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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
I enjoyed this first book in the Hartigan series, a spinoff of Ms. Flynn’s Harbor City series, with a caveat.
Gina has dealt with people inflicting their standards of beauty on her and falling short, and I could empathize with her trying to find confidence in herself when others insist on beating you down for it. What I could have lived without is the constant references to her. You would swear that she was a troll just looking for a bridge to live under. Yet, her physical description wasn’t so tragic, perhaps unusual, but not hideous.
So the scenes where the focus is on her appearance, which are ALOT, are tough to take. Especially the loser cop co-workers that Ford works with, and the general nasty comments made about her appearance. It was constant. I know, I went into a book called Butterface, so I should know that it’s going to focus on her looks, but as a romantic comedy, I would prefer to have more humor and less mental anguish from the constant bombardment of judgy hate from just about every supporting character not named Hartigan (or dating one).
Ford is a stuffed shirt hero who is undone by his heroine, which is a trope I am all on board with. Is he insane to think that things aren’t going to blow up in his face? Yes, but in this case, I didn’t mind and his love for Gina made up for any dumb bunny moves he made. I think Gina and Ford are sweet together, I loved the Firsts and their attraction to each other is never in doubt.
That said, thank you Romancelandia Jeezus, this is NOT a transformational romance. Gina doesn’t become anything other than what she is - a sweet, wonderful heroine who’s got a beautiful heart and Ford is attracted to her, inside and out.
If you love a good “being loved exactly as you are” romance, and references to the characters looks being a focal point do not bother you, I would recommend this. I’m looking forward to the next book.
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As soon as I finished reading the last book in the Harbor City series from Avery Flynn, I wrote my review and hoped we would get books about each of the Hartigan siblings. When I saw Butterface was being released and it was the first book in the Hartigan series, I was absolutely over the moon to start reading this book. OMG it was worth every single minute I had to wait!!!
Gina Luca isn't your classic beauty. In fact she has heard herself described as "butterface" so many times, she has accepted she will never be seen as beautiful. She totally accepts herself for who she is and is happy in her own skin. She also has started her own business as a wedding planner and is living in and renovating her grandparents Victorian home. When she is pushed on the Kiss Cam at one of the weddings she is overseeing, she never expects the super sexy police officer Ford Hartigan to kiss her in front of everyone.
Ford Hartigan has always gone his own way in life. He comes from a family of firefighters yet has always wanted to be a police officer. He has always been a rule follower and is happy being a detective for the organized crime task force for the Waterbury Police Department. His work life and personal life mix when he is put on protective duty for Gina Luca when her grandfather's body is discovered in the attic walls during renovation. As Ford is investigating organized crime, and Gina's brothers are on the low level ladder in that field, them dating could be seen as a conflict of interest. However, as his Captain is the one who puts him on protective duty, Ford is pretty much following the rules.
I loved this story and really loved seeing Gina and Ford slowly move to a real relationship from the fake one they start out with for her family. The attraction between them was there from the very beginning, and I love that Ford truly saw Gina as beautiful. While I absolutely hated he wasn't up front with Gina about his protection detail being work related, I did love he was totally honest about what he thought of her appearance and his feeling for her all along. I honestly got all the feels while watching Gina and Ford fall in love. Gina and Ford had amazing chemistry and I loved they couldn't seem to keep their hands off each other. Gina makes not excuses or changes to her appearance to try and get her man and I loved her even more for being completely comfortable in her own skin. Not that she doesn't feel pain when people say ugly things about her appearance, she just accepts her looks and doesn't try and make changes. Ford seeing her for more than she saw herself make me happy sigh. I also love that while he didn't have to do so, he even was watching out for her brothers along the way.
I adored every single minute of reading Butterface. Avery Flynn has become one of my go-to contemporary romance authors and I anxiously await each new release. I've already added Muffin Top, book 2 in the Hartigan series to my to be read list for September. I can't wait to see Frankie Hartigan meet his match!
Rating: 5 Stars (B+)
Review copy provided by publisher
Gina Luca isn't your classic beauty. In fact she has heard herself described as "butterface" so many times, she has accepted she will never be seen as beautiful. She totally accepts herself for who she is and is happy in her own skin. She also has started her own business as a wedding planner and is living in and renovating her grandparents Victorian home. When she is pushed on the Kiss Cam at one of the weddings she is overseeing, she never expects the super sexy police officer Ford Hartigan to kiss her in front of everyone.
Ford Hartigan has always gone his own way in life. He comes from a family of firefighters yet has always wanted to be a police officer. He has always been a rule follower and is happy being a detective for the organized crime task force for the Waterbury Police Department. His work life and personal life mix when he is put on protective duty for Gina Luca when her grandfather's body is discovered in the attic walls during renovation. As Ford is investigating organized crime, and Gina's brothers are on the low level ladder in that field, them dating could be seen as a conflict of interest. However, as his Captain is the one who puts him on protective duty, Ford is pretty much following the rules.
