Book Review: "Love at First Like" by Hannah Orenstein
“Love at First Like” by Hannah Orenstein
Synopsis: Eliza Roth and her sister Sophie co-own a jewelry shop in Brooklyn. One night, after learning of an ex’s engagement, Eliza accidentally posts a photo of herself wearing a diamond ring on that finger to her Instagram account beloved by 100,000 followers. Sales skyrocket, press rolls in, and Eliza learns that her personal life is good for business. So she has a choice: continue the ruse or clear up the misunderstanding. With mounting financial pressure, Eliza sets off to find a fake fiancé.
Fellow entrepreneur Blake seems like the perfect match on paper. And in real life he shows promise, too. He would be perfect, if only Eliza didn’t feel also drawn to someone else. But Blake doesn’t know Eliza is “engaged”; Sophie asks Eliza for an impossible sum of money; and Eliza’s lies start to spiral out of control. She can either stay engaged online or fall in love in real life.
Rating: 3.75
Review: This premise is both adorable and believable: a girl, fresh off watching that ex get engaged, impulsively takes a photo that shows how much better off she is — and then accidentally posts it, instead of leaving it in her drafts folder. Except this time, that girl owns a jewelry store and she goes semi-viral for posting a photo of herself wearing an engagement ring on that finger.
Eliza owns a trendy — and very new — jewelry store in Brooklyn (unimaginatively named “Brooklyn Jewels”) with her sister, and the business is doing okay. Not great, not terrible, just okay, and when Eliza accidentally posts an “engagement” photo, her social engagement and noteriety go through the roof. She decides to carry on with the ruse to preserve the business success — all she has to do is find a groom? As I’m sure you can imagine, things go off the rails quite quickly.
I’m not going to rehash the whole plot because I don’t want to spoil the book for you — plus, then why would you read it, and it’s a cute Sunday afternoon read? — but it boils down to a central conceit that won’t be uncommon to rom-com readers and watchers: making a choice between what is good on paper and what is actually good for you. Quickly after agreeing to have a wedding without a groom, Eliza meets Blake, who is “absolutely perfect” for her; they run in the same circles, he’s smart, he’s handsome, and so she actively pursues that relationship. At the same time, she randomly runs into Raj, the cute bartender at her favorite watering hole, and feels an immediate rapport with him. I’m sure you can see where this is going.
Maybe it’s because I liked Eliza so much that I also wanted to shake her and be like “wtf are you doing, girl?” I appreciated her ambition, her drive, and her willingness to do whatever it took to make her business succeed — I just have a hard time reconciling that with what she did to Blake, her followers, and even Raj. I’m not saying that people have to be perfect or likeable, god forbid; I was just a little skeptical as to how this escalated so quickly.
One of the best parts of this book, for me, was the side characters that Hannah Orenstein created; she made everyone well-rounded, and I genuinely liked all of them. I don’t just say that from a place of being starved for social interaction. This book was also a love story to certain parts of New York; I read this while with Shannon on our “Fall Break,” and I kept asking about places on the Upper East Side — so fair warning, it will make you want to visit and maybe want to buy some fancy jewelry for yourself.
TL;DR: A fun rom-com that somehow combines the best and worst of influencer culture, sparkling jewelry, charming characters, and a love story to Brooklyn all in one.
If You Liked This, Try These:
“Our Stop” by Laura Jane Williams (Bookshop | Kindle | My Review)
“Would Like to Meet” by Rachel Winter (Bookshop | Kindle | My Review)
“Head Over Heels” by Hannah Orenstein (Bookshop | Kindle | My Review)
“If I Never Met You” by Mhairi McFarlane (Bookshop | Kindle | Shannon’s Review)
If you click on one of the links in this article and make a purchase, She’s Full of Lit may receive a small commission. It doesn’t add anything to your price — we promise! Thanks so much for your support.
