Two Wrongs Make A Right by Chloe Liese
Published by Berkley Jove on November 2022Genres: Romance
Pages: 336
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher
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Opposites become allies to fool their matchmaking friends in this swoony reimagining of Shakespeare’s beloved comedy, Much Ado About Nothing.
Jamie Westenberg and Bea Wilmot have nothing in common except a meet-disaster and the mutual understanding that they couldn't be more wrong for each other. But when the people closest to them play Cupid and trick them into going on a date, Jamie and Bea realize they have something else in common after all—an undeniable need for revenge.
Soon their plan is in place: Fake date obnoxiously and convince the meddlers they’re madly in love. Then, break up spectacularly and dash their hopes, putting an end to the matchmaking madness once and for all.
To convince everyone that they’ve fallen for each other, Jamie and Bea will have to nail the performance of their lives. But as their final act nears and playing lovers becomes easier than not, they begin to wonder, what if Cupid’s arrow wasn’t so off the mark? And what if two wrongs do make a right?
Romantic and endearing, this modern take on Much Ado About Nothing is a perfect balance of retelling an old classic and making it easy to relate to in modern times.
Honestly, I love Beatrice and Benedict from the original. Their cut throat barbs and then realization that they might have feelings for each other is really the base of all enemies to lovers rom coms out there. Some do it successfully and others do it less so. But I’m happy to report that there’s lot of charm and heat in this modern retelling.
James/Jamie/Ben/West is wonderfully awkward. He has anxiety which effects him, not only in his actions but also in his thoughts. And so when Bea comes along, challenged with her own health issues, it is great to see them slowly find their way to each other. What starts off as a bad first impression (think P&P) turns quickly into a revenge scheme that quickly turns into a IRL situation.
I like Beatrice enough. She’s a little manic pixie dream girl for me, but it is easy to see how she brings Jamie out of his shell. Jamie is really the star of this book for me. His chapters were more formed and I like how his anxiety really played into the story. (I have anxiety so I appreciate the representation.) The story is predictable (If you’re familiar with the play) but there are enough fun new things that play out to make it feel fresh. I also appreciate Bea’s sister Juliet (hmmm, another retelling coming I hope??). She is basically the original Hero and her fiancé is… well, I am not going to give anything else away but it was very fun.
Steam level is spicy and my favorite bits are at the beginning when they were not getting along and didn’t realize they were speaking to each other! I wish that part lasted a little longer, but I also see why it needed to wrap up quickly because there was a long journey these characters had to go on.
Overall I though tit was a charming retelling of the classic story and now I’m hoping Juliet gets her own book and oh yeah, basically put LOTS of her older titles on my kindle.
That’s where we are.
Kimberly majored in Songwriting and currently works full time in the music industry. When she's not listening to music, knitting or writing, you can find her outside reading her favorite genres: Young Adult, Adult Fiction, Mystery, and Romance.
