Battle of the Bookstores

“Focus, I tell myself. This man has disparaged my books, my store, and my personality. Now he could end up with my job? Everything I’ve worked for in the past five years, the reputation I’ve built, the clientele I’ve cultivated—all my goals for the future are riding on this. I’ve pulled myself out of the humiliating hole of my past to create a career I’m proud of.”

This passage asserts the personal stakes involved in this competition. The pressure Josie feels to win and the potential fallout if she loses adds significant tension to the novel from the outset.

“I should say something to break the tension, but I don’t have a clever bone in my giant, awkward body. Especially around a woman who’s as intimidating as she is striking. The Hating Game comes to mind, and I wonder what Josh Templeman might say to Lucy Hutton in this situation. But I’m no Josh, and I don’t have Sally Thorne drafting my dialogue.”

This passage highlights Ryan’s deep insecurity and self-consciousness, contrasting his ordinary self with the cleverness of romance heroes. By invoking The Hating Game and Sally Thorne, Brady playfully blurs the line between fiction and reality by drawing on real novels, a form of light metafiction common to the contemporary romance genre. Ryan is hyperaware that he falls short of genre ideals even as he longs for connection.

“Cue the usual response: eyeing me suspiciously as the wheels turn in his mind. This small, young woman cannot have any sort of actual influence or authority. I am in fact thirty years old and of average height, but I was cursed with a baby face that makes me look at least five years younger—which is why I dress professionally and always wear my hair up.”

In this passage, Josie reflects on the sexism and ageism that undermine her authority, exposing how often she is underestimated in professional spaces. Her choice to present herself in a deliberately polished way is a means of countering the dismissals she anticipates. This is also indicative of her insecurities about dropping out of college.