On the Corner of Love and Hate
Hopeless Romantics #1
by Nina Bocci
For fans of Lauren Layne and Kristan Higgins comes a delightfully “fun bit of fluffy entertainment” (Publishers Weekly) in the first book of a charming new series, in which a young woman is forced to help her old friend revamp his image for the upcoming mayoral elections...and discovers that she might not be as immune to his charms as she once thought.
When Emmanuelle Peroni’s father—and current mayor of Hope Lake, Pennsylvania—suggests she help with Cooper Endicott’s campaign, she’s horrified. Cooper, one of her (former) oldest friends, drives her crazy in every way possible. But he’s also her father’s protégé, so Emma reluctantly launches her plan to help him win the local election.
It’s not as easy as it looks. Cooper’s colorful love life is the sticking point for many voters, and his opponent is digging up everything he can from his past. It seems that every time Emma puts out the flames from one scandal, another one flares up. Emma knows that if Cooper wants to win, he needs to keep his nose clean. The only problem? She might just be falling in love with the one person she promised never to pursue: the mayoral candidate himself.
Momma Says: 3 stars⭐⭐⭐
On the Corner of Love and Hate felt more like women's fiction to me than romance except that it's more fluff than fiber where the storyline and characters are concerned. That's not necessarily a bad thing, we could all use a little fluff from time to time, but the romance here is a slow burn - like the flame is barely there type of slow. I expected an enemies to lovers story, but I never really got that from Emma and Cooper. They do have some fun banter, and we're told that there were some sparks in the past, but I just didn't see much chemistry between them. They could've ended up just good friends, and I would've been fine with that. I do like small town stories and on that, this one delivers. The town is charming, and the characters are quirky and fun. I even enjoyed the politics and Cooper's double-dealing opponent made for an interesting bit of trouble in the mayoral race. I did have one pet peeve with this book, and that was the random 'Emma thoughts' that would pop up. At first they were amusing and even cute, but after so many, it was more distraction and started to wear at me. Fortunately, those do fizzle after a while and they don't happen as often in the last half of the book. In the end, this one wasn't quite what I expected or hoped for, but I did enjoy meeting the characters of Hope Lake, and I will check out other books from this author.
On the Corner of Love and Hate felt more like women's fiction to me than romance except that it's more fluff than fiber where the storyline and characters are concerned. That's not necessarily a bad thing, we could all use a little fluff from time to time, but the romance here is a slow burn - like the flame is barely there type of slow. I expected an enemies to lovers story, but I never really got that from Emma and Cooper. They do have some fun banter, and we're told that there were some sparks in the past, but I just didn't see much chemistry between them. They could've ended up just good friends, and I would've been fine with that. I do like small town stories and on that, this one delivers. The town is charming, and the characters are quirky and fun. I even enjoyed the politics and Cooper's double-dealing opponent made for an interesting bit of trouble in the mayoral race. I did have one pet peeve with this book, and that was the random 'Emma thoughts' that would pop up. At first they were amusing and even cute, but after so many, it was more distraction and started to wear at me. Fortunately, those do fizzle after a while and they don't happen as often in the last half of the book. In the end, this one wasn't quite what I expected or hoped for, but I did enjoy meeting the characters of Hope Lake, and I will check out other books from this author.
❃❃ARC provided by NetGalley and Gallery Books
No comments:
Post a Comment