Book Review: Talk Bookish to Me by Kate Bromley

 

Talk Bookish to Me

by Kate Bromley

This is a lovely little Romantic Comedy that I found in our library’s Overdrive catalog by searching for books with a “vacation” theme – our August theme for book club.

I wasn’t familiar with the author and I would not have guessed that this is the first book she has written. On her web site, it says that she is an avid reader and it sounds like she has written other stories but this is the first book attributed to her. I’d say she has quite a career in front of her if she keeps going with it.

The opening lines drew me in and the laughs start on the very first page – from “His eyebrows bob up as I adjust my grip on the Great-Dane-sized gift basket I’m carrying,” to “Because if everyone isn’t uncomfortable for the entire ride, are you even really in an elevator?”

The main character is Kara, a writer of romance novels, both historical and contemporary. She’s maid-of-honor for her best friend’s wedding and on the eve of the rehearsal dinner she arrives to find her college boyfriend, Ryan, is one of the groomsmen. Of course, things did not end well with them ten years ago. There are both unresolved issues and serious chemistry.

“I’m convinced that if Nat King Cole were here and knew my side of the story, he would grab Ryan by the scruff of his shirt and hold him steady as I roundhouse-kicked him in the throat.  

It’s a tough pill to swallow but Ryan looks good. Like, really good.”

Kara is also struggling with writer’s block at the moment. Her next book is due to her publisher any day now and she is supposed to be taking off on a six-month trip to Italy.

Of course, things get a little wilder when Ryan gets thrown out of his hotel because his dog trashed the room. The groom wants to have him stay with them, but Kara can’t let her best friend’s marriage implode before it even begins, can she?

The language is natural, the dialogue snappy, and the situations funny but believable. This is everything you want in a romantic comedy and if Hallmark or someone doesn’t snap it up to turn into a movie, I don’t know what the world is coming to.