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A review by deathh_by_tbr
Playing with Matches by Georgia Beers
4.0
*Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for providing me with an arc copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Liz has to move back home after she gets laid off and her mom has a surgery that puts her on rest for a few weeks, leaving her sister to need help in their B&B. Cori is a local business owner who creates her own merchandise and strives to give local artists a place to show off their craft. Reconnecting after high school, Liz begs Cori to be her fake girlfriend for a week so she doesn’t look like a failure in front of her ex boyfriend. Cori agrees and the two ladies start spending a lot of time together. Their feels might not just be for show.
Right off the bat, Liz is me and I am Liz. Spiders=death. I, too, would crash my car before I let a spider touch me. Liz is currently feeling like a failure because she doesn't know where her life is headed. This is relatable to so many people and definitely struck a chord with me.
Then we have Cori. She is a crafty, introverted businesswoman who loves her pets like they're her children and would do anything for some quiet. Cori is also a super relatable character for me.
It started out kind of slow, but once we got to the fake dating stuff I was all in. I was definitely expecting more spice or for them to hook up sooner, but this was a bit of a slow burn.
This was a super cliche Hallmark-like book, but I eat those right up. And it's not often that you can get your favorite cliche tropes with LGBTQ+ characters so this was a fun and refreshing read for me.
So many times these fake dating tropes are all about making someone jealous or so you don't show up at the holidays alone, and while I do understand those, I related more to Liz and her incessant need to prove that she is not a failure, even though she's the only one that thinks she is.
At one point, Cori's whole world seems to come crashing down on her and I wish in that time we could have gotten more of her thoughts and feelings. It felt like the narrative was more focused on Liz, but I really wanted more of those deep feelings with Cori when everything first goes down. It's definitely something that you won't see coming, but it makes so much sense.
This book takes place around thanksgiving and Christmas time so it would be perfect to read this time of year. Overall, this book was beautifully put together and Beers did a great job of putting emotion on the page. I will definitely be on the lookout for the next queer romance from this author.
Liz has to move back home after she gets laid off and her mom has a surgery that puts her on rest for a few weeks, leaving her sister to need help in their B&B. Cori is a local business owner who creates her own merchandise and strives to give local artists a place to show off their craft. Reconnecting after high school, Liz begs Cori to be her fake girlfriend for a week so she doesn’t look like a failure in front of her ex boyfriend. Cori agrees and the two ladies start spending a lot of time together. Their feels might not just be for show.
Right off the bat, Liz is me and I am Liz. Spiders=death. I, too, would crash my car before I let a spider touch me. Liz is currently feeling like a failure because she doesn't know where her life is headed. This is relatable to so many people and definitely struck a chord with me.
Then we have Cori. She is a crafty, introverted businesswoman who loves her pets like they're her children and would do anything for some quiet. Cori is also a super relatable character for me.
It started out kind of slow, but once we got to the fake dating stuff I was all in. I was definitely expecting more spice or for them to hook up sooner, but this was a bit of a slow burn.
This was a super cliche Hallmark-like book, but I eat those right up. And it's not often that you can get your favorite cliche tropes with LGBTQ+ characters so this was a fun and refreshing read for me.
So many times these fake dating tropes are all about making someone jealous or so you don't show up at the holidays alone, and while I do understand those, I related more to Liz and her incessant need to prove that she is not a failure, even though she's the only one that thinks she is.
At one point, Cori's whole world seems to come crashing down on her and I wish in that time we could have gotten more of her thoughts and feelings. It felt like the narrative was more focused on Liz, but I really wanted more of those deep feelings with Cori when everything first goes down. It's definitely something that you won't see coming, but it makes so much sense.
This book takes place around thanksgiving and Christmas time so it would be perfect to read this time of year. Overall, this book was beautifully put together and Beers did a great job of putting emotion on the page. I will definitely be on the lookout for the next queer romance from this author.