Bad at Love

CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Title: Bad at Love
Author: Karina Halle   
Publication date: 11/14/2017
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Cliffhanger: No

I love a good friends-to-lovers  story, folks, and this was one of the best ones I’ve read in a long time.

I really loved that Marina and Laz were both kind of weird and quirky. I mean, you see the weird, clumsy girl getting the cool, sexy, normal guy all the time (it dates all the way back to the 80s when Samantha landed Jake in Sixteen Candles—but in this case, Laz came with plenty of quirks of his own, and Marina loved him all the more for his...uniqueness.

It was really refreshing to read about their mutual respect for and acceptance of each other, and how that respect and acceptance grew into love.

​There are also some truly epic laugh-out-loud moments in this story, too. I don’t recommend eating or drinking anything while reading about Marina’s 3rd date with a nice doctor. (I don’t want to spoil anything, so you’ll just have to read it. But I will tell you that an abundance of wine, linguini and a bee dance are involved. Ha!)  

For the most part, I adored Laz. He’s sexy and sweet and talented and funny. (And that’s not even mentioning the hot accent. I’m a sucker for an accent.) But the whole “serial dater” aspect of his personality dampened the warm feelings I had for him just a smidge. (There’s something really wrong with a 30+ year old who’s had 33 failed monogamous relationships. In real life, I’d probably run as far and as fast away from Laz as my legs could carry me.)

But anyhoo, this is a great, slow-burn, friends-to-lovers romance that I’d recommend to any fans of the genre. Or to fans of Depeche Mode, for that matter. (Again, you’ll just have to read the story to understand that reference!)  ​

​And side note: if you read the story and like it, you might also want to check out the song that inspired the author, Halsey’s Bad at Love.

Does this book contribute to or help crush the romance stigma?
Crushes it! This one is clean and sober. No rehab needed.

Other reading suggestions
Definitely check out the author’s backlist. The Pact is a personal fave. ​​

---