Why is that some books make you unfairly overthink when other very similar ones don’t? Does that mean something else is going on in the reader’s life to make it stand out more? Is it one of those where it’s been building for a while from reading certain novels and this is the one that broke the camel’s back or is it that this author maybe highlighted it too much and made it hard to ignore? Or maybe it was a combination of the three. And what is this thing I am overthinking? Well, that would be the economics of the romance novel, especially the contemporary romance novel (it’s a little bit easier to ignore the rich dukes of historical romance even though we all know that money is tainted).
As far as what is going on in my life – well, there’s the whole of American politics in general and anger at how billionaires helped get us here, and how right leaning influencer culture and content has been shaping the conversation. I also recently read an interesting thread on BlueSky where the BlueSky writer talked about a recent article dissecting the cozy fantasy, and how the article touches on some topics but doesn’t go deep on them so she added her own analysis of how they are very built on capitalism, and transactional relationships.
As far as romance novels in general … yeah. Like of course you don’t want your characters worrying about money but it seems like there have been quite a few lately where it’s just, “sure of course you made millions off a food delivery app (Gouda Friends),” “sure, you have this really profitable business that also helps developing countries (Until I’m Yours),” and “naturally you were able to take your dad’s debt ridden farm land and turn it into this huge, well-oiled machine and become a staple at the farmers markets in 5 years (that one wasn’t as bad, they weren’t trying to present him as a millionaire farmer but his success at everything was still a little unbelievable – In a Jam).”
And we get to A Love like a Sun – was it any worse than these others in how it approached money? Probably not. But they also brought it up a little more so it was harder not to wonder? Issac, the best friend and love interest, is an artist but he rose to fame by having good social media content and was able to leverage that success as an influencer into brand deals and modeling deals. Maybe I am too old but the amount of money and fame he had from all that just seemed off to me. Issac is constantly being recognized on the streets, hounded by paparazzi and makes comments about renting a private jet. Are there that many influencers whose girlfriends get hounded by paparazzi?
Meanwhile, Lianah (Ni) is the best friend that stayed in their home town in Rhode Island, and opened a now failing hair care business with her mom. When Issac finds out, he helps by saying they are in a relationship, thinking Ni and her mom will get business by association. And it works. One day, they are packing up all their product and taking it home, the next two days they are selling more in a day than the months combined. And then using the profits to do an immediate remodel? Like, I don’t run a business but wouldn’t rent come first? Restock since they make all these products so they now need to buy supplies to make more? It’s nitpicky, I know, but I think the way the novel was written and how it had focused on the financial challenges made it a little hard to believe that a few days of business did all that?
I actually was enjoying the novel for the first half and then it just hit that point where it was losing me – Ni was taking too long to see what was right in front of her that it stopped being a sweet slow burn and just annoying. There’s also a few other plot lines mixed in, including with Ni and her doctor and her medical concerns, but it felt like it got short shrift. Related to her medical issues is that Ni’s dad died when she was young, and it’s definitely negatively impacted her view of romantic relationships. It’s not a bad reason to explore when you have such an obviously meant to be “friends to lovers” story but it could have been paced a little differently (also, we could have completely skipped the pointless date from earlier in the novel).
I feel like contemporary romance has more of a tendency to use 1st person narrators but sometimes it would be nice to get the 3rd person limited and switch back and forth between the two love interests. I’m not sure that would have added that much here because Issac is such a perfect character and human being and it’s easy to tell what he is thinking but it might have helped flesh Issac out as a character and given him more to do than being the perfect man for Ni.