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A review by jackiehorne
The Perfect Match by Kristan Higgins
3.0
Honor Holland has been pining after her high school friend Brogan for years. The two slipped into a friends-with-benefits relationship soon after graduation, one that Honor has hopes will transform into the real thing—marriage & kids & love. But when she finally gets up the gumption to suggest the possibility (egged on by the humorous Greek chorus of her aging ovarian eggs), Brogan treats the idea as if it must be a joke. And then he goes and gets engaged to Honor's good friend.
British professor Tom Barlow is having his own share of problems. His visa is about to expire, and the college won't rehire him unless he can get it renewed. He needs to stay in the states to be there for Charlie, the son of his (now dead) fiancee, who has been sent to live with stuffy, un-with-it grandparents who only know how to preach at him, not relate to him.
Of course Honor and Tom end up in a marriage (or engagement) of convenience, so that Tom can gain his visa and Honor can make Brogan jealous. And of course love ensues.
Interesting not for the ovarian chorus, but for Higgins' construction of Tom. On the outside, he appears a to be a guy's guy: he boxes, he teaches mechanical engineering, he drinks a lot. But like Honor, who appears amazingly tough on the outside, he's really someone who is just too nice, someone who doesn't speak up for his own needs and lets others push him around. I wasn't quite convinced that two people with the same character flaw could actually help each other to change, or even serve as catalysts for change, and so I couldn't entirely buy into Tom and Honor's character arcs, although their romance was sweet.
British professor Tom Barlow is having his own share of problems. His visa is about to expire, and the college won't rehire him unless he can get it renewed. He needs to stay in the states to be there for Charlie, the son of his (now dead) fiancee, who has been sent to live with stuffy, un-with-it grandparents who only know how to preach at him, not relate to him.
Of course Honor and Tom end up in a marriage (or engagement) of convenience, so that Tom can gain his visa and Honor can make Brogan jealous. And of course love ensues.
Interesting not for the ovarian chorus, but for Higgins' construction of Tom. On the outside, he appears a to be a guy's guy: he boxes, he teaches mechanical engineering, he drinks a lot. But like Honor, who appears amazingly tough on the outside, he's really someone who is just too nice, someone who doesn't speak up for his own needs and lets others push him around. I wasn't quite convinced that two people with the same character flaw could actually help each other to change, or even serve as catalysts for change, and so I couldn't entirely buy into Tom and Honor's character arcs, although their romance was sweet.