The Stand-in by Lauren CampbellMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Unlikable characters and unlikely scenarios are on the menu in this unremarkable rom-com. The premise has been done to death—pretend to be his girlfriend for a “meet-the-parents”. Author Lauren Campbell then adds chaos in the form of identical twins; friends who are, at best, “quirky”; and a toothless chihuahua who attacks for fun. The result is messy and uninviting, which is unfortunate, as Campbell’s writing itself is incredibly engaging. Her humor is dark, sharp and cleaving, but it is wasted on shallow characters and an inane plot. That snarky wit is further diluted with adolescent jokes that just stopped being funny around the age of 12 (fart jokes and crude sexual innuendo). The final nail in the coffin was a gratuitous sex scene that was awkward and pivoted on frat boy humor that simply didn’t work.
I would love to see this author really dig in, hire a new editor and write some serious fiction. She definitely has the chops for it!
3 stars for the writing alone.
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