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spearly's review
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? It's complicated
2.75
Thank you NetGalley and Aria and Aries for the eARC for review!
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I love it when a plan comes together, don't you?
Ben broke Bridie's heart 10 years ago, and her love life has been cursed ever since. She gives herself 20 dates in 20 days to find her perfect man before she resigns herself to lifelong single-dom. But with her best friend getting engaged to Ben's brother, Cal, and her and Ben picking up the mantles of Maid of Honour and Best Man, she's seeing a lot more of Ben than she'd like. Of course, everyone else can see the two have long-hidden feelings for each other, so the wedding party - minus Ben and Bridie themselves - devise a plan to get the two back together once and for all.
Love at First Fight was.... cute. It had a lot of potential. I love brit-lit, and the cast of characters, when we saw them, was fun. Bridie and Ben had great banter, and there were definitely some laugh out loud moments.
But the book quickly lost its course. What could have been a really great enemies-to-lovers dual POV romance spiralled into an overdramatic and unnecessary side-plot focus by the end.
I wanted to follow Bridie and Ben on their journey from frenemy "exes" to sickeningly in love. But the love part came way way too fast, with "I Love You's" flying around before the two even get back together, and their drama resolved 75% into the book. After that, the book shots focus to Cal and Hattie, the bride and groom, and some random drama that added nothing to our main story.
We didn't need the Hattie / Cal and company POV additions. I firmly believe the story would have been tighter had we focused more on Ben and Bridie. Obviously b and c-plots are okay - and welcomed! - but once our a-plot was resolved, the rest just felt like noise.
Also, I feel like Baker could have toned down the casual sexism. There's even a scene where Ben asks if Cal has a vagina because Cal wanted to get a rock massage for his bachelor party. It didn't sit right with me, especially considering Baker was so good at shutting it down later when Bridie and Ben talk about their distaste for marriage, how outdated the traditions are.
Also, [who gets engaged at their BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING?! That's just poor taste. (hide spoiler)]
Overall, this is a quick read, has nice writing, and good characters, but the plot fell a little flat.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual content and Sexism
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