Happy hump day, all! I am in a little bit of a reading slump right now. Just bought a house, the weather is oppressive, democracy is dying, and reading feels hard. But, we must keep trucking on. Unfortunately, How Freaking Romantic did not help my slump except to get my fired up… and not in a good way. This was my BOTM a couple of months ago, and I forgot the cardinal rule: Never read books about lawyers.
From the Publisher:
In this sharply funny solo debut, an aspiring lawyer is forced to work alongside the opposing counsel in her best friend’s divorce case, which leads to the biggest irreconcilable difference of love.
Beatrice Nilsson has a lot to be angry about. The wage gap, the pink tax, the repayment schedule on all those student loans…the list goes on. But that anger is also what makes her such a good friend—the perennial sidekick who fights for her loved ones’ happily ever after, even while conveniently neglecting her own. So when the marriage of her two best friends falls apart—and the divorce proceedings get ugly—Bea is ready to step in and help pick up the pieces.
First on her to-do list? Storm the office of Nathan Asher, her friend’s ex-husband’s lawyer, and tell him exactly what he can do with his divorce petition. But what should end with a few choice words and a slam of the door soon spirals into uncharted territory when Nathan shows up at her NYU Law office a few days later. As a newly-minted adjunct professor––and her new colleague––he proves to be annoyingly intelligent, relentlessly patient, and unfairly attractive. Bea still hates him, of course, but it’s not long before that hate begins to feel a lot like something else.
There’s just one when you’ve spent your life focusing on everyone else’s love story, it’s not easy to take the starring role in your own. And as uncomfortable truths emerge about the divorce that started it all, Bea must choose whose happily ever after to everyone else’s or her own.
My Take:
I am…very much the wrong audience for Ms. Harding’s debut. While the smut was decent and I liked Bea’s group of friends from undergrad, and I enjoyed Nate as a character, the way Harding portrays the legal industry and law school is just so bad. Bea is supposed to be a hotshot top student but calls herself an “L3?” And she can’t get a job because she doesn’t “play the game?” Newsflash, a lot of people don’t play the New York City rat race game and still end up with good jobs because, simply, law firms mostly only care about grades and extracurriculars. Your personality is a far third place. Harding’s New York City geography also leaves a lot to be desired, as was her characterization of what the day-to-day looks like. It was like a caricature of the city. I know this is an extremely personal issue, but as someone that (1) practices law (2) in New York City, this was an overall painful experience to read.
All of this may have been easy to ignore if it weren’t for the fact that Bea is also a fundamentally unlikable person. She calls Nate an asshole basically every other breath she takes, and finds herself morally superior to basically every character she talks to. We are supposed to ignore her judgmental side when Bea cares for a friend with a drug addiction, but the compassion was more out of character than it should have been. She wants to be a lawyer and take on big pharma? Judges would throw Bea out of their chambers with her attitude. Nate and her friends don’t deserve the kind of drama Bea brings with her everywhere she goes.
Conclusion:
Beyond my above rant, I can honestly say I do understand why some people loved How Freaking Adorable. It is a classic enemies to lovers trope, with a misunderstood MMC, forced proximity, and clear sexual chemistry. Nate is a dream guy, and other than an unnecessary third act argument, Bea and Nate’s relationship overall was well written. But this one was not for me. It got thrown onto the sand on multiple occasions, with me turning to my husband to rant about law school vernacular or bad networking scenes. I gave this two waves, but I encourage others to fight me on it! Let’s chat in the comments. If you haven’t already, pick up your copy here.
Books for the Beach 