A Billion Times No by Kenzie Reed

Category: Rom Com
Publication date: 11/14/2019
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Cliffhanger: No

I mean, if you’re looking for something fluffy and predictable to distract you from everything going on in the world, you could do worse than this one.

via GIPHY

Plot overview: Executive assistant Daisy travels home to her small Southern town with her billionaire boss in tow. Fake boyfriend shenanigans ensue. 
   
This one had its fair share of funny moments. I chuckled several times while reading. (And I’m super grumpy, y’all, so a chuckle or two is pretty high praise) The dialogue is particularly snappy. So, if you’re a fan of romantic comedy, this one might be worth your time. 

I’m starting to get a little skeptical of all these romance heroines who work for jerks (some of whom toe the line of sexual harassment) for years and don’t leave. I might understand it if the salary is really, really great, but in Daisy’s case, she wasn’t making huge money and was working for a man she loathed. Why? I dunno. I’m not sure the author did, either. It was mentioned at one point that Daisy had been promised a promotion, but once the promotion didn’t come through, I didn’t see any reason for her to stick around.    

This one wasn’t without a few faults, too: 

1. The point of view was alternating, but we got WAY more of Daisy’s perspective than Chase’s. The imbalance between the two perspectives made it difficult for me as a reader to understand why/how he fell in love with Daisy so fast. 
2. The middle of the book DRAGS. It feels like a 400 page book when you’re in the middle of it, instead of the 270ish page book that it is. 
3. The small town and its quirky characters are VERY stereotypically Southern small town characters. You could transplant these side characters into any other Southern small town romance on the market right now and they’d feel right at home. 
4. The sex scenes were a little rushed (which is weird, because all the other scenes felt stretched out)
5. I’m no editing Nazi, but...there were some issues. Nothing I’d grade a book down for, but I noticed.  

Like I said, all in all, this one isn’t a bad book. It delivers mostly what I’d expect from a rom com. It was funny at times, and the dialogue was good. Was it perfect? No. But it was far from the worst thing I’ve ever read. Heck, it was far from the worst thing I’ve read this week. And these days, that’s probably a good enough endorsement, right?

Does this book contribute to or help crush the romance stigma?
It’s stigma neutral. It’s not hurting anything, but it’s not really helping, either. It’s living in “meh” land.