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3.2 AVERAGE
3.2 AVERAGE
Thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an ARC via NetGalley for an honest review.
Ok, this was an overall very charming, honest romance. There are some quite serious moments that could escalate into even more serious situations, which are thankfully averted. I thought that those moments were handled pretty well and felt confident in the narrative carrying me through those spots. However, if you are not comfortable reading about mentions of intimate partner abuse/assault or discussions of pregnancy, this book is probably not for you.
Sean, the firefighter lead, is so aware of issues that women face and is careful to avoid “caveman” tendencies. We are given an explanation as to why he is aware, which I appreciate. Sometimes a romance lead being too perfect or too aware can really ruin the believability of a book, but there is a reason given here. I do think there was so much “ah I can’t indulge my urges to protect” while also having a whole lot of growling that it did feel a little contrived at times.
Eva is the female lead. A professor of pop culture and English Lit was a nice choice of a career. We do get discussions or mentions of books and authors throughout the novel and having romance novels be defended within a romance novel was a pretty cute moment, in my opinion. She was a very real-feeling character. She overreacts, gets upset, maintains boundaries that are good, and pushes for communication pretty frequently. She is not too perfect or without flaws, but she is also not so flawed that it distracts from the romance between her and Sean.
On top of the ex that first brings Eva and Sean to meet, family and complicated families are a big part of Fake Flame. Both of their families are in the book with dinners and other meetings. I enjoyed Buck’s characterization of difficult family dynamics. Even when you love each other, it can still be hard and when you don’t love each other, it’s so hard. Family relationships and expectations can be a weight that you don’t even recognize or know how to deal with and I enjoyed seeing that in this book.
As the book is pretty short, a lot of threads or situations don’t get a lot of time to mature or pull through the main narrative. I wish it was longer and that there were more of the quirky/cute moments to balance out the heavier side of Sean and Eva’s relationship. The attraction is cute and spicy moments abound. I enjoyed this book, but I didn’t absolutely love it.
Ok, this was an overall very charming, honest romance. There are some quite serious moments that could escalate into even more serious situations, which are thankfully averted. I thought that those moments were handled pretty well and felt confident in the narrative carrying me through those spots. However, if you are not comfortable reading about mentions of intimate partner abuse/assault or discussions of pregnancy, this book is probably not for you.
Sean, the firefighter lead, is so aware of issues that women face and is careful to avoid “caveman” tendencies. We are given an explanation as to why he is aware, which I appreciate. Sometimes a romance lead being too perfect or too aware can really ruin the believability of a book, but there is a reason given here. I do think there was so much “ah I can’t indulge my urges to protect” while also having a whole lot of growling that it did feel a little contrived at times.
Eva is the female lead. A professor of pop culture and English Lit was a nice choice of a career. We do get discussions or mentions of books and authors throughout the novel and having romance novels be defended within a romance novel was a pretty cute moment, in my opinion. She was a very real-feeling character. She overreacts, gets upset, maintains boundaries that are good, and pushes for communication pretty frequently. She is not too perfect or without flaws, but she is also not so flawed that it distracts from the romance between her and Sean.
On top of the ex that first brings Eva and Sean to meet, family and complicated families are a big part of Fake Flame. Both of their families are in the book with dinners and other meetings. I enjoyed Buck’s characterization of difficult family dynamics. Even when you love each other, it can still be hard and when you don’t love each other, it’s so hard. Family relationships and expectations can be a weight that you don’t even recognize or know how to deal with and I enjoyed seeing that in this book.
As the book is pretty short, a lot of threads or situations don’t get a lot of time to mature or pull through the main narrative. I wish it was longer and that there were more of the quirky/cute moments to balance out the heavier side of Sean and Eva’s relationship. The attraction is cute and spicy moments abound. I enjoyed this book, but I didn’t absolutely love it.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
funny
hopeful
fast-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
This book was just okay.
There were few things I didn’t particularly like though:
- the writing was REALLY on the nose in regards to male behaviour and condemning it, but the male lead then goes and does similar things to win the female character over? The fact he was actively making plans to try and course her in a relationship in the same breath as judging her ex was wild. The flirting occasionally read as immature millennial chat from 10 years ago.
- The 3rd act break up was very legitimate and I didn’t feel this was resolved in a particularly satisfying way.
It did keep me interested enough to keep reading.
There were few things I didn’t particularly like though:
- the writing was REALLY on the nose in regards to male behaviour and condemning it, but the male lead then goes and does similar things to win the female character over? The fact he was actively making plans to try and course her in a relationship in the same breath as judging her ex was wild. The flirting occasionally read as immature millennial chat from 10 years ago.
- The 3rd act break up was very legitimate and I didn’t feel this was resolved in a particularly satisfying way.
It did keep me interested enough to keep reading.
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Meh. The story and characters lacked depth. A good idea but not executed well.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No