Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey
Genre: NA Realistic Fiction/Romance
Blurb (on back of book): A sizzling, standalone, feel-good holiday romance from Tessa Bailey, New York Times bestselling author of It Happened One Summer.
Two weeks before Christmas and all through Manhattan, shop windows are decorated in red and green satin.
I'm standing alone in front of the famous Vivant department store, when a charming man named Aiden asks my opinion of the décor.
It's a tragedy in tinsel, I say, unable to lie.
He asks for a better idea with a twinkle in his eye.
Did I know he owned the place? No. He put me on the spot.
Now I'm working for that man, trying to ignore that he's hot.
But as a down on her luck girl with a difficult past, I know an opportunity when I see one—and I have to make it last.
I'll put my heart and soul into dressing his holiday windows.
I'll work without stopping. And when we lose the battle with temptation, I'll try and remember I'm just window shopping.
MY OPINION: ***
Unfortunately, this book broke my 5-star rom-com binge and I can't lie and say I'm not disappointed. I really enjoyed Tessa Bailey's other work (from what I've read so far) and was very excited for this one, especially given the holiday theme and how close we are to Christmas and winter break. I ended up not loving this one as much as I had hoped, which was quite disappointing but I have since read more of her work and ended up loving those so I am counting this one as a fluke or an exception.
The biggest issue I personally had with this book was the insta-love aspect. I am absolutely a through-and-through hater of the insta-love trope. It's very unrealistic and makes the book a bit boring, in my opinion. I live for slowburns or at the very least a few pages (maybe 50-100?) of a buildup to the relationship. This one starts right off the bat with mutual attraction, the man obsessing over the girl in the first chapter from his perspective, saying she's "the one" and I was not here for it. Maybe that's just a me thing though, so if that's your cup of tea, please, by all means, do not be dissuaded by my less than stellar review.
I did like how we had the grumpy/sunshine trope but with a twist, as the heroine is the "grumpy" part of the relationship while the hero is as light and happy and sweet as can be. The man wears Christmas-themed bow ties and is never seen without a smile. He's 100% the sunshine of the pair.
Aiden and Stella could not be more different. He's a happy-go-lucky, optimistic department store manager with a knack for Christmas decorations and lightening the mood. Stella has just gotten out of prison and is trying to reinvent herself. She is a self-titled "goth" and has the iconic "emo" bangs, tights, and dark personality.
I wasn't the biggest fan of the fact that she is the employee and Aiden is the boss of the place where she works (he hired her). I don't like power dynamics like that in a relationship because it feels a little off-putting and makes me "ship" the characters less. There is an exception in the employee handbook, deemed a "love contract" but Stella's unwillingness to jump into the arms of someone so opposite of her and her desire to reinvent herself before starting something with someone else makes Aiden have to work for her signature on the document.
I did like seeing the growth and development between these two as individuals as the book progressed. They learned quite a lot about each other and through each other, they learned more about themselves. Aiden begins to realize that he doesn't always have to be happy just to make everyone else happy and that it's okay to show your true emotions. He also learns to stand up for himself against his domineering family with the help of Stella. Stella begins to realize that she isn't defined by her actions and starts to recognize the toxicity of some of the people she's depended on in her life. She also learns that it's okay to ask for help from others if you need it, which I think was an important maturation step for her.
One thing I disliked about this book was Aiden's repeated comments during his chapters that he only hired Stella for selfish reasons so that he could see her again. From their first meeting outside the department store, he is intrigued by her and filled with a desire to see his "soulmate" again as soon as possible. When he receives her application, he even admits to his secretary/coworker that he wouldn't hire her if she were anyone else, especially with her felony record. I was not a fan of that mentality. She should have been hired for her talent (and she truly is talented when it comes to designing windows) and he should have respected her for her skills above her beauty but the entire time, he is commenting on how beautiful she is, how much he wants to see her again, and his selfish desires to hire her for the sake of getting to speak with her again.
I think my biggest issue in the end was the lack of connection I felt with the characters. Again, this is mostly a personal issue as I am sure other people will connect with Stella and/or Aiden. I just do not see myself as the grumpy, negative, unwilling to change type. Yes, I am fairly pessimistic but Stella's personality was nothing like mine. Not that I expect book characters to match me; I just wish I could have found something to connect with her over or that I could imagine another reading connecting with her over. I also am not the extremely bubbly, happy dude like Aiden is so it was definitely challenging to find any resonance in this book to my own life. I usually find something in common with some of the characters but this one felt like the characters were very 2-D in that they didn't have anything beyond the stereotypes of their character traits (happy, emo, etc).
Overall, I wasn't the biggest fan of this book. I would still recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, simple romance novel. Beware of the insta-love trope, though. It would have been nice to know before I started this book.
Main Character: Stella, Aiden
Sidekick(s): Friends, coworkers, etc
Villain(s): Aiden's family, Nicole (I'm not 100% sure if that was her name), etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book was all very real to life.
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