By Design (By Design #1) by J.A. Armstrong
- Publisher: J.A. Armstrong Books, 2015
- Genre: Romance, LGBTQ+, Novella
- Format: Ebook
- Page Count: 117 pages
- My Rating: ⭐ (1/5)
By Design is the kind of book that makes you wonder if you just read the same book as everyone else.
While I did not hate the book, I still rated it one-star. The flow of the story was not consistent, which made me feel like I was dragged through mud at a very slow pace and thrown into the thrashing water the next. I felt confused when Candace and J.D. secretly admitted their love for each other to themselves. Surely I missed something. But I did not, and though it was not improbable for them to fall in love without much onscreen interactions (physical or otherwise), I did not find their declaration of love believable at those given points in time, either. Another thing that I did not quite understand was how Pearl seemed to be much older than Candace, but was actually just nine years her senior. I guess she was not that old after all.
Candace and J.D. are sweet and I appreciate the aspect of their age difference (Candace is fifty-five and J.D. is thirty-five). Their bantering was cute at times, but seemed forced when it went too lengthy. Also, I hated it when Candace threw the word “lunatic” around. Yes, I get that it was mostly a pet name, yet it was still very inappropriate. Just how many times did Candace refer to J.D. as a lunatic? About ten times. In a novella. And I kept wondering if the sentence “don’t be surprised if she sells that cat to the Chinese restaurant” insinuated that the Chinese restaurant would use the cat as food. Maybe I am overreacting, but as an East Asian with Chinese heritage, I find that throwaway comment incredibly racist.
By Design could have been a great novella, bu alas, it did not work for me. All in all, I would not read the rest of the series. It could be that I had too high a standard for novellas. However, I am still willing to try Armstrong’s Alex and Cassidy series written under her pen name of Nancy Ann Healy. [25 May 2020]
