The Nothing Girl

This review contains mild spoilers
4 stars for the author's skill, 2 stars for the horrible so-called hero she creates. If you liked old-school gothic romances with hapless heroines and overbearing, secretive heroes this might be your jam. But it made me really, really mad. Sure, our heroine Jenny gradually comes into her own and learns to stand up for herself, but it's pretty much no thanks to Russell, the man she impulsively marries. He's supposed to be recklessly charming (or charmingly reckless) but to me he was just patronizing and chauvinistic. He starts out acting like a cad on their wedding day, and his apologies for that and other ensuing transgressions are totally inadequate. As Jenny keeps suffering mysterious accidents, Russell just acts more suspicious and refuses to tell Jenny anything that he's doing or thinking (including the fact that he is no longer in love with Jenny's beautiful airhead cousin Francesca). The final straw is the love scene in which Russell is very clear on who is to be active and who is to be passive. Ugh.

Jodi Taylor is a very talented writer, and I did laugh several times at her wry humor and the antics of the menagerie of oddball humans and animals that Jenny gradually collects. But I was extremely disappointed by the so-called romance, and I think this will be my one and only read by this author.