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aliu6's review
4.0
3.75 stars
New York Senator Candace Fletcher has decided that it's best for her to stay away from relationships. Not only is she a divorced 55-year-old mother-of-three who also happens to be a lesbian, but her previous girlfriend cheated on her and broke her heart. When architect Jameson "J.D." Reid visits her to discuss restoring her old family home, sparks fly between the two women. But the large age gap between them and their professional working relationship are just two things standing in their way.
This was a cute read, although it was a bit short and simplistic.
The Characters: Both Candace and Jameson are really nice people, from what I can tell. We don't get much time to really delve into their backstories, so they didn't necessarily feel fully-formed to me. But I could see hints of hidden layers, and I assume that we get to see more in the following (11!) books. Similarly, the side characters didn't have too much dimension, but some got close to the amount of page time the MCs got, and a few stood out.
The Romance: I enjoyed Candace and Jameson's dynamic. It was very teasing and banter-y. Jameson is the younger, playful one while Candace is constantly amused by her antics. There wasn't much lust until the way end, and they do fall in love rather quickly, but I like the way the book gives an explanation for falling in love. Like when you know that that is the person for you.
The Plot: The plot was the romance. There were some things going on in the background, namely the home restoration. But I kind of wish we had gotten more about Candace's job. I'm sure there could have been interesting political schemes going on. But again, I guess that comes in the later books.
The Writing: The dialogue was really well written. It was natural and funny. The narration was a bit iffy for me. It doesn't necessarily follow one character's (third person limited) POV at a time. Like there were points where it would switch from Jameson to Candace after a sentence. Side characters were also given the POV, which was interesting to me. It probably led to gaining a better understanding of the side characters. Also, in terms of word choice, there was a bit too much quipping and winking going on.
This was a solid read that lost a few points for how simple and short it was. I couldn't really get engaged in the way that I wanted to, although I liked most of what I saw. It kind of had an old-fashioned feel to it. Anyway, it seems like a great intro to a long series. I rarely see lesbian book series, so I'm curious to see what J.A. Armstrong has done with it.
New York Senator Candace Fletcher has decided that it's best for her to stay away from relationships. Not only is she a divorced 55-year-old mother-of-three who also happens to be a lesbian, but her previous girlfriend cheated on her and broke her heart. When architect Jameson "J.D." Reid visits her to discuss restoring her old family home, sparks fly between the two women. But the large age gap between them and their professional working relationship are just two things standing in their way.
This was a cute read, although it was a bit short and simplistic.
The Characters: Both Candace and Jameson are really nice people, from what I can tell. We don't get much time to really delve into their backstories, so they didn't necessarily feel fully-formed to me. But I could see hints of hidden layers, and I assume that we get to see more in the following (11!) books. Similarly, the side characters didn't have too much dimension, but some got close to the amount of page time the MCs got, and a few stood out.
The Romance: I enjoyed Candace and Jameson's dynamic. It was very teasing and banter-y. Jameson is the younger, playful one while Candace is constantly amused by her antics. There wasn't much lust until the way end, and they do fall in love rather quickly, but I like the way the book gives an explanation for falling in love. Like when you know that that is the person for you.
The Plot: The plot was the romance. There were some things going on in the background, namely the home restoration. But I kind of wish we had gotten more about Candace's job. I'm sure there could have been interesting political schemes going on. But again, I guess that comes in the later books.
The Writing: The dialogue was really well written. It was natural and funny. The narration was a bit iffy for me. It doesn't necessarily follow one character's (third person limited) POV at a time. Like there were points where it would switch from Jameson to Candace after a sentence. Side characters were also given the POV, which was interesting to me. It probably led to gaining a better understanding of the side characters. Also, in terms of word choice, there was a bit too much quipping and winking going on.
This was a solid read that lost a few points for how simple and short it was. I couldn't really get engaged in the way that I wanted to, although I liked most of what I saw. It kind of had an old-fashioned feel to it. Anyway, it seems like a great intro to a long series. I rarely see lesbian book series, so I'm curious to see what J.A. Armstrong has done with it.
hsinjulit's review
1.0
By Design is the kind of book that makes you wonder if you just read the same book as everyone else.
