Showmance
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Average rating3.7
"Showmance is ready for the big time....Beguelin crafts a story you never want to end.” —Steven Rowley, New York Times bestselling author of The Celebrants A down-on-his-luck Broadway playwright is marooned in rural Illinois in this sharply funny queer rom-com Noah Adams’s career as a playwright is circling the drain, thanks to a scorching review of his first Broadway musical. So when a family emergency sends him back to his Podunk hometown of Plainview, Illinois, he figures he’ll hide out for a bit. But to Noah’s horror, his agent has secretly arranged for him to stage an amateur version of the career-ruining musical at the local community theater. As if trying to work with a bunch of artless amateurs wasn’t enough, Noah runs into Luke, the jerk from his high school years, everywhere he goes. Luke somehow grew up to be beloved by everyone in town…and undeniably gorgeous. As rehearsals begin, Noah is surprised by his cast’s insights, the warmth of the town he’d dismissed, and the reality of what happened with Luke all those years ago. Just how much has Noah misjudged?
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Showmance has lots of humor. I adore Kiara, Melissa, and Nancy Kay. I must also confess that I love my crock pot too Nancy Kay.
I received an ARC of this book and I am writing a review without prejudice and voluntarily.
Chad Beguelin is a successful playwright and lyricist (Prom, Elf: the Musical) who grew up in the small town of Centralia, Illinois. Noah Adams, the MC of Beguelin's debut novel is a failed playwright and lyricist hailing from Plainview, Illinois. So it's not a surprise that Showmance is a mostly successful if predictable romance between the wisecracking Noah and local hunky farmer Luke Carter. As quickly as you can click your heels together three times and say “There's no place like home,” Noah's Big City boyfriend is dispensed with, along with Noah's lingering anger at the bullying he endured in high school, allegedly at Luke's hands (the retconning of Noah's experiences to make Luke an innocent bystander who was responsible for stopping the torment is an authorial decision that made me more than a tad uncomfortable).
Luke is a little too good to be true, while Noah's sassy black gal pal and laconic Midwestern father are both walking cliches. But even with its flaws, Showmance is lively and entertaining, and such a perfect match for my current need for fluff that I read it all in one afternoon. Extra points for Noah's mom pointing out that his welcome home reception is unmissable because they brought in toasted ravioli “all the way from St. Louis.”* If you've eaten toasted ravioli, you're either nodding your head in agreement or making violent retching noises, depending on how you view one of my hometown's greatest culinary achievements.
*Less than an hour away from Centralia, especially if you speed