I loved this story and really loved seeing Gina and Ford slowly move to a real relationship from the fake one they start out with for her family. The attraction between them was there from the very beginning, and I love that Ford truly saw Gina as beautiful. While I absolutely hated he wasn't up front with Gina about his protection detail being work related, I did love he was totally honest about what he thought of her appearance and his feeling for her all along. I honestly got all the feels while watching Gina and Ford fall in love. Gina and Ford had amazing chemistry and I loved they couldn't seem to keep their hands off each other. Gina makes not excuses or changes to her appearance to try and get her man and I loved her even more for being completely comfortable in her own skin. Not that she doesn't feel pain when people say ugly things about her appearance, she just accepts her looks and doesn't try and make changes. Ford seeing her for more than she saw herself make me happy sigh. I also love that while he didn't have to do so, he even was watching out for her brothers along the way.
I adored every single minute of reading Butterface. Avery Flynn has become one of my go-to contemporary romance authors and I anxiously await each new release. I've already added Muffin Top, book 2 in the Hartigan series to my to be read list for September. I can't wait to see Frankie Hartigan meet his match!
Rating: 5 Stars (B+)
Review copy provided by publisher
This was a cute romance. I feel like I had to drop the rating since IMO the plot structure was quite flimsy! It took me awhile to buy into their romance but it in the end it was a fun, enjoyable romance! Plus the cover is so darn cute!
Originally reviewed for Red Hot Books
Butterface, by Avery Flynn, was released back in July 2018. At the time, the book received a lot of favorable reviews, and people genuinely seemed to like it. I didn’t buy it then, but this past January I noticed it for sale on Amazon, so I picked it up and I’m very happy I did.
Gina Luca knows she’s not conventionally pretty and she’s come to peace with it. She’s got a great set of girlfriends, a protective pair of brothers who love her, a fantastic old, Victorian home she’s renovating and a successful wedding planning business. However, when a kiss cam and a cruel prank leave her up close and personal with hot cop, Ford Hartigan, she wishes she wasn’t the town butterface; everything is great about her “but her face.” After the disastrous night with Ford, Gina’s relieved that she’ll likely never see him again, but things don’t go as planned and soon the two are in a fake relationship, he’s sleeping on her couch and fixing up her home. It doesn’t take long for fake feelings to change to real feelings and for Gina to hope that maybe things with Ford might lead to the happily ever after she’s always dreamed of.
Ford Hartigan feels bad for the cruel prank paid on Gina that he was unwittingly a part of, but he also wants to see her more and not just because she might lead to the break he needs on the Luca crime family. Ford feels an instant attraction to Gina and while he very quickly learns she’s innocent in the criminal dealings of her family, he can’t help but keep seeing her. Unfortunately, the truth always comes out and Ford’s deceit might mean a lifetime without the beauty of Gina.
I was really nervous about Butterface. On one hand I hate pranks and seeing a heroine humiliated (Look up vicarious embarrassment, it’s a thing.) But I love a fake boyfriend and forced proximity. Luckily, the prank at the beginning doesn’t take up too much of the story, but offers an excellent example of the kind of cruelty Gina’s had to go through her entire life. It’s a great way to provide backstory without forcing the reader to endure story after story of the bullying and meanness in Gina’s past. While there are some stories, I really appreciated that Butterface wasn’t overburdened with this type of thing. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that unconventional people are treated with cruelty. We’ve all been there, what I want to read about is Gina now and her journey towards love and that’s exactly what Avery Flynn provided.
I also was really pleased with the way that Gina’s looks were treated. Gina’s unconventional appearance isn’t swept under the rug, she does look different, not hideous, but also not like everyone else. Gina is described specifically as having a large nose and large eyes that are far apart and do “the whole bugging out thing,” It would have been easy for Flynn to make Ford ambivalent or blind to Gina’s differences and completely enamored with what’s in her heart, and it would have made Butterface trite and ridiculous. It’s natural to see the things that are unconventional about the people around us, and even though we should aspire to focusing on the fact that it’s what inside that counts, this isn’t how the world works. Flynn also could have included a makeover scene in which Gina’s appearance is changed and she becomes more appealing, but (Thank God!) she didn’t. Ford notices Gina’s differences, but doesn’t really see what the issue is because he also sees what makes her special and he’s drawn to those things without trying to change her.
The last thing that really stuck with me about Butterface is that Gina, although she’s been hurt and although she really wants Ford, isn’t a pushover. When faced with the truth of the real reason Ford began paying her attention, Gina kicks Ford to the curb and refuses to back down. I love, love, love that Gina isn’t a doormat. How many Romances have you read in which the lies of a partner are downplayed or overlooked simply because of love? Gina’s refusal to accept second best for herself and to demand an honest partner, or at least one who has properly and sufficiently grovelled, made me literally want to cheer. Of course I want Gina with Ford, but I also want her to be awesome and strong and she is.
I am so glad that I picked up Butterface, it’s a sexy, funny, feel good book. Avery Flynn deftly avoids the potential pitfalls of writing an unconventional female character and gives readers a heroine they can both relate to and cheer for.
Rating: A+
Butterface, by Avery Flynn, was released back in July 2018. At the time, the book received a lot of favorable reviews, and people genuinely seemed to like it. I didn’t buy it then, but this past January I noticed it for sale on Amazon, so I picked it up and I’m very happy I did.
