Meet Julianne Bartlett, a brilliant young attorney set out to start
her own law firm with her best friend-and virtually constant
companion-Will Hanes. Julianne has been waiting her whole life for
Prince Charming to gallop in on his white steed. Will rode up on his
10-speed bike while they were still in grade school, but who meets the
perfect guy right in the middle of a cul-de-sac?
On the way to her new office, Julianne screeches to a halt after a mysterious Prince Charming loses his toolbox and work boot in a busy intersection. He's gorgeous . . . and he's a caring dog-rescuer too! How far she will go to grab the attention of the prince who begins to look less and less charming all the time?
On the way to her new office, Julianne screeches to a halt after a mysterious Prince Charming loses his toolbox and work boot in a busy intersection. He's gorgeous . . . and he's a caring dog-rescuer too! How far she will go to grab the attention of the prince who begins to look less and less charming all the time?
My Thoughts:
For some reason I just wasn't able to completely click with this story. At times it's cute, but at other times it feels like it's trying too hard to be cute, resulting in an almost saccharine quality. Granted, it is billed as a "contemporary fairytale", but even keeping this in mind I still found some of the plot points a bit cliche and over-the-top.
As an attorney Julianne is a go-getter, always pushing for the best deal for her clients. But in her personal life she is dreadfully naive, to the point that it becomes rather irksome. While I could overlook her naive outlook on life, her "relationship" with Paul is what troubled me most.... Paul is not a Christian and has no interest in God, which Julianne fully well knows, yet she still doggedly pursues him, trying to force a relationship. She just doesn't know when to quit, and ultimately she ends up sinking very low and going absurd lengths to secure a date with Paul, all for the sole purpose of using him as arm-candy to show off to her co-workers and peers.
I liked Will a bit better than Julianne as he has a firmer grasp on reality than she does. Will has loved Julianne for 20 years, and as he watches her go out with other guys it's easy to sympathize with his feelings... but at the same time I just wanted to light a fire under him to push him into action!! Twenty years is waaay too long to let a profession of love go unsaid, and he just continued to procrastinate, despite having multiple opportunities to express his feelings.
The story did keep me fairly entertained while reading, but having finished it several days ago, I'm already finding it somewhat forgettable. I feel like the story idea had promise, but Julianne's character simply wasn't able to engage me; her behavior often left me unsettled, despite the fact that it was probably done for comedy sake. Ultimately, this story just wasn't my cup of tea, but the writing itself was good, so I would still be interesting in checking out some of Sandra Bricker's other works in the future.
My Rating: 3 stars
Thanks to the publisher (River North) for providing me with an e-arc for review via NetGalley.
This may be a "someday" read but I am not in a huge hurry to get my hands on a copy. It sounds cute but having read your concerns... I don't know... it doesn't sound like the happy-go-lucky kind of read I usually love. :)
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Rissi. I didn't find it very happy-go-lucky, which is what I was expecting from it. It just didn't seem very fairy tale like, even in a contemporary way. However, judging from the other advance reviews I've seen, it would appear that my opinion is in the minority. I always find it so interesting when my feelings on something differ so much from the general consensus of others...it just goes to show that we are all created slightly different! ;)
DeleteThanks for visiting, Rissi! I appreciate it!