This book is totally aptly named, because it is The Perfect Rom-Com. I read it within twenty-four hours, laughed myself silly, wanted to be Bryony’s best friend because of her quick wit, fell a bit in love with Jack myself, cried through chapter twenty-five, and lobbed imaginary spit balls at Amelia’s “Choppy yellow hair that curls at the ends in one massive, 1950’s flight attendant swoop.”
Just imagine that you’re Bryony and you have one chance to sell your story so you can save the day for your family. You’ve invested your time, all your money, and taken a trip to a writer’s conference where you hope to find an agent who will represent you. Instead, he, the agent, Jack Sterling, “with his scrawny bookish arms,” tells you that your book, although it may have some potential, is basically crap. Surprisingly, what you wind up with instead is a proposal to be a ghostwriter. Not just any ghostwriter, but one to a big name, Amelia Benedict, who is an egotistical, snarky, big ball of hair, selfish little self whose one attribute is that she has enough connections and money to buy what she wants, and that is to have her name emblazoned in publishing. In her attempts to prove she is bigger than life, she stoops low enough in her dealings that it’s amazing that her behind doesn’t face plant. But the pay is good, and for Bryony, right now it’s all about the money she needs to save her Gran and their ESL school.
Bryony? Ah, Bryony, the dreamer; the one who is going to storm the castle, if only she didn’t trip over her own feet. We love her, we cheer for her, and we want to buy her new ponytail elastics. Her repartee flies by us faster than a peregrine falcon, she never misses a beat and she is truly funny. No staircase wit for that girl—she always hits her mark. So, it’s no wonder that her Amelia Benedict books fly off the charts, and that Amelia may just be the teeniest bit jealous, if she had the sense to be. The best Amelia can do at this stage of the game, because she did write her own very first book (which is why she’s had ghostwriters ever since), is to look over Bryony’s shoulder and pronounce, “Cut that!”
It seems that Amelia has very little knowledge of character, place, and geography, and it hurt my heart when she wanted Bryony to change the Beaufort, SC, location—specifically, Saint Helena Island—to Key West, FL, but Bryony saved the day and refused to do so:
“I can’t just ‘change’ it to Key West. Key West is pretty, but Beaufort has the vibrant Gullah culture …. Beaufort has the lowcountry. Beaufort has the culture of a little Charleston in its downtown bayside living without giving up the history of people who still live there. Beaufort has Spanish moss draped over live oak trees.”
Additionally, there is Amelia’s directive to Bryony to cut out the children who are integral to the story:
“Kids out,” she says more firmly. “I hate books with kids in them. People hate kids enough in real life. Nobody wants to hear about other people’s children when they’re trying to read and escape their own.”
Oh, Amelia, how can we even try to like you?
Then there is Jack, the agent, the enigma. Is he a good guy, is he not a good guy, can he be trusted? Just, exactly, how many girlfriends does he have? And why can’t he remember their names? A study in contrasts, he is busy, busy, busy, and has many of the attributes of an owl. Attentive, charming in his own way, Jack is the protective barrier and would-be-white-knight; but again, can he be trusted?
Put everyone in a bus and ride along while they hit the road on the book tour. Bryony has to whisper the real answers to the questions posed, into Amelia’s earbuds during interviews and book signings. And then, the questions become more interesting, and pointed, as though her fans are studying her books and vying for best-asked questions.
Since it seems Amelia hasn’t even read the books that Bryony has written under her name, this puts Amelia sorely on the spot and she relies on Bryony more than she cares to admit. However, when conversations like this ensue, Bryony gets the first and last words:
“Apparently illustrated covers are ‘on trend,’ whether or not the initial main love interest dies brutally in a fishing accident during a family reunion.”
“Kenneth died in Smuggler’s Paradise?” Amelia stammers. And one point to her credit for recognizing the title by the fishing reference, although that point must immediately be retracted given his name was Gene.
“Brutally,” I reply.
“I told everyone I wished my father could’ve had the same experience Kenneth did at our reunions! Are you telling me I told everyone I wish my father was killed?”
“Brutally killed,” I correct.
No matter how many novels Bryony ghostwrites for Amelia, her own novel, Water Under the Bridge, the one that’s going to save the ship, is still in the forefront of her mind. How can she get it published, and in time to save the school?
Let’s not forget Jack. The ever present, behind the scenes good guy, or not? Until he does something that turns everything head to toe. And totally out of the box (or is it?) for love. Amelia didn’t see that coming (bless her heart), neither did Bryony, but Melissa Ferguson knew just how to write the perfect ending to The Perfect Rom-Com.
Happy Reading!
Melissa Ferguson
Melissa Ferguson is the bestselling author of titles including Meet Me in the Margins, Famous for a Living, and How to Plot a Payback. She lives in Tennessee with her family in their growing farmhouse lifestyle and writes heartwarming romantic comedies.
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