“Secretly Yours” Lacks Secret Ingredients for a Good Romance
Trope-by-trope breakdown, because that’s what this book deserves [ spoilers ]: It's supposed to have the "grumpy vs. sunshine" dynamic. Julian, professor at an Ivy League school home for a sabbatical, is not grumpy. Once he gets a face full of the female protagonist’s breasts, he is a horny, spontaneous, jealous wreck whenever he's in her presence, doing his best to impress her with every little gesture. Hallie, the self-employed gardener with no time management skills, is stuck in a state of arrested development. Hard to believe either of these characters are around 30. It's billed as a "second-chance romance." It's not. We're told Hallie has had a crush on Julian since high school - to the point where she hasn't dated anyone since (there’s the tease of another love interest for her, but it never gets off the ground). There was an almost-kiss in Julian's family vineyard, but Julian doesn't remember because he was drunk. We don...
