Book 48: "Pride Comes Before a Fall" by Virginia Heath

Page count: 320 pages

Rating: 3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and St.Martin's Press for this ARC. My opinions are my own. This book is on sale now.

Leopold "Leo" Sloane, the Duke of Debden, has dragged his two younger sisters to Bath in an attempt to keep them out of trouble. The youngest is crazy for any man in uniform, and the eldest snuck out of the house and got injured during a protest march. After saying some less-than-complimentary things to his mother about her ability to keep them in hand, she promptly goes on strike (good for her), returns to London and leaves Leo to handle them himself. Obviously, he cannot.

Portia Kendall discovered Mary Wollstonecraft's writing when she was sixteen, and has burned for reform and a better life for the downtrodden masses ever since. When she is given the job as assistant editor of Equitas, one of the foremost papers that champions reform, she rather impulsively quits her position as a governess in London to travel to Bath, only to discover that none of the people working for the paper actually get paid. They also have to keep their work secret, since the local constabulary and most of the magistrates consider their writing seditious and would like nothing more than to arrest everyone involved in running it. 

Portia despises the aristocracy, but she also needs a paying job, so when she sees the Duke of Debden is looking for a chaperone and social secretary for his sisters, she goes to the interview, but is kept waiting for so long that by the time it's her turn, she has given up any chance of actually getting the job, and is sharp and snarky and very honest during her conversation with the (far too handsome) duke, and is therefore shocked when he actually hires her. As it turns out, his younger sisters are both determined to give her hell, and she certainly earns her salary trying to keep them in line.

Once Portia discovers that Leo is one of the local magistrates, and that the constable most determined to bring Equitas down reports directly to him, she is tempted to resign her position. She can tell that for a nobleman, Leo is a lot more progressive than most of his peers, but he is very much at the top of the social class she is violently opposed to, which makes it all the more difficult that she finds herself increasingly more attracted to him, and her feelings seem to be reciprocated. 

This is the first novel I've read by Virginia Heath, but it's unlikely to be my last. There was a lot to like here, but also some things that annoyed me. 

Things I liked:

- Portia is a great heroine. She's intelligent, hard-working, principled and loyal to her cause, but also pragmatic enough to realise that you can't survive on political ideals alone. She is not deterred from her duties, even when Leo's sisters are being difficult little shrews.

- Portia writing essays to debate with herself on various things. 

- Leo's Mum is a delight. Good for her that she refused to stay and be criticised by her overly protective son.

- The dogs and cat were a fun addition.

- The plot took quite a few unexpected turns. 

Things I didn't like as much:

- Leo's extreme protectiveness and frankly unreasonable demands towards his female relatives and later, Portia. It's like Anthony Bridgerton in The Viscount Who Loved Me, but less charming (and Anthony behaves like a d*ck in a lot of that book, so that should tell you something). For a lot of the book, Leo is a total golden retriever, except when he's suddenly a very unreasonable, almost crazy dictator

- Leo's extreme dislike of his eldest sister's suitor, in particular

- While the goofy dogs and the psychotic cat were mostly a fun touch, they also contributed to some farcical elements that went a bit too far.

- Leo reading Portia's private writing.

- Much of the final bit, including the whole incident at Parliament. 

On the whole, this was an enjoyable read, and a blue-stocking heroine is always going to appeal to me. I may go back and read the previous two novels in the series next.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

CBR18 Book 47: "Book Club Boyfriend" by Jenny Holiday

Page count: 352 pages

Rating: 4.5 stars

CBR18 Bingo: Craft (this book dwells a lot on writing as a craft - both novels and screenplays)

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for this ARC. My opinions are my own. This book is on sale now.

Blair Kellermoon (former rom-com star, now powerful producer) has adapted several novels as movies and TV series and runs a book club, and the books she picks usually get huge sales boosts and are again likely to be optioned for adaptation. Suffice it to say, most authors are thrilled when being asked to be part of her book club.

Jack Branksome is not one of those authors. When receiving the offer from her via Zoom, he rather coldly rejects her, and while this was a private meeting, it is widely reported in the press. After Jack also says something that could be seen as rather unflattering about Blair in a magazine interview, he texts her to apologise, and this becomes the start of their friendship.

Blair is recently divorced, and both her children are away at college. She is finding the empty-nest situation more difficult than she was expecting, and it's clear to the reader that she has several mental health issues that need to be dealt with that she's clearly not ready to acknowledge within herself. Jack's debut novel was a huge success, but he's now struggling with writing anything for the second. He's already had to ask for an extension on his deadline once. Blair invites Jack to come stay in her pool house, anIntd the friendship they began via phone develops further.

