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A review by sandlynn
Smitten by the Brit by Melonie Johnson
3.0
Melonie Johnson’s Smitten by the Brit, published in 2019, is the second book in a series called, Sometimes in Love.
I did not read the first book in this series titled, Getting Hot with the Scot, but the opening pages of this story has our heroine, Bonnie Blythe, attending an event in Chicago involving the couple from the first book. Bonnie is the best friend of the previous heroine and was also on the trip to the United Kingdom that led to the engagement of the previous couple. During that trip, Bonnie met the best friend of “the Scot,” an Englishman — Theo Wharton — who she “sparked” with but couldn’t act upon because she had a live-in boyfriend at home. Needless to say, Bonnie is surprised to find that Theo is also at this Chicago event and that they still find each other very attractive.
Bonnie is not only “bothered” by Theo, but she’s also unhappy with the fact that her best friend is planning her own wedding, after such a short time, while Bonnie is still in limbo waiting to plan a wedding with her long term boyfriend, Gabe. That eventuality disappears when Bonnie returns home to find Gabe in their bed with another woman, propelling Bonnie into the arms of Theo. What Bonnie doesn’t know is that Theo has his own obligations and demands back in the U.K. that involves the solvency of his family and their ancestral holdings. They mutually decide on a no-strings involvement, but when Bonnie — who is an English professor — gets an offer to become a guest lecturer at Cambridge during the summer, Theo and she meet again and the constraints weighing on Theo suddenly become far more important.
So often readers say that you don’t need to read the former books in a series in order to read the current one, but I found myself annoyed that the couple from the previous book were such a big part of this book that I felt that I should’ve read the first one. If I had read that one, would I have proceeded to Smitten by the Brit? I’m not sure. There are things about this story that bothered me - specifically the constant reference to “the Scot,” “lass,” “lad,” and other stereotypical references that made me think that the author was treating these characters as caricatures instead of people. I liked Bonne and Theo, but not enough to care about their possible relationship. I especially didn’t care much for the resolution of Theo’s problem — which was an impediment to his being with Bonnie — it was rather simplistic, last minute, and rushed. The fact that Theo and his family hadn’t thought of it earlier since every other landed family in Britain, with a limited cash flow, has seemed like a”duh” moment. I think this was a “C” read. Average. Not bad, but not a stand-out.
I did not read the first book in this series titled, Getting Hot with the Scot, but the opening pages of this story has our heroine, Bonnie Blythe, attending an event in Chicago involving the couple from the first book. Bonnie is the best friend of the previous heroine and was also on the trip to the United Kingdom that led to the engagement of the previous couple. During that trip, Bonnie met the best friend of “the Scot,” an Englishman — Theo Wharton — who she “sparked” with but couldn’t act upon because she had a live-in boyfriend at home. Needless to say, Bonnie is surprised to find that Theo is also at this Chicago event and that they still find each other very attractive.
Bonnie is not only “bothered” by Theo, but she’s also unhappy with the fact that her best friend is planning her own wedding, after such a short time, while Bonnie is still in limbo waiting to plan a wedding with her long term boyfriend, Gabe. That eventuality disappears when Bonnie returns home to find Gabe in their bed with another woman, propelling Bonnie into the arms of Theo. What Bonnie doesn’t know is that Theo has his own obligations and demands back in the U.K. that involves the solvency of his family and their ancestral holdings. They mutually decide on a no-strings involvement, but when Bonnie — who is an English professor — gets an offer to become a guest lecturer at Cambridge during the summer, Theo and she meet again and the constraints weighing on Theo suddenly become far more important.
So often readers say that you don’t need to read the former books in a series in order to read the current one, but I found myself annoyed that the couple from the previous book were such a big part of this book that I felt that I should’ve read the first one. If I had read that one, would I have proceeded to Smitten by the Brit? I’m not sure. There are things about this story that bothered me - specifically the constant reference to “the Scot,” “lass,” “lad,” and other stereotypical references that made me think that the author was treating these characters as caricatures instead of people. I liked Bonne and Theo, but not enough to care about their possible relationship. I especially didn’t care much for the resolution of Theo’s problem — which was an impediment to his being with Bonnie — it was rather simplistic, last minute, and rushed. The fact that Theo and his family hadn’t thought of it earlier since every other landed family in Britain, with a limited cash flow, has seemed like a”duh” moment. I think this was a “C” read. Average. Not bad, but not a stand-out.