Amour Amour » Review

After writing such a serious post yesterday, I wanted to read something happy.  So I read a romance novel.  It was awesome — both the book and the act of reading brain candy.  The book is Amour Amour, written by Krista and Becca Ritchie — identical twins and romance novel writing partners.

This really amused me.  One of my roommates in college was an identical twin and I know that, instead of writing sex scenes with her sister, she'd rather:

• Become a contestant on Naked and Afraid. (Hates the wilderness and scrutiny.)


• Eat a big block of soft cheese washed down with a glass of milk. (Is lactose intolerant.)


• Watch Alice In Wonderland (Had a bad experience with post-surgery drugs.)

So I guess I give my kudos to Krista and Becca Ritchie for being able to write explicit scenes without grossing each other out.  Like, what are the logistics of the days where they write the 18+ content?  I know what I'd do.  I'd type while snacking on bowl of super size cheese puffs and listening to Ginuwine's My Pony on repeat.  Naturally.

Anyway.  Amour Amour is about a girl, Thora James, who got into gymnastics when she was a young teenager and dreams of joining a Las Vegas circus.  At 21, she flies there for a call-back audition after sending in a tape.  After that, I don't want to give anything away. But there's a guy — of course — a very temperamental yet supportive guy.

Amour Amour was compulsively read-able.  Like, I started the book and then didn't get up for anything until I was 3/4 of the way through.  Ritchie and Ritchie really knew how to keep the ball rolling and make me question whether or not Thora would ever achieve her dreams.  That aspect of the book was so well done.  Unlike many romance novels, Thora and Nik are so upfront with each other about how they want to put their passion for their careers — for gymnastics and acrobatics — before their relationships.  It made for some intriguing plot sidesteps and drama (the good kind) galore.

As for the romance novel-y stuff, I only laughed unkindly a few times, which is really GOOD for me when reading this genre of books.  I usually snort or snigger whenever there's a particularly cheesy line or the like.  I can't help myself. For real, sometimes when reading a romance novel, I'll sound full-on like a prize truffle hog.

But I found Amour Amour to be pretty self-aware.  Whenever it got corny in the slightest, there was usually a self-aware little line or comment that made the situation funny instead of silly.  For instance, Thora will say a sappy line, and think I can't believe I just said that. I liked that. And I was invested in the characters so much that I was rooting for them even when they made poor decisions.

Another good thing about Amour Amour was its diverse peripheral romance featuring a gay character, Timofei.  I found his arc to be super intriguing.  I would NOT MIND A SPIN-OFF, RITCHIE AND RITCHIE!

So to wind up this review, Amour Amour isn't a book of great substance, but it does throw some curveballs that I didn't see coming and it was well-written. I loved the cast of characters and the substance of the backdrop of circus life. I give it four stars and I recommend for fans of NA.

Also, shout out to My Guilty Obsession for posting a recommendation of this book! I don't know that I would have found it otherwise!