Undercover bromance

As with the first book in this series, I have mixed feelings about this book.

The book is wonderfully and unapologetically feminist in so many ways, that certain aspects were a joy to read. However, for most of the book, I was extremely frustrated with both characters and I just wanted the book to be over so I could stop reading about their antics.

Firstly, the heroine is over the top and has zero empathy. As much as she was fighting against sexual harassment in the workplace, she seemed more concerned about the principle itself, than about the survivors and the effect her actions could have on them. She is told by several characters that she needs to cool off and be more cautious in her approach but even to the very end, she just charges in high on righteous indignation and moral superiority. It's excruciatingly irritating to read about. Also, there's a point at which one of her friends calls her out for this behaviour and she goes to the hero, and instead of also (kindly) pointing out that she has a tendency to blame the very people she's supposed to be protecting, he just tells her that her friend is wrong about it (she wasn't). Sure, getting close to the end of the book she has a heart-to-heart with the very same friend and acknowledges her shortcomings but by that point, I was so frustrated with the character that I hardly cared. I get what the author was trying to do with the character but in my opinion, it was not executed well.

And then the hero. I should have loved him except I couldn't stand him either. For all that he spouts feminist ideals because of the sheer amount of romance he has read, some of his actions are extremely concerning. He breaks into the heroine's apartment at one point because she promises to call him in two days but doesn't. Umm... what? Sure the heroine calls the cops and physically hurts him but after that, the entire incident is brushed under the rug instead of being called out for the stalkerish nonsense it is. A woman tells you she will call you and doesn't and your solution is to go to her apartment, despite the clear signals she has given for you to leave her alone. Okay! Cool! . Then he spends the entire novel “protecting” the heroine. This is a trope I particularly hate in romance novels and is the exact reason I largely stopped reading romantic suspense. Yet its something the hero persists in doing, despite having a discussion with one of the other book club members about how inherently sexist that trope is. A bit of his personal background serves to explain why he consistently acts in this way but as in the case of the heroine, this explanation came late and by that point, I disliked the character so much that I really couldn't care less.

I think my biggest problem with this book can be traced to the same source. The author hopes to create some interesting dialogue both about romance tropes and sexual assault in the workplace by making different characters hold differing viewpoints. The issue with her execution is that the motivations of the main characters are not revealed until the very end, by which point the reader is already tired of them and cannot sympathize with the choices they have made. Also, revealing their motivations so late gives them little chance to bond over the more sensitive aspects of their respective pasts and it gives them little time to develop and grow as characters. What is left is a romance novel about extremely unlikable characters who are somewhat redeemed in the end.

The first book in this series was also a meh read for me. I might have to give up on the whole series after this.