Review: Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail by Ashley Herring Blake

The second novel in Ashley Herring Blake's Bright Falls series is just as fresh and fun as the first. In this instalment, Delilah's stepsister Astrid takes centre stage, along with Jordan Eastwood, who has returned to Bright Falls to help her grandmother restore the beloved family hotel. Astrid is the interior designer tasked with the restoration, and she needs this project to work, in order to restore her reputation after she broke up with her fiancé a year ago. (As was depicted in the previous novel in the series.) This is made more complicated by one, the fact that the restoration is being broadcast on a reality TV series, two, she and Jordan have a major personality clash, three, Jordan hates the design and feels that it doesn't capture the history of the hotel and four, Astrid might just be falling for Jordan and maybe she is beginning to realise that she is bisexual. 

This was an interesting read. Both characters are easy to identify with and to feel empathy for. Each have good reasons for acting the way they do, though if I'm going to be totally honest I found Astrid a bit infuriating at times, and a bit too much like her strict and cold hearted mother. (Or is Isabel Parker-Green really as cold hearted as she makes out? There is an interesting hint at the end of the novel.) I also liked that the novel addressed that the reconciliation between Astrid and her stepsister Delilah hasn't always been easy, which gave the characters a more realistic and interesting edge. As for Jordan, her backstory broke my heart. That particular story arc is best left for the reader to discover bit by bit, so I won't elaborate too much.

Overall, a fun romance with deserving characters. Recommended.

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