“By Any Other Name” Broke My Romance Slump
Say hello to my second five star read of 2022
Whenever I read too many romance novels in a row, my patience with certain genre staples takes a bit of a hit.
I grew up on rom coms and I adore them, but as Mindy Kaling wrote in one of her memoirs, they often exist in a world with different rules. Digging into a good romance requires a certain suspension of disbelief about how our world works, especially in these days where a simple text or phone call could solve those sticky miscommunications.
Lately, I’ve complained about a couple tired tropes in some of my reviews. Job loss as inciting incident for our female character to seek change in her life is one. The cartoonish douchebag boyfriend who will of course eventually dump or be dumped is another.
When I feel myself getting into this easily-irritated zone, I tend to step away from the genre for a bit. But since I request a lot of romance ARCs and have been trying to get my NetGalley ratio up, I decided to try one more before my palette cleanser.
And reader, I am so glad that I did! The book in question was Lauren Kate’s By Any Other Name.
This book follows Lanie, editorial assistant at the publishing house of her favorite elusive author, Noa Calloway. Though she…
