Reviews

I want to enjoy romance novels more than I do. There's a specific type of them that works for me, but more often than not they fall short. It's been a repeating theme in my reviews where queer romance novels focused on two women falling in love are always lacking something to hold my interest. I spend a lot of time analyzing what specifically bugs me and usually fall short. There's a specific style of romance writing that isn't my favourite and I prefer third person POV over first, which makes the basis of these books hard to enjoy.

The Lovers, specifically, follows Kit, a tarot card reader and influencer and Julia, a wedding planner. They knew each other in high school and reunite later on, some might say by fate, at a wedding, they're hired to work and plan respectively. There is no grey area in this book. People are bad or good; there's no room left to figure it out by yourself. I had trouble with both main characters. Kit's nonchalance about everything coupled with her fear of coming out felt clunky. The comparisons to her mother's newfound sexuality and Julia's ex-girlfriend's matching fear felt unnecessary. It's an obvious book and I don't think romance novels have to be obvious in every way. The expectation of a happy ending and a clear path to getting together can be enjoyable. But without a strong connection to either of the main characters or a true belief in their feelings for each other, everything else falls flat. The story is told through alternating first POVs of both characters and removes any sort of tension. It was hard to believe that their past would still be this affecting and Piper was so villainized that the lack of sympathy created for her made her completely uninteresting. The writing falls flat. The word "pecs" is used often and phrases like "two white, wealthy hotties", "She looks like she just stepped out of a Nike ad, but like, for the expensive kicks, not sportswear", "She's a magnet, my eyes are metal, and when she glances my way, for a split second, I see uninhibited interest sizzle in her grass green gaze as it lands squarely on my face", "dalliance with pussy", and "I'm not a person with a sixth sense. My five normal ones work great, but trying to stretch beyond those is like trying to dig up concrete with a shovel" made it hard to keep reading. The book reads like a YA novel, which rarely works for me. Some aspects of the plot baffled me, and the immediate "we are in love" after a maximum of three days of being in each other's presence after ten years didn't work.

There's definitely an audience who will love this book, who might find the conflict relatable, who love specific references to Taylor Swift songs, and who impart tons of importance on coming out. However, I struggled to get through the ending of the book and only wanted to finish it to write a fair review.

Thank you to Berkley for an eARC.

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