The Love Square by Laura Jane Williams
Actual Rating: 2
*Thank you to NetGalley for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
There was a lot of potential in this, but at the end of the day it turned out to be little more than a chick lit.
This story follows Penny Bridge, cancer survivor who desperately wants to have kids but can’t. To add insult to injury, she’s never been lucky in love anyways — until she runs into Francesco, a chef. But everything falls apart, and before she knows it, Penny is living a new life and meeting two new men…
That’s essentially the blurb of the story. It’s marketed as a “love square,” with Penny dealing with 3 other guys who all like her. Now, what are the good markings of a love square/triangle?It’s one where you feel like multiple love interests actually have a shot; they need to all be interesting, unique characters, who have different but still intriguing interactions with the main character.
I didn’t see those elements in this story at all; the entire time, there was pretty much only one love interest that had a shot, and I didn’t care for that character. And so, I feel like love square really shouldn’t have been the main selling point of this story, because there were other themes that could’ve been explored more.
Instead of having other love interests that were only there just to be annoying, I would’ve liked it more if the story focused on Penny’s infertility, and on her personal growth — without tying it to her need to be in a relationship. There was so much focus on who she was sleeping with there was honestly very little room for us to see who she was on her own.
The writing style was okay — nothing makes it stand out from other contemporary romance novels, but if you want something that that’s a light, no-thoughts read, this would be good.
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