now i understand jenreadsromance's deep personal vendetta against fossils.

often when i read a marriage after ruining/"ruining" or marriage of convenience story, i spend a lot of the book being like "just be in LOVE you dummies, stop fighting it!"  the two amanda quicks i've now read have proven to me that i do not actually want them to just be in love, i would like a little angst, because they both have couples who got married and promptly were like "well, best to make a good-faith go at it and now three days later we have calmly agreed we're in love." i'm exaggerating on the timeline a bit, but still.

anyways, i once again didn't really feel the chemistry (or passion, maybe? is that what i'm missing?) and good lord there was a lot of fossil talk. this book seems to be a favorite of many, though, and i would love to have my mind changed.

also, as a warning and not to hold a book written nearly 30 years ago to 2021 standards, the apparent suicide of gideon's first fiancée is treated rather glibly throughout.

CW:

death of a sibling, death by suicide of a former love interest, attempted rape, a non-narrative character describes killing said sibling and love interest, murder of an adult child by a parent, attempted murder