While I did not hate the book, I still rated it one-star. The flow of the story was not consistent, which made me feel like I was dragged through mud at a very slow pace and thrown into the thrashing water the next. I felt confused when Candace and J.D. secretly admitted their love for each other to themselves. Surely I missed something. But I did not, and though it was not improbable for them to fall in love without much onscreen interactions (physical or otherwise), I did not find their declaration of love believable at those given points in time, either. Another thing that I did not quite understand was how Pearl seemed to be much older than Candace, but was actually just nine years her senior. I guess she was not that old after all.
Candace and J.D. are sweet and I appreciate the aspect of their age difference (Candace is fifty-five and J.D. is thirty-five). Their bantering was cute at times, but seemed forced when it went too lengthy. Also, I hated it when Candace threw the word “lunatic” around. Yes, I get that it was mostly a pet name, yet it was still very inappropriate. Just how many times did Candace refer to J.D. as a lunatic? About ten times. In a novella. And I kept wondering if the sentence “don’t be surprised if she sells that cat to the Chinese restaurant” insinuated that the Chinese restaurant would use the cat as food. Maybe I am overreacting, but as an East Asian with Chinese heritage, I find that throwaway comment incredibly racist.
By Design could have been a great novella, bu alas, it did not work for me. All in all, I would not read the rest of the series. It could be that I had too high a standard for novellas. However, I am still willing to try Armstrong's Alex and Cassidy series written under her pen name of Nancy Ann Healy.
While I did not hate the book, I still rated it one-star. The flow of the story was not consistent, which made me feel like I was dragged through mud at a very slow pace and thrown into the thrashing water the next. I felt confused when Candace and J.D. secretly admitted their love for each other to themselves. Surely I missed something. But I did not, and though it was not improbable for them to fall in love without much onscreen interactions (physical or otherwise), I did not find their declaration of love believable at those given points in time, either. Another thing that I did not quite understand was how Pearl seemed to be much older than Candace, but was actually just nine years her senior. I guess she was not that old after all.
Candace and J.D. are sweet and I appreciate the aspect of their age difference (Candace is fifty-five and J.D. is thirty-five). Their bantering was cute at times, but seemed forced when it went too lengthy. Also, I hated it when Candace threw the word “lunatic” around. Yes, I get that it was mostly a pet name, yet it was still very inappropriate. Just how many times did Candace refer to J.D. as a lunatic? About ten times. In a novella. And I kept wondering if the sentence “don’t be surprised if she sells that cat to the Chinese restaurant” insinuated that the Chinese restaurant would use the cat as food. Maybe I am overreacting, but as an East Asian with Chinese heritage, I find that throwaway comment incredibly racist.
By Design could have been a great novella, bu alas, it did not work for me. All in all, I would not read the rest of the series. It could be that I had too high a standard for novellas. However, I am still willing to try Armstrong's Alex and Cassidy series written under her pen name of Nancy Ann Healy.
reneetc's review
3.0
The pairing of a senator and an architect is a welcomed change from the previous books I've read. This is a lazy day, sweet romance type of story. I really like Candy and JD's chemistry even though they fell for each other rather quickly. I wish the author could have stretched the beginning of Candy and JD's romance with a little more angst, jealousy, and family drama. For me, their journey would have been more fulfilling despite this being a short story. Perhaps that's what's installed in the other books of the By Design series, which I plan on reading.
wickedregal's review
5.0
I quite enjoyed this one. I loved the witty banter of the blooming relationship between Candace and JD. Looking forward to reading the next installment in the series.
elvang's review
3.0
Good little story. Too bad about the editing issues at the beginning of the book. Either the author improved as the story built, or I was too busy enjoying the story to notice the grammatical errors throughout. I'll read more of this author's work.
