Romantic Comedy - Curtis Sittenfeld

Sally Milz is a sketch writer for The Night Owls, a late-night live comedy show that airs every Saturday. With a couple of heartbreaks under her belt, she’s long abandoned the search for love, settling instead for the occasional hook-up, career success, and a close relationship with her stepfather to round out a satisfying life.

Enter Noah Brewster, a pop music sensation with a reputation for dating models, who signed on as both host and musical guest for this week’s show. Dazzled by his charms, Sally hits it off with Noah instantly, and as they collaborate on one sketch after another, she begins to wonder if there might actually be sparks flying. But this isn’t a romantic comedy—it’s real life. And in real life, someone like him would never date someone like her . . . right? (link)

Review: 3/5

“If this was all I ever got, it would be the best thing that had ever happened to me, and if this was all I ever got, I’d never stop wanting more of it.” - Curtis Sittenfeld, just a mega cute quote I highlighted and wanted to share from the book.

I thought this book was super sweet, but with it being a rom-com it was also predictable. I really loved the relatability of the female lead, as she was funny and independent (feminism, hoo-rah). However, I do think Sally’s character kinda harped a little too hard on her own feminism. I felt like she was what a stereotypical single woman in her thirties is hyped up to be: mega feminist, seeing herself as a loser, “too dedicated” to her job, and especially her extreme pessimism to do with love. I mean, we know people like this, but it’s unrealistic to me for someone to be the poster child of such an outdated stereotype.

I also really appreciated how the characters were older, (in their late 30’s). I really enjoyed that portion of the setting because most romance books I read are about kids in high school or young adults where they’re 22 at the oldest. Yeah, ACOTAR, I'm looking at you!

Honestly, I wasn’t super into this book, nor impressed with it. The tv show mentioned was an obvious rip-off of Saturday Night Live, and it just felt like one of those cheesy Hallmark movies. I’m all for fluffy romances, don’t get me wrong, but it just felt pointless. But, I do want to give it the credit it deserves, it was nice. But, keywords wise, that’s all that’s coming up for me… Nice. Also, I am SO OVER the third act break-up, fight. However, with the third act fight, the turn to the step-dad that gets covid and almost dies, that was unique.

I may just be cynical about a global pandemic, but the use of COVID for the couple getting together was just gross. I can’t explain it, but I’m not the type of person to go through a global pandemic and hear about it for 2 years straight, and then want to read about it in a fictional sense. For me, it was a “too soon” kinda moment. This also might be my fault because I don’t read book synopsis often, and I dive into them with only knowing the author and genre. If I knew how much of the book (over half of it) centered around COVID, I might not have read it. But this isn't the blog for shoulda woulda coulda.

This song gave me a lot of poppy country vibes, just with it being about a pop country star… does that make enough sense for you? I hope it does. Here’s the link!

Spotify: LINK