Both Blair and Jack are very observant people who are very good about pushing away anything to do with themselves. Jack's father is also an acclaimed novelist, and his elitist views on literature and culture, which have clearly affected Jack, combined with the pressure of trying to write something as well received as his debut book, make it very hard for Jack to get out of his own head and get something new written. 

Blair has been trying to adapt a YA novel, but the lack of a good script means it's hard to find funding for the movie, and because she's heard too often from men in her life that she's a great actress, but not a writer, she scoffs at Jack's suggestions that she write the script herself. 

Jack can see that Blair is struggling with depression, anxiety and OCD. Blair can see that Jack has massive daddy issues. Neither of them is looking for romance, and they keep denying that their deepening friendship has any romantic undertones, yet they also become extremely adept at anticipating each other's needs. This book is extremely slow-burn, and a lot of the story concerns itself more with how Jack and Blair can become better at taking care of themselves than how they can build a lasting relationship.

If I had to list some tropes for this book, it would probably be antagonists to best friends to lovers, and also grumpy meets sunshine. Jack was an aloof and grumpy supporting character in Holiday's previous romance, Into the Woods. I remember wondering if Holiday was setting up Jack as a future hero when reading that one. Blair is clearly inspired by Reese Witherspoon, both looks- and career-wise. She's blond, beautiful and bubbly. She used to be a beloved rom-com actress who has reinvented herself as a Hollywood producer and champion of books and reading. 

This book turned out to be rather different from what I was expecting, and the romantic payoff comes rather late in the story, but it's such a well-written and enjoyable book that it didn't bother me. I am really glad I got an ARC of this one, and look forward to Holiday's next contemporary (I find I like her contemporaries more than her historicals, in general). 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

CBR17 Book 57: "Ladies in Hating" by Alexandra Vasti

Page count: 345 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for this ARC. My opinions are my own. 

Lady Georgiana Cleeve was disowned by her father when she announced that she was the author of several popular novels, and has lived alone with her mother ever since, cut off from all contact with her brothers, convinced that the scandal she brought on herself and her family would irrevocably tarnish the reputations of anyone connected to her. She is selling well and her books are popular, but for the last few years, she has noticed a number of worrying similarities between her own books and those of another lady novelist, who also writes Gothic romances. Could the preposterously named Lady Darling be plagiarising Georgina? And if so, how is she getting her information?

Georgina becomes obsessed with unmasking this mysterious rival, and eventually resorts to hiding in the bushes outside Belvoir Library, which distributes for both of them. She is shocked to discover that not only is Lady Darling someone she recognises, but someone she shares a past with. Catriona Rose Lacey is the daughter of a butler who worked for Georgina's family, but was suddenly fired and banished from the estate by Georgina's imperious father. She hasn't seen Catriona for over a decade, but seeing her again reawakens feelings that Georgina had almost forgotten existed. 

When confronted by the furious Georgina, Catriona fervently denies all her claims of plagiarism. While she read some of Georgina's early novels, she's been so busy writing and building her own career for the past few years that she's not had time to read anything at all. Cat writes to support herself, her cousin and her teenage brother, who now has a position as a clerk. For many years, after her father died, it was only the money Cat could bring in, from her writing and working in a pie shop, that kept the family from starving. Unlike what Georgina fears, Cat doesn't really hold a grudge against Georgina's father for firing her father and sending them packing, but that obviously takes some time to be revealed.

Since this is a romance, obviously, the two women can't stop thinking of each other, even when they are annoyed and consider the other a rival. Despite their attempts to avoid each other, they keep being thrown together, and once they end up literally trapped together in a crumbling Gothic mansion, which may or may not be actually haunted, their forced proximity leads to them eventually going from mutual pining to actually snogging (and eventually more). 

Cat and her family are worried that she's going to get her heart broken, mostly because of the big class difference between the two women. They aren't aware that Lady Georgina was cut off entirely by her father, and even after his death, has refused to contact her brothers for fear that they will reject her. Because of her father's treatment of her, she's convinced that she will lead anyone close to her to be tarnished by her scandal and ostracised by society, so she keeps herself entirely isolated, which, of course, is very destructive in the long run. 

This is a fairly slow-burn romance, and there is a fair amount of angst from Georgina, which keeps her from being able to fully open up to Cat or accept affection from anyone. There's a lot of fun shenanigans in the dilapidated mansion they spend a bunch of time in, and it's never entirely clear whether the place is actually haunted, or whether this is more the vivid imagination of the two women. 

