A review by verumsolum
Popcorn Love by K.L. Hughes
5.0
I have never had a book turn around on me as much as this one did. Let's start with the good (because there's a whole lot of it): This was a wonderfully fun couple finding themselves as a side-effect of unsuccessful blind dates. And the way Elena's family terrified and then welcomed Alison was truly wonderful to see. It was also fun to see that tug-of-war within each of the lovers, wanting to share those wonderful first-time experiences together, but also wanting to take things slowly enough to be sure it wasn't "just sex" for either of them.
There are only two things I would change about this book, both of them small: One of them is the opening. The scene where we meet Elena and Vivian, I couldn't stand either of them. I was regretting having bought the book and wondering what was wrong with the members of the book club who had voted it this month's book. But then, in the very next scene, we see Elena with her son and her mother and… she felt so different from that first scene. So within the first chapter, Elena became sympathetic, but that first scene made me wonder if I would finish the book. The second tiny thing is where the couple don't see each other for two weeks because of Alison's finals. Maybe it's just that I was a poor excuse for a college student (way back when), but if you can't find even a mealtime to share together in two weeks, you just don't care about each other. It set up the reunion at the end of the book, but… I found that one detail difficult to believe.
But, as I say, a wonderful book, pulled wonderfully on my emotions and brought me reminders of the early days of my own relationship with the woman I went on to marry, even though our experiences were totally different!
There are only two things I would change about this book, both of them small: One of them is the opening. The scene where we meet Elena and Vivian, I couldn't stand either of them. I was regretting having bought the book and wondering what was wrong with the members of the book club who had voted it this month's book. But then, in the very next scene, we see Elena with her son and her mother and… she felt so different from that first scene. So within the first chapter, Elena became sympathetic, but that first scene made me wonder if I would finish the book. The second tiny thing is where the couple don't see each other for two weeks because of Alison's finals. Maybe it's just that I was a poor excuse for a college student (way back when), but if you can't find even a mealtime to share together in two weeks, you just don't care about each other. It set up the reunion at the end of the book, but… I found that one detail difficult to believe.
But, as I say, a wonderful book, pulled wonderfully on my emotions and brought me reminders of the early days of my own relationship with the woman I went on to marry, even though our experiences were totally different!