Yet again, I scored big with the books on my 12 in 12 challenge! This was the only romance based book on my list. I absolutely adored it, and I’m going to tell you all the reasons why you’ll love it too. Keep in mind that romance isn’t my go to genre, and I typically only read light hearted rom-coms.
Here is the synopsis brought to you directly from Amazon: Nora Hamilton knows the formula for love better than anyone. As a romance channel screenwriter, it’s her job. But when her too-good-to work husband leaves her and their two kids, Nora turns her marriage’s collapse into cash and writes the best script of her life. No one is more surprised than her when it’s picked up for the big screen and set to film on location at her 100-year-old-home. When former Sexiest Man Alive, Leo Vance, is cast as her ne’er do well husband Nora’s life will never be the same. The morning after shooting wraps and the crew leaves, Nora finds Leo on her porch with a half-empty bottle of tequila and a proposition. He’ll pay a thousand dollars a day to stay for a week. The extra seven grand would give Nora breathing room, but it’s the need in his eyes that makes her say yes. Seven days: it’s the blink of an eye or an eternity depending on how you look at it. Enough time to fall in love. Enough time to break your heart.
I loved the premise of a single mom of two kids, and the ages for the kids in this are perfect. They are not too young to not really understand what happened and that their father dipped out on them, but they are not teenagers and thus don’t have the snarky independence or rebellion. They are just kids who are perceptive, critical and don’t yet have the ability to hide their emotions. As a result, Arthur and Bernadette, become very pivotal characters in the plot. They are well developed and realistic. I bought into everything they said and did! Some of the other aspects of the plot may have been a little unrealistic, but the kids have my heart. The story is what it is because of them. End of story.
It’s the classic self-correcting problem. If someone leaves you, it’s because they didn’t want to be with you. All you lost was someone who didn’t want to be there anyway.
Leo is the element that creates a little questionable behavior, but hey, everyone needs a break from their lives every now and then. It was fun watching this mega movie star stumble through the nuisances of an ordinary life. Apparently, he has never had to step foot in a grocery store… must be nice! But it is through experiencing real life, that he becomes a ‘real person’ and can begin to appreciate what lies behind the lights of the big screen. It’s fun. It’s charming. It’s a great read to just escape, and if you love movies, there is that added touch! The banter is fun and well done.
The pacing is great, and the writing style is easy to stick with. It makes the overall read quick and engaging. There are some stereotypical elements of a rom-com, but I just felt that it flowed differently, I wasn’t overwhelmed by stock characters and a stock plot, which is hilarious because Nora writes romance scripts following a stock structure with stock characters. Her ability to take little jabs at this in some not so subtle ways was a nice touch in my opinion.
My final reflection is in regards to the overused miscommunication trope that you find in romance. Miscommunication drives me absolutely crazy, and the longer it gets dragged out, the more frustrated I become. While there is miscommunication in this one, like many of the other elements, it is handled differently. I would actually go out on a limb and say it was handled better than I have seen before. It is hard to explain, but there wasn’t a clear reason as to what was happening, because it actually took more than just Nora and Leo to figure it all out. I feel that there was more depth because it wasn’t just a miscommunication issue. It was handled in a more non-rom-com way. It wasn’t dragged on to the ends of the Earth and how it was resolved was done in a way that made me feel at peace. I guess it helps that I didn’t really know the intricacies of the situation and what caused the rift in the relationship. When everything was eventually revealed, it all just made sense and supported the plot and the character development instead of impeding them.
“Have you ever felt like you’re disappearing?” he asks. “Like you’re sure one day you’re going to wake up and find that the truest parts of yourself have been replaced by someone else’s plans?”
Where does this book land on my bookshelf?
I would definitely put it on my top shelf. Ordinarily, I probably won’t have ever picked this one up, but it is one of the things I love most about the 12 in 12 challenge. The plot is well structured. There are solid moments that propel the action forward and enough valleys that allow you to connect with the characters. Characters are well developed and are more than just the counterpart of the other lead character. I appreciated more than anything that there is a respectful nod to how adult relationships impact the kids involved, even when, as adults, we can’t see it. Overall, this was a fantastic book, and I highly recommend it!
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