Review: Nicole by Sarah Monzon

My rating: 4 stars / I really liked it

Synopsis

Who has time to date when she’s trying to raise a miniature human by herself AND save the planet from its irresponsible inhabitants? Not to mention my winning personality (snort) and my curves-have-curves figure (eyeroll) don’t exactly attract the opposite sex. Unfortunately, none of these reasons have stopped my best friends and SoCal sewing sisters from taking on the archaic role of matchmakers, and they’re not beneath a little bribery if that’s what it takes to get my cooperation. Let’s just say everyone has their weak spot, and donations to my favorite charities is mine.

If I were to consider a romantic relationship, my dream guy certainly wouldn’t be immature, everything-is-a-game Dr. Drew Bauer. The man raises my body temperature faster than global warming does the Earth’s! But life seems determined to keep throwing us together, especially now that one of my SoCal sewing sisters is engaged to his best friend, in which case there can only be one of two outcomes:

1. I kill him in a fit of annoyance.

2. My common sense escapes me, and I fall in love with him.

Honestly, I'm not sure which would be worse.

My Review

Such a fun story! I absolutely loved Drew and his teasing nature. He sure knew how to rile Nicole up. They develop some sweet chemistry after Nicole lets down her guard and begins to acknowledge that there's more to Drew than she gave him credit for. It was nice to see her realize with each layer she uncovers how great of a guy he is, even if his car isn't electric ;) 

 

The only reason I didn't rate this book five stars was how difficult it was for me to connect with Nicole. She's passionate about the environment and social issues, which is great, but her attitude of superiority was a pretty big turn off. Chapter three is full of preachy "woke" perspective disguised as normal conversation, which would have made me ditch the book if it wasn't one I'd signed up to review. Drew helps soften Nicole's rough edges over time and she begins to relax, but then she made comments in her narration toward the end of the book that still showed that same attitude of condescension, which made me roll my eyes. I think it helped that the author included Nicole's crazy mom to show the influences that affected her upbringing, but it made me wonder why Nicole embraced her mother's philosophies when she resented her and recognized how unhealthy it was. The biggest favor Drew did for Nicole was point out how she was doing the exact same thing to her own daughter Sierra.

 

Overall, I enjoyed the romance and Drew's personality, but felt that Nicole would have been a more relatable character if she was portrayed as an advocate without the elitism.

Disclosure statement: A complimentary copy of this book was provided from a tour group, publisher, publicist, or author, including NetGalley, OR was borrowed from the library, including OverDrive, OR borrowed from Kindle Unlimited, OR purchased. A review was not required and all views and opinions expressed are unbiased and my own.

Don't miss the other books in the Sewing in SoCal series . . .