I received a free digital ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Rating | ⭐⭐⭐1/2
While not my most favorite of Worley's novels, it was still a fun, chaotic ride.
Ivy Harcourt is a romance author who has just published her highly successful debut novel. She's been less lucky in love though, until she meets Liam. He's gorgeous, British, charming, and an architect - the exact same character she has started devloping for her second novel. Ivy has no idea how this has happened, but she is sure he is absolutely the man of her dreams.
As it turns out, Liam has some secrets. But so does Ivy.
I was heavily invested in the first half, trying to figure out who Liam was. But as more layers were revealed, the book went in a direction I was not expecting as more and more backstory was revealed. It wasn't terrible, it just was not what the synopsis hinted at. This isn't necessarily 'bad', but it felt like I was reading two different books about halfway through.
Things really start to spiral and we get some murder, friends behaving strangely, possible stalkers, the whole works. I truly thought the major twists were going to involve Liam, because that's what was promised. Yes, Ivy has secrets as well, but the reveal of how she came to meet this seemingly perfect guy, as though she conjured him herself, was not the Big Reveal. There was still so much left in the book, and Liam had nothing to do with the dual timelines.
Once we got more of Ivy's backstory from her teen years I started to put together where this was really going. Her parents and sister had been killed in a house fire that she barely escaped from. She'd been shipped across the country to LA to live with an estranged aunt, as her elderly grandparents in Florida were not a viable option.
There were a couple directions the author could have gone with for who was who and I was right with some of my predictions, wrong with others, but it was still a satisfying read in that aspect. But again, it was also very disjointing when it felt like I was reading two different books.
The pace is almost frenetic for the last portion and Ivy was right, not everyone gets a happily ever after. This was a quick, fun read even if it went in a completely different direction than anyone could even guess, just based on the synopsis we were given. Although technically it isn't a bait and switch, because Ivy DEFINITELY has secrets. They just were not secrets we had an indication were beneath the layers of the leading-man-turned-real mystery.
Recommended if you're looking for something quick and chaotic that doesn't require you to think too much because you are definitely just along for the ride.
.png)
.png)
