From # 1 New York Times bestselling author Lauren Kate comes an enemies-to-lovers romance about an editor, her bestselling author, and one life-changing secret.
What she doesn’t know about love could fill a book.
With a successful career as a romance editor, and an engagement to a man who checks off all ninety-nine boxes on her carefully curated list, Lanie’s more than good. She’s killing it. Then she’s given the opportunity of a lifetime: to work with world-renowned author and her biggest inspiration in love and life—the Noa Callaway. All Lanie has to do is cure Noa’s writer’s block and she’ll get the promotion she’s always dreamed of. Simple, right?
But there’s a reason no one has ever seen or spoken to the mysterious Noa Calloway. And that reason will rock Lanie’s world. It will call into question everything she thought she knew. When she finally tosses her ninety-nine expectations to the wind, Lanie may just discover that love By Any Other Name can still be as sweet.
Publishing Date: March 1, 2022
Genre: Romance
Age Group: Adult
My Rating: 1/5
Woohoo! My first 1 star of the year! And an arc no less.
What in the world was this book?
"We sometimes get a few gay men at Noa's events, but I'm definitely sensing straight here."
(1) is romance (as a genre) only for women? nope
(2) is assuming someone's sexuality based on how they look inherently problematic? YUP
To make this worse, I think the book is actively trying to *promote* diversity. The main character wonders if her bookshelf is "diverse enough," and there are references to supporting authors of color. So - WHY does this book struggle so much to actually DO THE WORK and not perpetuate stereotypes of the LGBTQ+ community??? It very much gives performative activism vibes.
"I let out the breath I didn't realize I'd been holding."
ARE WE BACK IN THE EARLY 2010s?
I know that this author wrote the Fallen books (which I haven't read - but I watched the movie), so I wasn't expecting greatness. But WOW. This was rough.
Quotes aside, the plot was terrible:
1) this isn't enemies to lovers at all! the two main characters do not feel like convincing enemies.
2) the side characters were pretty useless and bland.
Anyways, this was a huge flop for me. What I've learned is that not all romance will end up working for me, and that I should stick to Talia Hibbert.
Thank you Penguin Publishing Group for the ARC.
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