Christina Lauren

In a Holidaze

/ Rebekahrox / 1 Comment

by Christina Lauren

The current image has no alternative text. The file name is: inahol.jpg

I was expecting more from this, especially after I started reading it. The premise, in which our main character keeps going back in time until she get things right, had a lot of promise. But the two main characters turned out to be disappointments, and a disappointment together. The very large and crowded secondary cast had no one entertaining enough to carry a secondary storyline to fall back on.

Andrew, our heroine’s love interest, was too much of a paragon. Perfect face, perfect body, and perfect personality. There was no room for growth, or change for the better, possible for him.

He smiles, and Lord, if the sun doesn’t come out from behind the clouds. Dimples so deep I could lose all my hopes and dreams inside them. I swear his teeth sparkle. As if on cue, a perfect brown curl falls over his forehead. You have got to be kidding me.

You’ve got to be kidding me too. The description reminded me of those old comic book representations of Superman. And that can be fine if he is the knight in shining armor character who has to rescue a victimized or seriously flawed heroine from a heinous antagonist. But this heroine had just failed to launch and needed to grow up. Besides, no disrespect to Superman, but I prefer Clark Kent. The love story seemed jejune and more of school girl crush. Our heroine, called variously Maelyn, Maisie, Mae, or Noodle, is 26. She had decided she was in love with “Mandrew” at 13 and has since only saw him for one week a year. Hardly a strong foundation for an enduring love story. Honestly, it had all the makings of “Girl thinks she is in love with the guy who checks all the boxes, but her real connection is with the less obvious underdog.” I would have preferred it if the love story started with perfect Andrew but ended with his flawed brother Theo, minus the gross face licking incident.

I glare across the table at him, but he doesn’t look up. He tucks into his Lucky Charms like a hungover frat boy. Theo is a dick.

Lots of room for growth and change there! A slow realization that Theo had been misunderstood and had hidden depths would have been much more interesting and romantic. But unfortunately the author(s) saddled him with some serious no-nos that eliminated that possibility and any suspense of who she would wind up with, despite my hoping for a miracle.

The second big thing that didn’t track with me was the time travel/Groundhog day thing. It didn’t make any sense, and I’m not even talking about “why this particular girl?” Although that would have been nice to know! By the way, our heroine had never heard of this modern classic Romantic Comedy, which did nothing to endear her to me. I was ok with her having 3 trips only which stopped at the halfway point. She was always whisked back in time right before she was about to be killed or maimed (or seriously injured.) At first I thought the universe was trying to save her life. The first time, an out of control truck is spinning towards her and feet from crashing into her car. The second time she is about to fall down the stairs. The third time, a heavy tree branch is about to fall on her head. But when the fourth time a life threatening incident occurred, nothing happened. She assumes the universe is trying to warn her she did something wrong (why?), which she didn’t. In fact, it occurred right after she decided to do something very right and be honest with Theo about Andrew. And throughout the book, it never seems to hit her that the first incident that triggered “Groundhog day” could also have killed her and her whole family. This possible tragedy waiting to happen (again) is never acknowledged.

Fairly early on, after the 3rd reliving of her cabin vacation, She actually learns the lessons she presumably is meant to learn, the secret to her being happy. She emails her boss and quits the job she hates, and is honest about her feelings for Andrew. But the penny doesn’t drop until almost the 80% mark.

I’ve spent years not trusting my ability to make decisions and quietly letting life just happen to me. It can’t be a coincidence that the moment I stopped being passive and followed my instincts, everything seemed to fall into place. I know what makes me happy—trusting myself. What a gift, right? I found happiness…
The only person whose expectations you have to live up to is yourself. When I thought it didn’t matter and no one would remember, I finally started living authentically. I quit my job. I was honest about my feelings. I went after what I wanted without fear.

I don’t know, it was all very confusing. But I won’t pile on about other things that bothered me.
The upshot is, that the premise could have been the foundation of a really good book with some depth and all sorts of interesting things going on, but the authors wasted it on what is only a light and frothy holiday (and pretty insipid) romance. It was like Christina Lauren purposely steered away from anything that could have made it substantial or really special.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

The Paradise Problem

/ Rebekahrox / Leave a comment

By Christina Lauren

“Houston, we have a problem(atic man).”

