Too Good to Be Real by Melonie Johnson

3*

In a nod to rom-coms and live-action role-play (LARP), Too Good to Be Real takes readers on a fantasy vacation at the aptly-named Notting Hill Resort in Wisconsin for a week of immersive, simulated scenes from favorite romantic comedy movies. In a bid to avoid being laid off, pop culture journalist Julia proposes to her boss the idea of writing a review of a new concept hotel for their company’s popular Take Me! series. At the company’s expense, she and her two best friends head up from Chicago, hoping to prove (or disprove in cynical Julia’s case) that romantic love is real. Just after they arrive, Julia literally runs smack into Luke, the software programmer behind the week-long simulation. Their attraction is instantaneous but, when mistaken identity combines with role-playing, the games become much more high-stake.

Johnson’s premise is like a modern-day version of Austenland without the costumes. The eccentric and extremely wealthy owner Mrs. Weatherfork’s mission isn’t huge profits but to prove to her husband that, in the right setting, love can bloom. In this book, the two main protagonists are skeptical of love after witnessing their own parents’ miserable marriages, so neither is willing to believe that love can be real after just a week. Vacation romances often don’t survive outside the bubble after all. However, love is definitely in the air for married couples and some singles in attendance. Heck, even the comedic marauding seagulls mate for life. So, although not everyone gets a happily-ever-after, there are several truths: that you can find love with the most unlikely person, playing games can spice up an existing relationship, what appears to be love may just be an act, and real love is imperfectly perfect if you’re willing to push past fear and be honest with yourself and the one you’re falling for.

This has all of the elements for a swoon-worthy, highly-addictive romance read, but the pacing is a bit off, the dialogue is amateurish at points, and the idea that Luke can hide his true identity at a small resort is unrealistic. There are so many characters that it’s difficult to fully engage with any of them, so the emotional investment isn’t there. It’s an easy read, but ultimately forgettable.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from St. Martin’s Griffin through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

The Dating Plan by Sara Desai

5*


Trigger warning: Child and spousal abuse

Don’t be fooled into thinking this is a run-of-the-mill enemies-to-lovers romance. This one throws an emotional punch and then some. Yes, the set-up is that Liam Murphy broke Daisy Patel’s heart when he stood her up for her senior prom and then left town without a word. He was her brother’s best friend and a part of her family, so the devastation was worse because he not only rejected her, but her father and brother as well. When she accidentally runs into him 10 years later, she soundly rejects his friendly overture; that is, until he proposes a fake engagement. For him, it’s a way to save his family’s distillery and, for her, it means getting her well-meaning matchmaking aunties off her back and finding a way to save the start-up organic feminine products company she’s come to care about. However, as so often happens, the emotions become real and someone’s going to get hurt.

Where this diverges from the normal trope is in the story of their childhood traumas. Desai spares nothing in her descriptions of the damage caused by Liam’s abusive father and Daisy’s casually cruel mother who abandoned her at age 7. They’re both suffering under the mistaken belief that they’re not worthy of love, and it’ll take a near-tragedy and some painful confessions before they can have a chance of absolving themselves and each other.

Ultimately, this is a story of redemption, forgiveness, and the power of love and family to right the wrongs of the past. It’s also a steamy romance between a sexy math nerd who doesn’t see how powerful she can be and a broken man who has achieved professional success, in large part to spite the father who made it his life’s mission to pound any self-worth out of him. The juxtaposition of Daisy’s meddling, but loving Indian-American family against Liam’s emotionally-distant, alcohol-abusing Irish one feeds into negative stereotypes, but it’s integral to the story and not gratuitous or ill-intended. Desai does a commendable job of defining her characters and readers can’t help but root for these damaged souls to find love and contentment with each other. Highly recommended.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Berkley Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.