Robinne Lee

While this book was overtly explicit in places, Soléne's tone made the book a lot of fun to read.
 
If you're not comfortable with a relationship with a significant age gap, then don't read this, simply put. I thought this book did a great job of exploring the double standard of age relations and for confronting why many of us have an inherent opposition to a specific type of relationship between two consenting adults.
 
Soléne was an intriguing character simply in the way she handles herself. On one hand, she has a really fantastic job that she's persevered at for years and has found a lot of success with, even in a challenging world, but on the other hand she seems to be constantly worrying about needing to have a man in her life and how she's too old to find a new man. I did adore her tone and realism, however. She had a lot of dry humour and deadpanning that highly amused me.
 
I had a lot of fun also seeing the person behind the face of a boy band. There's a moment where the band is nominated for a Grammy award that really struck me--Hayes was so genuine in that moment. He had a tendency to believe that he could buy whatever he wanted, also, and in a way he grew up through this book.
 
I adored the emotions of first love, of motherhood, and of being thirteen, which were all realistically and adeptly portrayed. Isabelle was a standout character; I could see myself several years ago in her and in the way she handled the relationship. She was surprisingly mature yet very real.
 
Kudos for the Kehinde Wiley reference--I enjoyed the art gallery aspect of this book a lot. And that ending, wow. There was a lot of very explicit scenes which wasn't quite what I was expecting, but I was able to read through them.
 
Though it wasn't a complete standout, I enjoyed this book for the depth of emotion the characters felt.… (plus d'informations)

One of my favorite romances ever. It subverts as many romance tropes as is embraces. It's sexy and sweet and dramatic and seriously hot, and as much as it is the stuff of fantasy, and not real in the least, these are people I know.

I read so many romances where people get together with their girlfriends to eat junk food and watch reality television, and god knows that is not anything I have ever done or ever want to do, nor is it something any of my friends do. The book is filled with art world people. They are insular, for sure, but smart, well-travelled, well-educated, passionate about communicating in new ways. Luckily some of my friends are very much of that world, but willing to slum it with me. When we are together we do the things they do in the book, and talk about the things they talk about. And I love the way Lee talks about art. I am passionate about art. It is tied with friends and reading it the sweepstakes for what I spend the most non-wage-earning time on, so this is great for me. The main character, Solene is a 40 year-old art dealer who owns an LA gallery specializing in selling works by artists from historically underrepresented identities (she is also a mother of a tween and the ex-wife of a lawyer.) Not surprisingly, art is very central to the narrative. Yes there are references to brand name artists that anyone not in a coma knows like Picasso, Monet, and Van Gogh and to artists all reasonably informed people would know, like Basquiat, Hockney, Nevelson, and Twombly, but also knowledgeable reference to current art darlings like Damien Hirst, Takashi Murakami and Kara Walker. I especially adored the description of Olafur Eliasson's work. Lee is gifted at describing how the feelings that resonate from art are erotically charged (I am not referring to erotic art, I am talking about art that evokes sensory response.) There's a reason they keep you away from Henri Moore's work at the museum. People see Moore's work and feel the need to stroke it. I feel the same about Eliasson and others. I want to live in Eliasson's instillations. wrap myself in the cold mist of the best Pollack canvases, smell the flowers and decaying plant matter in the Water Lilies and curl at the feet of Jennifer Packer's subjects and settle in for a chat. That Lee gets this, and gets it onto the page is a wonder to me. Also, the relationship between Solene and Hayes, the boy-bander 20 years her junior who is the male lead, is not kitschy or creepy in the least. It is hot as fire, there are wonderful conversations about all sorts of things, and an embrace of great sex, great food, great art (as mentioned), great toiletries (really), great clothes, and a stark look at the good and bad sides of celebrity. And from page one you know it is going to break your heart. And alas it does. This book! Gorgeous. I made myself read slowly so I could savor it, and that is something I never do with romance. It is worth noting that Lee is a fantastic writer. This is not written like any romance I have ever read before. Lee and I are both former lawyers, and good lawyering requires evocative declarative writing that persuades without getting flowery. Perhaps surprisingly this really works in romance. Brava Robinne.

ETA:I just googled and saw that Gabrielle Union has optioned this and it is being turned into an Amazon movie. As I was reading I saw Rashida Jones and perhaps Joe Alwyn or a Twilight era Pattinson in the leads, but it appears it is going to be Anne Hathaway as Solene (name changed to Sophie, apparently French names are too exotic) with a script from Jennifer Westfeldt (no male lead yet identified but they have upped him from 20 to 24) . We shall see.… (plus d'informations)