Review: Enticing Daphne

Enticing Daphne by Jessica Prince
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Enticing Daphne grabbed my attention because I was looking for a new rom-com to read. The last eighteen months or so, I’ve read a lot of romance (something I have never imagined would happen to the degree it has). However, considering how many romance books I’ve been reading, I have read a very small number of rom-coms. Since it had been a while, I decided Enticing Daphne would be the romantic comedy to fix my dry patch.

Whilst Enticing Daphne is described as a standalone romantic comedy, I would suggest reading the connected books first. I read this as a standalone novel and found it to be enjoyable enough; however, I felt as though I was missing out on some big details about the other characters and the other events going on as they were referenced but never really explained in full. Therefore, whilst you can read and enjoy Enticing Daphne as a standalone novel, I would recommend picking up Seducing Lola and Tempting Sophia first. Not to mention, it will be a nice lead onto Charming Fiona, allowing you to understand everything that has been happening between the characters.

Despite the small blanks in my knowledge based upon how I read this as a standalone novel, without picking up the connected books, I did find this to be an enjoyable enough read. When I first started the book, I let out a lot of giggles – in fact, I was pretty excited for a real rollercoaster of giggles. However, as the book continued I felt as though the book wasn’t as funny as I was promised it would be. There were plenty of giggles to be found throughout, I admit that, but I wasn’t howling in the way I usually am when I pick up a rom-com. When I pick up a rom-com I expected to be laughing every couple of pages, whereas with this one there were some chapters where I didn’t laugh at all. I did enjoy the story, but I feel let down by the number of chuckles I let out in the end. In many ways, I feel as though it would have done better if it was simply labelled a contemporary romance – then people could enjoy the giggles they are given without feeling as though there should be more.

In truth, the aforementioned is part of the reason why in my mind this book isn’t quite a full four-star rating. I enjoyed the story, I kept turning the pages to see what happened next, but I was never truly lost within the pages. I could have put the book down and walked away if I wanted to – not forever, I would be back to pick it up to see how every detail came together in the end, but it was not a ‘read or die’ situation. I think, in part, it was the trope that came into play when we were part way through the book that spiralled me into the ‘I am not going to fall completely in love with this book’ category. A certain trope was used, one I’ve been finding far too often recently. I simply feel as though I would have enjoyed the way this story came together more had the trope not been introduced. There was plenty happening throughout this book, some of the things really interested me, but certain things left me feeling as though the book wasn’t quite all it could have been.

Overall, though, I did enjoy this one. It wasn’t the belly laughing read I had hoped for, but I did have fun with it. Moreover, I am interested in reading more of Jessica Prince’s work – probably the related Girl Talk books, but maybe something else depending on what catches my eye.

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