The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre

by Robin Talley

The brilliant new romcom from 2020 CILIP Carnegie medal nominee and New York Times bestseller, Robin Talley.

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It's easy not to fall in love, right?

Melody McIntyre, stage manager extraordinaire, has a plan for everything. What she doesn't have? Success with love. Every time she falls for someone during a school performance, both the romance and the show end in catastrophe. So, Mel swears off love until their upcoming production of Les Mis is over.

Of course, Mel didn't count on Odile Rose, rising star in the acting world, auditioning for the spring performance. And she definitely didn't expect Odile to be sweet, and funny and care as much about the play's success as Mel. Which means that Melody McIntyre's only plan now is trying desperately not to fall in love.

A hilarious, heartwarming and empowering read, perfect for fans of Pitch Perfect, Love Simon and To All the Boys I've Loved Before.

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Praise for Robin Talley's previous novels:

'The main characters are terrific in what is a moving novel. And an important one.' The Telegraph

'absolutely loved it - romantic and funny and gripping and just generally excellent!' Tom Ellen, author of Freshers and All About Us

'touching, clever and absolutely hilarious' The Herald

'I really loved the book... it was just a lovely, refreshing read for me, and I'm so glad there are authors like Robin Talley out there.' Bookseller review

'One of the most interesting and informative LGBT books I've read recently!' Reader review

'I read it in one sitting!' NetGalley reviewer

'a must-read for anyone interested in LGBTQ+ history' NetGalley reviewer

'a very timely novel' NetGalley reviewer

• ISBN10: 0062409263
• ISBN13: 9780062409263
• Publish Date: 1 December 2020 (first published 12 November 2020)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Collins
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 464
• Language: English

Reviews

[herseriallife]

I highly recommend if you're in the mood for romance and missing live theater and musicals.
Detailed review coming soon...

[Liam]

[The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.]

CN: slutshaming (it isn’t very explicit, but still…)

What I liked:
• The cover is so cute!
• As a former theatre kid, this book made me so happy! I loved the atmosphere and all the musical references. And I definitely need to rewatch Les Mis soon!
• Mel is openly bisexual and has two dads! (And Odile identifies as queer and later says she isn’t sure of the details yet, but bi is closest to what she is.)
• I really like the writing style.
• The format of the book is so interesting! It's set up like a real play/musical (with scenes, acts and an intermission) and there are lots of notes, cast lists etc. I felt like I was a part of the crew!
• Mel and Odile are so adorable!
• The ending was wonderful! Maybe a bit cheesy, but I loved it!

What I didn’t like:
• In my opinion the love story developed a little to fast.
• Unfortunately, I didn’t like any of the friendships in this book. Mel says Dom is her best friend, but she often ignores him and doesn’t talk to him very much, even when she notices that something is wrong with him. And her other friends forbid her to fall in love?! How shitty is that? And they never really admit that they did something wrong too? I wish they had more conversations about that.

4 out of 5 stars