Book Review: By Any Other Name by Lauren Kate
By Any Other Name is a contemporary romance set in New York. It follows romance book editor Lanie who is engaged to the man of her dreams. He fulfills all 99 requirements on the list she made years ago for the perfect partner and he’s supposed to be everything she could ever want in a spouse. Then she’s given a huge opportunity to advance her career. All she has to do is get her favorite author Noa Calloway cured of writer’s block. Lanie has never met Noa, who is famously reclusive, in person and once she realizes the reason for the reclusiveness her whole world turns upside down and her chance at the promotion of her dreams looks like it’s headed down the drain.
I read this book all in one day. It’s immediately engaging and so fun. The characters were well fleshed out and the side characters really added to the world in a way I appreciated. I felt like they were actual people with lives and not just characters that only existed so the main characters would have someone to talk to. It’s marketed as enemies -to- lovers; I think the dynamic is really more like friends -to- enemies -to- lovers which is similar enough vibes but not quite as much angst as one might expect. I love books about books and book lovers and that’s the thing that immediately drew me to request this ARC in the first place. I felt it really lived up to my expectations in that regard and it added an extra level of enjoyment.
This book is not full of twists and turns. There wasn’t really anything about the plot or the characters that surprised me and I saw the curveballs coming pretty far in advance but, I personally, don’t really need that from a romance. I was just happy to be along for the ride. I think this book would particularly appeal to fans of Emily Henry or anyone looking for a swoon-y, but low steam read. I’ve already recommended it to my mom and my sister and I’ll definitely be picking up a finished copy now that it’s in stores!
Disclaimer: I was given an Advanced Reader Copy of this book by Putnam via NetGalley for review.
