e-ARC provided by author via PR company
Author: Chloe Liese
Thanks for the free book @prhinternational. All opinions in this review are my own.
In this swoony reimagining of The Bard’s Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice and West have the opposite of a “meet cute” – a “meet disaster” if you will. They couldn’t be more wrong for each other, but when their friends “parent trap” them into a date, they team up to get revenge. Fake dating it is! But, whaddya know, their friends may have been on to something after all…
OMG! I was hooked at “Shakespeare”, but Chloe brings a refreshing take on this story with a pansexual autistic heroine and an anxiety suffering pediatrician who will make you fall in love with them from page one.
Beatrice is an erotic artist who’s in a creative block due to a breakup with a gaslighting, craptastic boyfriend. West is the lovely pediatrician whose anxiety makes him feel that he always “falls short” – with his ex, his family, his friends. Their first meeting is disastrous but when they start fake dating we soon discover that they are just perfect for each other.
The pining – oh the pining! I know that communicating and reading social signs can be hard and those two have a hard time navigating through their own feelings and trying to understand the other’s needs. As, usual, Chloe deals with this with the most delicate hand.
If you love the play, you’ll see the elements there, but the story is fresh and unique.
I am absolutely in love with geriatric cats, pet hedgehogs, karaoke dates, pho and … how did Chloe manage to make veggie soup swoony?!
Highly recommend!
Rep and possible triggers: FMC is autistic and pan; her sister is bi. MMC has anxiety. Toxic relationship with an ex, toxic family relationships, emotionally abusive relationships