This is the third and final novel in the Belvoir's Library series, but it works fine as a stand-alone novel. You don't need to have read any of the previous two, but for the curious, it's fun to see Lady Georgina as a supporting character in Ne'er Duke Well (where she avoids marriage proposals by pretending to be the most vacuous of airheads) and in Earl Crush, where she is a very supportive and entertaining friend to the heroine. She was a great supporting character in both of these previous novels, which is why I'm glad she got a romance of her own. It seems that Iris, another supporting character in these novels, is going to be denied her happy ending, since Ms. Vasti didn't get to continue the series to a fourth book. I am nevertheless very excited to see what she writes next. 

Judging a book by its cover: While I'm not exactly super fond of the various shades of pink of the cover, the cover image shows a fun and rather dramatic scene in the novel (where our two heroines are trying to escape the Gothic ruins they find themselves trapped in). I especially like the inclusion of Georgina's fluffy dog, (Francis) Bacon, in all his derpy glory.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

CBR16 Book 39: "The Rom-Commers" by Katherine Center

Page count: 336 pages

Audio book length: 11 hrs 21 mins

Rating: 4.5 stars

Emma Wheeler loves romantic comedies and has even won a contest with one of her screenplays. But with a father who needs around-the-clock care, and a sister to put through school, Emma's career dreams had to take a backseat. Now her agent has an amazing job opportunity for her, to work with the screenwriter she admires the most in the world, Charlie Yates. However, there is no way she can do the job remotely, she will need to stay in LA for six weeks. Emma initially tries to say no, scared that something will go wrong with her father if she leaves, and her sister has just landed a great internship.

Emma's little sister won't let her sacrifice even more for their family, though, so she resigns from the internship and spends days learning all of Emma's routines and rules for caretaking. Emma sets off for LA, only to discover that her agent may have fudged the truth a bit. It is true that Charlie Yates has written a script for a romantic comedy that is so awful it's staggering, but he has not asked for help improving it, and he certainly won't have some "nobody" come in to offer assistance. The romantic comedy script is a job he's doing so he can get one of his own dream projects funded, he thinks romance in general is overrated, and wants to send Emma packing.

Having gone to such trouble to actually get to his house (their mutual agent seems to think the best way to make this plan work is for them to live together in Charlie's massive mansion), she isn't going to give up without a fight. Emma will make the arrogant and stuck-up Charlie take back his disdain for the romantic comedy genre and after a brief trial run of working together, Charlie is forced to admit that they make a very good team, and they could manage to pull off this job without cutting any corners. Of course, the close proximity and all the time they spend together starts to develop into closeness of a different sort, but Charlie isn't one for relationships, and Emma has only a few weeks before she needs to get back home to her family. They might finish their screenplay, but how could they ever have a happy ending together?

This is my first Katherine Center novel, and I had very high expectations, since four different friends on Goodreads whose opinions I trust had rated it five stars. I listened to the audiobook for about 2/3 of the book, and Patti Murin, the narrator, does an excellent job. Even when Charlie's being a dismissive asshole, she made it possible to see his potential as a love interest. The final third I read in e-book (because I got impatient and had to see how things ended). 

This is a romance with a grumpy-sunshine trope, where Charlie is a cynic who claims not to believe in love, while Emma is a die-hard romantic who wants happy endings for everyone, even when life has dealt her pretty much nothing but bad cards. Due to her mother's tragic death when she was a teenager, she not only has had to be the caretaker for her father, but she's also more or less been a surrogate parent for her younger sister. She's extremely focused on her father's health, and passing over responsibility for that to her sister is very difficult for her.

Charlie comes off as arrogant and unpleasant at first, but in his defense, he probably wasn't expecting his agent to turn up on his doorstep with a complete stranger. Charlie is very good at what he does, but needs to learn to accept help and how to collaborate with someone. He's an intensely private person, and has had health problems in the past that he's not really shared with anyone else. Letting Emma into his home, learning to work with her and later opening up to her and being vulnerable requires work on his part. 

One of the reasons this book isn't a full five stars for me is the final act separation of the characters, which I thought dragged out too long, and also involved one of my least favourite tropes, the 'I must drive you away for your own good'. A thing I liked throughout the book, though, and especially towards the latter half, as they grow closer is Charlie doing his best to take care of Emma. While I find the previous trope I mentioned exasperating, the 'but who takes care of YOU?' trope is one of my favourites.

Having never read any Katherine Center books before, I was surprised to discover that this is a closed door romance, i.e. you don't actually get any sex scenes on the page. I don't mind a lack of spice if the rest of the book is satisfying, but I know that it can be a deal-breaker for others. 

Judging a book by its cover: I don't entirely like the art style on this cover, but at least the two characters look like they are Emma and Charlie, so that's nice. I just think that if they decided to show the faces of the characters on the cover, the features should have been clearer. This just looks blurry and it frustrates me. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read,