Good Catch by Jennifer Bardsley Book Review

 

Title: Good Catch
Author: Jennifer Bardsley
Publish Date: October 5th, 2021
Publisher: Montlake
Source: Huge thank you to Jennifer and Rockstar Book Tours for providing me with an ARC for review!

A pair of frenemies navigates the shallow depths of a small-town dating scene only to find the romance they need is right in front of them.

Former ballerina Marlo Jonas has all the right moves—except when it comes to men. Her latest boyfriend? A cheater. In the wake of her breakup, her father has a novel idea for her: try dating men for who they are and not how they look. This makes it easy to ignore her hot nemesis, Seattle Times reporter Ben Wexler-Lowrey.

Ben’s take on romance means spending time with interesting women whose personalities might sparkle more than their looks dazzle. But Ben’s mother thinks he can fare better. He’s never tried online dating before, but what could be the harm in putting himself out there?

As Marlo and Ben both suffer through a series of hilariously awkward dates, they’re left feeling empty. Marlo needs someone empathetic enough to soothe her past hurt. Ben needs someone who truly sees him for the man he is.

These enemies love to loathe one another; could that mean Marlo and Ben are foes in love?

Penelope's Review

We are back in Harper's Landing with this second installment to the Harper Landing series! This is definitely a series that can be read out of order - you'll just see characters from the first book pop up a couple of times! 

This time we are following two new characters - Marlo and Ben. Once again, I really enjoy Jennifer's writing style for this book. Her descriptions and world-building are on point and her character interactions are genuine and relatable. I absolutely love small town stories, especially small town romances, so I was excited to read more about the residents of this charming town! Marlo was a sweet, honest girl slowly trying to overcome a past injury and the physical and mental toll that it took on her. Ben was a delightful gentleman - very helpful and down to earth. I thought the two of them made a very cute match! 

While I did love the hilarity of seeing these two on other dates and the ripple effect of disasters that they each caused, I found a few things were sort of left as loose ends. Brittany for example, and her whole fiasco - I would have loved to heat what, if anything, happened to her afterwards. In the end, I was happy with the book and loved the feel-good vibe it brought me. Overall, this was a quick, sweet read and I can't wait to see what happens next in Harper's Landing!

Rating: 4/5 Devils!