I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this review, you can check out my May 2020 response, when I read it twice back-to-back. I decided to re-read this to see if it held up for me and it really did.
More “issues” arose this time around with some stilted dialogue and weird time jumps, but those didn’t detract from my sheer joy at reading it. It’s a tame and totally adorable romance with a little bit of external drama to really make Finch and Benedict get their shit together.
The setting was just as wonderful this time around and really made me want to go back and just do a random National Trust tour of the UK. The hardest part for me on this re-read was not re-reading it a fourth time. Seriously just like the first time I read it, I wanted to just go back to page one and start all over again. I somehow managed to restrain myself and move on to the next book in the stack that I brought on vacation.
Recommendation: [Copied and pasted from my 05/2020 review] Read. This. Book. And then re-read this book. And then message me so I can just reply with gibberish. I know a lot of people didn’t like it, but for me the book was perfect. From the adorably clueless Finch to the stuffy hunk Benedict, the constant simmer of their getting-to-know-you and falling-in-love story without the sexual innuendos and overtones drove me nuts. The writing isn’t the best I’ve ever read, but it’s also nowhere near the worst. A couple of continuity questions I had upon my first blaze-through read were answered on my second slower read and Brownlee’s style definitely grew on me the second time around.
Opening Line: “Finch turned into oncoming traffic, veered sharply back into the left lane, and waved an apology to the alarmed elderly couple in their little touring car.”
Closing Line: “Then he wanted to sneak them off to the conservatory and not return.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)
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