Shenanigans Week | 2.24.23
Let's get SILLY
There really isn’t much to say for this week’s intro except that I LOVE SHENANIGANS! I love SCHEMES! I love NONSENSE! And these three books deliver on truly bonkers or highly self aware central premises that seem completely distinct from one another otherwise.
The Switch by Beth O'Leary. Workaholic Leena is burnt out, and after a disastrous presentation at work as a result, her boss all but forces her on a two-month sabbatical. She starts this sabbatical by visiting her grandmother Eileen, who’s recently single and ready to mingle but underwhelmed by her age-appropriate options in her tiny Yorkshire village. So 20-something Leena and 70-something Eileen decide to switch lives for two months, with Eileen moving into Leena’s shared London loft and learning how to online date and Leena taking Eileen’s rural leadership role in the village for a bit of peace and priority resetting.
Just like I talked about last week when I recommended Sally Thorne’s 99 Percent Mine, I really respect how different structurally all of Beth O’Leary’s books are, and I’ll be honest: I didn’t want to like The Switch when I read that synopsis. But after this book, I trust Beth O’Leary entirely and will read whatever she publishes with an open heart. The only thing that would make her books better is an on-page bang, because all her books are closed door.
Rating: 4.5/5
How hot? 🔥 (closed door)
Would Like To Meet by Rachel Winters. Despite my open-door preference, this book is another closed door, bang-less romance! But it’s got A+ shenanigan energy, so I’m here for it. Evie is an overworked assistant at a Film and TV literary agency with dreams of being an agent herself someday (because, as we find out eventually, her dreams of writing for film and TV herself were dashed long ago. FORESHADOWING!). In order to finally claim the promotion she’s frankly deserved for years, her boss gives her a seemingly impossible task: get the firm’s most famous and most annoying client, Ezra, to finish writing the rom com he was contracted to write and refuses to turn in. When she finally gets through to Ezra, an arrogant cynic who thinks he’s above romantic comedies, he makes her a deal- if she can prove that meet cutes can work in real life, he’ll finish the script. So she sets out trying to manufacture classic Hollywood meet cutes (spilling a drink on a guy, etc) and writing up her notes on the interaction to inspire him past his writer’s block, with the help of fellow coffee shop regular Ben and his young daughter who happen to be witnesses to her very first attempt.
I love a genuinely funny meta love story, and this set up reminded me a lot of the premise of Book Lovers, whose meta-love-media-commentary is central to its intrigue. That said, I think the premise was stronger than the execution by a tad, so it’s a good thing it’s Rachel Winters’ debut, which means she’s certainly going to get even better from here!
Rating: 4/5
How hot? 🔥 (closed door)
When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare. A historical, for funsies! As well as another book that, IMO, has a far stronger premise than execution, which is too bad, because it’s possibly my favorite Tessa Dare premise but my least favorite Tessa Dare book so far (and I’ve read 10 of her books and REALLY enjoyed them!).
The premise: awkward Madeline knew during her first London season that she was absolutely dismal at impressing gentlemen, so in order to avoid the issue altogether, she invented a fake Scottish boyfriend who was away at war. His alleged name was the extremely generic Logan MacKenzie to ensure no one could disprove his existence, and after a few years of writing real letters and posting them to fake Captain MacKenzie, she kills him off and goes into fake mourning so everyone stops asking so many questions.
Then a real life Captain Logan MacKenzie shows up on her doorstep, home from the war and in possession of every letter she ever sent, thinking they’d get thrown out because the recipient was supposed to be fake. And even crazier, he’s like “hell yeah let’s get married.”
I think the reason this book didn’t ultimately work for me is that I really did not like Logan, and despite being absolutely fine with romance heroes who start out as jerks, I don’t think I ever fully bought his transformation/character arc, and I didn’t like how he treated Madeline really at any point until the conclusion. There was enough about how he assumes their relationship will work and how possessive he was in un-hot ways that gave me an ick. However, I really enjoyed the shenanigans aspect, and Tessa Dare is a talented enough author that I’ll still probably reread this at some point if the mood strikes. And who knows, maybe you’ll disagree with me and think the execution totally lands!
Rating: 3.5/5
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥
Just so no one thinks I’m judging them, I’m absolutely option 4- I wish I was interesting enough to be a schemer. More people should invite me to scheme! I think I’d be good at them, but my own life does not require them (probably a good thing)!
Next week, I’ll be recommending books with STEM careers at the center! Science (and technology, engineering, and math) is sexy, y’all!
What should I be reading next? Let me know in the comments!