3 Contemporaries & 1 Historical

Me: I’m very picky about rom coms
Also me: reads two books in a row that are described as rom coms

“Rom com” has turned into one of those empty phrases that’s been used so much it’s lost meaning. Publishers like to latch onto “what’s hot” and “what’s selling” and slap it on any book they can and call it a day. If everything is rom com, nothing is rom com.

In any case, I read two rom coms, back to back, that felt both oddly similar and very different. Then I realized one author blurbed the other, which . . . tracked. Listen, I don’t put much stock into blurbs. They’re an industry standard that does what it’s supposed to do as an exception, not as a rule. It’s supposed to sell books. It’s more of a who-knows-who. A say-nice-things. A hope-they-actually-read-the-book-they-blurbed. But sometimes who blurbs a book tells you whose audience the publisher wants to reach.

Which might make more sense when I tell you about the books.

Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon

I’ve read Solomon’s adult books—The Ex Talk and Weather Girl—and very much enjoyed them. So I picked up Business or Pleasure . . . then let it sit on my book shelf. I assure you this is very normal. For me. But it finally spoke to me! The setup is this: our ghostwriter main character decides to have a one-night stand with a guy she meets at the bar. The sex is terrible, and she escapes quickly after, only to find out that—SURPRISE—her new ghostwriting client is her one-night stand. Who she will have to spend a lot of time with. Like, a lot of time. Eventually they agree that she will give him lessons in sex. Shenanigans ensue.

Rep wise, we get Jewish characters and both anxiety (her) and OCD (him) representation. As you might expect, there’s a lot of frank talk about sex and sexuality. It’s refreshing! There’s also “trying to figure my life out” and “I thought I’d be somewhere different by this age” vibes, very Millennial feeling.

I enjoyed the road trip/traveling portion of this romance best—something fell apart for me after they return to their real life (though the actual reasons why escape me at this point). It’s very clear that while Chandler (our FMC) keeps telling herself that the time she spends with Finn (MMC) is “not real” (literally, every time she starts feeling something in the moment, with Finn, she says, to herself, “This isn’t real.” BUT IT IS, CHANDLER), Finn is in it to win Chandler. He does very well on his lessons.

Probably not my favorite Solomon book, but it’s one that kept me coming back to it.

Love and Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe

This book was recommended to me by someone in one of my book clubs. I picked it up from Heartbound Book Shop when I was there, and bonus, scored a signed bookplate. This book was blurbed by Solomon, and there are a lot of similarities here between this book and Business or Pleasure. Single POV, both female characters in some kind of job crisis, male characters who are kind and caring. One of the many things I love about books and reading is that even when books with similar setups, you can get vastly different books.

In this book, Hallie’s breakup with an abusive boyfriend who’s also their employer’s golden boy put her producer job on the line. She finds Hayden, a cryptid expert, tracks him down, convinces him to be her new job. Only . . . he’s shit on camera. When she attempts to draw him out by playing the skeptic, their chemistry makes the show. And it’s on!

Okay, first we have to talk about Hallie and her blue hair. She seemed to think that blue hair would be . . . frowned upon? Looked down on? But here’s the thing. I’ve had blue hair. I had blue highlights in the early 00s and I’ve had blue hair in the 2020s (RIGHT NOW, in fact) and how people react to blue hair is night and day. When a work connection, a woman in her 70s who seemed on the conservative side of appearances, complimented me on my blue hair, I knew perceptions had shifted. I don’t think it was as big of a deal as Hallie made it out to be.

AND ANOTHER THING, these two were 25-27, and there was mention of Hallie’s company as being “for Millennials” and I HAVE NEWS FOR YOU. At this point, people in their late 20s are Gen Z. Between that and the blue hair, it honestly made it feel like this book was written in a different decade than it was published.

This did not deter me from enjoying the book! Hayden is kind and caring, very obviously into Hallie. He has his reasons for being into cryptids and conspiracies, and running his podcast. Hallie gives us demi-sexual representation.

My Best Friend’s Honeymoon by Meryl Wilsner

The June romance book club pick! Friends to lovers isn’t my favorite trope (SORRY), but that’s what this is: two friends who have been in love with each other for a very long time. One who knows they’ve been pining for their best friend. (Ginny) The other who’s been in denial. (Elsie)

Until they go on a honeymoon. Together. Because Elise breaks up with her fiancé when she realizes she doesn’t want to go through with the wedding. But her fiancé says, “Go on the honeymoon anyway. You deserve it! Take your best friend with you.” As you might imagine, there was no way this could go wrong.

Without much (any) discussion about what it means for their relationship, Ginny and Elsie add sex to their friendship. And the answer to “What does this mean for our friendship” is “No thinking, more sex.” This book is billed as a “spicy f/nb romance.” Spicy is largely subjective. But there is sex! There are so many orgasms. There are other things I won’t write here! (Email me if you’re really curious.)

The main characters here felt very very young (which, yes, they were like . . . 23) and the pacing was a bit off. Book club was generally in agreement that Ginny was lovely and they deserved someone better than Elsie. Which doesn’t make for a great romance but does make for great discussion.

A Love by Design by Elizabeth Everett

I read another book by this author that I really enjoyed, so I picked this one up. I read this about two weeks ago and I remember very little. This is partially my fault for not jotting down notes after I finished the book. A second chance romance, this story features two childhood sweethearts whose lives went in drastically different directions and have now been thrown back together. (She hates him, he still loves her.)

After living in France and being widowed, Margaret returns to England to start the first woman-owned engineering firm. Our male main character is George, who absolutely loves Margaret, even years later, but who inherited an earldom that he never wanted or prepared for. To secure funding for her firm, Margaret takes on a project for George’s nemesis. To be fair, George’s nemesis is awful. And hates women.

Margaret plows forward with it anyway, even with her reservations, and doesn’t talk to any of her friends about it. Friends who would love to see her succeed! There was a lot of stubbornness between both characters and the plot was kinda predictable. (It was obvious it wasn’t ever going to work out, but Margaret plowed forward anyway.)

The conflict between the main characters also wrapped up incredibly quickly. There are very real issues that prevented a public union between them, and it got resolved too fast. But if you like virgin heroes? George is your man.

(Also, gotta admit that Ali Hazelwood blurbing this book is an interesting choice.)