Something Extraordinary

This might be the only time I recommend NOT reading the first two books of a trilogy before starting the third. The Arabella Tarleton we meet in Something Extraordinary is a drama-inclined chaos gremlin, but she is also loyal, clever, and caring. I know that character growth exists, but it's hard to believe that Belle is the same woman who spent Something Fabulous in a hysterical panic that culminated with her shooting a Duke. Or the one in Something Spectacular who selfishly demanded that her best friend test the waters with the person Belle wanted to fall in love with. Even the fact that Belle and Sir Horley Comewithers (!) are now apparently BFFs seems a little implausible considering that in Spectaular Belle kidnapped him and his fiancé to prevent their wedding (it was for his own good, but still).

But if you accept the fact that one of the most unlikeable characters I have encountered in recent years can redeem herself (without losing the core of her personality), you will enjoy Something Extraordinary. I give Hall props for reminding readers that HEAs can look very different from what we've been socialized to accept. Belle is pansexual (how did she get all of the experience she displays given her constant tantrums?) and aromantic, while Horley is “extravagantly gay” and yearning for a great love he is sure he doesn't deserve. The book features several sex scenes, but none of them are between the MCs. Yet the emotional bond that gradually forms between them is very touching.

The plot is a tad too episodic - Arabella and Horley tend to leap from the frying pan into the fire - but the arc of their relationship ties the misadventures together. As usual Hall's writing is witty, although his anachronistic meta references will madden anyone looking for historical accuracy (there's a Scooby-Doo reference, and a secondary character who solemnly shares that she is “Not Like Other Girls”).

I can't say that the Something Fabulous trilogy has been my favorite Alexis Hall series, but I recommend it to readers who can appreciate a story that felt more cognitively entertaining than emotionally satisfying.

Apologies for not including working links to the first two books in the series. Goodreads kept giving me error messages for Improper Content until I removed them.