A review by mandaleigh
Grouch-ish by L.B. Dunbar

lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I was not the audience for this novella. I love the snowed in/forced proximity, enemies (ish) to lovers vibes, but did not like these characters at all. I found them both pretty one-dimensional and boring, and I definitely wasn't rooting for them together. Brock meets Pear and commenting on her body and his fantasies for the first few chapters really gave me the ick. And, perhaps aided by the cover art, Pear never read as in her 40s to me? But I'm also not in my 40s, so maybe I'm being too critical.

I read this novella physically and felt like it could have used some time with an editor. (I know Ms. Dunbar self publishes so I don't know her editing situation.) Some punctuation was off, there were misspellings, one sentence toward the end that was justified weirdly... it really took me out of the experience.

There are two, I think, chapters at New Years where Brock suddenly reaches out to the parents of a late fireman he mentored. The mentioned character is "Nat." In later chapters it suddenly changes to "Nate." A typo, yes, but it bothered me.

Finally, I have an issue with the plot and spoilers incoming.

Did Pear ever get that text from Dad on page? The one where he supposedly told her to send Brock home? I flipped through and couldn’t find it. I think I would've liked this better if I knew from the get go that she was hiding that from him. To see her rationalize it and admit her lonliness and what not.(Though it did take me some time to get through this novella, so there's a chance I just don't remember it and in the end I don't really care.)

The cover art is lovely, but that's not a 40 year old "curvy" woman, nor do I believe that man is a silver fox. This is perhaps the first time I'm not on team illustrated cover.