Canadian romance author, Zoe York, started posting about her love of Sophie Andrews’s book, Tangled Ambition and compared it to one of my favorite romances, Kate Canterbary’s The Worst Guy. I snapped it up. I liked Tangled Ambitions enough that I picked up a couple of other books by Sophie Andrews. One of the things I like about Andrews’s books is the way her characters live progressive values. I also love the way she can lean into the angst.
Tangled Ambition: longtime professional rivals (enemies-ish), Taylor and Dean find themselves changing their minds about each other after they are forced to work together on a worker’s rights case for dancers at a strip club. Dean finds himself wanting to take care of Taylor while she is going through a medical abortion. It’s one of my favorite kinds of pairings – prickly do-gooder x prickly do-gooder. It’s steamy and medium levels of angsty. It hits some of the notes of The Worst Guy, but it’s better read as it’s own book. (3.5 stars)
The Bartender’s Baby: when Nate finds out his favorite employee and manager of his bar is pregnant (not by him), he has to face the realization that he is in love with her. For the whole book, Nate is down bad for Tabitha and jumps in to support her during her pregnancy. It’s a delightful golden retriever x black cat pairing. Tabby is a bit surprised at how much Nate wants to help since he has been vocally anti-fatherhood for years. I, a person who has never wanted to be pregnant, am trash for a good surprise baby trope and Andrews does a great job with this one – Nate is not the father and that’s ok; Tabby suffered the loss of a baby several years before the book starts, which impacts her decisions and the way she responds to Nate. I love the way Andrews explores baggage and trust. There is a friend group of dads who have already had their books and now they are the Greek chorus of “we told you so” and new father advice. (4 stars)
My favorite of the books is Love at a Funeral and Other Awkward Conversations. When Cassie’s brother dies from a sudden heart attack, her already shambles life is thrown into more chaos. Her parents check out and her brother’s estranged wife is focused on the kids, so Cassie has to go from being the kid who didn’t launch properly to being the adult for everyone else. Vince was friends with her brother in high school, and now as a funeral director, he becomes her lifeline. Arguments can be made about whether this is a romance, but where ever it fits, it’s a gorgeously feral dive into grief. Cassie explodes so much of her life before she gets to the point where she can live it again. It’s very angsty and should be handled with care if grief is a trigger. If you are only going to read one book by Sophie Andrews, read this one. Be prepared to get angry and sob. (4.5 stars)