I asked for a birding meet cute in a romance novel to fulfill a Pop Sugar Reading Challenge prompt and Sarah immediately texted me about Birding with Benefits by Sarah T. Dubb. I got it from my library the next day.
A few things.
1) The cover is perfection.
2) Stephany left a comment about this book on that post I linked to above.
3) Stephany is right.
Interesting characters: Celeste's exuberance and chaotic energy made me side-eye Dubb that maybe she has met me. Celeste feels real and maybe reflected back at me a bit too closely for comfort. But the male lead is dull as dishwater. Celeste needs a man with some spice. Fine. It's fine.
Believable conflict: You know what? Sure. Celeste is newly divorced and trying to figure out who she is without a partner dragging her down. John (man, it's even the most boring of names - sorry to all the Johns out there, but you might want to have a talk with your parents about why they couldn't be even the teeniest bit creative) has recently lost his job and isn't sure what to do for work. Celeste is A LOT and I can see why their situations and their personalities would create some classic uncommunication.
Emotional tension: I think that's what this book was missing most.
Happily ever after: Real talk. I feel like my husband could probably find a woman more suited to him, but I think he's hilarious and the smartest person in the world and I think he thrives with my enthusiasm and brashness. But I don't think these two (fictional characters - it's okay to talk about fictional characters like this, right?) are going to work out because they are not meant for each other. I think John is going to get frustrated with her real quick.
Look, the meet cute is FABULOUS. Celeste is FABULOUS. But the book is meh. I look forward to future books from Dubb, though. Maybe she can figure out how to write a man who isn't a door mat.
3/5 stars
Lines of note:
"We start with discovery, and we go from there." (page 24)
I liked this so much. YES! Let's discover and then ask questions.
"If I ever need a reminder of why I'm single, I just think about how Andrea won't even make plans without checking Bridgette's calendar." (page 151)
What? Seriously. I look at our shared calendar before I make plans because that's what you do in a healthy relationship? If Dr. BB has plans and I'm going to make plans at the same time, we have to make sure someone is home to walk the dog, feed the cat, etc. This was such a crazy sentence.
Thing I looked up:
Are birding contests a real thing? Yes. Also, WTF?
Hat mentions (why hats?):
wide-brimmed straw hat (page 21)
worn baseball hat (page 54)
floppy hat (page 300, 303)
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Can we all agree to listen to Stephany about the quality of romance novels from here on out? Would you do a birding competition? Do you think birding competitions sound crazy? If you have a partner, do you consult their calendar before you make plans?
Hahaha, Stephany's review! The title is great though.
ReplyDeleteI don't consult Rob's calendar but I do generally ask him if he's free prior to making plans, like a normal person would!
Right? Why is it weird to consult with your partner? I think it's weird if you don't!
DeleteI am glad you found a book that fit the category! However, I am sorry it was not up to snuff. At least you got it done, and at least it had hat references! I would totally rely on Stephany when it comes to romances, I would probably do a birding (or any) competition, and I do not have a partner, but do have a family calendar that I may consult depending on the situation!
ReplyDeleteStephany and I don't always agree on books, but we are pretty much on the same page with romance. I should have just listened to her!
DeleteI think a birding competition is weird. LOL. I don't know why, but it feels like it undermines the entire endeavor?
Oh yes, this is the book I was thinking of, and it sounds just like I would have imagined. This is why I don't read romances!!! Okay, I know, some are better than others. This one sounds dumb.
ReplyDeleteLet's see. My husband doesn't have a calendar, which leads to situations like: I see him getting ready to walk out the door and I'm like "Where are you going?" Then he'll claim he told me about this or that event. We do have a family calendar hanging in the kitchen, and when things are going well I get him to write all his things on it for the month. To be fair, he probably does tell me about these things, but I need to see them written down or I won't remember.
Ha- I'm sure your husband is getting exactly what he wants from your relationship. If he wanted something different, he would have married someone else!
I mean, it wasn't dumb. The male character was just not the most attractive *to me.*
DeleteWe have a shared Google calendar and we consult it multiple times a day. Who is going to be home to walk the dog/feed the cat/start dinner? I honestly cannot imagine if my husband DID NOT HAVE A CALENDAR. Someone would end up stabbed.
Hooray for birding and birds. If I read romances, this would be one I'd definitely go for.
