#laurie devore

read my full review of the villain edit by laurie devore here.

Emily Henry meets Fleabag …and The Bachelor! An irresistibly sharp and sexy dramedy about a cynical romance novelist who goes on a Bachelor-like reality show to revive her flagging career, only to discover that while she may have just met the love of her life, the producers have turned her into the show’s villain.

Good villains make good TV.

Romance novelist Jacqueline Matthis’s big career has gone bust and she’s ditched the bright lights of New York City for her more affordable South Carolina hometown. Desperate, Jac dreams up a comeback plan—she is going to be a contestant on the 1, the most obsessively watched reality dating show in the world.

After all Jac is a romance writer—she knows how to pull off a meet-cute and create a spicy plotline.

On set, Jac quickly establishes herself as a front-runner for bachelor Marcus’s heart, but she’s shocked to discover who’s actually pulling the strings. How was she to know that Henry Foster, her last one-night stand before the show, was actually a longtime producer on the 1? Henry is just as horrified…but they can’t seem to keep their hands off each other.

As Jac plays the game and the show unfurls, she slowly discovers that she’s getting the villain edit. They say there’s no such thing as bad publicity, but as Jac’s secret plan begins crumbling around her, she’s not so sure. What happens if Marcus chooses her? Worse, what happens if her affair with Henry comes to light? What if, in trying to save her career, Jac has ruined her life?

Heartbreaking, smart, and sexy, this novel is for anyone who has ever secretly rooted for—or felt like—the villain.

My audiobook to-listen pile is out of control thanks to this list!

BEST OF 2018 » Books

11.05.2018 - 20.05.2018 (see my review on goodreads)

2 stars out of 5

Olivia is a Mean Girl. But she isn’t THE Mean Girl. She’s basically her southern town’s equivalent to Regina George’s best friend. And she has a tragic backstory™️: her dad died when she was very young, her mom freaked and moved her and her brother to a small town in the South of the US. Then, after she became a mean girl, her alcoholic brother died. So, on top of being already quite bitchy and not very likeable, she becomes even more closed of. Then her best fried, Adrienne (THE Mean Girl), sleeps with her boyfriend. All hell breaks loose in Olivia’s mind. She manages to get the resident Golden boy to prentend to date her and schemes. 

As you can probably tell from my summary (and the rating), I’m not a big fan of this book. The first 100 pages were a pain to get through for some reason. I probably think it’s because I can’t find a single thing I have in common with Olivia that would make me empathize with her, and that resulted in me not liking her AT ALL. And not liking the protagonist of a novel written in first person narrative is not good. 

However, I loved the way it was written. Laurie Devore’s writing is what made me decide to push through despite me not really enjoying the story. After I got over me not liking Olivia at all, the words seemed like they were flowing just right.