Elle is failing at Edina magazine. She cares more about partying and recovering from hangovers than pitching good ideas. When she feels her job threatened she’s forced to come up with a job saving idea on the fly. Her bright idea – a profile of one of the most reclusive business successful business women – Alya Goldstein.
I found the first part of book to be awkward in that we know the big secret, that Elle has fallen into Alya’s life due to her deception and need for the story, so when they start to fall for each other it made me anxious as I was waiting for the moment that would inevitably cause hurt. However it’s cleverly written in that there is still a lot of honesty when you look for it.
Whilst I didn’t enjoy the deception as such, I liked the premise in that it wasn’t one I’ve encountered personally in this way before in queer fiction. A byproduct of the deception meant that the conflict between the two had a genuine reason to happen and Waters didn’t continue it any longer than necessary, which I found to be a relief.
I liked that Elle’s relationship with her best friend is brutally honest and truthful, in perfect contrast to the beginning of her relationship with Alya. Alya’s relationship with her grandmother mirrors this. Both of these relationships force each of the MCs to explore things more honestly.
I would recommend this to any queer romance fans.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
LGBTQ+ Reader 