V is for Villain

I’m doing folklore and book review posts to reach and please a larger audience. Previous years have shown select interest in both and to minimise blogging throughout the year, I’m focusing my efforts on April.

Focusing on an A to Z of my TBR (to be read) list, each letter will have books starting with that letter on my list, a book I’ve read and reviewed (with the review!) and one of my books matching the letter with a link about more info about the book.

If you’d rather check out my folklore post for today, go here.

My TBR

About the Book I’ve Read

The Villain Edit by Laurie Devore

Emily Henry meets Fleabag …and The Bachelor ! An irresistibly sharp and sexy dramedy about a cynical romance novelist who goes on a  Bachelor -like reality show to revive her flagging career, only to discover that while she may have just met the love of her life, the producers have turned her into the show’s villain.

Good villains make good TV.

Romance novelist Jacqueline Matthis’s big career has gone bust and she’s ditched the bright lights of New York City for her more affordable South Carolina hometown. Desperate, Jac dreams up a comeback plan—she is going to be a contestant on the 1, the most obsessively watched reality dating show in the world.

After all Jac is a romance writer—she knows how to pull off a meet-cute and create a spicy plotline.

On set, Jac quickly establishes herself as a front-runner for bachelor Marcus’s heart, but she’s shocked to discover who’s actually pulling the strings. How was she to know that Henry Foster, her last one-night stand before the show, was actually a longtime producer on the 1? Henry is just as horrified…but they can’t seem to keep their hands off each other.

As Jac plays the game and the show unfurls, she slowly discovers that she’s getting the villain edit. They say there’s no such thing as bad publicity, but as Jac’s secret plan begins crumbling around her, she’s not so sure. What happens if Marcus chooses her? Worse, what happens if her affair with Henry comes to light? What if, in trying to save her career, Jac has ruined her life?

Heartbreaking, smart, and sexy, this novel is for anyone who has ever secretly rooted for—or felt like—the villain.

 Check it out on Goodreads.

My Review

It’s supposed to be a romcom, but the comedy eluded me: perhaps because most of it was crass takes on anatomy and religion? There was also Jac not eating enough (a boiled egg and sometimes nothing at all), drinking too much (limited to two bourbons an hour), and thinking too little about her own worth. Marcus is toxic. Henry is as messed up as Jac.

I liked the social commentary (people being absolutely horrible online, the misogyny ruling most aspects of our lives, how it’s success or nothing, etc.).

Henry and Jac have a rather sweet romance even if it’s in the oddest setting (she being on a dating show with the aim to marry someone else). I liked how they changed each other, made each other better people, and grew together.

I did not appreciate the constant swearing or using the Lord’s name in vain.

This could’ve been an excellent book if the language got cleaned up a bit, religion wasn’t treated as a bad joke, the women had more self-respect and were fleshed out more as just Marcus’s “girls”. Him calling grown women “girls” in a non-joking way each time he greeted them, along with his constant grin, made me want to cross the street to get away from him…

I read it in one go, so the writing and story is engaging, despite its flaws.

My Book

Wings (Faery Tales #14)

I hope you enjoyed this. For more books I’ve read and reviewed, check out either my Pinterest board about reviews or my Goodreads profile. Alternatively, you can check out my reviews on BookBub. Have you read any of the books? Loved or hated any of them?

You can now support my time in producing book review posts (buying books, reading, writing reviews and everything else involved) by buying me a coffee. This can be a once-off thing, or you can buy me coffee again in the future at your discretion.

*FYI, my reviews are my honest opinion and if something bothers me, I tell it straight. How else will anything change? My opinions are based on being a voracious reader and book buyer, not an attack on the author.*