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Karola – :
***free ARC
On one side I found parts of the book funny, on the other side.. I can‘t even say what it was that didn‘t fit into my liking. Maybe too many siblings so I lost track of them through the book? Never mind, read the book yourself, so you can make your own decision.
Ana Leamaro – :
Free ARC
I loved the first book of this author, not so much about the second which I found boring. This is the third which I really liked and enjoyed it. The story is well written and funny in the begining but than somewhere in the middle it starts to get a little boring to be interesting again in the end. Its a up and down book. One of the problems I find with this author, in the last 2 books, is the motivation behind her characters behaviour, which most of the time, is overly dramatic for the reason behind it. For instance, the existential crisis of Fiona because of Michael, which is her best friend, it doesn’t make much sense to me. I would be very happy if my best friend would fall in love with my sister.
However I love the humour and the interactions between these family members are fabulous. My 5 star is for Lizzie and her family, even the bigot grand-mother.
merle.mcdowell (verified owner) – :
I really enjoyed this book. It’s much more lighthearted than the author’s previous book. This is a story about two women recognizing their attraction to, and testing the waters with each other, all couched in a very large family Christmas get-together. The family aspect of it was wonderful. As soon as the mom called one of the siblings by the wrong name, I immediately knew, “Oh yeah, that’s dead on what a big family is like.” I could not count the many, many times I’ve been called the wrong name by my parents (only, of course, to reply by calling them the wrong name in return). Further, hanging out with this family just seems like fun. I won’t spoil anything, but so much of what they do really genuinely seems like a good time. Also, Jessie is great. There’s a scene with Jessie and Lizzie near the end that is one of my favorites in the whole book.
Regarding Fiona and Lizzie: wow, does KL know how to write attraction! The heat rolls off the pages. As soon as Lizzie first accidentally tackles Fiona, and ends up straddling her, the chemistry pops. It’s a palpable spark that I couldn’t wait to see catch fire. Both characters are adorable and hot in their own right. They’re also very entertaining and very interesting. The book only lasts over the course of 4 days, so the time we spend with them is limited. It’s not like they can just spend 14 straight hours in-book going over the meticulous details of their life stories. But, the things that we do see, and the things that we learn, are like little gems. KL does a fantastic job of balancing character development with plot development.
I really, really appreciated the fact that Fiona was Asian. It’s not a super often occurrence that the main character in Western fiction is a person of color, and it seems even rarer to find lesbian fiction with a main character of color. So this was absolutely a breath of fresh air.
Zainab Kassim (verified owner) – :
I loved all of KL’s books and I was really excited about this one too, but unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations. There was no character development between Fiona and Lizzie, it was just lust from the get go and then bang. I feel like there should have been more dialogue and scenes with the two of them without Fiona just having lustful thoughts as that would have an enable an emotional connection between the two.
What I did like was the witty dialogue between the characters which made it seem very real life. Loved that Fiona was Asian!
Laure – :
🏳️🌈👩❤️👩📚⚢🎄☃️👩❤️💋👩📖👭🏳️🌈
That’s in exchange of an honest review that I received an ARC of KL Hughes’s « The Wrong McElroy » from Ylva Publishing …
It’s the very 1st time I read one of KL Hughes’s piece of work.
My rating : 3 ⭐️
The story sets in Arkansas during a Christmas weekend and focuses on Fiona Ng, an out and proud lesbian and Elizabeth « Lizzie » McElroy. At his request Fiona pretends to be Michael McElroy’s girlfriend (Michael is Fiona’s best friend) and Lizzie is Michael’s beautiful younger sister. Fiona and Lizzie met during the annual McElroy family’s Christmas gathering …
I loved the diversity (a thing we need to find more in our lesfic niche) of the MCs’ couple : MC Fiona is a POC (an asian woman, for once, she’s a bi-racial : chinese & malaysian) & MC Lizzie is a redhead with, and that’s pretty unusual (so really cool), heterochromia … and I loved the good humor, ’cause, yep, there are really funny stuff in there !! Good jokes, funny situations … and I smiled a lot, giggled a couple times and also laughed out loud one or twice … What Fiona accepted to do to help her best friend, to support him was touching, I loved the power of their friendship, their intimacy, etc (for almost the entire novel long) … The family interactions were good too.
BUT … a few things bothered me … :
° the short span of time during which the entire book happens => There was nothing sweet or romantic about the MCs ‘s interactions because it’s too rushed .. The story takes place over a period of about four days for God’s sake … & as fun as it can be, a four days long weekend is definitely not enough to see a true romantic and beautiful love story blossom … Making their love story begin after this Christmas meeting would have been way more credible.
° the insta love / lust is border line hookup so I wouldn’t put the book in the romance category => the first (and only) intimate encounter scene … Gosh !! That quickie was just a turn-off for me … Why ?? Because, in a span of what ?? 2 or 3 seconds, OK .. 10 tops, it’s, literally, going from the MCs’s real first kiss to the commanding : “get up here and sit on my face” … Yuk !! How on earth would a real romantic propose something that intimate so soon in a relationship ?? (a real romantic would have waited after several dates before jumping into bed to begin with ..). Oh before I forget , to add insult to injury … meanwhile, of course, waiting downstairs, there’s the entire family who’s just found out that Lizzie is a lesbian because of the McElroy gossip mill… Seriously ??
