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bzliz's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I hesitate to call this a romance although it technically fits the criteria. Personally, I’d say the focus of the story is more about family dynamics and personal morality and the romance is a side dish (or mistress, if you’ll forgive the joke). If you took the romance out and just had Marnie and Luke be friends, the story would be virtually the same. But I will be thinking about some of the questions this book raised for a while.
Marnie is a professional gift giver who accidentally mixes up labels on gifts for her client Brian’s wife and mistress. As he’s screaming at her for ruining his life (very much his own doing), his son Luke tries to talk him off the edge. A few more chance meetings with Luke and they are fully in a relationship which is hard to balance as Marnie keeps working with Brian to win back his wife and as Luke is learning how to be a parent after finding out recently that he has a teenage daughter.
I found the storytelling complex as it was easy to start sympathizing with each character in turn. I had so many mixed feelings about if I wanted Suzanne to forgive her husband or not and I think Darke did a phenomenal job at showing how two things can be true at the same time: you can hate someone’s guts for what they did to you while still loving them and missing their companionship. Marnie’s mistake leads her to question how complicit she is in the bad choices others make and how her morals stack up to her desire to acquire her grandfather’s old shop. Luke was a challenge for me to like. On one hand he saw where he made a mistake with Ivy and took steps to better himself but on the other hand, he said some awful things to Marnie because he’s got lingering daddy issues and desperately needs therapy. Plus there’s Brian. I wanted him to be successful but also wanted him to truly fail so he could experience a fraction of the pain Suzanne felt.
Also, I despise the cover. I randomly picked this up at the library and was taken aback by how off putting the cover art is, though I’m glad I gave it a read anyway.
Marnie is a professional gift giver who accidentally mixes up labels on gifts for her client Brian’s wife and mistress. As he’s screaming at her for ruining his life (very much his own doing), his son Luke tries to talk him off the edge. A few more chance meetings with Luke and they are fully in a relationship which is hard to balance as Marnie keeps working with Brian to win back his wife and as Luke is learning how to be a parent after finding out recently that he has a teenage daughter.
I found the storytelling complex as it was easy to start sympathizing with each character in turn. I had so many mixed feelings about if I wanted Suzanne to forgive her husband or not and I think Darke did a phenomenal job at showing how two things can be true at the same time: you can hate someone’s guts for what they did to you while still loving them and missing their companionship. Marnie’s mistake leads her to question how complicit she is in the bad choices others make and how her morals stack up to her desire to acquire her grandfather’s old shop. Luke was a challenge for me to like. On one hand he saw where he made a mistake with Ivy and took steps to better himself but on the other hand, he said some awful things to Marnie because he’s got lingering daddy issues and desperately needs therapy. Plus there’s Brian. I wanted him to be successful but also wanted him to truly fail so he could experience a fraction of the pain Suzanne felt.
Also, I despise the cover. I randomly picked this up at the library and was taken aback by how off putting the cover art is, though I’m glad I gave it a read anyway.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Abortion, and Death of parent
Moderate: Toxic friendship
allisonlantagne's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcohol
emmas_bookshelf's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This was a very charming romance novel about a boutique shop owner and professional gift shopper, Marnie. After a snafu with her top customer, she has to navigate making things right with him and also - secretly - dating his son. At the same time, she’s trying to buy a new property for her store and struggling to balance it all. This was an easy and pleasant read, would recommend!
Thank you so much to Random House/Ballantine for the copy via NetGalley; this is my honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Death of parent, and Abandonment
readundancies's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
When I picked up With Love from Wish & Co., I wanted something light and fluffy, and this story definitely delivered that, but also had another layer of character depth because of how the narrative was told.
We get multiple perspectives and we start with Marnie Fairchild, black sheep of the Fairchild dynasty due to her father’s propensity for gambling with client’s money and then committing suicide once found out, who’s dream is to move her business into a burned down property of her illustrious father’s family. When Marnie hears word through her heartless uncle’s assistant that the property will be put up for sale and that it will be going to auction, she scrambles to get first shot at touring the property before the auction takes place and a mix-up in gifts being couriered out for the day occurs.
The problem, of course, is that the gifts are being sent out on behalf of Brian Charlesworth, her biggest client, with one going to his wife, Suzanne, for their fortieth wedding anniversary where it’s fated to be opened in front of an audience, and the other to his mistress, Leona Quick, who has caused issues in his marriage before when they dabbled with one another in their youth.
Now, the fallout from this mix-up is delved into with detail, and was easily my favourite part of the novel because the secondhand cringe was STRONG. So strong, and I was so uncomfortable because the drama. And the first half where it all occurs was definitely the stronger half, especially because we are introduced to Luke, the prodigal Charlesworth son who finds out the abortion he threw money at when he was sixteen was money (eventually thought to be well) wasted because he has a daughter now named Ivy. We read from Marnie, Luke, Suzanne and Brian throughout, although the female perspectives reigned supreme in terms of length and page time.
What follows after the fallout, is a Charlesworth marriage on the rocks via separation, a romance evolving between Marnie and Luke, and a deal being struck between Brian and Marnie to help Brian win Suzanne back.
Now don’t get me wrong, this sounds like the plot of a made for TV movie, and it kind of is, but it’s also sweet and heartfelt.
Did I wish it was longer and went into way more depth from a characterization standpoint? Very much so. Because the whole relationship that evolves between Luke and Ivy is not nearly as strong as it could’ve been had it been explored more, and Brian and Suzanne’s eventual reconciliation was lacklustre to say the least, and pretty much occurs entirely off page to say more. I didn’t love Brian, but I don’t think you’re supposed to, and the progression of the romance between Marnie and Luke was rushed.
But this was definitely entertaining, not in a rom com kind of way, which this decidedly isn’t, but for a chick lit novel, which is not something I tend to drift towards very often, I was amused. So if soap opera dramatics painted in chick lit tones is something you’re in the mood for, this will likely whet your whistle.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Misogyny and Death of parent
izzyf16's review against another edition
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Death of parent
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