Review of ‘Back to September’ by Melissa Brayden
Hannah Shephard is a bookshop owner who loves her uncomplicated and risk-averse life. Her bookstore is having issues and she might be forced to close it for good. When she invites world-renowned author romance novelist Parker Bristow her luck is about to change. But what isn’t in her plans is their mutual attraction and chemistry which leads to a shared evening and the possibility of more…
You cannot go wrong with Melissa Brayden’s books. They all do what it says on the tin, they will provide you with romance, hotness, and entertainment. Well-written dialogues, funny banter and off-the-charts chemistry are guaranteed in her novels. Consistently you get what you are looking for, it never fails. No wonder she is one of the top lesfic authors.
Both main characters are well developed and credible, in many ways they are opposites, but they share a common love of literature. I liked the premise that the mains didn’t agree on the genre of books they enjoyed, there was a good discussion regarding the value of romance books and their authenticity in the portrayal of love. I especially liked the way Hannah talks about matching a book to a reader, that’s exactly the tagline of LezReviewBooks.com website: ‘Find your lesbian book match’, I swear we didn’t copy each other!
The secondary characters were well written and distinctive, some of them with funny little quirks that bring them to life. A very good secondary character is Hannah’s step-sister Bo, I particularly enjoyed the parallel story with her own love interest and how both sisters dealt with relationship conflicts. Another great secondary character is pop star Carissa who is very funny in an infuriating way. She’s the protagonist of a hilarious scene that will stay in my memory for a long time, this is the first time Ms. Brayden had me laughing out loud, I really liked it, she should try it more.
The rest is pure Brayden style: hot chemistry, scorching sex scenes, a bit of angst and romance galore. ‘Back to September’ won’t disappoint her fans.
Overall, a very entertaining, lesbian romantic book. 4.5 stars.
ARC provided by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
