TEST
Wealthy Chloe Brown has fibromyalgia. She also has a list of things she wants to experience (I’m so over ‘tick off items on a list’ as a plot device), and major abandonment issues related both to her diagnosis (a douche of a fiancé, rarely mentioned, who ditched her because of her illness) and her narcissism (her college friends have ‘abandoned’ her, which is clearly a Special Thing that only happens to Chloe, and not to 99% of people moving cities after graduation). A friend who also read the book told me, “She [Chloe] felt to me like a character that would stand in the middle of the room, ignore everyone else there, and yell ME!! at the top of her lungs.”
Red Morgan has just exited an abusive relationship in which his ex-girlfriend Pippa was both physically violent and emotionally manipulative. She “laughed and hit him on the shoulder with her bag.” Compliments on his appearance involved a glare and a comment like “You know what you look like.” When they were out and bumped into her family, she told them that he was “No one.” After an elderly neighbor accidentally mixed up their building mail slots, she declared that it wasn’t [her] fault that she, incensed by the literal crime committed against her, had reacted in the heat of the moment by finding the old lady’s post box and pouring her morning thermos of tea through the slot.
Oh, shoot. That’s not the ex-girlfriend Pippa. Everything in that paragraph was actually done or said by the heroine Chloe.
And here we hit the problem with this book which was, for me, insurmountable. Chloe is supposed to read as clever, caustic, and snarky, but instead, she reads as self-absorbed and mean, a disastrous partner for a man recovering from abuse. When Red thinks things like:
Maybe he was falling back into bad habits, seeing cruelty as a challenge. But everything in him rejected the idea that Chloe could ever really be cruel…
– it just broke my heart. It’s precisely the kind of self-gaslighting that abusive relationships instil in people. If Chloe loves Red, she needs to express herself differently. Everyone deserves a relationship in which ‘Is this person being vicious or just sarcastic?’ isn’t even a question.
The worst part of the book is the climax. In a completely reasonable misunderstanding, Red thinks that Chloe has slept with him for slummy kicks like Pippa did, which is understandably triggering for him. Chloe’s response is to tell him that if he walks out of her door, to not “fucking come back.” Seconds after walking out, Red calms down and asks to come back in. Chloe refuses.
Earlier in the book, Red had thought to himself:
If this were Pippa, she’d take away what he wanted most, to punish him for being angry, or to manipulate him into forgiving her. But Chloe wasn’t going to do that. Of course she wasn’t. She never would.
But that’s exactly what she does! She takes herself away to punish Red for daring to have a feeling that made her expend any emotional effort in his direction. For some reason the author decides that this means that Red owes Chloe an enormous grovel, when it should, beyond a shadow of a doubt, be the other way around. (I do give the author credit for having Chloe give a direct apology, but the fact that she equates ‘I was scared of intimacy because my college friends left me’ with ‘you were scared because your previous partner shattered your career and your self-worth and literally stabbed you with a fork’ is disturbing and, again, narcissistic.)
What’s good about this book? The prose is great. Hibbert has a deft and funny way with words, as when Chloe is turned on by Red at an inconvenient moment:
“She sternly informed her nipples of these pertinent facts, but they gestured rudely at her and continued to tingle like a pair of slutty batteries.”
That’s good stuff. I also liked an under-used new friend Chloe made named Annie, but that was offset by the pair of sisters and the sassy grandma straight from stock character heaven.
Chronic illness needs more rep in romance, but the rest of the plot has to be recommendable as well. I simply cannot recommend a romance where one partner would have been better off alone.
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Grade: D+
Book Type: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 09/11/19
Publication Date: 11/2019
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
I'm a history geek and educator, and I've lived in five different countries in North America, Asia, and Europe. In addition to the usual subgenres, I'm partial to YA, Sci-fi/Fantasy, and graphic novels. I love to cook.
Related Reviews
So I did what Vanessa above recommends and downloaded the sample.
And I must say: Even after just those first few pages, I wholeheartedly agree with Caroline’s review.
That bit about Chloe pouring her tea into the neighbours mailbox is included in the sample, and for me it’s a deal breaker.
Not the fact that the “heroine” does it at all, I can see how with bad impulse control and if one is sufficiently annoyed at live, one might do something liek that — and regret it immediately afterwards.
But the “heroine” doesn’t regret it, she doesn’t try to make amends, she doesn’t even count it as one of the items (number 5 I think?) on her bucket list.
No, she feels entitled to her action and absolutely in the right.
For me that is it. Unkindness to children, animals and harmless old people just isn’t done. So unless somebody who has read the whole book can assure me, that the heroine will apologize for this behaviour later in the book, I will not bother to read this, Redemption is fine, unapologetic brats are not.
That mailbox scene was a deal breaker for me too. The woman was elderly and there is nothing more important to most of the elderly than their mail. I felt as if Chloe forgave only herself and her family for their mistakes and failures. (I loved her family, by the way.)
