I really did want to give this more stars, and maybe I will change my mind, but for now this is where we are at.
PROS:
– Love the constant, in-time consent! Charlie in particular is insistent on always checking in and asking Nova to be clear about what she wants, even when she’s trying for like, “oh you know what I want” type answers. Communication can be sexy!
– Nova asks for what she wants (a casual relationship) (a business casual, hence the title, which is like an exclusive contract with an end date) AND is clear-headed about the fact that sometimes she can be unclear about what she wants, and that that isn’t fair. just because you know you have a predilection doesn’t mean it’ll magically fix itself, but knowing thyself is the first step!
– no weirdly possessive siblings, everyone is normal chill about their adult sister having adult relationships and making adult choices
– sad but pro: the reality of a long-distance relationship, which made for a sad third arc conflict in a very real-feeling way
– a romance in which it’s not just a woman being like “ahhh take me!!!” and the man being “you’re so small but I will TAKE YOU,” it did have a sense of like, Borison wanting to write a more dominant FMC but being uncertain how to do so, but we stan a man who is confident [enough to want to take her name so all’s well that ends well (is it a spoiler, no, this is a romance novel) (hide spoiler)]
TAKE OR LEAVES:
– the quirky villagers are just a bit too quirky, if you get my drift? and the quirky village is a bit too quirky, how does it stay in business if it’s THAT remote?
– the conflict between Charlie and his father felt simultaneously very serious and also very ancillary to the plot, and didn’t feel at all addressed by the end–which we could deem realistic, but really that’s where we want to add some verisimilitude into this?
– I suppose I am not a tattoo person so perhaps this just escaped me but everyone is very cavalier about getting tattoos and there’s only so much space on a human body? and it’s a very tiny town? but I suppose it’s explained in-universe by Nova having developed a following from her time at prior shops
– the “I’m lonely in NY which is busy but cold and lifeless” trope
CONS (all of which will be quite specific to me, but then again this is my review so…):
– migraines, specifically Nova’s–that’s now how migraine prophylaxis works! I know authors are always looking for physical manifestations of a character’s inner turmoils, but migraine medication is not “I’ve taken it today so I should be fine,” it’s either “I take it everyday/monthly to avoid migraines” or “oh no, migraine alert, time to take rescue meds,” and if you’re prone to migraines so severe that you can’t see your phone screen enough to type even a few words get thee to a neurologist and fix it stat
– investment banking, aka that’s not how that works–I also get that the ‘person who works in finance in NYC’ needs to be an easy trope but literally no part of anything that Charlie did resembles investment banking or, really, any sort of finance and as such kept taking me out of the plot. Is he a banker in which case how is he working two jobs (not possible) and why is he talking about portfolio allocation? What exactly is his father doing that he can be an independent consultant in finance? Is he an asset manager? Why wasn’t Selene just his analyst (?) as opposed to his admin who can hold down the fort herself? None of this makes sense
– I did not like Nova hiring lying, under-qualified Jeremy (over)qualified female candidate who came all the way up from NYC (or somewhere) for a receptionist job
