“Mixed Signals” by Mia Heintzelman
I’ll start by acknowledging that I have never read a book by this author and had no prior knowledge of this book before I selected it on Net Galley for review. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but found the read to be enjoyable.
Julie is the main character in this novel and she has experienced some serious break up heart attack. She feels lost and betrayed by her ex-fiancee Patrick who described her as boring. Forgive me if I’m wrong, but ladies… would that not be a reason to drown your sorrows in a couple pints of cookie dough ice cream. Maybe throw in a couple bottles of a good red to stay hydrated. It comes as no surprise that this was what happened to Julie. With the badass best friend, Liz, she plans to get back at Patrick with her “revenge body” (enter Khole Kardashian stage left). Certain that the new Julie will be able to convince Patrick that he made a huge mistake, Julie commits to returning to the gym and a new make over.
From the very beginning of this novel, the chemistry between Nico and Julie is evident. And I’ll be honest, the guy tolerated so much crap in order for us to get the happy ending. After two bad experiences that included Nico, Julie has already made up her mind that he isn’t worth her time. That is until fate steps in, with some assistance from Liz, and sets them up on a double date. The date probably would have gone okay had Liz’s boyfriend proposed causing a series of unfortunate events.
But for some reason, fate isn’t done yet and she is ready to put Nico through the trials of wooing Julie. Let’s face it, the girl is a walking talking time bomb for embarrassing moments. Holding up traffic to check out the hot guy — check. Splitting the arse of her skirt trying to get into the hot guys truck — check. Humiliate herself by taking a tumble off the treadmill resulting in a gash to the head, which the above hot guy helps her with — check. And then finally, throwing up mid kiss with the hot guy after punching poor old Carl in the family jewels.
Let’s move on to some of the scenes that I felt lacked some details or clarity. There is a scene when Nico and Julie are at the cemetery visiting Nico’s father. Julie overhears / ease drops on the conversation whereby Nico is asking his father for a sign that Julie is the right girl for him. Nico’s last name is associated with the English word butterfly and when Julie comforts him at his father’s grave, a white butterfly sits on her shoulder. I feel like there should have been more details in that part. Did Nico notice the butterfly? Did he take it as his sign from his father? So many unanswered questions.
There is also a scene, with scumbag Patrick and Celeste (I commend Mia on the name choice here. I can totally picture this character with that name) at the movie theatre. Julie is starting to understand, as her relationship with Nico grows, how horrible Patrick was to her. We can outline those reasons as a) calling her boring (what a douch canoe) b) cheating on her with some evil stalker c) conceiving a child with the evil stalker d) believing he had ownership of her. Julie is slowly developing a back bone and some self confidence. She has no trouble shutting down Patrick and his lame attempts at rekindling any relationship. So, while they are having a brief and uncomfortable encounter outside the theatre, Nico has gone inside to get the keys for the car. Upon his return he identifies Julie as his girlfriend (WHOA, relationship status change) and finds out that Patrick visited her at work a couple days before. Julie had not told Nico about the exchange, but it was clear at the end of the chapter that her and Nico had an argument after they left. But this scene is missing. I would have loved to have read a heated exchange between the two of them.
Overall, the novel was a solid read. It was entertaining and the characters had distinct chemistry which kept us on the end of our seat. As noted above the plot could use some additional information to keep bring forth a better picture of how things came to happen. I would recommend this book to friends if they are looking for a romantic comedy with a happy ending. I will definitely be reading more novels from this author.
-AG
A Stack Above The Rest.
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