I was really looking forward to this book because I also suffer from fibromyalgia and can be prickly and grumpy and embarrassed about my inability to always be a “normal” person. I couldn’t wait to read a depiction of a character who has similar issues also written by an author with similar issues. However, I tend to read mostly historical romances and this is my first Talia Hibbert book and it just didn’t grab me. I made it 90 pages and decided to DNF. I think the depiction of Chloe’s illness was spot on . I also hide my pain and fatigue behind a razor sharp, dry wit and sometimes biting honesty. However, nothing much was happening and Red was boring to me . But honestly, I probably am not ready to see all of my own short-comings depicted in a book, I have so many books in my TBR pile, that i just decided to move on. I find Talia’s writing good and I will try another book, but I usually quit a book if I’m not engaged after 50 pages, and I gave this 40 more pages and I still didn’t really care about either Chloe or Red and their HEA even though I firmly believe that grumpy, prickly heroines deserve an HEA too. I think I’ll give her werewolf novella a try, that sounds like a fun romp.
It’s interesting when readers have such different opinions about a book – terrific or terrible, with no in-between. I once read a book by Theresa Romain which I thought had a lovely hero and an infuriating, selfish heroine, but every review I saw loved it. I’ve only read one Talia Hibbert (Ruth’s book) and there was something about the writing that just didn’t click with me. It felt like a patchy paint job; there were scenes or explanations missing that I wanted to complete the story.
I totally recommend her last three releases, if you ever want to give her another try.
Wow, in all honesty it feels like we read different books.
I never saw Chloe as a Pippa stand in. I believed Chloe’s pain. Her fiancé WAS mentioned “rarely”, but I’m alright with that because this isn’t a book about her and the fiance. The information we got regarding her fiance and friends leaving her painted a clear picture, for me, as to why she was as standoffish and afraid to trust as she was. I found her incredibly endearing, and never cruel.
I’d recommend people download the sample, which is what I did, because I think you get a very clear idea of who Chloe is at the beginning of the book. I read those 2 chapters and jumped wholeheartedly into the rest.
I had this book a long time ago for review, and I had this exact same feeling as I saw rave review after rave review come out. I almost asked Dabney to reassign the book to another reviewer because I felt like my answer was “wrong.”
Finally, I decided that all reviews are subjective. Some people clearly loved this book, but my personal experience was that it was painful to read and I would never have finished it if not for review. I owe the author and our readers a thorough and fair explanation of my reactions, but it’s okay if the reaction itself is an outlier.
I appreciate your advice to other readers. I have nothing against Hibbert and because my reaction was so based on the characters, I’m definitely going to try her again. If there are other people for whom this book is going to work, then I hope they find it.
I’ve read so many positive reviews of this book, and I just saw the Smart Bitches gave it an A. I definitely need to read it now to see why it is provoking such strong feelings in so many different readers.
I felt really weird writing this review because of this. I just felt there were enough objectively mean actions by Chloe (the tea thing is bonkers) to justify my perception that she’s mean and self-centered, not just prickly. Maybe if the hero were less vulnerable it wouldn’t have felt like such an unhealthy mismatch.
When I was reading this, I began to highlight scenes in which I thought Chloe was mean–I ended up with 15 and I didn’t start until about 15% of the way into the book.
Yeah, this one sounds like a pass for me. I think there’s an interesting double standard at work here too. Chloe’s meanness may come across as merely prickly or even cute and snarky to some, but would readers feel the same way if the roles were reversed and it was the hero rather than the heroine who acted this way? Would readers be as tolerant if say, Red, laughed and hit Chloe with a backpack or said she was “no one” to his family? Something to think about…
I too think there’s a double standard–and I’m not here for it either. I so dislike romances in which women treat men terribly just as I dislike romances where men treat women terribly.
I agree. Couples should treat each other with kindness and respect. Having conflict in a story doesn’t mean the hero and heroine have to be nasty to each other. That’s not to say they can’t *ever* argue or have misunderstandings, but general meanness or belittling attitudes are a “no” for me.
As an interesting related note, I’ve read a lot of comments on the internet to the effect that one of the nicest couples with the healthiest relationship in fiction is Gomez and Morticia from The Addams Family. Sure, they’re weird and kooky, but they respect and care for one another instead of making put down remarks for the sake of creating comedy or conflict. And that really sets them apart from other TV couples (probably book couples too.)
So I have a bit of a different take on the double standard thing. Grumpy heroes are adored in romances. There is an extreme amount of latitude for all kinds of arrogant, aggressive, alpha, and even rude traits that just are not close to being tolerated in females – real or imagined. Just look at political races and pay close attention to how often women are judged for “resting bitch face” or not being “likeable” enough. Comparable women are judged as being too aggressive, too loud, too unlikeable, not womanly enough. So much suspicion is accorded to child-less women, an othering of them. Grumpy heroines in romances are rare and it’s the rare author who can pull it off. I’m a heroine-centric reader and try to pay close attention to authors who attempt to construct females as outside of norms. I actively search out romances with grumpy heroines. I haven’t read Talia Hibbert yet but my sense from reader reviews is that lots of readers are drawn to her heroines precisely because they go against the grain. That’s actually been the main reason I”ve wanted to read her books. I can’t comment on the specifics of this novel yet, but to answer the question whether readers would tolerate a rude or mean hero, yes and have for decades. Would they tolerate a rude or mean heroine — things are changing, but traditionally, no.
