Canadian chick-lit with a little extra

The Stand-In
by Lily Chu, Phillipa Soo (Narrator)

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

“Gracie Reed is doing just fine. Sure, she was fired by her overly “friendly” boss, and yes she still hasn’t gotten her mother into the nursing home of their dreams, but she’s healthy, she’s (somewhat) happy, and she’s (mostly) holding it all together.

But when a mysterious SUV pulls up beside her, revealing Chinese cinema’s golden couple Wei Fangli and Sam Yao, Gracie’s world is turned on its head. The famous actress has a proposition: due to their uncanny resemblance, Fangli wants Gracie to be her stand-in. The catch? Gracie will have to be escorted by Sam, the most attractive—and infuriating—man Gracie’s ever met.“

It was ok. The story is fairly predictable. The chemistry between Gracie and Sam Yao is not exactly sizzling. It‘s a mellow enemies-to-lovers. Not exactly enemies and an eventually very vanilla kind of lovers.

I liked the perspective of a mixed-race character and how she is perceived and treated by others. And how hard it can be for celebrities to be objectified by their fans and having to live with a complete loss of privacy. This and some other themes added a little extra to the usual romance plot.

There is the required misunderstanding towards the end, etc etc. The characters are not too silly about it. If you are looking for an unchallenging romance without big surprises, this does the trick. Enough other topics are touched briefly to keep it interesting.

Would I pick up something else by the author? Maybe, if I came across it cheaply. Yes, this was an audible freebie (for subscribers).

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