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sophia_sol) wrote2020-07-16 04:36 pm
sophia_sol) wrote2020-07-16 04:36 pm
House Rules, by Ruby Lang
Hmm, I don't love this book nearly so much as the last two in the series. Partly it's just that the romance doesn't work for me as well as the others (I was kind of bored by it), and partly I think it's not as thematically strong.
The lead guy leaves his rent-controlled New York apartment in order to move into a temporary sublet which just seems like poor planning given the rental market in that city--how are you going to find another reasonable housing option once you have to leave your sublet in just a few months? And he and his roommate (ex-wife/love-interest) fall in love with their beautiful new sublet apartment and feel it's really home....and then they happily move out of town when they have to leave the sublet. If the theme is supposed to be about being able to make a home together, and the space is clearly important to them, then not showing the reader anything about what's to love about the new home they move into at the end just feels like something's been left hanging.
Moving out of town at the end makes sense for Lana, because she isn't as connected into the city, and because there's a good career opportunity in the place they move to. But for her to decide to move with Simon, and for Simon to decide to move with her, doesn't make sense to me.
Apparently there is a common feature of het romances called the grovel, where the leading man makes a mistake but then makes it clear to the leading woman just how sorry he is and won't ever hurt her like that again. (Apparently the grovel is very popular among certain readers!) There's a grovel in this book, and I'm just not convinced, honestly, that he has a full understanding of what his mistakes have been. So Lana falling this easily back into a committed relationship with him after 17 years separated and a couple months living together again just doesn't feel like a good idea.
Also literally the only thing taking Simon out of town is Lana, and he's making his life more difficult and stressful through the move (a 1.5 hr commute into town each way for his job!!! Leaving behind his friends & family!) so that's a lot of pressure to put on a newly-rekindled relationship too. SLOW DOWN YOU GUYS.
Ah well. You can't win them all, and the first two books in the trilogy were delightful enough to make up for this one disappointing me.
The lead guy leaves his rent-controlled New York apartment in order to move into a temporary sublet which just seems like poor planning given the rental market in that city--how are you going to find another reasonable housing option once you have to leave your sublet in just a few months? And he and his roommate (ex-wife/love-interest) fall in love with their beautiful new sublet apartment and feel it's really home....and then they happily move out of town when they have to leave the sublet. If the theme is supposed to be about being able to make a home together, and the space is clearly important to them, then not showing the reader anything about what's to love about the new home they move into at the end just feels like something's been left hanging.
Moving out of town at the end makes sense for Lana, because she isn't as connected into the city, and because there's a good career opportunity in the place they move to. But for her to decide to move with Simon, and for Simon to decide to move with her, doesn't make sense to me.
Apparently there is a common feature of het romances called the grovel, where the leading man makes a mistake but then makes it clear to the leading woman just how sorry he is and won't ever hurt her like that again. (Apparently the grovel is very popular among certain readers!) There's a grovel in this book, and I'm just not convinced, honestly, that he has a full understanding of what his mistakes have been. So Lana falling this easily back into a committed relationship with him after 17 years separated and a couple months living together again just doesn't feel like a good idea.
Also literally the only thing taking Simon out of town is Lana, and he's making his life more difficult and stressful through the move (a 1.5 hr commute into town each way for his job!!! Leaving behind his friends & family!) so that's a lot of pressure to put on a newly-rekindled relationship too. SLOW DOWN YOU GUYS.
Ah well. You can't win them all, and the first two books in the trilogy were delightful enough to make up for this one disappointing me.