Have you ever watched Slings and Arrows? If so, and you found it delightful (although how could you not?!) then this is a romance novel for you!
It started off with Ellepkay at the beginning of the year, and after that Act Like It has just snowballed into already one of our most read books of the year on here because yes, it is that fun. It’s a story of London stage actors Lainie (an up and comer) and Richard (actor extraordinaire and all around a-hole). They are set up into a “marriage of convenience” by the theatre’s PR in order to redeem Richard’s image. Things obviously ensue from there.
So Richard really is an a*hole. And he is both at the start and the finish of the novel. I appreciate that he doesn’t go a complete 180 because “love”. But he’s softened around the edges. He’s slower to jump to anger and sarcasm, and suffers fools a little bit longer than at the start. Also Lainie is awesome. She’s smart, confident, and has a level of patience I dream of attaining (I never will though).
The one thing I didn’t really need from the story was the continuing appearance of Lainie’s ex-boyfriend (and both their co-star). He kept doing stupid things trying to get Lainie’s attention again, but I felt like the couple themselves had enough tension with what they needed to work through without his outside, douchey influence.
So let me add another one to the pile of raves. Read this one. It’s a hoot. It would have made a great book club romance read, but I hope from so many trying it due to the love it’s showing others how great the genre can be!