A review by weelasswithabook
Bending The Rules by Christina C. Jones

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

CW: infertility, adoption system, race and publishing, sick child

⭐ Friends to lovers
⭐ Black romance
⭐ Single dad

🌈 Black MCs

This was a great ending to a great series of variations on the enemies to lovers trope. This one being a friends to enemies to lovers. Both characters have a solid history, having been best friends since childhood, with a spanner being thrown in the works as adults and causing a 7 year rift between the pair. 

Forced proximity is brought into the equation as the two are thrust together when the heroine's parents' book shop is being used to promote the hero's new novel and and have a signing. Through being thrust together, the two of them work through some miscommunication, some old issues between the two of them and their relationship begins to slowly blossom from there.

I loved the inclusion of infertility in the book, as an epilogue with pregnancy and weddings is always the blueprint in a romance novel like 99% of the time. With the heroine actively also choosing not to have children, it added the representation of women who actively choose or are unable to have children, which is frequently underrepresented. Which is strange, because in actuality more women are choosing not to have children nowadays. 

All in all, this was a really well written and felt out friends to lovers story. But I'm quite sad that the series is over, because the Wrights have carved out a nice soft spot in my heart.

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