomorrow, Amy.”

Izzy reasons she can just straighten things out the next day, no biggie. Only when she gets to her new office and meets the VP of her department, it is none other than Blake Phillips—the hottie from Starbucks. And the man might’ve been charming to “Amy,” but he is an arrogant grump to Izzy, an arrogant grump who does not find her explanation funny at all. But day by day, an attraction simmers between them and they’ll have to find a way to work together without ripping each other’s heads—or clothes—off.

Hellie’s Heeds

My people, Lynn Painter just gets better and better. You may recall I recommended a previous book by her, Happily Never After, where I cackled all the live long day while reading it. Accidentally Amy is just as funny, just as sweet, and just as sexy, and I suspect if I went back and read her other books, Mr. Wrong Number and The Love Wager, I would also have to admit I cackled all the way through the pages. Lynn Painter is funny as hell and honestly I think we all need a bit more of laughter to get us through the rest of this Winter of Oh-Hell-Not-Again (which happens every January, the longest Monday of the year.) While I’m a bit delayed for a January recommendation, February is also sure to have its share of grey, cold days and this is the warming cup of hot chocolate you need to make it to Spring. 

That was my summary for you TL;DR (too long; didn't read) peeps. For the rest of you, I will add more details like both characters own cats–and they are the cutest and most adorable cats you’ve ever met, even your own. Also the fact that the hero has adopted two special needs cats: one blind and one diabetic–has put him in the running as the most swoonworthy hero of 2025 and we’ve barely started. (I mean, despite the fact January feels a 1000 days long, technically we’re just underway of this year and reading, as a reminder.)

The sex scenes were sexy–and admittedly I’ve gotten older and crankier so sex scenes don’t generally impress me much anymore. If anything, I’ve started rolling my eyes and skimming pages–and I don’t like that because I love a well-crafted sex scene–but my friends, I savored every word. I dogearred a couple pages for my Hubby. The scenes were both vivid but also felt not unnecessarily explicit, which *chef’s kiss* not everyone can do–but Lynn Painter can. The characters are well-developed…and honestly I’m looking forward to my coffee date at Scooter’s next week with Isabella Shay as I make her my new best friend, she’s that real. (I won’t order any Pumpkin Spice Lattes though….)

So run…add this book to your TBR pile for 2025. It’s worth the spend, in my opinion, and while you’re at it, check out her backlist if you haven’t already. Top Dish. 

Review - - Magical Meet Cute

Magical Meet Cute

by Jean Meltzer

Publisher: MIRA

Release Date: August 27, 2024

Reviewed by Hellie

Faye Kaplan used to be engaged. She also used to have a successful legal practice. But she much prefers her new life as a potter in Woodstock, New York. The only thing missing is the perfect guy. 

Not that she needs one. She’s definitely happy alone. 

That is, until she finds her town papered with anti-Semitic flyers after yet another failed singles event at the synagogue. Desperate for comfort, Faye drunkenly turns to the only thing guaranteed to soothe her—pottery. A golem protector is just what her town needs…and adding all the little details to make him her ideal man can’t hurt, right? 

When a seriously hot stranger mysteriously turns up the next day, Greg seems too good to be true—if you ignore the fact that Faye hit him with her bike. And that he subsequently lost his memory… 

But otherwise, the man checks Every. Single. Box. Causing Faye to wonder if Greg’s sudden and spicy appearance might be anything but a coincidence.

Hellie’s Heeds: 

So say you had really bad luck in the dating territory and had taken yourself off the market; and say you practiced witchcraft; and say after a really harrowing event where you felt you needed a protector…and you’d had some wine, you decided to try your hand at summoning a guardian, a golem, if you will–so far, it was sounding a lot like an average pre-husband Friday night to me, where I honestly believed the perfect man did not exist and I would have to make him up. But Jean Meltzer takes it one step further: Faye Kaplan actually summoned the perfect man…or golem. Faye can’t quite pinpoint which. Greg–well, that’s what she’s calling him, she’s not sure since she’s the reason for his amnesia and she had to call him something–is definitely a man, but he also looks like her wet-dream in real life and his characteristics are alarmingly checking every single box she created in the little clay golem she buried in her backyard just last night.  

