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A review by lezreadalot
Coming Home by K.J .
3.0
It occurred to Sam just how easy it would be to walk through life with Abby Taylor.
This was sweet, and I had a nice time with it, but sadly I'm coming away from the book feeling mostly... meh. There was truly nothing wrong with it, I just didn't fall in love. It's about a school teacher falling in love with a famous actress, after having been hired to give her daughter private tutoring. I don't gravitate towards books about famous people, though there've been some notable exceptions that I've really loved. This, alas, wasn't one of those exceptions. It was cute and quirky, but the writing just felt stilted and kinda forced to me. I liked the romance, and the adorable part of single parent romances is always seeing the love interest getting along well with the kid, but I just... never felt like I understood why Sam and Abby were into each other. I didn't really feel the chemistry. We got both Sam and Abby's POV (and also the POV of some other third parties, which I never enjoy) but I never feel like we really got to know Abby. Sam has such a fun, distinct voice, and by the end of the book, Abby still felt like half a mystery.
One thing I did really like and appreciate was Sam talking about stereotypes, the things women expect of her just because she seems butch, and just having the freedom to be herself and be vulnerable, and not conform to whatever other people want/expect of her. It's an important conversation and I felt for her so much.
Listened to the audiobook as read by Ruth Guice, which was good. A lot of the books set in Australia that I've listened to have had American or British narrators, and they weren't bad, but this was nice, not having to always be aware that the narrator is putting on an accent. I really don't have anything major to critique about this book; it just didn't wow me. Would still recommend for a sweet single parent romance with semi-forced proximity vibes.
Content warning: