ARC Review: Down on Love by Jayne Denker

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:
Release Date: November 21, 2013
Publisher: Kensington
274 Pages

When it comes to love, she's a professional skeptic. Is it too late for a career change?

If there's one thing Georgiana Down is an expert in, it's bad relationships. That's what inspired her blog, Down on Love, where she gives snarky advice--usually along the lines of "dump him." In fact, George is abstaining from men all together. At least that's the plan--until she makes a trip back to her tiny hometown in the Catskills, where meddling is an art form. . .

George loves helping out with her new baby niece, but she's counting the days until she returns to Boston. Then she runs into Casey Bowen, her high school crush. The boy she once loved is now a handsome grown man--and suddenly George needs a little advice of her own. She's in the right place, because when she drunk posts on her blog, everyone in Marsden has something to say about George and Casey. It's like high school all over again--but maybe this time she'll get things right.

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What happens when a lover is scored? She turns to the internet to blog about it, of course. And that's exactly what Georgiana Down did. Her blog, Down on Love, started as an outlet for venting about her loser of an ex, but has turned into an advice blog of sorts. When Georgiana (George to her friends) gets called back to her hometown to help out her sister's family, she runs into Casey Bowen, her high school crush and old feelings resurface.

The love story between George and Casey was at times adorable. They had witty banter and played off of each other nicely. I liked them together - but separately was another story.

I adored Casey. He was smart, funny, charming, and admitted when he made mistakes. He admitted to George that he screwed up in the past, but he wants a chance to make up for it - to make it up to her. I also liked how much he loved his hometown. He went to college after high school, took a job in London, but ultimately realized his love was restoring his family farm into a tourist stop.

On the other hand, I did not really like George. I get that she had been hurt in the past, and yes, that does affect how you view future relationships, but George let it control her every move and though. Years ago, Casey kissed George at a high school party then he immediately freaked and left. George continues to hold this against him even though he's apologized and told her the reason why he left. Casey is constantly putting himself out there to prove his feelings for her, and all George does is whine and complain and tell him to go date his ex-girlfriend (to which she gets upset when she thinks he does). Ultimately I wanted Casey to not end up with her because she was so immature.

Then there was George's sister, Sera. While I loved her wife, Jax, Sera was another story. What exactly was her point here? Oh yes, to be that annoyingly rude sister. Obviously, because it wasn't like she was actually a mom to her daughter. The minute George arrived back home, Sera just handed off her baby. Feedings, diaper changes, naps, middle of the night wake up calls, everything George did. Then Sera had the nerve to get mad when her daughter reached for her aunt instead of her mother. Umm, maybe because you weren't acting like one?

The author did a great job of showing off the perks of living in a small town, however, it soon turned into Gilmore Girls x1000 with everyone assuming your business is theirs and they have a say in who you marry. There were times I enjoyed the town and times I wanted to pull my hair out and shout "MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!".

 Also, was there a reason that the female protagonist had a masculine name while the male protagonist had a feminine name? This did nothing for me expect to make me cringe every time I read George. Because while Casey is a fine name for either boy or girl, the name George is not very flattering on a female and it definitely took me out of the book a few times.

Overall, I enjoyed the writing and Denker has a way with male/female banter that had me laughing out loud at many scenes. But I feel like in a romance novel, I should root for the couple to be together, and I just didn't feel it here.

I received an e-copy of this novel from the publisher for my honest opinion and review via Netgalley.