Meh: Sweet Disorder by Rose Lerner

I didn't love Rose Lerner's Sweet Disorder (2014) as much as Ellepkay of CBR8 did, though her wonderful review is what sold me on reading it. Nonetheless, she is correct in identifying the nonstandard aspects of this romance as being its main appeal.

Sweet Disorder is the story of Phoebe Sparks, a widow whose husband's voting rights get passed on to her new spouse, and Nick Dymond, an injured veteran and middle child of a politically active and ambitious family. Their paths cross when Nick's mom manipulates a depressed Nick to secure a political vote for his younger brother's campaign by marrying Phoebe off to a supporter of their political party. In the end, they both fall for each other which creates a bit of a problem for their family members.

What I liked:

1. Phoebe being a headstrong and adult heroine, though presented as foolishly too selfless
2. Phoebe being a plumper heroine and that not being the driving force of the story
3. Phoebe being a widow who was sexually active during her marriage and who isn't now coy talking about or expressing her wants in that department
4. Nick Dymond being a beta male and that playing an important role in the story
5. Characters with disabilities being included and presented in what I think to be a positive light.
6. The setting: Love the town name, Lively St. Lemeston, which I think helps sell the atypical elements of this "historical" romance

What didn't work for me:

1. Phoebe's mother: I didn't have a clear sense of her motivation or the cause of Phoebe's anger towards her beyond the typical mother being a critical nag.
2. Nick's mother: While she was better fleshed out than Phoebe's mother, her political drive, savvy, and influence rang untrue based on the "historical" nature of the book.
3. Phoebe's sister: What a flat and annoying character. She took, and took, and took.
4. Phoebe's former brother-in-law's story line: I don't see its purpose to the whole, though I understand how his leaving town enabled the development of Phoebe and Nick's sexual relationship.
5. Not related to characters but with language: There were a couple turns of phrases that took me out of the story. I am usually forgiving with things like this, but I was already suspending belief with this story and phrases such as, "as big as footballs" and the like had me rolling my eyes.

Ultimately, what didn't work for me was the pacing. Everything had been laid out early, and so the walk to a resolution seemed sluggish, particularly because lively banter, interesting round characters, or engaging subplots were nonexistent. As such, plot events seemed redundant and unnecessary, and those leading up to the resolution seemed very Jerry Springer-ish: a hot mess.

Because of the elements I did like about Sweet Disorder, along with generally good writing, I give it a tepid recommendation as I'm in no rush to read the other books in this Lively St. Lemeston series.

This is a CBR8 crossposted review.