Mini-Reviews: Fake Relationship and Friends-to-Lovers Historical

Yes, it's time for another round of mini-reviews. What can I say? Words are still hard and my most recent romance reads haven't exactly inspired effusiveness. 

First up is The Bookworm and the Beast by Charlee James.  My book group's last two picks have been, to be frank, not great (a D+ and a DNF for yours truly) so I went diving into the depths of my digital TBR and convinced everybody to read this one.  What I got was a very sweet read. How sweet? I should have read it over the Christmas holiday when my tolerance for toothaches is higher.  Nobody but a category romance fan will understand this reference, but what we have here is Silhouette Romance vs. Harlequin  Romance sweet.  It's very sweet.

Izzy Simon is a librarian, which means of course she's taking on a two-week temp job to help her grandmother with the rent for her assisted living apartment (this rang depressingly true). Her assignment is to be the temporary assistant to Derek Croft, a grumpy children's book author (OK, sure).  He doesn't want or need an assistant but with his family coming in for the Christmas holiday, he realizes Izzy is the perfect decoy to get his well-meaning stepmother, who keeps trying to set him up with various single ladies, off his back.

I mean, it's fine.  It's very sweet and there's a scene with some wolves (seriously) in the woods that pushed this one into full-blown, eye-rolling, fairy tale territory.  But the one thing that I kept niggling on?  He's a children's book author. She's a librarian. Trust me - when librarians meet authors (especially successful children's book authors...) discussions are had.  Basically there's no talk at all about their respective careers and they don't factor into the story at all - other than Izzy making a dismal salary and needing to work a second job to help out Grandma.  Final Grade = C

If you're looking for a pleasant, low-angst read, look no further than Her Best Friend, the Duke by Laura Martin.  Caroline Yaxley is hopelessly in love with her best friend, James Dunstable, Duke of Heydon.  Their friendship is rather unconventional, and certainly gives the gossips something to speculate over, but it's all above reproach, which is the problem for Caroline.  She's now 24 and realizes that she wants children and companionship. At this point if she can't have the man she loves she can at least settle for amiable companionship and not growing old alone. 

James is looking for a love like his parents had. Love-at-first-sight, a thunderclap, heavenly choirs singing - the whole enchilada.  Never mind he's now 40 and this great love match hasn't miraculously dropped into his lap. He's instead done his best to dodge the matchmaking mamas and spent his time traveling the continent.  But now he's back in England and flummoxed that Caroline suddenly wants to marry.  I mean, what's that all about?  Still, he agrees to help her find a tolerable husband but the problem is no man is nearly good enough for her.  Also, why is he suddenly so distracted by his best friend?  I mean, they're friends - nothing more.  Right?

What's refreshing here is so often in historical romances it's the heroine holding out for twu wuv.  It was nice to see the shoe on the other foot.  The problem?  You know how eventually, sooner or later, those heroines get exceedingly annoying and you want to slap them them into next Tuesday and tell them to snap out of it already?  Yeah, just because we have a gender reversal on this trope doesn't fix that minor detail. It's not until the bitter end, even after his closest male friend tells him he's being a colossal moron, that the light finally dawns.  Also, even though this is a Harlequin Historical, it still felt too long.  It definitely sags a bit during the first third, but did eventually pick up.  Pleasant, but I'll admit I skimmed some of the slower bits.  Final Grade = C