Izzy was initially delighted at the prospect of having landed a job in publishing. For someone to pay her to read, to be surrounded by books, to put her literary skills to the test at a New York-based publishing house was a dream come true. That is, until reality sunk in, with all its concomitant pressures and workload, essentially being ignored by her senior editor/supposed mentor, and the occasional cloying comment by her associates. Not to mention the entitled, spoiled, famous Beau Towers, whom she had to email every two weeks to try to urge to write his memoir – which had been ignored repeatedly for the past year. At least she has the upcoming conference in LA to look forward to, which, to her excitement, she’d be attending with her best friend, Priya. Little did Izzy suspect that this break in her routine would be the break she needed from her very life.
This fairy-tale-based story is very much like a fairy tale: sweet, romantic, and entirely predictable. Izzy is a beautiful character, an idealistic, talented, clever protagonist wrapped up in a slightly insecure package, daunted by her surroundings, intimidated by the dog-eat-dog world she’s working in. True, she’s also one of a very few people of color in a very White-dominated field, and this intimidates her further. And we like her, with her humor, her charm and her dedication to her art, family and friends. When she comes up with a creative idea, thinking outside the box to try to get this obnoxious client, Beau, to finally answer her and her boss, we cheer her on, excited for her potential win.
But sadly, while the dialogue between Izzy and Beau are initially full of intriguing outbursts and only a gradual thaw, they melt into such banal banter that it becomes a disappointment. The “big reveal” of Beau’s history, his source of his anxiety and tragedy might have been interesting, but it is almost as if the author tired of the story herself and just wanted it to be completed. There are no major plot twists of note, just a host of romance tropes that were, to be honest, saccharine and trite.
I believe, once again, this is a very cute idea that is only fairly well executed. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a way to be distracted from what is happening in the world at the moment with a guaranteed happy ending, this is your story!
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