CBR18 Book 60: "Dina Gets Lucky" by Uzma Jalaluddin

Page count: 285 pages

Rating: 3 stars

This was an ARC from Union Lake Publishing and NetGalley. My opinions are my own. This book is on sale now.

Dina Haq is the eldest sister and, as such, has always felt like she has to be the perfect one. She is a successful lawyer in her parents' law firm, and she married the right man (on paper). Dina has not told her family that she is, in fact, divorced and has not been living with her ex, Arshad, for more than a year. She's very worried they will be disappointed in her, and she also doesn't want anything to overshadow her younger sister Hania's spectacular wedding celebration.

Hania is an online influencer, which means that every aspect of the wedding celebrations is being streamed online, including the arrival of the groom and his family in Toronto. Dina is shocked to discover that the man she actually had a crush on back in law school, Lucky, is the best man. Not realising that her scheming narcissist ex-husband manipulated the situation so that Dina and Lucky both believed the other to be indifferent, so that he could swoop in and woo Dina instead (because her wealthy background and her dad's law firm fit perfectly into his plans for the future), they are still feeling that perceived betrayal, but keep being forced to work together, because Hania has a long list of absolutely ridiculous demands, and as the maid of honour and best man, Dina and Lucky are the ones sent to sort things out.

Dina and Lucky are clearly incredibly attracted to one another, but Lucky believes Dina to still be married to his former best friend, so he's not exactly going to make any romantic overtures towards her. Dina's best friend keeps telling her to just tell everyone the truth, so she and Lucky can reunite and make sweet, sweet love, but instead, there are all manner of misunderstandings and thwarted yearning, while Dina's ex is allowed to be an absolute asshat, who keeps threatening to spill the truth and make a scene.

Dina and Lucky have been kept apart, and Dina has spent years unhappily married to an emotionally abusive narcissist, because both of them were foolish enough to trust Arshad to act as a go-between instead of being direct with each other about their feelings. Now they keep flirting and having pants feelings during the various wedding events, but Lucky doesn't think he's worthy of Dina (even if she were single), since he works in construction rather than as someone with a career worthy of her. Dina, on the other hand, is continuing to let her skeevy ex-husband have power over her, because she is too scared to tell her family the truth about her divorce (which I gather took place long enough ago that she could have come clean before the wedding stuff kicked off). To be fair, from the descriptions of her father and mother throughout the book, they are both status-obsessed snobs, so they probably would be appalled that their perfect eldest daughter got divorced, but still, it's annoying. As is the fact that in all of the various encounters, Dina and Lucky keep hinting at the hurt they feel the other caused them, without ever going so far as to talk about what actually happened. As a result, it takes far too long for them to figure out that they could have been happy all along. 

Another frustrating aspect of this book was Hania, who seems like an absolute brat. I have no idea what Lucky's best friend sees in her, or why he would ever marry her, let alone agree to have every aspect of their wedding celebrations be carefully choreographed, directed and live-streamed for other people's entertainment. Lucky seems like a perfectly nice guy, but he's also not shy about flirting with and lusting after a woman he believes to be married. Samir, Hania's husband-to-be, and his parents are the only truly sympathetic people in this book.

This is probably my least favourite of Jalaluddin's books that I've read so far. I have heard really good things about her new cosy mystery series, though, so I might give that a try instead. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

CBR18 Book 59: "Queen of Lombard Street" by Lisa Kleypas

Page count: 448 pages

Rating: 3.5 stars

Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for this ARC. It has not influenced my opinions in any way. This book is on sale now. 

Reina Martin is the illegitimate daughter of a Spanish dancer and a prominent banker. She's an intelligent child and understands early on that her father has another, official family, while Reina and her mother have to be kept secret. Her mother is determined that Reina will have opportunities she never got, and makes sure to hire her tutors who work at the nearby boys' school. As an adult, Reina successfully gets a law degree, but is prevented from working as a lawyer. She becomes the protegee of wealthy banker William Farlow, and wants to use her financial acumen to open a bank for women, since they are constantly discriminated against at other banks. 

John Pembroke is a police detective from Manchester, who is sent on an undercover mission in Reina's household. London Police suspect William Farlow of embezzling large amounts of his clients' money, and they are uncertain if Reina is one of his accomplices, or whether she's one of his pawns. The fact that most of Reina's household is staffed by paroled criminals doesn't exactly make her seem less complicit in Farlow's corruption. Pembroke has a history of domestic service and is therefore the perfect man to send to pretend to be a paroled criminal wanting the position as butler in her household. 

Pembroke is both charmed and baffled by Reina, clearly a deeply intelligent and very financially savvy woman, who has absolutely no idea how to get the disparate band of individuals in her household to work together and behave appropriately as servants. The only one who actually knows how to do her job is the cook, who is Reina's childhood friend. It becomes very clear almost immediately that neither of these former inmates would be good recruits in any kind of criminal conspiracy. However, it's also very obvious that when the police eventually show up for a routine inspection of the various parolees, Reina's servants will be sent back to prison immediately. 

Pembroke tries to keep a professional distance from Reina, their growing relationship complicated both by their difference in social standing and the fact that Pembroke is there to spy on her, and as a result, has to constantly lie to her. The more time he spends with her, and her household of chaotic misfits, the harder he finds it to be objective. 

As far as I can tell, this is Lisa Kleypas' first romance novel since Devil in Disguise, the final book in her Ravenels series. This book also reads more like a standard historical fiction novel than a romance. Yes, there is a strong attraction between Pembroke and Reina, and so much yearning, but they barely even kiss until the final quarter of the book. There is also a lot of focus on the various members of Reina's household, the found family vibe is much stronger than the romantic subplot. I enjoyed it, and was very happy to be granted an ARC, I just struggle with writing reviews in a timely manner these days.

One benefit of having waited to publish my review is that I came across some news online about the book earlier this week. John Pembroke is described as being very dark, and not fitting in where he grew up in Wales, but very little attention is given to his father. In the notes at the back, where Kleypas lists all of her various historical inspiration for the book (there was indeed a woman who founded an all women's bank in Victorian Era England), she mentions the first black police officer in England. Due to the various, rather vague physical descriptions of Pembroke, and this historical tidbit, Kleypas was asked point blank at a signing whether Pembroke was supposed to be a man of colour. She confirmed that yes, Pembroke is supposed to have been mixed race, with a black father and a Welsh mother. However, the publishing company asked her to take out some of the mentions of John's ethnicity. I think it's a great shame, because while there are exceptions, there is still very little representation for people of colour in historical romances, and a kind, clever, competent hero with biracial heritage in a novel by one of the acknowledged queens of historical romance would have been great. 

So I can't deny that I'm a bit disappointed that Ms. Kleypas chose to omit details that would have made it clear to the reader that some of the struggles Pembroke has faced over the course of his life are not just because he comes from a poor, working-class background, but because of his obvious racial difference from the majority of people around him in Wales (and later Manchester and London). It would also explain some of John's convictions that his and Reina's union would be difficult, since despite her Spanish mother, she is still clearly a white woman. 

While I enjoyed reading the book, we find out very little of how Reina went from being a strong-willed girl who realised her father wasn't a very principled man, to the financial genius she is presented as as an adult. She mentions a bit about studying law, but there is a lot of tell and not enough show here. It also seems super convenient that every single paroled convict she took into her household just needed patience, love and understanding to eventually become a perfectly good servant. This felt a bit like a fairytale vibe to it. 

Not Kleypas' worst book, by any means, but also not exactly a thrilling return to form. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read