The premise is a hoot and a treat–and I thirstily read this book down like the cool drink of lemonade, sweet and tart and refreshing, that it is. The secondary characters, particularly Nelly, are hysterical and add to the antics. But besides being fun, flirty, and all the best of rom-coms, it also pulled in real emotion from real issues: like parental neglect and child abuse, anti-semitism and the escalading violence we continuously see in our communities, and the pain and trauma in always feeling like one is either too much or not enough in our relationships–that we’re inherently unlovable. ANGST! (It’s one of my favorite things about a Jean Meltzer book: the angst and emotion! Recall: it was her Mr. Perfect on Paper which had both me and my husband sobbing from a scene I read to him.) 

Representation matters–and I think these books definitely add perspective to the lived experiences of those who are treated as Other in our communities. I’m always honored and thrilled to read these review books that touch on these issues that affect all of us in one way or another and to learn new perspectives–and maybe also how to be a better ally to those around me. But don’t worry–if that’s not what you’re looking for in a book–I think the straight up rom-com feel of this story will keep you laughing and proclaiming this the perfect beach read.  

I would start offering scenes you definitely need to read, but then I’d need to add a subsequent one…and soon you’d have the whole story told to you and it wouldn’t do it justice. Just know the pacing, the emotion and pacing are well-done, and you will be rooting for Greg and Faye on every page. Apparently you can create the perfect man…and he will find you. Top Dish!

Review & Giveaway - - A Novel Love Story

A Novel Love Story

by Ashley Poston

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: June 25, 2024

Reviewed by Hellie

Eileen Merriweather loves to get lost in a good happily-ever-after. The fictional kind, anyway. Because at least imaginary men don’t leave you at the altar. She feels safe in a book. At home. Which might be why she’s so set on going her annual book club retreat this year—she needs good friends, cheap wine, and grand romantic gestures—no matter what. 

But when her car unexpectedly breaks down on the way, she finds herself stranded in a quaint town that feels like it’s right out of a novel… 

Because it is. 

This place can’t be real, and yet… she’s here, in Eloraton, the town of her favorite romance series, where the candy store’s honey taffy is always sweet, the local bar’s burgers are always a little burnt, and rain always comes in the afternoon. It feels like home. It’s perfect—and perfectly frozen, trapped in the late author’s last unfinished story. 

Elsy is sure that’s why she must be here: to help bring the town to its storybook ending. 

Except there is a character in Eloraton that she can’t place—a grumpy bookstore owner with mint-green eyes, an irritatingly sexy mouth and impeccable taste in novels. And he does not want her finishing this book. 

Which is a problem because Elsy is beginning to think the town’s happily-ever-after might just be intertwined with her own.

 

Hellie’s Heeds 

*swoons* This is the summer read I’ve been looking for. I’m sorry this review took a bit longer (since review books usually come to us before the book comes out)–but I had already pre-ordered the book when PJ asked if I’d be willing to read it* and I told her I already ordered it and would it be better to offer the review copy up for swag? She heartily agreed. We all love free swag AND great summer reads–and this is definitely both.  

I am a little picky on my rom-coms, as is evident by some of the other rom-coms I’ve reviewed of late, but this one is *chef’s kiss* Perfection. A grumpy hero, a slightly bumbling heroine, and a little magic? All my favorite tropes. Best of all, in the resolution, when I was very worried: “is this going to work out?”--when it did, I realized the author did the absolute best thing for the characters and the kind of story we need in the 21st century: a story where people have worked through their crap before hooking up and declaring they want to spend the rest of their lives with each other. It’s so healthy! It’s so novel! It’s so…nerve-wracking because I didn’t know what was going to happen. I hope I didn’t give it all away when you and I both know this IS how romance novels work. There’s a Happily Ever After. From beginning to end, it’s adorable…and a little Brigadoon-esque. (Another love story that left me with a panicky sort of Black Moment.)  

The premise lends itself to daydreaming–because we have all fallen in love with book series over the years and who wouldn’t want to go to their favorite “book story world” and meet all the characters you’ve fallen in love with over the years? (I’m sure I could find a handful of Jane Austen spin-offs where the modern day heroine got to meet the real Mr. Darcy!) Of course, I would love to explore every inch of Hogwarts, but when it comes to romance novels and romance-landia worlds, I think I would be torn between hanging out with the Bridgertons or Eloisa James’ Desperate Duchesses. Wait, I really love indoor plumbing, so maybe…Maisey Yates’ cowboy series (any of them!)  

