Pearl Angeli's Reviews > Shacking Up

3.5 Stars

Shacking Up was cute, sexy, light, and hilarious. There was certainly an apparent chemistry between the characters but there were times when I just needed a moment to find a connection with the story.

The story started when Ruby Scott met a hot stranger named Bancroft Mills at her best friend Amalie's engagement party. He mistook her for someone and accidentally kissed her. Then he coughed at her face. Ruby didn't know that the kiss would lead her to a series of misfortune the next few days because she ended up with a cough that she got from him. Worse, she was even declined when she auditioned for a role because she couldn't even give her shot due to her condition. What's even worst was that she's already homeless and her dad was pressuring her to go back to their home and work for his business. Just when she wasn't looking forward to meeting the Bancroft again, Amalie suggested that she should take care of his pet in exchange for a temporary stay at his place while he's gone for a business trip.

When I first read the blurb, I was really into it. It sounds really funny and crazy. It didn't disappoint most of the time. However, there's just something that's missing here. I needed a stronger connection with the story. At times I was kind of bored with the over-descriptive narratives that were trying to stretch out the story in the hopes of bringing out a slow burn romance. There was also a lot of inner dialogues from Ruby that was getting repetitive and it was kind of annoying.

The thing that I loved about this book though was Bancroft's perfection and well, the sexy times. I also loved the relationship development between him and Ruby as well as Ruby's character development. Ruby was tough in her decisions to be independent of her dad and follow the career path of her choice and she really proved that she can make it in the end.

All in all, it was an okay and decent romance read. There was lacking, sure. But I believe fans of rom-coms will enjoy this book. Not Helena Hunting's best work so far but I'm looking forward to reading her other works.