Tuesday 8 December 2015

Book Review: Broken Resolutions by Olivia Dade


Romance has never had a happy ending for librarian Penny Callahan, who could write the book on cheating, heartbreaking liars. So she’s made a resolution: no men for the next twelve months. If she can just get through the library’s New Year’s Eve singles night, she can return home to her pajamas and a good book. But when she finds herself checking out a hot hunk with an irresistible smile, an evening in the stacks becomes a lot more tempting…

Reclusive author Jack Williamson never should have trusted his mother. Even though he’s trying to avoid being recognized, she guilts him into attending a dating meet-and-greet—where an adorable librarian makes him question his lonely lifestyle. Is this just a fleeting, flirty scene? Or could love be the next chapter for them both?
 
I have been going through a romance fiction dry spell recently. Nothing is really impressing me much . I keep waiting for a romance book to sweep me off my feet but nothing is getting the job done. For a moment I thought Broken Resolutions was going to be that book. It came very close but it didn't quite make it.

I really enjoyed Broken Resolutions. It was a hell of a lot better than I thought it was going to be. When I first started this book I was sure I was onto a winner. I would give the first half of this book five stars without hesitation. Why? Because this book (the first half especially) is really, really funny. It's not 'have a little chuckle' funny, it's 'I have to put this down because I cannot stop laughing' funny. Seriously, the fist half really did it for me. It was simple, adorable and hilariously awkward fun.

Dade wrote this one brilliantly. Her comic timing is superb and her world building strong. I loved that she dared to take the piss out of the romance genre as a whole. It was a brave move considering that this is a romance book. She could have been seen as arrogant but it didn't come across like that.

Unfortunately, the second half of the book could not compete with the first. As the romance kicked in the humour faded away and this book lost the spark that made the first half so great. That's not to say that the second half was not good, it was. The characters were strong and the romance sweet but for me Dade was stronger when she was being funny.

What didn't help matters was that the romance was built around a lie. It made the conflict in the romance predictable. I thought it was a shame that something so fun had to be tarnished by a lie. Also, I didn't feel like Dade got the chemistry right between her characters. I couldn't feel the sparks.

Olivia Dade came so close to writing a great book with Broken Resolutions, and I so nearly loved it, but it wasn't quite there. I will definitely read more from her. With the right plot and the right characters this author is more than capable of writing a romance that can seep me off my feet.

3 stars

Find out more:

 
Broken Resolutions by Olivia Dade.  Lovestruck Librarians book 1.
 
Published December 8th 2015 by Lyrical Shine.
 
A free copy of this book was provided for free in exchange for an honest review.  Image courtesy of Goodreads.


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