Theme Parks
Roller coasters, winter wonderlands, and huge dorks (complimentary)
Right off the bat, I want to be clear that I’m being very broad with the label “theme park.” I know that there are real definitions, but I’m just a humble romance reviewer who needed a way to link three books around the unique workplace locations they take place at. And they are all location-locked attractions that are themed…. Around amusement broadly, around finding winter in Florida, and around nerd stuff. There is an alignment here, ok? Leave me alone, and read these books!
All Downhill With You by Julie Olivia. ICYMI, check out my recent interview with the author of this book here!
Lorelei is the marketing manager for a local amusement park who was riding a roller coaster that crashed and left her severely injured. She sues because she needs answers for how it could have happened, and also to help pay for further surgeries, not because she has any ill will towards coasters, the company who designed it, or the park itself. So when the grumpy engineer of the coaster himself shows up at the park so he can investigate and also renovate the attraction to ensure it’s safe for years to come, he’s the last person she should start to spend more and more time with, outside of work.
Emory was a wunderkind, and this is, if I’m remembering correctly, the first coaster he designed, so this situation is more personal for him than ever before. Especially since the woman who could ruin him is the sunshine he might just need long term…
What I loved about this book, aside from a great setting and messy relationship dynamic, is that Lorelei’s injury isn’t hand-waved away for convenience sake, even during intimate moments. It’s a pressing, minute to minute concern sometimes, and they both have to compensate, and constantly be reminded that he built something that has hurt her so badly while working around it on a practical level. I found it to be a really fascinating and satisfying combination!
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥🔥
With Love, From Cold World by Alicia Thompson. First of all, Cold World is a hilarious name for a tourist attraction. Second of all, this book is about one of my favorite heroine archetypes: the cold judgemental kind who is lonely and it’s partially her own fault but partially the fault of the world around her. Lauren is the bookkeeper for Cold World, an indoor themed space (park, perhaps?) aimed at bringing a winter wonderland to Orlando, Florida, and is kind of a beige stick in the snow.
Asa, on the other hand, is a blue-haired bisexual golden retriever who thinks work should be, gasp, FUN. And after their boss, worried about dropping attendance at Cold World, encourages the two of them to come up with new revenue streams, the slight workplace tension between happy-go-lucky Asa and happy-go-not-during-work-hours Lauren threatens to heat up to a melting pot.
Except things are worse than their boss wants them to know, so they are forced to work together if they want to rescue their shared workspace… and possibly proximity will breed more than contempt if they allow themselves to actually be open to each other’s ideas… as well as each other, period.
I really like that Alicia Thompson, despite her blurbs hinting at eccentric set ups, is a tremendously grounded writer, unafraid of mess or unlikeable leads, and this book is no exception to that rule. It makes what could be a silly romp to a fake winter wonderland a genuinely interesting exploration of what it means to take care of each other.
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥
Well Met by Jen DeLuca. We’ve talked about this series before, but somehow I didn’t start with book 1! Well, now I’m correcting that mistake, and taking you back to the beginning.
Emily dropped everything (though there honestly wasn’t much to drop, if she’s being honest) to temporarily move to small town Maryland to help her sister (10 years older than her) recover after an accident for the summer. Her teenage niece is mostly low maintenance, but she really wants to be a part of the town’s annual Renn Faire, and when Emily drops her off, it turns out minors need a parent of guardian to sign up alongside them, and the only available one is Emily herself, even though she takes an immediate dislike to the Faire’s organizer, Simon, and thinks the whole thing is a little silly.
Simon is a stuffy English teacher by day, Faire organizer in memory of his late brother by night, and a swarthy pirate for a few sweet, sweet weekends every summer. He contains multitudes, is my point, and once Emily sees the latter multitude while learning the ropes of being a serving wench, she’s willing to concede that this whole thing isn’t as lame as she may have originally imagined.
But as summer draws to an end, and her original purpose for being in town resolves itself, is there enough real between these two to sustain the fantasy? (yes)
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥
Bonus: Bri goes to the Renn Faire
My brother in law was in town the last weekend of LA’s local Renn Faire, so we spent a lovely cloudy Saturday shooting bows, throwing axes, and wandering the expansive grounds. I’m less a Renn-Faire girl than my husband, who used to keep chain mail in his trunk in case he came across a Faire (not a joke), but I still had a good time, and I love anywhere that I can be violent while wearing a flower crown I originally made for a DND-themed Halloween costume and then wore to officiate a wedding with a ‘format garden party’ theme!
Next week, I’ll be recommending baseball books! Baseball, my favorite fictional sport.
What should I be reading next? Let me know in the comments!
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