Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by andreasromancebooks
Give & Take by Claire Wilder
4.0
3.75 ⭐️ ARC review! - I love unconventional romances.
This book is a Reverse Age Gap book, meaning the FMC is older than the MMC... and I always eat these kinds of stories up like they are dipped in chocolate. I might be Raph age irl -and can therefore attest to just how odd I would find it to date someone about 15 years my senior- but I loved this story. Lana's character was a bit of a mess emotionally speaking, and I don't necessarily think she was a person to imitate when it comes to maintaining a healthy relationship, but I suppose that is the point of the story.
All relationships are unfair and unbalanced at most times. Navigating that takes some true strength of character. One which Lana did not have, all while Raph seemed to have some sadistic positivity-on-shrooms kind of kumbaya view of life, which seemed to border on manic behaviour at times. And as much as I wanted to believe his character could be possible and real -I am aware that this is a FICTION book and a romance to boot -still, I cannot suspend my disbelief quite this much. He is the 'manic pixie dream girl' version tailored to the suburban housewife, a fact that the book doesn't really try to hide, and even pokes fun at itself for it a couple of times. It was entertaining to see and heartbreaking to experience both characters breaking their own heart by trying not to damage the other's. It's a HFN ending, though, so there's nothing to worry about that.
It's a lovely Reverse Age Gap, and Reverse Nanny Romance I can definitely recommend it if those are something you like. The aspect of Raph being the nanny was, in my opinion, severely underdeveloped, but we get a good handful of scenes where he's basically falling in love with Lana's daughters, Nova and Aurora. This is a story where instalust and instalove take a very prominent role in the plot, so beware.
The ending, which I will not go into detail describing or say too much about, was both expected and unexpected in some ways. I enjoyed it, but thought it could've used a bit more info about how their lives are playing out.
This book is a Reverse Age Gap book, meaning the FMC is older than the MMC... and I always eat these kinds of stories up like they are dipped in chocolate. I might be Raph age irl -and can therefore attest to just how odd I would find it to date someone about 15 years my senior- but I loved this story. Lana's character was a bit of a mess emotionally speaking, and I don't necessarily think she was a person to imitate when it comes to maintaining a healthy relationship, but I suppose that is the point of the story.
All relationships are unfair and unbalanced at most times. Navigating that takes some true strength of character. One which Lana did not have, all while Raph seemed to have some sadistic positivity-on-shrooms kind of kumbaya view of life, which seemed to border on manic behaviour at times. And as much as I wanted to believe his character could be possible and real -I am aware that this is a FICTION book and a romance to boot -still, I cannot suspend my disbelief quite this much. He is the 'manic pixie dream girl' version tailored to the suburban housewife, a fact that the book doesn't really try to hide, and even pokes fun at itself for it a couple of times. It was entertaining to see and heartbreaking to experience both characters breaking their own heart by trying not to damage the other's. It's a HFN ending, though, so there's nothing to worry about that.
It's a lovely Reverse Age Gap, and Reverse Nanny Romance I can definitely recommend it if those are something you like. The aspect of Raph being the nanny was, in my opinion, severely underdeveloped, but we get a good handful of scenes where he's basically falling in love with Lana's daughters, Nova and Aurora. This is a story where instalust and instalove take a very prominent role in the plot, so beware.
The ending, which I will not go into detail describing or say too much about, was both expected and unexpected in some ways. I enjoyed it, but thought it could've used a bit more info about how their lives are playing out.