A review by mlcarl
The Charm of You by Jennifer Probst
1.0
I’m starting this with a content warning for the book, mostly because I’m bothered that almost no one else seems to mention something that I found really problematic and potentially triggering for people. It is a major plot spoiler, so click at your own risk.
Once upon a time, Presley Cabot was the overweight girl who gave her virginity to the charming athlete Nolan Banks, only to be crushed when he never again acknowledged that it happened. But that’s not who Presley is anymore. Now she’s a brilliant owner of a massive company and the kind of woman that men want. And when Nolan shows back up in their college town to open a bar, Presley is ready to use that newfound power against him, especially when he once again, doesn’t even bother to remember who she is. Nolan wants to woo Presley. But Presley is determined to use his emotions against him and break his heart, just like he did to her all those years ago.
My biggest fear going into this book was that Presley was going to lie to Nolan about who she was, which is a thing I really despise. Good news, that didn’t happen. Bad news, what Presley actually did, I ended up hating even more. She played a lot of games with Nolan and by the end, I was having a hard time understanding why he even still wanted her.
The Good
Here’s the thing about Jennifer Probst. She is a very excellent writer. So even while I despised what was going on, the book was written well enough that I was willing to commit to the end and see if something happened that changed my mind.
I also was a Nolan fan. He was a little cocky and everything happened a little too easily for him, but he was more than just a charming and sexy hero. He didn’t just think Presley was hot because she’d lost a ton of weight and wore nice clothes. He also thought she was brilliant and wasn’t intimidated by her being a fierce and successful business woman. There’s a couple situations where he proved himself to be a really stand up kind of guy and by the end, I felt like he deserved someone better than Presley.
The Bad
There was a lot of bad. Specifically the revenge plot. Because Nolan didn’t acknowledge Presley after they had sex in college and then doesn’t remember her now that it’s been years and she looks totally different and doesn’t fully introduce herself, she decides the best course of action is… revenge. By playing hard to get and letting Nolan woo her and then breaking his heart when he eventually falls in love with her. It just all felt utterly ridiculous. Especially coming from a grown woman who’s the billionaire owner of her own multimedia company. Doesn’t she have better things to do? Apparently not, because her friends (who I also didn’t care for at all) didn’t just encourage this, they helped facilitate it happening.
But more than anything, I hated how much of a hypocrite Presley was throughout all of her and Nolan’s interactions. There’s one point in the book where Presley and Nolan are out on a date and he asks about how she started her company. She accuses him of googling her and then says “How about laying our cards on the table, Nolan?… [I bet you] armed yourself with a bunch of information in order to play me the right way. If you did, you’ll realize one big thing. I can take anything but a liar.” Wait, what? She’s the one refusing to tell him about their shared history that he doesn’t seem to remember and actively lying to him to get him to fall in love with her just so she can hurt him later. For no other reason than to feel some sense of satisfaction about something that hurt her years ago. But she can’t take a liar.
The Ugly
One of the most cringeworthy things about this book was how much underlying fat shaming there was. Presley was overweight in college so obviously no one could ever want her. But now that she’s lost a ton of weight she feels worthy of male attention. There’s a line about how her personal trainer makes her throw up for fun and later a scene where, after wallowing by eating bad for you treats, her punishment is to work out so hard that she feels like she’s dying. There’s just such an underlying theme that Presley wasn’t anybody worth knowing until she got thinner and worked out to the point where it’s unhealthy and I just had a hard time not being disgusted by that.
But the very worst part for me was that Probst used a rape as a plot device, and definitely not in a healthy “working through it/learning to trust again” sort of way.
Spoiler
This book involves a reveal that the hero’s friends drugged him and facilitated him being unable to give consent to a sexual encounter. I felt like it was very disregarded and was uncomfortable with how it was never referred to as rape, despite the fact that it absolutely would have been had the person being drugged been a woman.Once upon a time, Presley Cabot was the overweight girl who gave her virginity to the charming athlete Nolan Banks, only to be crushed when he never again acknowledged that it happened. But that’s not who Presley is anymore. Now she’s a brilliant owner of a massive company and the kind of woman that men want. And when Nolan shows back up in their college town to open a bar, Presley is ready to use that newfound power against him, especially when he once again, doesn’t even bother to remember who she is. Nolan wants to woo Presley. But Presley is determined to use his emotions against him and break his heart, just like he did to her all those years ago.
My biggest fear going into this book was that Presley was going to lie to Nolan about who she was, which is a thing I really despise. Good news, that didn’t happen. Bad news, what Presley actually did, I ended up hating even more. She played a lot of games with Nolan and by the end, I was having a hard time understanding why he even still wanted her.
The Good
Here’s the thing about Jennifer Probst. She is a very excellent writer. So even while I despised what was going on, the book was written well enough that I was willing to commit to the end and see if something happened that changed my mind.
I also was a Nolan fan. He was a little cocky and everything happened a little too easily for him, but he was more than just a charming and sexy hero. He didn’t just think Presley was hot because she’d lost a ton of weight and wore nice clothes. He also thought she was brilliant and wasn’t intimidated by her being a fierce and successful business woman. There’s a couple situations where he proved himself to be a really stand up kind of guy and by the end, I felt like he deserved someone better than Presley.
The Bad
There was a lot of bad. Specifically the revenge plot. Because Nolan didn’t acknowledge Presley after they had sex in college and then doesn’t remember her now that it’s been years and she looks totally different and doesn’t fully introduce herself, she decides the best course of action is… revenge. By playing hard to get and letting Nolan woo her and then breaking his heart when he eventually falls in love with her. It just all felt utterly ridiculous. Especially coming from a grown woman who’s the billionaire owner of her own multimedia company. Doesn’t she have better things to do? Apparently not, because her friends (who I also didn’t care for at all) didn’t just encourage this, they helped facilitate it happening.
But more than anything, I hated how much of a hypocrite Presley was throughout all of her and Nolan’s interactions. There’s one point in the book where Presley and Nolan are out on a date and he asks about how she started her company. She accuses him of googling her and then says “How about laying our cards on the table, Nolan?… [I bet you] armed yourself with a bunch of information in order to play me the right way. If you did, you’ll realize one big thing. I can take anything but a liar.” Wait, what? She’s the one refusing to tell him about their shared history that he doesn’t seem to remember and actively lying to him to get him to fall in love with her just so she can hurt him later. For no other reason than to feel some sense of satisfaction about something that hurt her years ago. But she can’t take a liar.
The Ugly
One of the most cringeworthy things about this book was how much underlying fat shaming there was. Presley was overweight in college so obviously no one could ever want her. But now that she’s lost a ton of weight she feels worthy of male attention. There’s a line about how her personal trainer makes her throw up for fun and later a scene where, after wallowing by eating bad for you treats, her punishment is to work out so hard that she feels like she’s dying. There’s just such an underlying theme that Presley wasn’t anybody worth knowing until she got thinner and worked out to the point where it’s unhealthy and I just had a hard time not being disgusted by that.
But the very worst part for me was that Probst used a rape as a plot device, and definitely not in a healthy “working through it/learning to trust again” sort of way.