Sometimes the most imperfect match is the most perfect surprise.
Hadley Cooper believes in happily-ever-afters with her whole heart. Described by her friends as a wide-eyed, eternal optimist, she looks for the bright side in most any situation. However, when her job as the assistant manager of Silhouette, a posh boutique on Rodeo Drive, is on the line, she realizes it’s time to pull her head out of the clouds and find a way to turn business around, and that just might mean partnering with the most stubborn up-and-coming fashion designer she’s ever encountered.
Spencer Adair has a passion for fashion, but hates the fact that it rhymes. She’s serious about her designs, fiercely protective of her work, and is waiting patiently for her big break. What she didn’t plan on, however, was the unsolicited opinions of that overly friendly blond boutique manager. Or the way her heart beats faster every time she’s around.
Love Like This
Melissa Brayden
Rating: 2/5 🌈
Published: 16th October 2018
Goodreads
Rep: lesbian mc and li (ownvoices), Latina(?) li (not ownvoices, also never specified)
Her soul soared, her heart sang, and her life could go in so many different directions.
Galley provided by publisher
I knew before going into this that Melissa Brayden’s writing style is not my favourite. But, since I was able to get past it in Eyes Like Those, I thought the same would be the case here. Unfortunately, there was a lot less in this book to actually engage me and keep me interested, so the writing became painfully… well, painful.
Love Like This is the fourth and final book in the Seven Shores series, which follows a group of young to middle-aged women living in an apartment complex in L.A. In this book, the focus is on Hadley, the assistant manager at a boutique on Rodeo Drive. The plot starts with her meeting Spencer, a designer, whose collection she hopes will revitalise the store and improve profits. And, of course, they fall in love. Cue some seemingly major, but in fact minor, obstacles such as: Spencer’s fear of commitment (stemming, supposedly, from the fact her parents divorced, even though they remain good friends), Spencer’s new job offer, Hadley’s complete stupidity regarding this job offer… I could go on, but I’ll leave it there. But, to summarise briefly, all problems that could be solved with a good sitdown and some communication! (I mean, for crying out loud, when they come to realise they are In Love, Spencer flies from Paris to L.A. and Hadley from L.A. to Paris. At the same time, so they completely miss each other. When they could have, I don’t know, just sent a text?)
So, yes, I had some issues with the fact that all the conflict was created by miscommunication. But, beyond that, I just didn’t really get invested in either of the main characters or their relationship. There was just no tension between them. Ultimately, they bored me. The only thing I was really interested in was Hadley’s relationship with the other women in her apartment complex. And there wasn’t nearly enough of it. (Now, if someone could just point me to an apartment complex of wlw, please?)
There was also the slight awkwardness I felt with having Spencer written by a white author, because, on that front, she seemed condensed down to comments about white people (awkward when it’s effectively a white person saying it through a character of colour), and one mention of her having brown skin. Nothing else. Maybe she’s Latina (that’s probably the best guess I got from the book)? Maybe she’s not? It’s never explicitly mentioned and she honestly does just feel like someone’s taken a generic white character and then changed her skintone for diversity points.
This all being said, there were some cute moments in this book, particularly Isabel’s proposal to Taylor and their subsequent marriage. But honestly, that was probably my favourite part in the book. Which really says a lot about the book.
