Funny Feelings | By Tarah Dewitt
Book Review | Contemporary Romance
Synopsis :
When falling in love is the punchline…
Farley Jones is a loud, chaotic, and hilariously clever standup comedian on the way to stardom. The only thing she loves more than the rush of telling jokes in front of a revved-up audience is her hot older manager Meyer, though he doesn’t have a clue. Keeping her feelings hidden from him is agony (a tragedy, even―in lieu of flowers, please send cash…) but Meyer has been Farley’s closest and most treasured friend, not to mention vital to the trajectory of her career. She can’t risk ruining their relationship by telling him how she truly feels. After all, who else would have the patience to put up with a hot mess like her?
A former standup star himself, single father Meyer Harrigan left the stage years ago in order to focus on raising his deaf daughter Hazel. Farley has been everything to them since she came into their lives three years ago, and despite his grumpiness, his protectiveness over Hazel, and his disdain for public attention, Meyer will do anything to make her standup dreams come true.
When the biggest opportunity of Farley’s career comes along and forces the pair to fake-date in order to stir up publicity, it doesn’t take long for their act to bring all those other funny feelings out into the open. Like most matters of the heart, it quickly begins to feel like anything but a joke.
Touching on the creative spirit and all that comes with sharing that gift, Tarah DeWitt’s Funny Feelings is a swoony story about friendship, love, and looking for the laugh in life.
My thoughts
Narrative and Plot
Funny Feelings is a straightforward romantic comedy. It has the friends-to-lovers and fake dating trope but it subverts our expectations by keeping things simple. The story is told in a non-linear way where we get both the past and present. It gives you an idea about how they both were pining for each other for a long time.
The plot is easygoing. Although it shifted abruptly from fake to real dating, it makes sense since both of them were hesitant to make the first move from the start.
Characters and Conflicts
Farley and Meyer are both comedians and the story deep dives into where those sparks of humor come from. Hazel is an adorable addition to the mix and it just makes you root for your main characters even more. Both of them felt like well-rounded individuals with their own set of flaws. The chemistry between the leads was also amazing.
With that being said, the conflict in this is non-existent. Romance novels in general these days are mild on the conflict side because if you create a red flag with the conflict, you cannot justify them getting back together.
Here, however, the couple had a mild misunderstanding which they got over within five pages. All that adorable cuteness up until then falls short because you are waiting for the other shoe to drop. But it doesn’t even thud as you expect it to. Other than that, this was an entertaining rom-com.
Conclusion
Funny Feelings was a quick and easy romance read for me. It is always lovely to read about individuals who feel safe within each other’s company. Despite the lack of a strong conflict, this is an entertaining story especially if you enjoy standup comedy.
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This sounds like a fun book to read. I enjoyed your review. I haven’t read anything by this author before, so I will have to check this one out.
Thank you. It is fun. Also, this is my first book from this author too. I want to read more of her work now.