A review by chaosisafriend
And They Had a Great Fall by Shelby Saville

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

 

Jack and Kat hooked up during the pandemic when they were the part of the same pod. Kat lives next door to Jake’s parents and he came home to shelter in place with them. Jack is a famous 25 year-old movie star and Kat is a high-powered corporate executive and a single mom in her thirties. More than a year after they last spoke, Jack calls Kat from Copenhagen, where he is shooting on location. Things are not going well with the movie and he wants Kat to come there and help him cope with the pressure. She happens to have work for her corporation she could attend to while she’s there, so she joins him. She also needs help, although she doesn’t realize it. She’s still grieving the loss of her husband, who died of cancer five years ago when their daughter was a baby. 

Jake and Kat rekindle their affair once Kat arrives in Copenhagen, but Kat insists that they keep their relationship a secret. She fears that if she and Jake go public, the leadership at her company will see her as a frivolous woman for dating a movie star. She’s also worried about her daughter’s safety if she’s in the public eye. Is it possible to keep things a secret and what will they do if they can’t? 

And They Had a Great Fall deals with some serious issues in an authentic way. I liked that it wasn’t afraid to deviate a bit from the traditional romance formula in order to tackle those issues. This book would be a great beach read this summer.