Jenn Bennett is an award-winning author of young adult books, including: Alex, Approximately; Starry Eyes; and The Lady Rogue. She also writes historical romance and fantasy for adults. Her books have earned multiple starred reviews, won the Romance Writers of America's RITA(R) Award, and been included on Publishers Weekly's Best Books annual list. She currently lives near Atlanta with one husband and two dogs.
An irresistible tribute to classic screwball-comedy romances
that captures the "delicious whirling, twirling, buzzing" of
falling in love. --Kirkus, Starred Review
A year after her mother divorces to marry a lawyer, Bailey Rydell
decides to leave Washington, D.C., to live with her father in
California. One of her primary motives for going is to track down
Alex, a boy she met online but has never seen in person. Like
Bailey, Alex loves old films and, coincidentally enough, he lives
in her father's neighborhood. But after Bailey settles in and
starts a job at a quirky local museum, her mission to find her
"film-buff soul mate" is sidelined as she becomes absorbed in a
love-hate relationship with Porter, her arrogant, surfer coworker.
As might be expected, Bailey's and Porter's fiery retorts soon
kindle passion, and the two start dating despite Bailey's guilt
about keeping him a secret from her online pal. In what's
essentially a YA version of You've Got Mail, Bennett's
(The Anatomical Shape of a Heart) contemporary romance
offers sympathetic characters and plenty of drama. Although the
climax is forced and predictable, the protagonists' backstories
shed light on their respective anxieties, adding depth to their
conflicts. Ages 14-up.--Publishers Weekly "February 13, 2016"
Mink and Alex share a love of classic movies via an online group
for film fanatics. Seventeen-year-old Bailey and eighteen-year-old
Porter share a deep animosity for each other as coworkers at the
Cove, a kitschy museum in Coronado Cove, California. Unbeknownst to
them, Mink is Bailey, Alex is Porter, and the makings of romantic
comedy are put into play. Certain revelations move Bailey and
Porter's enmity to sardonic banter to flirtatious teasing and
eventfully to some hot sex in the back of surfer boy Porter's van;
however, they both feel somewhat horrible about "cheating" on their
online maybe-more-than-platonic friends. A sexier, modern version
of You've Got Mail and The Shop Around the Corner,
this will hit romcom fans right in the sweet spot, and the
chemistry between Porter/Alex and Mink/ Bailey manages both a
spirited charm and a lusty spark. Narrator Bailey is bold, witty,
and humorously self-deprecating, while Porter is the bro with the
heart of gold. Two subplots and a few too many tropes of the
romance genre threaten to send the story off the rails, but the
focus mostly stays on Bailey and Porter, who carry the day like
true stars--the heroes and heroines of their beloved movies would
be proud.--BCCB "March 2017"
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