One thing that I appreciate about Emma Barry is that she writes romance novels that feel very real and down to Earth. Yes, both these novels involve characters who have reached career heights most of us never will but the characters and situations feel very real. Sometimes, you want quirky and funny, sometimes you want something that feels like reality with adult characters.
Funny Guy is set in New York and a childhood best friends to lovers story. Sam is a comedian who landed the dream gig on weekly comedy show that is basically a stand in for SNL. He dates around, falling into intense relationships and falling out just as quickly. His latest relationship imploded right on schedule, and naturally when your ex is a famous musician, there’s going to be a song about you. Sam is smart and funny but he is also one of those guys that can’t quite believe where he is at or that it will last so he self sabotages himself before others can reject him.
Bree has been his best friend since their childhood, and she has also secretly been in love with him for years. She is an urban planner and incredibly good at it – she’s being headhunted and thinks it’s maybe finally time to stop living around Sam and move on. Naturally, now is when Sam finally starts realizing he might have feelings for his best friend (in his defense, this is not a reaction to her telling him she might leave NY, she is very much hiding this from him).
They both had toxic parents when they were kids and difficult childhoods, one of the reasons they bonded so closely as kids and have stayed connected since. They processed their trauma in very different ways, and now they need to get past their own hang ups to see if they can actually make a relationship work rather than losing their friendship by falling into their normal relationship patterns.
Bold Moves is a second chance romance. Jaime and Scarlett dated in high school, though she would say they hooked while he would argue she was the one that didn’t want to take their relationship public. Back then, he was the golden boy, son of the beloved small town doctor while she was the girl from the wrong side of the tracks, new to town with a mom always on the move due to whatever boyfriend or job opportunity she had at the time.
Now, years later, Scarlett is the femme fatale of the chess world while Jaime is an upcoming filmmaker, who broke onto the scene with a documentary about his father’s fall from grace, its aftermath and the impact it had on their small town. Right around the time Jaime was about to graduate high school, it came out that his dad was selling prescriptions to things like oxy, completely changing the trajectory of Jaime’s life.
For his follow up? Jaime wants to adapt Scarlett’s memoir, and she agrees – with a condition. She wants to be part of the writing process. But spending that much time together opens up a lot of questions and what ifs, especially since their sexual chemistry is still undeniable.
I enjoyed both – as I said, both of these feel like novels with real characters but Funny Guy is the lighter of the two while Bold Moves includes some more serious topics.