The plot line in one line: Professional clown Georgie gets together with her brother’s down-beaten best friend Travis after he’s returns to town, having been dropped from professional baseball.
The good and the bad: My biggest disappointment with this book was Travis should have been the person who understood Georgie’s problems and treated her differently, but he didn’t. Georgie is treated like a child by her family – she’s not taken seriously. Travis treats her just the same apart from one scene where he sticks up for her to her family.
You’d think she was sixteen and he twice her age. He calls her “girl” and “baby girl” right to the end of the book; he repeatedly talks about how he won’t be able to look her brother or father in the eye, as if she’s their property. Oh yeah, and to actually catch Travis’ eye, 23-year-old Georgie has to stop dressing how she likes (in slouchy second-hand clothes) and transform into a “woman” (not that we see that word) by wearing expensive underwear and revealing dresses. Travis acts like a Neanderthal/man-child. I didn’t find his behaviour attractive.
My second issue was that the book tried to encompass too many tropes at once. I enjoy a good trope, but it all gets a bit confusing and waters down the romance when there’s a virgin, a fake relationship, a forbidden relationship and more besides. I wish Tessa Bailey had spent less time on these various story lines and more time on making Georgie and Travis’s emotional connection feel deep and real.
This lack of emotional connection detracted from what were otherwise very steamy, man-in-charge sex scenes. Travis’ patronising manner toward Georgie throughout the book made his bossiness in bed (and other places) feel like an extension of his treating her like a child rather than hot dom behaviour. Otherwise, ooh it would have been so, SO good, as it usually is with Bailey.
My last criticism is that I found the Just Us League (women’s club) side plot a boring and unbelievable, so ended up skimming these sections.
Plot lines and character flaws aside, the book was otherwise well written and for the most-part maintained my interest. I think for some people it will be “enough” but I just read Bailey’s It Happened One Summer, which was ace, so I expected more of the same brilliance.
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Customer reviews
Laughs and romance - perfect mix...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 December 2021
"You have to fight for what you deserve..."*The Castles run the best renovation business in town but Georgette has always felt like the family clown...quite literally, as she chose to be a children's entertainer instead of joining the family business. But she's determined to change this and she's got a plan! For starters, she needs to branch out with her business, followed by renovating her image and wardrobe. Lastly, she needs to find a man. Maybe then people will start to look at her as more than just the youngest Castle if she's involved in a steamy affair. Enter her childhood crush, Travis, the town's famous ex-baseball star with a reputation for debauchery. He needs a clean cut image to help land a new job and she needs someone to help rock the boat. There's only one thing for it - they should fake date.*"Why do women believe they need an occasion to dress up? Dress up for life, goddammit!"*I listened to the audio book and I can't stress enough again how much I love Charlotte North and her narration! She has a way of bringing these characters to life. Growing up, A League of their Own was one of my favourite movies so I love the references to it! I honestly love Tessa Bailey's books they just bring a smile to my face. They are so easy to devour and, even though I'm always a pro-morally grey character in fantasy books, I am constantly surprised at Tessa's magic ability to make me fall for the nice guy 😂 also, I never thought I'd be a fan of someone saying "Baby girl" after that rubbish 365 Days movie but Travis definitely pulls it off!*"I've met her twice in my life. This time, I was smart enough to fall in love with her..."
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 December 2021
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