3.5 stars
3.5 stars
mjsam's review
3.0
This one was ok, it needs some editing to give it a polish. As a novella you can't expect it to dig very deep, but the relationship seemed one sided. JD learns some stuff about Candace, but Candace doesn't really know much about JD at all. The supporting characters were fairly interesting, and as the first of a series it could have been worse, it was interesting enough.
mirielen_arantes's review
4.0
I seriously need to read more of this because in my head Candy = Mary McDonnell and J.D. = Sheron Menezes(yeah, I do this, it's how my head works, sorry)! I'm in love with this storie and with this couple!!!
corrie's review
2.0
I see J.A. Armstrong come by on Goodreads a lot. That’s understandable because she is quite a prolific writer. I suggested to read part one of her By Design series with Book Club Buddie D. After a chapter or so it dawned on us we had tried this one before and had stopped reading then because it was just not doing it for us. I think I made it through the insta-love and the wallpaper banter and then just gave up.
This time I was determined to see it through to the end (it’s not a very long story anyways) and I have to be honest… it didn’t get any better. J. A. Armstrong’s series has a lot of fans and I think that’s great, but I can’t really connect with the way she tells her story. It feels very lightweight to me.
What really got to my nerve was the way the author keeps bashing us over the head with the liberal use of the character’s first names. I’m pretty sure I hate the name Jameson and Candace by now. They say that names become invisible in a story and are less annoying than the over-using for example ‘the blonde’, ‘the brunette’, ‘the taller woman’ or the ‘blue-eyed woman’… but when you read:
Candace felt the response from her lover and squeezed Jameson’s nipple gently. Jameson’s automatic reaction was to bathe both of Candace’s breasts in a flurry of small nips and kisses. Jameson understood Candace better than Candace realized. She pushed Candace back onto the bed and lifted the senator’s hands over her head, holding them there. She kissed Candace deeply, allowing their tongues to dance and battle for dominance. She gently tugged at Candace’s bottom lip with her teeth and then pulled back to look into Candace’s eyes. “Let me make love to you, Candace,” Jameson said. Jameson watched desire and confusion play across Candace’s face. “Just let me love you,” she said softly before lowering her kiss back to Candace’s breasts.
“Jameson,” Candace moaned.
It gets a bit much.
What is wrong with throwing a ‘sweetie’, ‘love’ or ‘honey’ in there to break the endless use of those names. Once my eyes fixed on that it was hard to un-see it and it spoiled the dialogue for me.
f/f explicit
Themes: what’s in a name, no connection to the characters, we hardly get to know J.D., we must be in a rush because insta-love strikes again, contrived bit of angst to enhance the plot, I mean who the fuck is this Rachel?
2,4 stars
This time I was determined to see it through to the end (it’s not a very long story anyways) and I have to be honest… it didn’t get any better. J. A. Armstrong’s series has a lot of fans and I think that’s great, but I can’t really connect with the way she tells her story. It feels very lightweight to me.
What really got to my nerve was the way the author keeps bashing us over the head with the liberal use of the character’s first names. I’m pretty sure I hate the name Jameson and Candace by now. They say that names become invisible in a story and are less annoying than the over-using for example ‘the blonde’, ‘the brunette’, ‘the taller woman’ or the ‘blue-eyed woman’… but when you read:
Candace felt the response from her lover and squeezed Jameson’s nipple gently. Jameson’s automatic reaction was to bathe both of Candace’s breasts in a flurry of small nips and kisses. Jameson understood Candace better than Candace realized. She pushed Candace back onto the bed and lifted the senator’s hands over her head, holding them there. She kissed Candace deeply, allowing their tongues to dance and battle for dominance. She gently tugged at Candace’s bottom lip with her teeth and then pulled back to look into Candace’s eyes. “Let me make love to you, Candace,” Jameson said. Jameson watched desire and confusion play across Candace’s face. “Just let me love you,” she said softly before lowering her kiss back to Candace’s breasts.
“Jameson,” Candace moaned.
It gets a bit much.
What is wrong with throwing a ‘sweetie’, ‘love’ or ‘honey’ in there to break the endless use of those names. Once my eyes fixed on that it was hard to un-see it and it spoiled the dialogue for me.
f/f explicit
Themes: what’s in a name, no connection to the characters, we hardly get to know J.D., we must be in a rush because insta-love strikes again, contrived bit of angst to enhance the plot, I mean who the fuck is this Rachel?
2,4 stars
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