Queen B’s Decree: Love Life started out well, but I soon found myself struggling to finish.
Tess, our heroine, discovered her boyfriend in bed with another man and she spirals mentally. She relapses with her old eating disorder and the dark thoughts in her head become loud. It’s those voices that I found so hard to read through. So much of Love Life was her own thoughts talking down to her.
When she meets up with “the one who got away” (which is a bit of a misnomer – they spent one night together) she’s crushed that he doesn’t seem to remember her. His mother is admitted to the hospice that Tess works at and Edward takes out his anger at the situation on her. Despite their inauspicious beginning and Edwards behaving terribly most of the book, the two form a friendship.
Love Life dealt with some severely dark topics like death, cancer, eating disorders, and mental health. It felt a little disjointed and sometimes it didn’t flow well. There were plenty of Jane Austen references, and I think that built up the anticipation for me. Yet I was let down.
The characters were not likable and the story didn’t hold my attention. I gave up on the overly flowery language and ended up skimming to the end just to finish.
As of this posting, I could only find Love Life available on the Amazon UK website.
Book: Love Life by Nancy Peach
Series: standalone
Genre: Contemporary
Hotness: mild salsa
Plot Devices/Tropes: second chance