Book Review: Chasing Love
Hmm okay - This book is another victim of the BookTok phenomenon. Not necessarily a bad thing but the plot holes and character development leave something to be desired. That’s not to say it was a bad book - sure, I’ve read a lot better in recent times - but sometimes you just want to sit down and read a very silly dark romance novel and forget about the strife of life. Or an upcoming general election.
Essentially, this is a second-chance love novel, I think this may be the first romance book that I have read that uses this trope. It does also involve cheating, coercion and slightly suspect relationships. But hay - this is fiction and slightly suspect relationships, and not to mention, men, work in dark romance novels. Not in real life. NEVER in real life.
So our two leading characters Alex and Charlotte - what a pair… of idiots. I do think that, in the time since their torrid love affair they have definitely grown older, but not grown up. Sure, in their defence, it was a messy breakup, but then that what happens when you have a torrid love affair between a married man and a high schooler (she was of legal age and it was 100% consensual). Not to mention the toxic ‘pick me’ ex-wife.
In terms of the plot and development - there isn’t really much that goes on. The leads do indeed learn a lot about each other and come to understand what happened in the past. But there isn’t much room for healing. If anything, the leads are rather selfish in their desires, they are ruled by lust rather than their heads and hearts. I find the ‘hot and cold’ nature of the two leads is giving me whiplash - will either of them grow a backbone? That being said there are some interesting themes to unpack here: It does show that healing is a long journey, trauma stays with a person for a long long time and it is always an uphill battle. Learning to trust again is universal. We’ve all been hurt or are hurting, but the journey to falling in love again (the right one that is non-toxic FYI) should be a joyous one.
I did find some of the surrounding characters awful. Eric needs a smack - I understand that every girl needs a gay bff. But not this one. This one is awful and pushes Charlotte into some rather horrible situations.
All in all. It was okay. Spice was fine, could’ve been a little more spicy in my opinion to make up for the whiplash. The plot was not the best but I liked the dual POV. There is a second book to this, and I do hope that in the next instalment both characters 1. Grow up 2. Sort out all their misunderstanding and leave childish jealousies in the past.