Publication Date: 14th Jan 2025
Genre: Contemporary Romance
3.7 Stars
One Liner: Has rom and com!
Sawyer Greene is a bestselling romance writer and knows the genre. If only she could get over the writer’s block to create another story for the fast-approaching deadline. She hadn’t been able to write after her girlfriend Sadie broke up with her.
Mason West might be a great actor but he doesn’t seem to be lucky with relationships. After yet another breakup that sends the tabloids into a TRP tizzy, he needs to stop himself from falling in love.
A not-meet-cute between Sawyer and Mason ends up in an unexpected second meeting elsewhere. Maybe they can help each other? Mason wants Sawyer to ruin romance for him while he inspires her to write the next bestseller. If only life was that easy!
The story comes in Sawyer and Mason’s third-person POVs.
My Thoughts:
Well, a book about romance tropes but to ruin them for one character. Who can resist the premise?
The plotline is certainly cute and there’s a lot of humor in this rom-com. There is rom too and the spicy kind. Not all jokes appealed to me but taste is subjective, so you might them more (or less).
Sawyer would be the grump with Mason being a cinnamon roll sweetheart. TBH, he was too good and too sweet. That meant I felt sad for him more than I felt for the FMC.
Of course, as a fellow writer, I could connect with her stress about writer’s block, the frenzy of wanting to work on an idea before it vanishes, and the inherent talent of writing myself into a corner. The only difference is that I am not a bestseller (yet) or have an agent and editor rooting for me (got my darling friends, though).
While the book deals with a few themes (lightly), the central plot is rather loose and thin. The characters also acknowledge this, so I can’t say much. It’s more like they feel attracted to each other and go with a crazy plan.
The spice is close to 4. There’s a scene early in the book, which surprised me. The next one takes some time (small mercies). We get some sexy banter as well.
The FMC is bi (with chaotic bi energy). I confess I’m not familiar with that tag but she is a mess. Sometimes, it gets a bit annoying as well. Still, I feel the bi part was done well instead of being an item on the checklist.
I had to wait a long time to read about the dress on the cover. At least, it is in there, though the MMC’s suit colors are not the same.
I wish the themes like parental interference and lack of family support were explored a little more. These have an important role in developing the character arcs and need some extra time.
The pacing is on the slower side, something I didn’t expect. A few scenes were extended for no reason. The third-act breakup was expected. Still, I wish it was better handled. Necessary, yes; but not that way.
To summarize, Unromance is an entertaining debut with a bunch of romance tropes mashed into a series of dates. It is fun but a one-time read.
Thank you, NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing (Forever), for eARC.
#NetGalley #Unromance
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