Ray (Dad Bod Doms Book 3) by Maren Smith

3 Stars

The writing and editing of the ARC version of the manuscript was clean, with no typos that I found and well constructed sentences and paragraphs. The world building was quite good in this contemporary novel. The characterization was well done, with both hero and heroine having strengths and weaknesses as people in a relationship. I found the heroine deeply unsympathetic for a lot of reasons. The development of the romantic relationship was natural and organic. The plot and pacing were all right, though I found it a little slow. There was very high angst and very low stakes in this romance, which meant I struggled with this story. The main reason I gave this novel a combined rating of three stars, however, has to do with the fact that all the conflict in this story sprang from the Refusal to Honestly Communicate trope, which happens to be the one trope in romance novels that this reader hates with the passion of a thousand burning suns. The world building, plot and pacing were all four stars. The characterization and development of the romantic relationship were also four stars. However, the fact that all the conflict in this story was based on the Refusal to Honestly Communicate meant that I gave this novel a combined rating of three stars. This novel had a Happy Ever After ending instead of a cliffhanger, so that was a plus. I recommend this novel to readers who enjoy bad communicators as romance novel protagonists. I really liked the series concept, so it is sad that I found this installment so disappointing. I do not plan to buy myself a keeper copy.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

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