*I love being married, but it causes havoc in my reading life. I don’t read nearly as much as I used to. Granted I also exercise (and travel) more than I used to, which my doctor is much happier about, so here we are.

Discuss: What romance-landia world would you like to wander into and meet all the characters? 

One randomly chosen person who posts a comment before 11:00 PM, August 21 will receive a print copy of A NOVEL LOVE STORY.  

*U.S. only

*Must be 18

 

 

Review - - The Design of Us

The Design of Us

by Sajni Patel

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: July 16, 2024

Reviewed by Hellie

Sunshine incarnate Bhanu brings big UX energy to whatever she does, including going for the promotion where her only serious competition is her work nemesis, AKA Sunny, the grump with the Denzel voice. She expected to get a reprieve from him while visiting her family in Hawai’i, but the universe has other plans. When Bhanu runs into Sunny at the hotel and witnesses his ex criticizing him about being single, Bhanu does the first thing that comes to mind: she impetuously claims to be Sunny’s girlfriend just to get some peace and quiet. Except Sunny is on island for a friend’s wedding and his ex has already texted the entire wedding party about this mysterious girlfriend. 

Bhanu truly is the bane of Sunny’s existence. But the last thing he wants to do is cause tension during his friend’s wedding festivities, much less be the object of their pity. He has no choice except to play along, if only he and Bhanu can put aside their quarreling and act like a real couple. 

Between Bhanu’s hilariously meddling family and Sunny’s ecstatic friends, the two are pushed closer together, even as stress mounts over the impending promotion. 

They say what happens on island, stays on island. But as Sunny and Bhanu let their guards down, will either of them be able to resist this romantic getaway without crossing the line?

 

Hellie’s Heeds 

The tropes are alive and well–you have a sunshine heroine nicknamed Bane; and a grumpy hero named Sunny–and the snappy banter and situational comedy laughs are on-going. In addition to having the Pride & Prejudice Perfect Trope of “Enemies to Lovers” (and the Sunshine & Grumpy trope), we also have the “fake dating” trope which the heroine introduces when Sunny’s ex-girlfriend tries to publicly shame him in a hotel lobby–and Bane (Bhanu) just wants the woman gone. Obviously the best way to get rid of this woman is to introduce herself as Sunny’s newest flame. (Bhanu doesn’t always think things through, but it’s part of her charm.) This leads to further complications as Bhanu agrees to allow Sunny to stay in her hotel room (since the hotel is booked and has nothing available) and for her to attend the pre-wedding events as Sunny’s supposed girlfriend.  

What I really appreciated was the slow build of enemies to friends (of a kind) to lovers, allowing for the reader to get attached to both characters and appreciate the relationship that was building between them. Sometimes “enemies to lovers” runs the risk of “I actually hate this guy but he’s so hot I’m going to have sex with him anyway”--which I don’t find romantic--and I don’t bond with the characters who do things like that. Additionally, I was on board with Bhanu not liking Sunny–and I loved how like Bhanu, I slowly began to appreciate another side of Sunny and realize he’s actually a really good guy. The chapters go back and forth between the two–so the misunderstandings and miscommunications are shared. 

The writing style of the author is fun and breezy, with what I feel are distinctive voices for each of the characters. (I really wish I could have found a story or book that details Bhanu’s sister’s love story–because I loved her and her boyfriend! But all in all, all I could think was I need to find more of Ms. Patel’s books because I think I might be a little behind on the backlist.) And while the story is breezy and rom-com in nature–the emotional depth and caring I had for these characters also speaks to Ms. Patel’s ability to create likable but flawed characters who deserve a happy ending.  

Lastly, hands down: this had one of the most swoon-worthy romantic gestures of all time, topping Mr. Darcy going to London to make sure Mr. Wickham married that idiot Lydia. Bold, you may call my declaration (who tops Mr. Darcy of all things?), but I had to stop and read it to my husband and go, “Why can’t you be more eco-conscious like Sunny?” Best of all, the dark moment was quality dark moment–not just a misunderstanding between the two characters leading to them refusing to talk to each other (which is what would happen in real life) but the kind of dark moment you grow from.  

