Head and heart collide in a story of polar-opposite rivals that's anything but trivial in this game show romance from Midnight Duet author Jen Comfort.
Answer: From the Latin word for crossroads, this is knowledge so common as to be obscure, the pursuit of which engages millions daily. Question: What is trivia?
Trivia is the magic in the mundane, the connection in the commonplace, and Maxine Hart's second-favorite pastime. A self-proclaimed Brooklyn street rat and a high school dropout, Maxine has never been a fan of formal education, but thanks to her ADHD "superpowers," she's a glutton for knowledge—and a good fight. And when Maxine enters the trivia game show Answers!, her brilliance, coupled with her penchant for big bets, devastates her competition. Even record-holding, 76-time-winner Teddy Ferguson.
Or was it their kiss the night before they faced off that threw the buttoned-up professor off his game?
Now, Maxine and Teddy cross paths again in a high-stakes tournament against all-time Answers! winners, including undefeated champion Hercules McKnight. With nothing in common but an insatiable appetite for knowledge and a desire to win, Maxine offers Teddy a deal: combine their strengths to shore up their weaknesses. She'll push his tolerance for risk and improve his buzzer speed, if he'll find creative ways to fill in the gaps in her education.
Except neither one of them foresaw just how scintillating learning could be…
Title : What is Love?
Author : Jen Comfort
Format : eARC
Page Count : 351
Genre : contemporary romance
Publisher : Montlake
Release Date : April 1, 2024
Reviewer : Hollis
Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★
Hollis' 4 star review
So, not only did this feel a little like You Deserve Each Other with the sharp-edged one-upmanship between these two rivals, it also felt like what you'd get if You Deserve Each Other and Beach Read had a baby. And maybe that won't make sense until you read it but.. I hope it does, actually, make sense. Because I couldn't shake that feeling. Which isn't to say this isn't very much it's own thing. So maybe it's not a baby but some generational ancestor down the line. I'm overthinking this. Let's move on.
I find I can easily be moved to feel emotion even if I'm not enjoying a book. Why? Because, all evidence to the contrary, I'm an ooey gooey marshmallow. But what is a lot harder is for me to be genuinely entertained and moved to laughter. And yet that's what happened here.. a lot.
This might also be one of the few romances that had multiple zesty romance scenes that I didn't feel inclined to skip over. Oh, and yes, fitting for a rivals match-up with high stakes, things get hot and intense and heavy allll the way through. Enjoy. And you're welcome.
But okay, let's try and make this a real review, shall we? If you're looking something that has heart, heat, and humour, you can't go wrong here. The trivia and game show setting was very entertaining and educational, the opposites attract element made the rivalry even more engaging, and also I might never think of bodies of water the same way.
My one complaint might be that I wish we'd maybe spent a little less time rehashing Maxine's backstory and neurodivergence because it felt a little overplayed by the end but other than that? This was exactly what I needed to break up a few thrillers and, maybe, also, in general.
If you like your romcoms to have bite and a side helping of flirting and fighting and f-- (I'll leave that last f to your imagination), plus trivia!, I would definitely recommend.
** I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **
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