I received this book for free from the TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Love Literary Style by Karin GillespiePublished by Henery Press on November 8, 2016
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Humor, Literary, Love & Romance, Romance, Romantic Comedy
Pages: 280
Source: TLC Book Tours
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Low brow meets high brow in a literary love story. Can an emotionally-stunted literary novelist and a vivacious romance writer find their happily-ever after? Even when she becomes more successful than he? Love Literary Style spoofs romantic comedy tropes, winks at literary pretensions and pokes fun at book publishing. Like Legally Blonde only in the literary world. Inspired by the author's New York Times article "Masters in Chick Lit." A sparkling romantic comedy for fans of the Rosie Project.
Love Literary Style is a romantic comedy that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but it isn’t all fun and games either. As of yet unpublished literary novelist/adjunct professor Aaron Mite is convinced that his type of writing is the superior genre. His famous literary critic father Horace Flowers has burned that superiority into his upbringing, and Aaron is a bit smug about literature to both other writers and his students. But when he meets self-published romance writer Laurie Lee at a writers’ colony and mistakes her for a famous literary author, his misconceptions about other writers are about to be swept out the window as they begin a whirlwind romance that shows him he’s worthy of loving and that he’s capable of giving love in return.
Laurie Lee is young and freshly widowed. Only a year after losing her popular and beloved high school boyfriend turned husband in a tragic accident, she finds herself away from the small town where they grew up and now going to school in Atlanta to be a nail technician while moonlighting as a librarian’s assistant. But her real passion is writing, especially cozy mysteries and romances. She’s self-published a few books but none have hit it big yet, so she decides to immerse herself in a writers’ colony to hone her craft. It’s clear that she doesn’t fit in with the dark clothed and serious writers there with her vibrant outfits and bubbly personality. And she’s intrigued by the cute man in the cabin adjoining hers, so she makes it her mission to get to know him in the interest of broadening her life. Even after Aaron finds out who Laurie really, they continue their romance back in Atlanta.
Aaron has a few near misses with getting his manuscript published by two different publishing houses, but ultimately his pompous, condescending attitude and unwillingness to compromise makes people not want to work with him. But Laurie Lee is the real winner here since Aaron’s agent takes her on after Laurie wins a pitch contest and her idea for a novel sells in a bidding war to a movie studio. Suddenly Laurie’s career takes off like a shooting star while Aaron’s stagnates, and there’s trouble in paradise for the both of them in terms of their relationship, their careers, as well as their personal lives.
I give Love Literary Style a 4.5 out of 5. With a nod to both the publishing and movie industries while winking at romantic comedies and literary fiction, this book had a great balance of poking fun at the absurdities of all of those things while taking a serious look at how complex those industries really are. While Aaron was serious, snobby, and aching for love, he had great character growth throughout the novel. Laurie’s journey wasn’t as deep as she wanted to find someone who respected her as well as loved her, but it was still fun to see her grow as a writer once she realized that she needed to take it seriously in order to earn the success she was getting. The secondary characters were quirky and fleshed out, with Laurie’s assistant Ramona being my favorite. The writing flowed in the third person, and I connected with the characters. This was a fun, clean, romantic comedy that had plenty of romance, conflict, and heartwarming moments with opposites attract leads.
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About Karin Gillespie
Karin Gillespie is the national-bestselling author of five novels. She has also written for the New York Times, Washington Post and Writer Magazine.She has an MFA from Converse College and lives in Augusta, Georgia. She writes a book column for the Augusta Chronicle, and a humor column for the Augusta Magazine. She is also a part-time instructor at GRU.
Connect with Karin Gillespie
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
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This sounds like such a fun read – I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks for being a part of the tour!
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