I’ve been reminding myself recently that I should be reading and reviewing more LGBT stories, so when I spotted this lesbian romance available on NetGalley I grabbed it up.
The only problem is that I think this may have started life out as a regular het romance and been re-written to make both protagonists female. I can’t otherwise account for the behaviour of Gabby, who frankly acts exactly like the worst kind of man when the tables are turned on her and she is the one who has to make a decision to ‘tag along after’ Olive or be left behind. Also, why on earth would Gabby’s nickname be ‘The Italian Stallion’? I can’t get past the sneaking suspicion that the author just couldn’t think up a new nickname when she went through changing pronouns.
Picture Perfect is well written and well edited; I found hardly any errors in the book. Olive, a sweet photographer living on Catalina Island and suffering from a paralysing fear of the ocean after a near-death drowning experience as a child, was absolutely delightful and I was rooting for her from the very beginning. Gabby’s overbearing Italian family were hilarious and Gabby, for 90% of the book, was lovely. The issues came towards the end when things didn’t turn out quite as Gabby expected and her arrogance and superior attitude came to the fore. As I said, she behaved like a man, and a pretty unlikable one at that. I’d say exactly the thing about a male protagonist in a romance, and I was disappointed that Olive forgave her so easily in order to fit in a happily-ever-after. Frankly, I got the feeling that Olive would probably have kicked Gabby and her difficult attitude to the curb after a few months of travelling and found someone else to share her dream.
A disappointing conclusion to an otherwise enjoyable F/F romance means that I can’t rate it any higher than three stars.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for review through NetGalley.