° the idea of Michael’s sister who would be off limits, based on the very fact that she’s Michael’s sister … How sputid is that ?? It doesn’t make any sense from my POV. As Fiona’s best friend Michael should be the first person to know Fiona is serious and wouldn’t hurt his baby sister … True friends trust each other and I hope that, in real life, someone sharing a friendship like Fiona and Michael do, would be happy that a good, generous and kind person would date his or her sibling …
° the mention to the casual pot smoking … I really don’t get what value it was supposed to bring to the story
° a couple of typos
If I had to make a very short and quite different version of my review, it’d be something like this :
– Did I enjoy this book? => Yes and no … ‘cause, honestly, even if I’m a very romantic person ; I’m not a huge fan of rom-com stories (in movies it’s more tolerable but I just watch one film from time to time …)
– Did I find the characters believable? => Yes, under the friendship angle, when it comes to the « love » angle, not that much…
– Is this book now included in my « must be re-read »-list? => Nope !
– Will I purchase the paperback? =>Nope !
– Would I read another book by this author? => Probably. I liked the humor and the writing style so I think I’ll give her at least another try.
– Would I recommend this book => Yes, to all the Christmas rom-com fans …
Hey guys and gals, you know that now it’s your turn … So … Grab your own copy and make your own opinion …
Enjoy (or not) your reading … 😉
🏳️🌈👩❤️👩📚⚢🎄☃️👩❤️💋👩📖👭🏳️🌈
Patricia Iserman – :
Fiona and Michael are best friends.
Michael comes from a very large, boisterous family who want him to be happily married.Since Christmas is coming ,Michael begs Fiona to pretend to be his girlfriend at the family gathering so he can relax and not feel pressured.
Fiona kindly agrees to the farce but does not have a clue what she is getting into with his wild group of syblings,a very controlling mother and a grandmother who knows just how everyone “should” behave.
This is a lesbian romance with plenty of action and craziness.It will keep you on your toes and may teach you a thing or two about families.Enjoy.
Betty Harmon – :
The Wrong McElroy by K.L. Hughes is an adorably hilarious story. This is what all romantic comedies should aspire to be.
The tale revolves around Fiona Ng and her best friend Michael McElroy. Michael needs a pretend girlfriend to take home to his family for Christmas vacation. He hopes this will stop his family from bugging him the whole holiday about finding “someone special”. They’ll never have to know that Fiona is a lesbian, right?
The best way to describe the McElroy clan is to say they are like muggle Weasleys on steroids with all the jokes, competitive games and family love you can imagine wrapped up in a huge red headed, freckled, and charmingly Southern package. There is one McElroy daughter that really catches Fiona’s eye, though, and it looks like Lizzie, one of Michael’s younger sisters, might be looking back. This could cause some problems for Michael, Fiona, Lizzie, and everyone else.
This is a funny, cute and lovely holiday romance that will leave you smiling and feeling good. It is just the right length for an easy and fun read with some angst, just to break up the laughter a bit. If you need a good book that will cheer you up, grab this one. It definitely made my day brighter.
I received an ARC from Ylva Publishing for an honest review.
pharridge – :
K.L Hughes book has an interesting take on the fake relationship story arc. ‘The Wrong McElroy is funny, involves a lot of family members (to remember), snowball fights, friendship and love.
I would have liked to read more interaction between Fiona and Lizzie. Not sure if there will be a sequel to this novel or if Fiona and Lizzie will make an appearance in another novel in the future but I would like to see how they developed and find out what happened with them after the Christmas weekend.
This novel is an amusing, light hearted and fun romance to read.
I received an arc copy in exchange for an honest review.
Kiwigirl55104 – :
OMG, LOL!!!!
Michael’s family is always asking when he’s going to settle down. Finally tired of it, he asks his BFF Fiona to be his fake girlfriend over Christmas. She agrees because that’s the sort of thing they do for each other. When she meets the huge and rambunctious clan, she’s a bit overwhelmed. There are THIRTEEN of them after all! When she meets the beautiful spitfire Lizzie, Michael’s younger sister, she’s stunned and taken with her. She’s beautiful and sexy and oh my… Lizzie is a force to be reckoned with. She’s boisterous and bouncy and does not suffer fools, even when they are members of her own family. She has decided she likes Fiona and hangs around with her, both to Fiona’s delight and dread. How is she supposed to keep up the charade of being Michael’s girlfriend when she can’t keep her eyes off of his sister?
This book is SO freaking funny for the most part. Reading this tale while in bed late at night is not a good idea if you share a bed…You will have a hard time keeping quiet and not shaking the bed from laughter! There are a lot of other emotions in this story as well so it’s not ALL fun and games, but there are enough. I loved how strong Fiona and Michael’s friendship is. They are basically family to and lean heavily on each other. They have been close for years and there is little they won’t do for each other. Lizzie and Fiona are so cute together even if Fiona is super stressed about her attraction and what it will do to her friendship with Michael. She can’t help her attraction and the more she tries to bury it, the closer Lizzie gets. While I liked this tale, its one of those you have to just go with because Lizzie and Fiona meet, fall in love with each other and ride off into the sunset together in four days. It also left me hanging because how are they going to manage a relationship when they live so very far away from each other… But other than those two things it was a good read.
Nia – :
What a wonderfully chaotic family bond. Everything is there, the racist grandma, the caring mom, the buddy dad and an extremely large bunch of different children.
That would be the McElroy’s!
Fiona and Michael are best friends and Michael finally wants some peace and quiet and not be the only one still single.
So the short, relatively immature plan – to turn best the lesbian friend into his girlfriend.
Everything is good until Lizzie (Michael’s little sister) literally attacked Fiona in bed 😉 …
It’s funny and of course chaotic, but also hot between Fiona and Lizzie, who were made for each other from the first minute… if it weren’t for this lie.
A fun read, perfect for a good laugh!