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Penelope in Retrograde by Brooke Abrams
4.25
funny

I really enjoyed this. I found myself with a smile on my face, with little chuckles here and there. I don't know that I'll really remember the story in the long run, but I think the title/cover is unique enough that I will recall it was read and was one I liked. Very conversational and funny.  The narrator was very good (Eva Kaminsky). While she's narrated a lot, I've heard her in "When The Men Were Gone, and The Arctic Fury, although the narration didn't stand out enough in either that I mentioned it in my reviews). 

First person/Present tense ... even with some flashbacks (labeled in the text chapter heading, but not in the Table of Contents). I think I would have preferred the flashbacks to be in past tense, just to create a little more of a distinction in my mind (I'm listening to the audiobook while multi-tasking, always stopping and starting, and sometimes hard to remember where exactly I am in the book as I come back to it). 

It did have many of the basic "romance" tropes (and our MC is a writer of steamy romance novels, under a pen name) ... the surprise reunion with "the ex" ... the fake dating. Miscommunications. There were some family dynamics. It was interesting that both Penelope and Smith were from influential and wealthy families. I had to laugh a little at "And if we’re talking about being self-made, I’m self-made. I made a life for myself alone in San Francisco after the divorce, and I didn’t take a dime from my parents. I used the trust that Nana Rosie established for me to buy my home."  I guess being "self-made" can be defined differently, but ... well, I never had a trust fund. 

Content: ProFanity (x10).  There was some sex talk/banter, although the MC apparently writes explicit scenes in her books. I don't recall anything explicit. There is a super sweet lesbian relationship.