ARC REVIEW 📖

“Trade Secret of a Messy Relationship” by Frances Blackthorn - available April 6th!

This book follows Petra and Rodrigo as their lives are thrown off kilter when they’re assigned to work together, years after a messy breakup. What ensues is a push and pull of snarky banter, romantic tension, all while having to face the emotional turmoil of their past. Can they rekindle their feelings and have a second chance at love?

I did enjoy this book. It was a fun read and I always love a romance novel that balances wit and humor with some real and raw emotional elements that make the characters and circumstances feel relatable. Petra and Rodrigo each battle with themselves over their attraction for one another and the desire to be together while navigating complicated feelings and past resentments. The blend of being a workplace romance but also a family business also gives the book a cozier and heartwarming feel since we get to see the familial love between different characters and not just the romance that is the center of the story.

At some points the story felt a little slower paced than I would have hoped for but I was satisfied with the ending and the tie in potential for a second book. The actual family business itself is slightly confusing, I found myself trying to figure out what exactly the business itself was, as it’s often referred to simply as the company. The dual POV is one of my favorite things about most romance novels and I loved it in this story as well. Who doesn’t want to see into the heart of each character?? Some of the chapter endings did feel a little abrupt and rushed, as if there should be a little more body to each one.

Overall I rated this between a personal 3.5-4. I think it’s a solid second chance rom-com and an easy read with a hint of spice that offers a good story of two people trying to navigate a complicated relationship and find their way back to one another with some laughs along the way!