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Heidi Hart

By day, I'm a domestic violence prosecutor. By night, I read romance to restore my faith in love, relationships, and humanity in general. 

Missed the Mark

Make Me: A Broke and Beautiful Novel - Tessa Bailey

I read this to finish out the series (and because I have to have something to do on the treadmill), but I was ultimately pretty disappointed. Russell and Abby are the last members of two complimentary friend groups. Russell's drinking buddies, Ben and Louis, paired up with Abby's roommates in the two preceding books. Early on, Russell and Abby friend-zoned each other, but now each hopes for more. But, because their communication skills suck, neither can admit it.

 

There were issues here which could have been interesting. Unlike his friends, their lovers, and Abby, he is an uneducated blue-collar worker. He's smart and ambitious -- he runs a successful construction company on the verge of expansion -- but he's never been to college and he wasn't raised with a summer home in the Hamptons, the way Abby and Louis were. He's especially sensitive to the class difference with Abby because his mother was a blue blood, "settled" for his blue collar dad, and came to tragically regret her choice.

 

On the other hand, Abby's always had tons of money, but it's only ever served to keep her apart from people. Her parents are cold and distant, her schoolmates were social climbing snobs, and her coworkers won't talk to her because she's the boss's daughter. She's always craved love and acceptance, not money. 

 

I am sensitive to class issues, and I like to read about characters who encounter and navigate class distinctions in believable, relatable ways -- so this book should have been right up my alley. Unfortunately, here Abby and Russell never really talk about this -- Russell just keeps being told to get over it, as if his anxieties are wrong or inappropriate.

 

Also, even more than in the previous book, Need Me, several of the plot twists thrown into this book to drag out the story are so unnecessary, and based on misunderstandings that could have been addressed if the main characters would just talk to each other like grown ups.

 

Finally, there's a villain in this story who doesn't get his comeuppance. I hate that.