Meet Cute Club (Sweet Rose, #1)

by Jack Harbon

Jordan Collins doesn’t need a man.

What he needs is for his favorite author to release another one of her sexy supernatural novels and more people to sign up for the romance book club that he fears is slowly and steadily losing its steam. He also needs for the new employee at his local bookstore to stop making fun of him for reading things meant for “grandmas.”

The very last thing he needs is for that same employee, Rex Bailey, to waltz into his living room and ask to join Meet Cute Club. Despite his immediate thoughts—like laughing in his face and telling him to kick rocks—Jordan decides that if he wants this club to continue thriving, he can’t turn away any new members. Not even ones like Rex, who somehow manage to be both frustratingly obnoxious and breathtakingly handsome.

As Jordan and Rex team up to bring the club back from the ashes, Jordan soon discovers that Rex might not be the arrogant troll he made himself out to be, and that, like with all things in life, maybe he was wrong to judge a book by its cover.

• ISBN13: 9798629865032
• Publish Date: 16 May 2020
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Independently Published
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 238
• Language: English

Reviews

[jamiereadthis]

I wanted to like this so much but I struggled with how much of a first draft it was. It’s, quite frankly, a hot mess, on both a structure level and a sentence level. It’s all telling, not showing, which makes it pretty much impossible to care about what’s going on. Skipping over big scenes that need to be shown and head-hopping every other paragraph don’t make it any easier to follow the story— all things that could be fixed with some diligent revision.

The polished version of the story could be quite… well, cute. And I’m still cringing from recently reading a first draft I wrote in my twenties, so listen, I am all about the trial and error through which a writer grows. I just think this one was ready for a second draft, not publication.

I’ll check in with Jack Harbon again as he grows as a writer. The potential is there.

Oh, and one trigger warning he missed: waking a graphic designer up before noon to design and print a poster on the spot. My literal nightmare, thanks.

[Angie]

YES!
+Interracial M/M Romance! They meet and fall in love because of Romance novels!
+Jordan runs the Meet Cute Club, which is a book club for Romance lovers. Sadly the club has seen a decline in members recently.
+Rex isn't into Romance, but he's into Jordan, so he gives the genre a try and offers to help revive the book club.
+Rex's grand apology gesture was so thoughtful and precious!
+This also touches on workplace politics. Jordan is expected to do more than his job description, but the higher ups refuse to give him a raise. What should Jordan do? He's certainly braver than I am.

NO!
-Don't fight! Why are you fighting?!