Those are all good points. But I think there is a distinct difference between certain alpha behaviors like arrogance in romance heroes toward heroines versus assault, vandalism, and belittling. And yes, a lot of those old-time romance novels *did* have heroes assault their heroines outright, which the genre doesn’t seem to tolerate as much anymore.
As for grumpy heroines, I thought “A Duke in Disguise” by Cat Sebastian was very well done in that regard. The prickly Regency-era heroine, Verity Plum, owns a print shop and employs the hero- who is much softer and sweeter than she is by nature. But what makes this different for me than the behaviors of Chloe Brown (at least as stated in this review), is that Verity is rough around the edges toward everyone, including the hero, without hitting or making disparaging, belittling comments. (But there’s plenty of deliciously snarky banter and Regency-era political activism!) And as one review on SBTB stated, it is especially refreshing that Verity starts off prickly and stays that way- and the hero likes her the way she is. So, that’s my book rec for what I think is a grumpy, borderline rude heroine done right.
I think what really made this book not work for me was Chloe PLUS Red. Red is a complete sweetie, and so devastatingly vulnerable in the wake of being abused. He needed a kind, supportive partner with strong, open, and transparent communication, and Chloe is basically the inverse of all of those things.
Now that I think about it, Chloe vs. an alphole bilionaire would probably have been great fun. I didn’t like a lot of things she did, but if she did them to less vulnerable people, and for more concrete reasons, it might have been different. Like, I couldn’t root for her pouring tea in a half-blind old lady’s mail slot, but I’d have clapped as she dumped it on an alphole’s iPhone. If a lady’s man playboy stomped out of her apartment, I’d have been all about her telling him to eff off.
Fantastic points! I really didn’t think of it that way, but it sounds like Chloe would be *great* going toe-to-toe with an alphahole billionaire.
“Like, I couldn’t root for her pouring tea in a half-blind old lady’s mail slot, but I’d have clapped as she dumped it on an alphole’s iPhone.” Yeah, I confess I could totally dig that. Actually, that scenario with the iPhone has a lot of enemies to lovers potential.
“If a lady’s man playboy stomped out of her apartment, I’d have been all about her telling him to eff off.” That too!
But yes, it sounds like a kind, gentle soul like Red needs an equally kind girlfriend. Opposites don’t always attract or work out, and a lot of times probably shouldn’t.
Yeah, again I can’t comment on the specifics of this novel and whether the power dynamic is off balance here. Not much discussion in the review of Chloe’s disability or her race, but that might be factors that offset any social power she might have over the hero? In any case, my sense from readers is that Talia Hibbert is engaging head on with the stereotypes of conventional female representations and upending them. So many female readers feel drawn to her female protagonists, which leads me to think that something intriguing is going on here with this author on topics such as gender, race, class, and disability..
One factor that is getting overlooked in this discussions is Chloe’s pain level. It’s really hard sometimes to even be civil, much less nice, when you’re in severe pain nearly constantly. I have severe chronic back pain, and while I’m a nice, friendly person, I can be a raging bitch when the pain just won’t go away.
And in the end, she was the right choice for Red, he liked her spikeyness and she liked his sweetness.
Thank you for your honest review. That is why I follow this website.
I’m relieved to find that other people did not love the book. I was pretty disappointed after seeing all the rave reviews, and I nearly did not finish the book. For me, the plot felt sluggish with cartoonish characters and stilted prose. I couldn’t exactly put my finger on why I disliked Chloe, but you hit the mark here with this review.
I’d rate this a little higher, but you’ve made an excellent point about the gaslighting.
Wow! A friend loved this & I’ve been saving it. Rethinking my rush to read it now.
It’s an interesting balance–I’m all for getting over the idea that women in fiction (and in real life) have to be nice to be likeable. I like a prickly heroine. But Chloe is cruel and I am just not here for that.
I’m actually re-reading it this weekend and like it a lot more the second time around? I don’t know. I don’t like it as much as I adored the other Hibberts I read this year, but it’s about a A- for me on the second go-round.
Thank you so much for the review, Caroline! I’ve seen a number of comments on various sites about the awesomeness of this book. However, the disappointing, off-putting behaviors you describe are things that I would totally home in on as a reader.
No matter how clever or witty the writing may be, I’ll have to pass on this one.
I’ve loved Talia Hibbert’s other prickly heroines–Ruth from A Girl Like Her is fabulous. But Chloe was so self-absorbed and vindictive–she didn’t work for me at all.
Thank you, you describe well what bothers you. A certain type of meanness and disrespect is difficult for me to accept, so this warning is precisely what I need when I decide.
Thank you for this review! How disappointing that this book doesn’t live up to the hype. If I read it, I’ll be glad to go in forewarned.
I don’t like arsehole heroines any more than I like arsehole heroes. And I hate when a book is treating a character in a way that feels unfair to me. (I.e blaming them and having everyone be hard on them when another character is let off the hook for doing worse). It makes me ragey.