Starr Media Second-Assistant Survival Guide1. Don't call your hot boss the antichrist to his face.
2. Don't stare at hot boss's, um, package or his full sleeve of tattoos. (No. Really. Stop!)
3. Don't get on the malicious first assistant's bad side.
4. Don't forget to memorize the 300-page employee manual.
5. If you value your cashmere, steer clear of boss’s dog.
6. Boss’s dimples are lust-inducing. Do. Not. Give. In.
7. “The elevator ate your clothes” is not a valid excuse for showing up to important meetings half dressed.
8. Don't break seven of the rules within the first week of employment if you, ya know, are in dire need of money to support your sick mom.
9. Whatever you do, don’t fall for the boss. See rule eight about sick mom.
10. Never forget the rules.
*Generously received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
* Does contain spoilers, read at your own discretion *
The Rule Book by Jennifer Blackwood is a fun, light hearted read. I definitely felt like I was turning the page pretty fast. Blackwood had moments that stood out more than others in the work. These moments usually brought humor or depth to the work. Such as:
Betsy, the elevator, pretty much attacking all of the employees and eating Lainey's Chanel sweater. I found this scene actually hilarious and cringe worthy. I read this while screaming in my head to push the elevator button. Surely, the door will open and let the sweater go. Well, Lainey finally did push the botton, but good Ol' Betsy did not let it go. Nope! She decided to shred the innocent sweater.
This shredding of the sweater also led to the hilarious burial of said sweater. This was really funny and reminded me of a scene that might have come straight out of a Rainbow Rowell book. I could definitely see something like this happening in Fangirl.
I think the scenes with Lainey and her mother where they tackled the subject of cancer were really deep. I enjoyed the struggle for Lainey to be strong and to try to help her mom as much as she can, financially or emotionally. In the same , I enjoyed that Lainey's mother told Lainey that she doesn't need all of the pampering. These scenes created a lot of emotional development for both characters. Which were very much needed.
Lastly, I enjoyed the scenes with Zoey, Lainey, and her mother watching/discussing The Bachelor and Netflix. Any work that brings pop culture into the plot gets an extra little thumbs up in my book. These little scenes, which might not seem much to others, actually provides a little bit more information to the reader about the protagonist. Knowing that Lainey, her mother, and Zoey enjoy The Bachelor, provide an insight into how Lainey thinks and understands romance. She probably understands that love is not like The Bachelor, but she is probably a big romantic at heart and wants to be swept off her feet. Also, I can see a little bit of a correlation between the romance between Brogan and Lainey and how romances are formed on The Bachelor.
So, let me explain this idea in a hopefully short amount of time. I don't want to dwell on it for too long, but just enough to give a little bit of an explanation. The Bachelor is a show about a good, common guy that is looking for love, but he has to follow the rules of the show. Brogan in this scenario is "The Bachelor". He is at a basic, ground level a good, common guy. He has created a company for himself that is successful, but Blackwood wrote him in such a way that his wealth seems to not affect who he is as a person. Brogan has created "The Rule Book" for himself to keep him emotionally safe and help him navigate through the workplace. Unlike, The Bachelor, Brogan is not choosing between multiple girls and Lainey, but he still seems to keep himself guarded with Lainey, just like a contestant on The Bachelor might. He is not fully opening himself up to the experience of love for fear of getting hurt. Lainey though is fully open to love ("Love is an open door!" :) ) and wants Brogan to be the same. This creates struggle and conflict between the two. You have The Bachelor, Brogan, who wants love, but is afraid of breaking the rules of the show that have protected him emotionally, yet he can see the possibility of something forming with the contestant, Lainey, that is all in and allowing herself to be emotionally open and invested. Of course, through all of these situations and conflicts, The Bachelor messes up and hurts the contestant, apologizes, and tries to make things right. This leads to The Bachelor picking "the one" and living HEA in a very short amount of time. Similar to how Brogan and Lainey get into a relationship and fall in love in a very short amount of time, say like 2-3 months. They become engaged after being together for 8 months.
So, that is my little idea and correlation between The Bachelor and The Rule Book. I am, in no way, stating that this a legitimate argument or that Blackwood was intentionally wanting to write a romance that was similar to The Bachelor. It was just an idea that formed because of the pop culture reference and how it played a role in the story.
Things that just didn't cut it for me:
* What happened to Zoey as a character?
I know that this is a series, so my guess is that she will be the main focus in the next book, but I felt like after Lainey moved out of the apartment, Zoey did not make an appearance for the rest of the work.
* The scene where Brogan's father blackmailed Lainey
This just seemed thrown into the book to create more conflict and drama. Because otherwise the book would have been very short and had little to almost no drama. It did not do much for me and just made Brogan look stupid. Also, it pretty much made Zelda into a completely different character. I honestly would have probably enjoyed it more if they had Jackson be the bad employee in that situation.
* The rushed relationship and HEA
As I have previously mentioned, Brogan and Lainey had a very accelerated relationship. Within 2-3 months of working at Starr Media, Lainey and Brogan were in a relationship without actually dating. They did have about a handful of one-on-one interactions that took place in elevators, the break room, the work place office, and 2 instances in his apartment which was still for work. So based on these work encounters, Lainey and Brogan decided to get into a relationship, which quickly ended because Lainey asked Brogan a question about himself . (Shocking because they seemed to really take the time to get to know each other! *sarcasm*) But then Brogan decided that he wanted to get back together while he was having a bro's night and ran into Lainey, but then he ends it again because Lainey was framed for a second time. BUT then he wants to get back together again because he learns that she was framed. I am really surprised by the amount of times that Lainey and Brogan are on again, off again in this short, fast paced book! Seriously, this just makes me consider my idea about The Bachelor again or possibly another TV drama.
Like I have stated, this relationship is very rushed and did not provide much time for emotional development between them or really any explicit scenes, which would have been nice. I would have rated the book higher if I felt like I was getting a really strong plot, character development between Brogan and Lainey that provided a foundation for their relationship on an emotional level, and an ending that did not seem rushed.
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