The Best Lines (Chicago #1) by Nicole Pyland
- Publisher: Pyland Publishing LLC, 2018
- Genre: Romance, LGBTQ+
- Format: Ebook
- Page Count: 363 pages
- My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)
Dr. Eva Dash has just lost her job as a professor at her alma mater. That seems to leave her with no choice but to leave the city she considers home. When restaurant owner Ember Elliot shows up in Eva’s life, Eva is fascinated by this mysterious, former player. The preamble to their connection is a napkin note that leads to more notes. As both struggle with their unknown professional futures, what will become of their relationship?
Please note that there are uses of ableist language in the book.
I still have a bit of a problem with the editing of the book, but Pyland delivers such great stories with amazing characters, I almost did not notice.
The Best Lines is a romance involving academia but not on campus. Eva has a PhD in Literature and mainly teaches at university level. Ember’s highest level of education is high school, but she is secretly gifted. I love the pairing of these two incredibly smart women and that they have a decently balanced relationship. Though I did not like them dancing around important subjects later in their relationship when they have been so upfront to each other in the beginning, I find their reactions very reasonable and relatable. These bumps in their relationship are what make Eva and Ember go strong. The epilogue is sappy to a fault, and honestly, I am here for it.
Since I always love the nerd, it goes without saying I especially love Ember, but she is so much more than that. I also understand that Eva is at a more vulnerable position after a string of horrid luck, even though she is the one with a more settled future. While I cannot reach 10% of Ember’s reading speed and rarely do complicated math just for fun, I relate to her endless curiosity, self-taught aspect, and spewing out random facts. I also love how even though literature is not Ember’s thing, she still makes an effort to read whatever Eva loves because that is a connection they could have. And Ember waking up in the middle of the night to go into her math frenzy mode? Love that, too. Getting to know Ember rekindled my excitement about learning random things, and that made me love her even more. The Best Lineswill probably be my go-to when I suffer from academic burnout.
Though the mathematic modeling for real life events is not even close to being as difficult as other problems Ember could do in the same amount of time, it is endearing that she finds them fun. It reminded me of the time I was at a math camp in high school. A professor used math to explain how if one planned to date 10 people in their life, the 3rd or 4th one would likely be the best of all. I do not remember much about that equation, but I can picture Ember’s eyes lighting up and her immediately understanding it.
The Best Lines is another great book with strong, smart women figuring out their careers and future together. This is my second Pyland book, and I am learning that she writes wonderful stories with the best characters and great chemistry. In this book, watching Ember’s best friend Charlie pining for her other best friend Hailey was a little sad to read about, and I cannot wait to read about their story in the sequel. [30 Jun 2020]
P.S. The title font looks like Papyrus, which is horrible, but makes sense because of the importance of blackboards in the story. I want a writing board in my room now. Scratch that. Make it plural. I want a room where I can write on all the walls.