I hate to give this book less than 5 stars. The writing was excellent, it was very funny, the story kept me turning the pages, the heroine and hero were both lovable and admirable, the main bad guy was the evilest of evil and the ones in the middle were layered and somewhat complex. There was more than one cheer-worthy moment and also lots of drama and suspense. But I counted off for TMI in the spice department. I’m not a prude (debatable) and don’t mind some open-door explicitness, but it started to suck up too much air out of the actual story and character development. It started a little past the halfway point and I was liking the story and characters so much that I got impatient with the amount of real estate it took up.

“West” Weston (aka Liam) and Anna Green got married in college just to qualify for affordable married housing. They barely saw each other and after Liam graduated they completely lost touch and haven’t seen each other for almost 5 years. Anna changed her major from Pre-Med to Art but her dream of supporting herself and paying her beloved father’s medical bills with her painting is not even a distant possibility. And she just got unjustly fired from her crap job at the Pico Pick-It-Up. She is at a very low point. So when Liam, whom she almost didn’t even recognize, comes a-knocking at her apartment door with a proposal that will allow her to breathe a little financially, she is all in. This is a girl who thinks $10,000 is “life-changing,” and Liam’s deal will net her over 10 times that amount. He needs her wifely presence by his side at his sister’s extravagant wedding on a private island in Indonesia. A condition of Liam and his siblings’ each inheriting around $100,000,000 each from their late grandfather is that they must be legitimately married for at least 5 years. And according to his mother, his ruthless father is starting to get suspicious that Liam’s marriage to Anna is a sham.

The plot is certainly not original and there were plot holes one could drive a bus through. The most glaring, to me, was how Anna and Liam could possibly think that their marriage-in-name only could not and would not have been easily uncovered years ago. But I was so involved in the story that I didn’t let that bother me (too much). The character of Anna was the key. Boisterous, proudly blue-collar, inappropriate, and hilarious, she must try to bury her authentic self to pretend to be Liam’s perfectly classy blue-blood and loving wife who is at ease with wealth and power. All the while pretending she is a doctor. Liam knows he is in for trouble when she shows up at the airport expensively attired, accessorized, and gorgeous (he gave her a dress allowance) but still sporting her strikingly pink hair. But Anna is smart and motivated to carry the whole deception off. She likes and respects Liam, who is a perfect foil for her. He left the family business for academia to become independent from his dysfunctional family for mysterious reasons. We only know that Liam is a good man with high principles and his father is a fiendish “sludge goblin.” He is constantly having to navigate his father’s manipulations and pressure to rejoin the family firm while still trying to keep in touch with the less offensive members of his troubled family.

Although The Westons certainly look askance at Anna’s unconventional ways she is pretty much accepted by them. Given Anna’s spirit and gumption, they don’t have much choice. The children of the family love her, Liam’s sister is nice and thrilled to finally meet her, and her sister-in-law is almost becoming a friend. And anyone can see the young couple are devoted to each other. Still, there are many dangerous waters to navigate and many traps to avoid. Suspense and tension build, but Liam and Anna have each others’ backs and even though there are some close calls, they are in a fair way to carrying the whole charade off. Except it’s not a charade anymore. Liam and Anna are in love. Then all hell breaks loose. Liam’s father gains the upper hand in his obsession to get Liam back under his thumb and back in the family business. Threats are made, secrets are revealed, and high drama is on every page. As truths come out, we learn there is much more at stake than we thought.

The opposites attract romance was engaging (other than…you know) and the crass and conspicuous consumption of the Weston family was an endless source of entertainment. Liam’s rage-filled narcissistic father kept the tension and drama factor high. I loved that when the inevitable crisis in Anna and Liam’s relationship came it was for good and understandable reasons, not silly foolishness. The side characters, including Anna’s friends and family, were very enjoyable and layered. Justice was served and the comeuppances were beautifully done and very satisfying. I closed the book with a smile on my face and hope for the families in my heart!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

The Unhoneymooners

/ Rebekahrox / Leave a comment

by Christina Lauren

This is my third try with Christina Lauren. While one was pretty good (although I do not remember it, strangely), Roomies, the other, Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating, which seems like her most popular book, I just didn’t cotton to. This one I listened to, and it was a delight. I loved both of the main characters, the romance was good and there were plenty of chuckles. I liked the character development and how, after a couple of years of being antagonized by and not liking each other (due to a misunderstanding when they first met and one thing leading to another) they slowly went to appreciating and enjoying each others company, to attraction and then soulmates. The story is given some more layers with a delightful family, some drama with Olive’s twin sister and her new husband, a career crisis, and the lovely setting of Maui for those that enjoy a little vicarious living. There were a few silly misunderstandings but they resolved them quickly like intelligent people. When there was the inevitable break-up it was over something huge, so it wasn’t frustrating for me. The break-up was as justified as the happy ending was welcomed. Well done.**4 1/2 stars out of 5**