Gina Luca knows she’s not conventionally pretty and she’s come to peace with it. She’s got a great set of girlfriends, a protective pair of brothers who love her, a fantastic old, Victorian home she’s renovating and a successful wedding planning business. However, when a kiss cam and a cruel prank leave her up close and personal with hot cop, Ford Hartigan, she wishes she wasn’t the town butterface; everything is great about her “but her face.” After the disastrous night with Ford, Gina’s relieved that she’ll likely never see him again, but things don’t go as planned and soon the two are in a fake relationship, he’s sleeping on her couch and fixing up her home. It doesn’t take long for fake feelings to change to real feelings and for Gina to hope that maybe things with Ford might lead to the happily ever after she’s always dreamed of.
Ford Hartigan feels bad for the cruel prank paid on Gina that he was unwittingly a part of, but he also wants to see her more and not just because she might lead to the break he needs on the Luca crime family. Ford feels an instant attraction to Gina and while he very quickly learns she’s innocent in the criminal dealings of her family, he can’t help but keep seeing her. Unfortunately, the truth always comes out and Ford’s deceit might mean a lifetime without the beauty of Gina.
I was really nervous about Butterface. On one hand I hate pranks and seeing a heroine humiliated (Look up vicarious embarrassment, it’s a thing.) But I love a fake boyfriend and forced proximity. Luckily, the prank at the beginning doesn’t take up too much of the story, but offers an excellent example of the kind of cruelty Gina’s had to go through her entire life. It’s a great way to provide backstory without forcing the reader to endure story after story of the bullying and meanness in Gina’s past. While there are some stories, I really appreciated that Butterface wasn’t overburdened with this type of thing. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that unconventional people are treated with cruelty. We’ve all been there, what I want to read about is Gina now and her journey towards love and that’s exactly what Avery Flynn provided.
I also was really pleased with the way that Gina’s looks were treated. Gina’s unconventional appearance isn’t swept under the rug, she does look different, not hideous, but also not like everyone else. Gina is described specifically as having a large nose and large eyes that are far apart and do “the whole bugging out thing,” It would have been easy for Flynn to make Ford ambivalent or blind to Gina’s differences and completely enamored with what’s in her heart, and it would have made Butterface trite and ridiculous. It’s natural to see the things that are unconventional about the people around us, and even though we should aspire to focusing on the fact that it’s what inside that counts, this isn’t how the world works. Flynn also could have included a makeover scene in which Gina’s appearance is changed and she becomes more appealing, but (Thank God!) she didn’t. Ford notices Gina’s differences, but doesn’t really see what the issue is because he also sees what makes her special and he’s drawn to those things without trying to change her.
The last thing that really stuck with me about Butterface is that Gina, although she’s been hurt and although she really wants Ford, isn’t a pushover. When faced with the truth of the real reason Ford began paying her attention, Gina kicks Ford to the curb and refuses to back down. I love, love, love that Gina isn’t a doormat. How many Romances have you read in which the lies of a partner are downplayed or overlooked simply because of love? Gina’s refusal to accept second best for herself and to demand an honest partner, or at least one who has properly and sufficiently grovelled, made me literally want to cheer. Of course I want Gina with Ford, but I also want her to be awesome and strong and she is.
I am so glad that I picked up Butterface, it’s a sexy, funny, feel good book. Avery Flynn deftly avoids the potential pitfalls of writing an unconventional female character and gives readers a heroine they can both relate to and cheer for.
Rating: A+
This was a really cute and sweet read. I remember feeling all the things that Gina feels. I loved how Ford saw her but just shook my head at all the ways he messed things up. They both have good support to see them through everything. This is a really lovely book and I look forward to reading about the other characters.
Narration hammered on the heroine’s looks just a little too much, and I’d have like a little more depth to the writing overall. Also, more typos snuck in than I’m used to seeing. I was also sometimes lost as to the passage of time. Someone’s birthday party is “next week,” but then a scene takes place “a week later” and there’s no mention of a party until even more time has passed. I also wished the hero could’ve been given a chance to bring in good intel (not from his time with the heroine) for his task force’s case against the crime family. I feel like one more round of developmental edits would’ve made this book shine.
I definitely binge-read this book, though at times the ugly duckling angst got to be a bit heavy. The Hero would have been more swoon-worthy if his actions didn’t continue to dig his grave deeper. I really liked the idea of Ford being the black sheep as a cop in a family of firefighters. On that note, the highlights for this book have to be Gina’s friends and, of course, her and Ford’s families. The over the top family conversations and sibling ribbing definitely made me laugh.
Overall, this was definitely the book I needed to reset to avoid a reading slump. Some readers may have a tough time reading this book if they have triggers but I enjoyed it and look forward to reading the next book in the series, Muffintop!
Full review on Dream Come Review on May 30, 2019
Overall, this was definitely the book I needed to reset to avoid a reading slump. Some readers may have a tough time reading this book if they have triggers but I enjoyed it and look forward to reading the next book in the series, Muffintop!
Full review on Dream Come Review on May 30, 2019