A fun beach read, preferably on a beach in Hawaii with some ube-flavored cookies or a shake to really feel like you’re there. When can I go?

Review - - Happily Never After

Happily Never After

by Lynn Painter

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: March 12, 2024

Reviewed by Hellie

 

Their name? The objectors.

Their job? To break off weddings as hired.

Their dilemma? They might just be in love with each other. 

When Sophie Steinbeck finds out just before her nuptials that her fiancé has cheated yet again, she desperately wants to call it off. But because her future father-in-law is her dad’s cutthroat boss, she doesn’t want to be the one to do it. Her savior comes in the form of a professional objector, whose purpose is to show up at weddings and proclaim the words no couple (usually) wants to hear at their ceremony: “I object!” 

During anti-wedding festivities that night, Sophie learns more about Max the Objector’s job. It makes perfect sense to her: he saves people from wasting their lives, from hurting each other. He’s a modern-day hero. And Sophie wants in. 

The two love cynics start working together, going from wedding to wedding, and Sophie’s having more fun than she’s had in ages. She looks forward to every nerve-racking ceremony saving the lovesick souls of the betrothed masses. As Sophie and Max spend more time together, however, they realize that their physical chemistry is off the charts, leading them to dabble in a little hookup session or two—but it’s totally fine, because they definitely do not have feelings for each other. Love doesn’t exist, after all. 

And then everything changes. A groom-to-be hires Sophie to object, but his fiancée is the woman who broke Max’s heart. As Max wrestles with whether he can be a party to his ex’s getting hurt, Sophie grapples with the sudden realization that she may have fallen hard for her partner in crime.

 

Hellie’s Heeds: 

5 stars, Top Dish, Awesome Beach Read 

The only reason why I wasn’t able to get this review to PJ before she went a-journeying was because I kept stopping in mid-read to hit my husband in the shoulder and go, “Listen to this, listen to this…” and then read it aloud–and then we’d cackle–and I’d go back to reading. It takes me twice as long to listen to the book as it would for me to read it–and here we are. That said, this book was so funny I had to stop every other page or so and read it aloud to whatever half-willing victim (after giving them a “brief” synopsis of the story so far) so they too could enjoy Lynn Painter’s brilliance.  

The story is told in back-and-forth first person POVs of Sophie and Max. Sophie is the greater of the two nihilists, a complete believer that “love” as defined by poets and adolescent idiots does not exist. She’s certainly never felt it. Even when she was about to be married. She felt a companionship for Stuart, an intense friendship–but not “love” of the passionate, all encompassing kind…and she thought he was on the same page. He was not. Turns out he did want a more passionate kind of love–at least on the side–which is how our story starts. Sophie’s bridesmaid hires an Objector, dear Max, to break off Sophie’s wedding so she doesn’t have to marry the cheating SOB. After the failed wedding, when Max comes to collect his paycheck, the drunk almost-bride convinces him to stay and drink with her and the bridesmaid–and he’s almost immediately hooked. 

Neither of them think they’ll see each other again until Max needs her to play the part of Objector in a wedding. Soon they start going to other weddings together, playing Objectors together and having the time of their lives. Each needs the other as a sort of “relationship camouflage” to keep family and coworkers off their backs, which works really well for them until they begin to realize: I really like him/her. Which is shocking to Sophie who does NOT do feelings. Ever. Max isn’t keen on feelings either–but Sophie really doesn’t do feelings.  

As someone who also doesn’t “do feelings” in a Brene Brown kind of way (“It was a year long street fight”), Sophie was very easy for me to relate to. To those of us in the crowd who may have had less dysfunctional parents or childhoods, you may want to shake her a few times for being so obstinate of what is so clearly obvious: LOVE. It’s a nice change of pace to have the girl being the one who struggles with feelings rather than the guy–in contrast, Max is much more a romantic and is much sooner to admit to himself he loves Sophie.  

The black moment was good–but the Groveling was adorable. I *heart* a great Grovel scene…and Sophie’s presentation will have you laughing out loud. It was a quick read with great pacing and hysterical banter. I think it would be perfect in your beach reading (I know how TBR piles can be). Oh, and the secondary characters? Did I forget them? OMG, Larry! Sophie’s cats! Seriously…go read it. 