ReplyDeleteRick and I have a shared calendar on our Iphones. It's really helpful. We are old people, so most entries are doctor appointments and babysitting commitments.
I believe in the Opposites Attract thing. The priest who pre-marital counseled us (back when I was still a Catholic) called Rick and I the Clash Of Two Worlds. We have almost identical values, but our hobbies, knowledge bases, and temperaments are completely different. Still, we've made it work for decades--almost forever!
Your husband likely feels he has nothing of substance to complain about. Judging simply by how you show up for your friends, I'm sure you're the best thing to happen to him, ever.
Yes, we also have a shared Google calendar we can consult on our phones. My biggest pet peeve with it is that it doesn't sync with our Outlook calendars that we use at work, so we both have to manually input work commitments. That's better than NO CALENDAR, though.
DeleteI hope I'm the best thing that happened to him. He is definitely the best thing to happen to me!
I agree with Nance’s last paragraph SO HARD.
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds like a snooze fest to me. I do sometimes read romance novels, but only if they are vetted by my blogging friends. I never go to that section of the bookstore. I just listened to one that was cute though, Dolly All the Time, which felt like really good timing in honor of Dolly Parton, but then had nothing to do with Dolly Parton.
We have a calendar on our fridge, but mostly it’s just me that writes on it. I sometimes check with him if I’m planning something and there might be a conflict, but eh, we’re old and don’t do a ton and we are currently petless, so there’s not a lot. I do TELL him when I’ve made plans though.
I ordered that Dolly book because the author wrote one of my favorite romances, Nora Goes Off Script.
DeleteI would LOSE MY TINY MIND if my husband didn't update his calendar. LOSE IT.
Why wouldn't you consult your partner's calendar before you make plans? Or at least ask. But half the time my Husband either forgets to put things in the calendar or forgets that he's put it in the calendar - or just plain forgot - so it's for sure an imperfect system.
ReplyDeleteI love reading about Stefany's reading life. I don't know that we always agree, but we agree most enough.
Maybe John was a family name????
Who are these men who aren't using calendar appropriately?! I would be so unhappy about that.
DeletePhil would tell you he consults my calendar before making plans but the opposite doesn’t happen because he doesn’t really have any plans. Lololol. His friend group is so terrible at making plans. One year I planned rounds of golf for his birthday and it was like scheduling a colonoscopy. Afterwards I thought - ok, now I see why you don’t really have plans.
ReplyDeleteBut yes, healthy couples check with each others’ schedules!
Thanks for saving me from reading this. Stephany is my vetter of romances!
I mean, I think that my husband and I don't really have a lot of plans, but things happen. Fitness classes, lectures on campus on off hours, book clubs, work travel - it all goes on the calendar. Sheesh. I just feel like it would be terrible if we both didn't actively use it.
DeleteDamning with faint praise is always so hilarious to me. The cover IS perfection. Birding, as a concept, is fascinating to me, but whenever I've tried to imagine actually doing it (or even sit on the deck at my friend's cottage trying to notice birds) I just can't get there. My brain doesn't have the birding part lit up, I guess?
ReplyDeleteI absolutely have to coordinate calendars with my husband, who is frequently on a different continent, even now that the kids are gone. It does seem weird that a single person would find that weird.
Even single people were once in households with other people. Communication about scheduling is key!
DeleteI'm glad we agreed on this romance! Not my favorite.
ReplyDeleteAs a single gal, I can understand what the author was saying with the sentence about calendars. It is SO NICE that I don't have to check in with anyone else when making plans, lol. No coordination needed! Just meeeee. (I mean, I don't find it weird, though. I understand why people need to check their partner's calendar!)
Huh. It's not really an inconvenience, though. I have to check my calendar and my husband's is synced up with mine? I truly think that your concern that your partner will eat your snacks is a more valid one than the calendar thing! (My partner does not eat my snacks.)
DeleteI don't think it's like the literal process of checking calendars. I think it's more of the feeling that I don't have to check someone's calendar EVER. It's a single gal thing, I think! ;)
DeleteYeah, I don't mind reconciling calendars. He's my person and I want good communication. I don't resent it at all, I assure you!
DeleteWell, I am not gonna pickt this up. Birding sounds so boring to me.
ReplyDeleteWell, in the book's defense, it's not really about birding. That's just the framing device. But there are a lot of lists of birds, so that was boring.
Delete