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A review by brandypainter
Earth Bound by Emma Barry, Genevieve Turner
5.0
This book was so very much my thing I can't claim in any way to be objective about it. It is from now on probably going to be my automatic romance comfort read go-to.
I fell for Eugene Parsons in his very first scene in [b:Star Dust|29772667|Star Dust (Fly Me to the Moon, #1)|Emma Barry|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1459762835s/29772667.jpg|46255881]. I wanted this next full novel in the series to be about him because from that very first scene I knew he had the potential to be exactly my favorite sort of hero. I have a weakness for intelligent men who come across as arrogant asses on first encounter-because they are actually partly an arrogant ass, but also because they are equally a socially awkward nerd. Parsons lived up to every expectation I had for him in this respect and then some. He may be favorite romance hero ever. I'm going to have to give it a couple more reads to say that definitively, but I'm 98% sure of it already. He is a perfectionist who demands the best from the people working for him and is downright scary (and sometimes mean) when he doesn't get it. Parsons does not process or deal with emotions well. But he is also a man who refers to his mom as adorable, is sure to call his older brother on his birthday first thing in the morning, keeps salt water aquariums of beautifully colored fish he gets adorably dorky about, and does his best to work within a difficult system to include and boost the women who work for the space program.
Pair a hero like this with a heroine who matches (if not exceeds) his intelligence, doesn't take any of his crap, and teases him about his nonsense, and you have my exact favorite type of love story. Charlie is an amazing and perfect match for Parsons. She is super smart, incredibly competent at what she does, and her sly and sassy wit is more than a match for Parsons. He doesn't quite know what do with her most of the time and I looooove it. Charlie is in a position of being second in command when she should be first, but isn't because she is a woman. She went into a field her physics professor parents think is beneath her, and is often dealing with their disappointed expectations and her mother's projected issues about women in science and career sacrifice. Charlie also has a difficult time processing and dealing with her emotions and feelings, which leads to much of the conflict between her and Parsons.
Much of the attraction between Charlie and Parsons is intellectual. They are both incredibly turned on by the other's competence and drive. This leads to them having an incredibly steamy affair, but the main focus of the book is on their intellectual connection. As a result this book has a lot of magnificent banter, flirting at work in ways that no one else knows what they're doing, lots of heated looks, and some delightfully awkward moments. The majority of the book takes place in the labs and offices so there is a lot of technical discussions in it, which I loved. You can't tell me your characters are super smart and competent at what they do, and then not show them actually being that. We know Charlie and Parsons are these things because we see it. (YAY!) Personally I really loved all the politics and scientific details about the space program.
The last final conflict is one that could have been cleared up a lot faster if a rational conversation took place. Ironic considering this deals with two people who consider themselves uber rational. This ordinarily drives me bonkers, but it made sense for who Parsons and Charlie are. As I said, they are both terrible at dealing with their emotions. Parsons wants to ignore the problem and fix it with sex. Charlie is too angry at the sense of betrayal she feels and chooses to just walk away and pretend its unimportant. It made complete sense given her personal insecurities and position. It is frustrating in exactly the way it's supposed to be. My heart hurt for both of them. (I confess it hurt for Parsons a little more who was just so happy and excited and wanted to show her his stupid fish and then all hell broke loose.) The way this is resolved is perfect though. PERFECT. (Fish and everything. Seriously I never thought I'd be turned into a pile of mush over fictional fish. I have no patience for real fish.)
As you can probably tell by the length of this review (I never write romance reviews this long), this book is everything I wanted it to be. (And my expectations were super high.)
I fell for Eugene Parsons in his very first scene in [b:Star Dust|29772667|Star Dust (Fly Me to the Moon, #1)|Emma Barry|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1459762835s/29772667.jpg|46255881]. I wanted this next full novel in the series to be about him because from that very first scene I knew he had the potential to be exactly my favorite sort of hero. I have a weakness for intelligent men who come across as arrogant asses on first encounter-because they are actually partly an arrogant ass, but also because they are equally a socially awkward nerd. Parsons lived up to every expectation I had for him in this respect and then some. He may be favorite romance hero ever. I'm going to have to give it a couple more reads to say that definitively, but I'm 98% sure of it already. He is a perfectionist who demands the best from the people working for him and is downright scary (and sometimes mean) when he doesn't get it. Parsons does not process or deal with emotions well. But he is also a man who refers to his mom as adorable, is sure to call his older brother on his birthday first thing in the morning, keeps salt water aquariums of beautifully colored fish he gets adorably dorky about, and does his best to work within a difficult system to include and boost the women who work for the space program.
Pair a hero like this with a heroine who matches (if not exceeds) his intelligence, doesn't take any of his crap, and teases him about his nonsense, and you have my exact favorite type of love story. Charlie is an amazing and perfect match for Parsons. She is super smart, incredibly competent at what she does, and her sly and sassy wit is more than a match for Parsons. He doesn't quite know what do with her most of the time and I looooove it. Charlie is in a position of being second in command when she should be first, but isn't because she is a woman. She went into a field her physics professor parents think is beneath her, and is often dealing with their disappointed expectations and her mother's projected issues about women in science and career sacrifice. Charlie also has a difficult time processing and dealing with her emotions and feelings, which leads to much of the conflict between her and Parsons.
Much of the attraction between Charlie and Parsons is intellectual. They are both incredibly turned on by the other's competence and drive. This leads to them having an incredibly steamy affair, but the main focus of the book is on their intellectual connection. As a result this book has a lot of magnificent banter, flirting at work in ways that no one else knows what they're doing, lots of heated looks, and some delightfully awkward moments. The majority of the book takes place in the labs and offices so there is a lot of technical discussions in it, which I loved. You can't tell me your characters are super smart and competent at what they do, and then not show them actually being that. We know Charlie and Parsons are these things because we see it. (YAY!) Personally I really loved all the politics and scientific details about the space program.
The last final conflict is one that could have been cleared up a lot faster if a rational conversation took place. Ironic considering this deals with two people who consider themselves uber rational. This ordinarily drives me bonkers, but it made sense for who Parsons and Charlie are. As I said, they are both terrible at dealing with their emotions. Parsons wants to ignore the problem and fix it with sex. Charlie is too angry at the sense of betrayal she feels and chooses to just walk away and pretend its unimportant. It made complete sense given her personal insecurities and position. It is frustrating in exactly the way it's supposed to be. My heart hurt for both of them. (I confess it hurt for Parsons a little more who was just so happy and excited and wanted to show her his stupid fish and then all hell broke loose.) The way this is resolved is perfect though. PERFECT. (Fish and everything. Seriously I never thought I'd be turned into a pile of mush over fictional fish. I have no patience for real fish.)
As you can probably tell by the length of this review (I never write romance reviews this long), this book is everything I wanted it to be. (And my expectations were super high.)