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jenn_reads's review
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This book was recommended to me as enemies to lovers, but it is *definitely* not. Perhaps you could call it grumpy/sunshine, although more like grumpy/reasonable person having a bit of a hard time.
It was ok. I know I complain about romance novels doing that thing I hate with a stupid misunderstanding almost at the end, which this one didn't have, but it also kind of... petered out I guess. Like what are we still doing here for a few dozen pages with this closed door romance after the leads are happily ever after?
Anyway, it was fine. Just fine.
It was ok. I know I complain about romance novels doing that thing I hate with a stupid misunderstanding almost at the end, which this one didn't have, but it also kind of... petered out I guess. Like what are we still doing here for a few dozen pages with this closed door romance after the leads are happily ever after?
Anyway, it was fine. Just fine.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
Toxic sibling relationshipbzliz's review
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
I suspect that I’m too American and/or too young to truly enjoy this book. Maybe I got the wrong impression from the blurb on the back but I was expecting a somewhat cutesy grumpy/sunshine bookshop romance with Thea learning a lot about herself as she navigates her sudden independence and that’s really not what this is.
The book is very dialogue heavy so we have to make a lot of inferences about how characters are feeling which was frustrating at times. To me, Thea comes across as a very passive person. She’s way too chill about discovering her husband’s infidelity. I was expecting some feminine rage about it but she really gave us nothing. It would be way too dramatic for this setting to see the cheating husband get some comeuppance for his rotten behavior but it would have been nice. It’s also super weird to me how Thea’s friends stay friends with the cheater and the other woman. I would have felt betrayed if I was her but she didn’t really have any feelings about it and if I was one of the friends, I couldn’t have excused their behavior. Infidelity and disloyalty is a wild trait to be okay with, especially when it means you’re going to dinner parties at the house he used to share with Thea that the other woman has moved into.
Edward is also pretty unlikeable. Not moving on at all from a humiliating experience and then spending several decades on a revenge quest to sleep with every woman his brother had slept with is super weird and more than a little unhinged. That’s a pretty big red flag.
Maybe I’ll revisit this in a decade or so when I’m closer to Thea’s age and see if my feelings have changed but for now I’ll settle with declaring that it’s just not my cup of tea.
The book is very dialogue heavy so we have to make a lot of inferences about how characters are feeling which was frustrating at times. To me, Thea comes across as a very passive person. She’s way too chill about discovering her husband’s infidelity. I was expecting some feminine rage about it but she really gave us nothing. It would be way too dramatic for this setting to see the cheating husband get some comeuppance for his rotten behavior but it would have been nice. It’s also super weird to me how Thea’s friends stay friends with the cheater and the other woman. I would have felt betrayed if I was her but she didn’t really have any feelings about it and if I was one of the friends, I couldn’t have excused their behavior. Infidelity and disloyalty is a wild trait to be okay with, especially when it means you’re going to dinner parties at the house he used to share with Thea that the other woman has moved into.
Edward is also pretty unlikeable. Not moving on at all from a humiliating experience and then spending several decades on a revenge quest to sleep with every woman his brother had slept with is super weird and more than a little unhinged. That’s a pretty big red flag.
Maybe I’ll revisit this in a decade or so when I’m closer to Thea’s age and see if my feelings have changed but for now I’ll settle with declaring that it’s just not my cup of tea.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Miscarriage and Pregnancy
beepbeep101's review
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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 Misogyny
Moderate: Infertility, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy
Minor: Abandonment
alisonreadsitall's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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
4.5
4.5 stars ⭐️
Spice: 🌶️ (more like half a pepper - mostly fade to black)
I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this one. I even got a few butterflies, but I do love the sunshine/grump trope and this was done so well! 🥰
Also- who doesn’t love a book about a bookshop? 🥹🩷
I want to be friends with Thea- she was dealt a pretty shit hand, but handled it with such grace! And her sense of humor is wonderful. 🥰 😅 She definitely came out of her grief in the end, and I wish I had that much cheeky confidence to say what’s on your mind and not care what happens!
Chris is an absolute POS. 🤬 Thea was much nicer than she needed to be, and I would not have handled it well at all.
Edward started out a bit of a shit, but definitely grew on me and I appreciated his honesty, even though many mistakes were made. 🤦🏼♀️
Tropes:
Grumpy/Sunshine
Love triangle
Different worlds
Definitely recommend! 🩷
Spice: 🌶️ (more like half a pepper - mostly fade to black)
I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this one. I even got a few butterflies, but I do love the sunshine/grump trope and this was done so well! 🥰
Also- who doesn’t love a book about a bookshop? 🥹🩷
I want to be friends with Thea- she was dealt a pretty shit hand, but handled it with such grace! And her sense of humor is wonderful. 🥰 😅 She definitely came out of her grief in the end, and I wish I had that much cheeky confidence to say what’s on your mind and not care what happens!
Chris is an absolute POS. 🤬 Thea was much nicer than she needed to be, and I would not have handled it well at all.
Edward started out a bit of a shit, but definitely grew on me and I appreciated his honesty, even though many mistakes were made. 🤦🏼♀️
Tropes:
Grumpy/Sunshine
Love triangle
Different worlds
Definitely recommend! 🩷
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity and Grief
Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy
themoonshinegirl's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Misogyny and Violence
Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
unikko's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Finally a book with a middle-aged female protagonist who doesn’t have kids! Add a bookshop, a grumpy misanthropic guy, some subcultural references and the beautiful landscape of the Scottish lowlands and I’m all in! I haven’t felt this at home in a book since forever. <3
The romance develops slowly from friendship and there are no graphic sex scenes, which is another huge plus for me. I really enjoyed following Thea as she built a new life for herself and I like that the romance is just the cherry on top, not the main reason for her newfound happiness.
The romance develops slowly from friendship and there are no graphic sex scenes, which is another huge plus for me. I really enjoyed following Thea as she built a new life for herself and I like that the romance is just the cherry on top, not the main reason for her newfound happiness.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy
cariam's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It was a reasonably enjoyable book. I never knew how much power a middle-aged Scotsman treating you like a wife when you’re not one would have over me. And pet names reach a new swoon height when you imagine them in an accent - darling, sweetheart, doll. 💕
I haven’t read many books where a man is doting, and Edward Maltravers was a sweetheart, if not a prickly one at first glance. That lil muffin worried about her period at one point, so he’s got brownie points now too. Not to mention I was angry at him for being crass with her just a few hours earlier, so kudos to Fraser for being well rounded in her writing .
The sass and jealousy is great! I found some scenes drags out with her chitter chatter though, and Thea seemed kinda unhinged in her self consciousness a few times. I also understood being hesitant to love again, but loved how something that developed her character wasn’t glossed over later, and especially loved her anxiousness about Edward going away and possibly cheating, but I disliked how Thea kept thinking of “generations past” and how she’d be compared to a servant.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Miscarriage and Pregnancy
Minor: Death