Review - - The Rom Con

The Rom Con

by Devon Daniels

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: November 7, 2023

Reviewed by Hellie

After a particularly brutal breakup, Cassidy Sutton has had it with dating. So when her grandmother gives her a 1950’s dating guide entitled 125 Tips to Hook a Husband, she decides to turn the retro advice into an ironic “What not to do” article for Siren, the popular online women’s publication she writes for. And who better to secretly test the old-fashioned tips on than Jack Bradford, chauvinistic creator of rival men’s site Brawler? She’ll write an article that will entertain female readers everywhere and embarrass their sexist nemesis at the same time. Two birds, one stone. 

But her perfect plan soon proves to be anything but. Those vintage courtship tips Cassidy was so quick to poke fun at? They actually seem to work, calling her most closely-held beliefs into question. Even worse? Jack isn’t falling for any of her tricks—and it’s not long before their ‘fake’ relationship starts to feel like the realest one of her life. As her cat and mouse game starts to spiral out of control, Cassidy has to decide if she’s playing to win, or if she’s willing to lose it all for love.

 

Hellie’s Heeds 

If you will be convening with people this holiday season (in a variety of settings, possibly long dinners or parties) and need an emergency book in your bag to read when you take an emergency 15 minutes in the bathroom to get away from it all–this is your book. It took me less than ten seconds to be sucked into the story, the writing, the sassy sarcastic monologue of the main character, and just start laughing. A good sign for me when I’m reading a book is how soon I start laughing: which could be because of the humor but could also be because of the set up of what is going to go down…and in this book’s case, both. Once you start, you’ll soon make the connection to How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, but the story also has bits and pieces of other rom-coms you may have watched over the years. 27 Dresses. A bit of You’ve Got Mail. A few cocktails of The Devil Wears Prada. Vintage vibes of Down With Love. Basically any rom-com where the protagonists essentially hate each other at first sight, but in the end, are the very best of lovers. Why is a book about enemies-to-lovers a good pick for the holidays? Because it’s so easy to slip in and out of when you need a few minutes to escape anywhere else–and this book is a delightful escape. I could literally pick up this book and start reading and forget where I was before I even turned the page. It was amazing. 

While the hero and heroine are both very likable (which kudos to the author for pulling this off because the heroine could be construed as being a bit hostile to someone she’s technically never met and that’s a hard thin line to walk to make everyone still very sympathetic), the side characters time and again made me laugh out loud. Gran was far and away my favorite–and still is–and I loved how her story was resolved in the end of the book. Her schooling her granddaughter in the minefield of modern dating was a thing to behold. But I also enjoyed Natalie the roommate and Christina the fiercely protective sister (Cassie’s). Tom, who is Jack’s obnoxious business partner, is even eventually turned into a guy one could reasonably like, even as he fronts a company that publishes articles that serve as clickbait and capitalizes on men acting like frat brothers constantly. These characters all supported our main characters and made them better people–and showed us why the main characters were so worthy of love and support.  

Lastly, if like me, you’re a bit of a rabid feminist who wrestles with the Patriarchy just in principle, this was an interesting book in poking at the things that definitely burn my britches, so to speak, when it comes to relationships, such as how women tend to subsume themselves into their relationships while men seem to get the better end of the stick (without losing their career, et al). Or the fact that a single woman is basically a thing of pity, but a single man is just someone sowing his wild oats and has plenty of time–even now, today, when being a spinster shouldn’t even be a thing. I would turn pages and go, “Yep! Been there and done that!” or “Oh, yes, the character is wrestling with something I totally think about a lot!”--and the secondary character (or even the main character) would confront the issue and look at it from a different way, one I hadn’t really considered, and it was like, “Yes, that is true too. Huh.” You can be feminist…but also soft, and it not be in contradiction. So I always like a book that makes me challenge my assumptions in a good way and come away with a more positive mindset. (This may not be every reader’s experience–but it certainly resonated with me.) 

Basically I laughed a LOT…I would laugh and my husband would say, “What’s so funny?” and I’d tell him and he’d may or may not get it (because you sometimes had to be there, if you know what I mean) and other times he’d go, “Is this a fun book or a review book?” and I’d go, “Both. It’s definitely both.” While enemies to lovers is not my favorite trope, I feel this story hit it out of the park–and it definitely had black moments galore to make you question how this would all turn out. I would highly recommend for your lists to Santa.