Mr. Romantic

by J.A. Huss

[Linda]

This review was originally posted on (un)Conventional Bookviews
Mr. Romantic is a little bit like a dark story, with characters you feel like you may have met before, and in which the big bad wolf isn't a real character, but rather the characters' past, getting ready to eat them all...



My first reaction after I finished reading Mr. Romantic was 'Holy mind fuck Batman!' because that's what this story was. Like Ivy, I never really knew if Nolan was serious or not and that kept me on the edge of my seat and made it quite hard to breathe at times. This story covers some very dark themes, even if a lot of the action is quite light-hearted. And I don't think the sexual fantasy part of the story will be for everyone - I found it to be extremely well done, though. And while it's not at all something I'd fantasize about myself, I can totally understand why some people do.

I hated Claudette, Nolan's sister, from the first time I met her - I found her to be such a bitch, and she just never eased up in any way. Both the way she treated Nolan and the way she went after Ivy just made me have an instant dislike towards her. Nolan had me very uncomfortable for a while, too, both because of what he was accused of ten years ago, and the things he did and said to Ivy at the beginning, before he really knew her. Huss does dark, mysterious and uncomfortable so very well, and I have to say Mr. Romantic played with my feelings at least as much as her other books have done in the past!

The Misters have a very weird relationship to each other, and some of them are still very mysterious. In Mr. Perfect, we met well... Mr. Perfect, and there was little interactions with the others. In Mr. Romantic, we also got to meet Mr. Mysterious and Mr. Match. Mr. Corporate showed up very briefly, so I'm even more curious about how this whole series will unfold in the future. These Misters were all accused of a horrible crime ten years ago, and neither of them managed to finish their education because of it. This already can be enough to put some readers off, and the fantasy that Nolan wants to play out with Ivy even more so - so beware. I'm pretty sure even the kindle extract will give you a feel for what it's all going to be about and you can make your choice. Just know that even if I was uncomfortable at times, I really enjoyed the story, and I was amazed at how well it was written.

There is both humor and romance too in Mr. Romantic, as well as a very healthy dose of suspense because of the way the story unfolds. Back to the writing - the readers get chapters from both Ivy's and Nolan's perspectives, which is truly awesome, because we are able to know their inner thoughts even if they don't necessarily share that with each other. First perspective, present tense makes the story move forward at the same time as we are reading, which really makes the action feel very immediate and lends a sense of urgency to the  story and the plot. And I think my coherence is taking a break now while I squee ;)



"I know." Nora laughs. "You're not that kind of girl." Her words echo through my head. Not that kind of girl. All my life I've been living with that label and most of the recent years I've been asking myself... why can't I be that kind of girl?

I think I saw this on an old episode of Seinfeld once, so it has to work.

You know what I've always wondered? Why she believes all these accusations girls throw at me. Why is it so easy for her to believe everyone but me?