Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

From the publisher:

For fans of Lyssa Kay Adams and Jen DeLuca comes this fresh, funny take on second chances that proves love is anything but trivial.

For family-focused Charlotte, the chance to compete on her favorite trivia game show is a dream come true—the prize money could ensure the best care for her aging grandmother. But when she arrives on set, who does she see among the other contestants? Eli, her high school first love, at least until their shattering breakup. He has his own reasons for competing, not least of which is the stress of multiple jobs, college courses, and a father who has had multiple run-ins with the law.

When the casting department pairs them on a team, both Charlotte and Eli are determined to grit their teeth and make the best of it. That’s easier said than done, of course, and before long a national audience is breathlessly watching them bicker and air years-old grudges. Far from being angry, the program’s producers are ecstatic—the ratings are positively soaring.

As they compete together over several episodes of the show, Charlotte and Eli begin to suspect that old wounds might actually heal. Touring L.A. in their free time has given them the opportunity to get to know each other again—and reawakened feelings that are hard to resist. Until the show’s producers throw a wrench in their hopeful plans that will compromise everything Charlotte and Eli have worked so hard for.

Kelly Ohlert’s warm, witty second novel proves that the best thing to know is always your own heart.

“A whip-smart second-chance romance . . . Readers will be hooked.” —Publishers Weekly

“[A] clever and charming second-chance romance . . . Perfect for fans of rom-coms looking for a story with lots of heart and fun.” —Library Journal

https://amzn.to/3QD87TS

This author was new to me, but I can’t help picking up any book based on the trivia game show world. I’m a lifelong Jeopardy! fan, so I was all in. Unfortunately – or maybe fortunately for the plot of this book – the game show here is a world away from my beloved favorite.

Charlotte and Eli were high school sweethearts, but he ghosted her and she never knew why. He broke her heart, and even though many years have passed, she’s never felt anything like that for anyone else. Her family moved an hour away from the town where she went to school, and life went on.

Charlotte grew up with her parents and was especially close with her grandmother, a single mother when that was really looked down upon. The missing grandfather turned out to have a wife and another family, so when he learned about the baby, he chose the family he already had. This affected Charlotte’s grandmother throughout her life, and the lives of her family as well. She was all about honesty to a fault; no white lies, no prevaricating of any kind. It’s not as easy as one would assume to be 100% honest all the time.

The other thing Charlotte enjoyed with her family was watching the Game Show channel, with trivia games a family favorite. Charlotte had applied to be a contestant, but as the months passed by, she gave up on her dream. Until she got the phone call.

The way this trivia game works is that there are six competitors in a speed round. The last two left standing form a partnership, and compete each week with the latest partners until they lose.

Eli is still living with his father, who has spent most of his life in and out of prison. They are barely holding on with his father working two jobs and Eli working as a personal trainer. They are one major catastrophe away from losing their home or their cars and well, everything. So when Eli gets the call to be on the gameshow, he is hoping he wins enough money to put a new roof on the house and maybe allow his father to cut back to one job.

Of course, Eli and Charlotte are on the same game show and yes, the last two standing. They form a partnership to compete for the money. Unfortunately, when Charlotte sees him, she sees red. Their obvious connection and her dislike of her new partner are great for ratings, which the show desperately needs or it will be canceled. The producer is a slimeball and sees the potential here, especially as Eli and Charlotte move ahead in the game and it appears in their relationship. He offers them a deal; he will provide the answers and they can keep winning, thus helping the ratings and possibly securing him the emcee job. Charlotte is furious, but Eli is tempted – he really needs the money. But he won’t disappoint Charlotte again, so they both refuse.

Things get complicated after that, but as Eli and Charlotte get closer, she is able to finally forgive him for their bad breakup. But what she doesn’t know is that the producer has blackmailed Eli into taking the answers; he threatens to have Eli’s father put back in jail while he’s still on probation. And he follows through.

This is a second-chance romance with an enemies-to-lovers trope, and I enjoyed it. I hated the intimation that cheating is still going on in the game show world, but I am secure in the knowledge that Jeopardy! is not part of that world. This book had some laughs and some drama for sure, but what I think I enjoyed most was seeing the growth of these characters, especially Eli. And I loved all the trivia sprinkled throughout.

11/2023 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

LET’S GET QUIZZICAL by Kelly Ohlert. Alcove Press (October 17, 2023). ISBN: 978-1639105052. 288p.

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