The word failure is not in interior designer and impeccably put together Astrid Parker’s vocabulary. At least, it didn’t used to be. After a failed engagement over a year ago, Astrid has been focusing on nothing but her career—and it might just all be worth it when Pru Everwood hires her to be the designer of the Everwood Inn’s renovation, which is slated to be featured on a popular HGTV show. With the opportunity of a lifetime that might just finally gain her the approval of her displeased mother and make up for the failings in her personal life, Astrid couldn’t be more thrilled. That is until she butts heads with the lead carpenter for the renovation, none other than Jordan Everwood, Pru’s granddaughter. While Astrid is determined to modernise the inn, Jordan wants to preserve the history of her family’s legacy to distract herself from her own life that’s in shambles after Jordan’s wife broke her heart. When the show’s producers ask the two to play up their little tiffles on screen— since nothing sells better than tension—Jordan and Astrid’s animosity slowly morphs into something more when the cameras are off. But with outside factors creeping in and old issues coming back to haunt the women, Astrid will have to ask herself what it means to be truly successful—and whether love’s worth a failure or two in the long run.
What a pleasure to return to Bright Falls and its one-of-a-kind inhabitants! While the queer collective—Claire, Delilah, and Iris—are a bit less prominent in this installment to give Astrid her time to shine (and her bisexual awakening that no one deserve more), lovers of the first book Delilah Green Doesn’t Care will have a blast reconnecting with their favourite supportive gang.
I’m a sucker for a good rivals-to-lovers dynamic and Jordan and Astrid truly delivered on that account. From their first meet-ugly to their opposing opinions on nearly every design decision, I loved how both of them had their reasons for their choices. While Jordan wants to keep the charm of the inn alive, Astrid is pressured to both satisfy the inn’s owner, the HGTV show hosts and somewhere along the line also please her mother’s aesthetic. Following the ladies as they morph from bitter rivals to something more is a joy to behold, especially since Jordan’s snark and Astrid’s seemingly cool demeanour clash so wonderfully that their interactions feel like a tennis match where you don’t know who to root for. That is, of course, in great parts due to the greatly fleshed-out characters.
Blake excels at creating characters that feel so real they almost jump off the pages and straight into your heart. Not without their faults, these women are dealing with so many complex emotions that you wish you could give them a hug and make the bad world disappear for a moment. Both Astrid and Jordan have their own severe hang-ups that influence their choices and leads to unexpected situations, yet they also have to stand up for themselves and face the consequences of their actions. Astrid, in particular, goes through a lot of growth in this novel. Not only with her sexuality and realising that there might be more to the fleeting thoughts she has had about women in the past, but even more in terms of her relationship with her mother—and her own fear of failure because of said relationship.
While there were hints in the first novel about Astrid’s mother’s hold over Astrid, in this book, we really get to see just how much choices can be influenced by what kind of environment we grew up in. Astrid has a lot of toxic behaviour and thought processes to unlearn and Jordan’s own past isn’t easy to overcome, either. Yet their snarky, steamy and in turns even sweet interactions balance out the heavier topics of their romantic journey. While the dreaded third-act-induced break-up was a bit too formulaic, the pacing flows seamlessly otherwise. From the heightened stakes of the inn’s renovation (which acts as a sort of Hail Mary to save the family from bankruptcy) to Astrid and Jordan’s romantic entanglement that eventually makes Astrid come to terms with the unattainable expectations she has put on herself, the pages fly by as you root for the two stubborn women to get their happily ever after.
Finally, we get a glimpse at the upcoming final instalment in the Bright Falls series—Iris’s story—that is sure to be a knockout of a novel if Iris’s badass appearances in this novel are anything to go by.
Delivering an emotionally complex yet upbeat rivals-to-lovers romance with two headstrong women at its core featuring relatable themes that are sure to make millennials feel seen like never before, Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail is a welcome addition to the queer adult romance genre!
Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of November 22nd 2022.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
An interior designer who is never without the perfect plan learns to renovate her love life without one in this new romantic comedy by Ashley Herring Blake, author of Delilah Green Doesn’t Care.
For Astrid Parker, failure is unacceptable. Ever since she broke up with her fiancé a year ago, she’s been focused on her career–her friends might say she’s obsessed, but she knows she’s just driven. When Pru Everwood asks her to be the designer for the Everwood Inn’s renovation, which will be featured on a popular HGTV show, Innside America, Astrid is thrilled. Not only will the project distract her from her failed engagement and help her struggling business, but her perpetually displeased mother might finally give her a nod of approval.
However, Astrid never planned on Jordan Everwood, Pru’s granddaughter and the lead carpenter for the renovation, who despises every modern design decision Astrid makes. Jordan is determined to preserve the history of her family’s inn, particularly as the rest of her life is in shambles. When that determination turns into some light sabotage to ruffle Astrid’s perfect little feathers, the showrunners ask them to play up the tension. But somewhere along the way, their dislike for each other evolves into something quite different, and Astrid must decide what success truly means. Is she going to pursue the life that she’s expected to lead or the one that she wants?
