*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. – post contains spoilers.*
bad publicity by Bianca Gillam follows book publicist Andie securing her dream job in New York but her plans are derailed when her first client is famous author Jack Carlson, also known as the last person she ever wants to see again. This is the book tour that could make or break her career, but also change the course of her love life as her and Jack travel through the most romantic cities in Europe as sparks fly and hard truths are revealed.
The story is well written and has elements that deal with grief and how this impacts relationships that demonstrates how deep rooted traumatic events can be. Gillam sensitively displays how grief has changed Andie’s behaviour or actions towards those around her, but this also is used as an excuse for why Andie behaves in certain ways, which doesn’t allow the reader to completely forgive her choices. This being said, I didn’t really connect with Andie as the main female lead, she came across as very selfish and hated on Jack an unnecessary amount without providing evidence to help the reader piece together an independent conclusion. I understand Andie and Jack had a disagreement but that was five years ago and the hatred is very one sided throughout the book. I liked that Jack’s side of the story is finally revealed to the reader, but this took a while to get there. I struggled with the first person pov as it was very hard to understand what was happening around Andie and what was just her inner monologues and turmoil. The actual event that is the cause of all this bad feeling is well executed and showcases the ‘slut’ shaming that some women are attacked by and the power struggle between the need to tell the truth and reputation.
But I liked Jack’s character and I would have liked to see more of his character pov and how his feelings for Andie developed as a mature adult rather than a university student that creates a slow burn and mature romance. The forced proximity of the book tour was promising but nothing really happens, it’s mainly Andie moaning and being horrible to Jack for no real reason aside from something that happened years ago. I did find the inclusion of swear words to be unnecessary and didn’t add anything to characters or the narrative, but that’s a personal preference. I think swearing should be used for impact.
Overall, this is well written and crafted but lacked high stakes or building chemistry that I would have expected from a slow burn / enemies to lovers romance. I think the romance is more a sub plot rather than a main event and that’s where the marketing doesn’t quite match with the contents. It is definitely a book that will appeal to readers who enjoy books set in publishing or around that theme, but I wasn’t as sold on the romance element.
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Amy is a writer and reviewer and is currently querying literary agents with her debut fantasy novel inspired by the magic and adventure of Pirates of the Caribbean. For more content click here to read book reviews, short stories and updates on Amy’s writing journey.
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