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

May 9, 2020

Roomies

/ Rebekahrox / Leave a comment

by Christina Lauren

I liked this book better than “Josh and Hazel”. I liked the protagonists, it was a good concept for a romance, and the setting in the world of the New York theatre was very intriguing. I have never read a book set in this milieu since Up goes the Curtain in the Penny Parish series. It was well written and amusing. It’s a good choice if you want a nice light love story, but a step up from a category romance.**3 1/2 stars**

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

April 29, 2019

Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating

/ Rebekahrox / Leave a comment

By Christina Lauren

A good romance, but not much more to it. Hazel was a little too wackadoodle for me. It seemed contrived, Although she was a nice woman, she was also too self-involved and thoughtless about others. It was pretty sexy, but not over the top or “insert-sex-here.” I found it amusing, but not laugh out loud funny. I did like, when **spoiler**

Hazel discovered she was pregnant, that she didn’t do that whole will not tell the father because I don’t want him to want me just because of the baby thing. she was upfront with Josh almost right away (or he told her he knew, I can’t remember!) and they proceeded directly to their happy ending without any silly lack of communication or other nonsense. **3 stars out of 5**

April 16, 2019

The Soulmate Equation

/ Rebekahrox / Leave a comment

By Christina Lauren

“Biological compatibility is independent of whether or not we like each other.” A horrified laugh ripped out of her. “Is that the company slogan or your best pickup line?”

This was a very light high concept pleasant romance. Jess is a single mother who earns a pretty good living as a freelance accountant. She is burdened with a profligate drug addict for a mother who comes and goes from her life, buoyed by her grandparents who raised her, a great girlfriend, Fizzy, and a wonderful young daughter. Every morning she and Fizzy go to their local coffee shop with their laptops to do some work and have some coffee. Also every morning an attractive yet unpleasant man also visits to get coffee. Jess does not like him from the get-go, so of course, he is the love interest. River Pena is a founder of a new genetic technology that matches singles together scientifically based on their DNA. When Jess is talked into giving it a try, she is matched with the unlikable Dr. Pena himself with the highest compatibility score in the history of GeneticALLY, inc. which is about ready to go public. What a great opportunity to boost their IPO and garner some free publicity that would make their venture millions and millions of dollars! Jess isn’t all that interested for some strange reason so to encourage her to go along with it, they will pay her $10,000 per month to publicly date him until they go public and they have their huge payday.

Most of the rest of the book is about their falling in love with a few glitches in the form of her disaster of a mother and a health crisis with her beloved Nana. Lots of descriptions of “electric touches”, “vibrating hums,” and “traitorous zings.” The main crisis is towards the end where Jess discovers (thanks to her genius with numbers, data, and statistics) that they were not a “Diamond” match after all. The Raw data was tampered with! I loved that Christina Lauren did not gloss over the mathematics and the statistics of Jess’s detective work. She goes into math and data deep dives throughout the whole book. I thought it was very respectful of her readership. Was River involved in the fraudulent results? Will their love survive without the validation that they are scientifically made for each other? Will the company be ruined? Is River’s life’s work meaningless? Will Juno win first place in her school science fair? Some of these questions are answered at the end. It’s a happy ending if you don’t analyze it too closely.


As soon as Jess breaks the news to him, he’s out the door and ghosts her for over a week. He never replies to her texts and phone calls including at least one professing her love. He only comes back (and I don’t regard this as a spoiler, because really?) after he does the work involved in repairing the potential damage to his company, and his life’s work is validated. Here’s the spoiler:


Jess’s one essential question was “Did River need a particular score to be sure about her?”. And the thing is that he only came back after he knew they still had a Diamond score, though not as high as everyone thought. Of course, he said he would have come back anyway but we only have his word for that. Jess says she didn’t need to know the actual number, she loved him regardless. But River had to know, apparently. Jess and River’s public love story was one of the reasons that the IPO is projected to be so high and that River will be a gazillionaire. They never publicly disclose that all the publicity they got, including The Today Show and People Magazine no less, was based on deceit. He specifically states that it will not be disclosed, despite her qualms. I may be missing something, but I had a problem with that.**end spoiler**

The overall concept was interesting, and the writing was good. It doesn’t get a real high rating from me because I was never moved to laughter or tears. There were some amusing passages and some developments that should have brought the drama and emotions, but just didn’t. **3 stars out of 5**

Rating: 3 out of 5.

June 10, 2021