The Predictable Heartbreaks of Imogen Finch

4.5 stars

I read another book by this author back in January of 2023 called Marlowe Banks, Redesigned and loved it so when I got an email with a NetGalley widget allowing me to have access to this book I had to jump at the chance to read it. This is a friends to lovers second chance romance. Imogen and Eliot have been friends since they were kids, and Imogen has always had a crush on him but never said anything. After Eliot graduates he leaves town, and they lose touch, but he returns after a decade away and things go from there. I thought this was such a cute romance and I loved the communication in this book. It did get a bit repetitive when it came to Imogen's “curse” and the ending was a bit of a letdown but overall I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more by this author. 

Quirky And Spicy. Straight up: If quirky books with a touch of magical realism/ off-the-beaten-path type vibes isn't really your thing... eh, you likely won't like this book. If spicy books with several (I wouldn't necessarily call them "frequent") on-screen sex scenes of various forms isn't your thing... this probably isn't the book for you, as it does feature them. If you're looking for a "perfect" "cowboy rides off into the sunset with his woman in the saddle behind him" type HEA... the HEA here works for this couple, but aint that type. So maybe this isn't your thing either, but in your case I'd say give it a shot anyway, as it *does* fulfill all known "requirements" (which I use loosely, as I've been known to wage war with purists on them) for the romance genre... in its own ways.

For those that are still here... this is actually a fun, off-beat, light-yet-serious tale of one woman's search for love - despite the curse from her mother - and the dude who has always been there but hasn't always been there. At around 350 pages, it isn't short, but it also isn't unnecessarily drawn out either. Sure, maybe some scenes could be cut (I know, the "clean" / "sweet" crowd wishes the sex scenes were cut, and I'm sure other readers would want others cut), but overall the tale works well with what it has and nothing actually feels *truly* out of place.

Ultimately, I had fun with this zany tale and its road-less-traveled take on love, and those looking for a romance book that isn't like seemingly literally *every other romance book out there* I think will at least enjoy that this one *does* go places many don't. Very much recommended.

This book took ages to get into. It felt really slow to get going and I wasn't sure i was going to like the characters but I am glad I stuck it out. The writing is great and once the book gets going, it really brings about a super enjoyable read.

It took me a while to love Imogen, but she definitely grew on me. It was a solid read and I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes chick lit.

thank you @stmartinspress and @netgalley for my gifted copy

3.75 stars