The Make-Up Test: A Novel

by Jenny L Howe

Allison Avery loves to win. After acing every academic challenge she’s come up against, she’s finally been accepted into her dream Ph.D. program at Claymore University, studying medieval literature under a professor she’s admired for years. Sure, grad school isn’t easy — the classes are intense, her best friend is drifting away, and her students would rather pull all-nighters than discuss The Knight's Tale — but she’s got this. Until she discovers her ex-boyfriend has also been accepted. Colin Benjamin might be the only person who loves winning more than Allison does, and when they're both assigned to TA for the same professor, the game is on.

What starts as a personal battle of wits (and lit) turns into all-out war when their professor announces a career-changing research trip opportunity — with one spot to fill. Competing with Colin is as natural as breathing, and after he shattered her heart two years ago, Allison refuses to let him come out on top. But when a family emergency and a late night road trip — plus a very sexy game of Scrabble — throw them together for a weekend, she starts to wonder if they could be stronger on the same team. And if they fall for each other all over again, Allison will have to choose between a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and what could be a twice-in-a-lifetime love.

• ISBN10: 1250837863
• ISBN13: 9781250837868
• Publish Date: 17 October 2022
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Saint Martin's Griffin,U.S.
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English
• URL: http://melia.co.uk/page/detail/?k=9781250837868

Reviews

[Jeff Sexton]

Academic Romance That Is Refreshingly Light On Academic Theory. Wait. A book set in Academia that *isn't* hyper preachy about white people and/ or straight men being the epitome of all things evil and a scourge on humanity? That alone makes this work from debut author Howe quite refreshing. Now toss in a fat chick who is comfortable in her own body and who learns to stand up for herself even to those closest to her, and you're getting *really* "out there" in terms of things that simply aren't usually done in novels of any form, particularly romance novels released by Mega publishers. Now we're even going to toss in *actual* academic work discussing the variations and themes of medieval literature? Wow, we're really going on a refreshing romance journey that stimulates the brain as well as the heart! There are a few quibbles here or there with this book, but overall, ignore the people that are hating on it - this is actually quite a departure from the norm for this genre in so many ways, and thus deserves to be explored because of its originality while still being perfectly within overall genre norms. Very much recommended.

[Joni Reads]

This was a cute romcom with great plus size rep. The main character is so strong and determined and I just love her. She goes after what she wants and doesn't let anything stand in her way. Her relationship with her father is my favorite part of this book. Not because of how good it is but because of how honest it is.

The way the author has the character stand her ground and show that bad things happening to someone does not erase all of the horrible things they have said and done to you in the past. To be honest, I preferred that side storyline to the romantic one.

Nothing against the romance, mind you. I loved both characters and their chemistry was amazing. But there were some moments when I wanted to just yell at the characters for doing the things they were doing. Whereas with the father storyline I was so proud of her the entire time.

All in all, a great romcom with an even greater subplot. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys romcoms.