Title: The Rebel and the Bookish
Author: Stephanie Scott
Date: 2025
Quote: "I let myself get locked in the basement."
Valerie the librarian is locked in the basement after the library closes...with Ian, an old school friend who's been a successful musician and is now semi-retired. Conveniently, they stay in the basement, not calling Valerie's soon-to-retire supervisor for help, just long enough to decide they want to date each other...and to convince this reader that nobody in her right mind would want Ian. A man who says he's not trying to make a situation look worse than it is, but it's looking worse than it is as a result of something he's done, is a saboteur. Valerie needs to boot him out of her life but she proceeds to make one of those hormone-driven decisions that middle-aged people say ruined their lives.
Meh. This short novel is mildly funny, and if you think Valerie needs a good lesson you might enjoy watching her set herself up for poverty and humiliation. Does romance need a sub-genre of Revenge Porn for Wallflowers and Sad Apples?
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