A review by raebrock
The Hookup Dilemma by Constance Gillam

3.0

This is one of those books where I really wish there were half stars, because this to me was a solid 3.5. I really liked the story more than I anticipated. I had no idea how they would work out the fact that Elliott was on the wrong side of potential gentrification and I spent the whole book hoping I’d still like him at the end (spoiler: I do). I think if anything this book went too easy on forgiving the supposed ignorance of gentrifiers - I don’t see how someone in Elliot’s field wouldn’t know more about the issue and tbh ignorance isn’t an excuse when your privilege is destroying lives. Romance plots NEVER make me think like this so I was impressed. But what was lacking for me in this romance was the character development. Rashida and Elliot had so much potential to be fantastic characters but as much as I liked the gentrification plot, that was pretty much the only real development the characters got other than a few minor mentions of past relationships and family drama. With more depth I think their love would have felt more profound. The steam was great and came into play super early! I would definitely recommend this one.