Guys Can’t Write Romance ~ Tom Lewis

Chad’s jaw dropped. He looked at Daisy, who was already snickering, then shot up his hand. “When you say romance, do you mean like actual romance?”

It all started with the announcement of the Heartstrings Publishing contest during Daisy and Chad’s writers’ group meeting.

Daisy Fields dreamt of becoming a published romance author for ages and this contest is just the perfect opportunity to win a contract.

And Chad McKenzie is a bit more ambivalent on what sort of genre he will publish under as long as he gets to add as many monsters as he wants…but why not attempt romance?

But there’s a problem with both of their books.

“…Daisy’s male leads were tragically safe, predictable and painfully dull. … [Chad] thought romance was a werewolf chasing a scantily clad girl through a cemetery.”

Daisy needs a bit of zing to her romance and Chad needs a lot less zing.

And that’s when Mags, the writing group leader, pairs up the two of them to help each other. Which immediately sets off sparks, but not in the good way.

But the two of them must work together to whip their novels into shape – or they could lose the opportunity of a lifetime.

“Then I’ll spell it out. Chad McKenzie is a disaster in board shorts. He’s chaos incarnate. He has the maturity of a five-year-old. …”
“And he makes you laugh so hard beer comes out your nose?”

I’ve read quite a few books by Tom Lewis and I’ve definitely seen his writing chops when it comes to horror.

But I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when it comes to romance…and I want to say – this was a fun romance romp.

The two characters were polar opposites in a way that just lets you know that they are perfect for each other (if only Daisy and Chad could see it!). It was fun to see them dance around each other, and eventually learn to appreciate each other’s quirks.

I also liked how this book was part-romance-part-instructional-book (on how to write a romance) – you experience the attraction and the draw between the characters but also get to learn how to write the various tropes (but spin them in a fresh way).

I will say that the book did stutter a bit in the middle – where the characters seemed to circle a few points over – which made me want to hurry them along to the next arc.

But overall, I did rather enjoy this story and I’m happy to have read it.

With many thanks to Tom Lewis for sending me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.