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A review by aliu6
By Design by J.A. Armstrong
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.