Witty Rom-Com with HeartEyes and... Feathers! (Birding with Benefits book review)

You know the saying “there’s nothing new under the sun”?

 Nobody really want to believe it’s true... even though, deep down, most of us know that it is.

 

We’ve all rolled our eyes about books, shows, and movies, for the “been there, read/seen/heard that before” scenario.

 

A movie about cop partners? Cue every cop-buddy-trope comparison out there.

 

A show about a charismatic serial killer? Someone’s gonna make references to lotion, baskets, and fava.

 

The toughest of them all, though? Rom-coms... where tropes positively thrive.

 

Enemies-to-lovers. Opposites attracting. Someone needs rescuing. Pretend relationships. Friends-to-lovers. Forced spending time together. False or mistaken identity. Rich person falls for poor person. (Et cetera, etc.)

 

But here’s the thing...

 

Just because you’ve seen a thing done before... doesn’t mean someone else can’t come along and put a whole new spin on it. 

 

Sometimes—thank goodness!—magic still happens... as in newbie-author Sarah T. Dubb’s entirely-delightful Birding with Benefits.

____________________

 

When outgoing, risk-taking, 42-year-old Celeste—who has been happily, fully embracing her “FINALLY, I gotta do ME!” Era for the past couple years, post-divorce—meets an amusing guy at a drink-and-paint event (no, don’t jump ahead, this isn’t about THAT trope), she winds up agreeing to help him out.

 

Or rather, to help John, a friend of his, out.

 

Which is how she winds up at a nature park, ready-and-willing to play the unknown John’s new girlfriend... in front of his ex. (Helping someone get over an awkward, in-person first encounter with a bitter ex? Celeste is only too happy to assist.) 

 

Except... the charming guy painting next to Celeste left out one tiny (but important) detail: John is an experienced birder (someone who takes the spotting-and-identifying of birds very seriously)... and is expecting to meet someone to fill in for said charming painter friend—in a role that used to be held by the bitter ex—in a major pairs’ birding competition.

 

A competition that—if he won—could launch John into the exciting new business of his dreams. 

 

Celeste likes the local Tucson, Arizona outdoors as well as the next person... but she’s never given much notice to, well, birds. 

 

But changing one’s life, mid-stream (or maybe, mid-flight, because, birds), and trying to make a dream come true, well... those are things “Celeste 2.0” can get behind 110-percent!

 

So just like that, Celeste is a budding birder... with shy, handsome, middle-aged John as her teacher-slash-partner.

 

It’s no great surprise when sparks begin to fly... but with each carrying a heap of past relationship baggage—her, a long marriage, and him, the nasty breakup of a toxic relationship—neither is looking to start anything permanent.

 

But for, erm, temporary benefits?

 

Well, surely that couldn’t hurt anything, right? 

 

Right?!?...

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So, let me be honest. I’m not a frequent romance reader—and by that, I mean, straight-up romance, with a capital R, where the love story is really the whole story.

 

But.

 

Something about Birding with Benefits screamed “This is YOU!!!”, so I sat down with it cued up on my Kindle.

 

And really, really LOVED it.

 

Yes, it ends up more or less exactly where I—and probably you—expect it will. (That’s not a bad thing. It’s the getting there—the journey—that makes any good story worth reading/watching, after all.)

 

The author beautifully depicts Celeste’s experience. Finding herself again—after spending years with someone who’d long ago stopped appreciating and valuing her... then vowing never to risk surrendering that hard-won identity for a relationship, ever again—really, really hit home.

 

Dubb also proves herself a master at drawing believable, meaningful relationships. Whether it’s that of Celeste and her BFF... Celeste and her teenage daughter... John and his best friend... or the one that grows between Celeste and John as they gradually become acquainted, each feels real and special. 

 

And speaking of Celeste and John (because I know some of you are waiting for me to get to “the good stuff”)...

 

BwB comfortably straddles the line somewhere between sweet, tender rom-com yumminess... and sweaty, titillating “smexy” times between the sheets (on the workbench, against a tree...). Plenty of warm fuzzies... and warm other regions, to be had here.

 

If you’re a regular romance reader, you should obviously pick up a copy of Birding with Benefits, stat. (Also, if you happen to be a birder, because there can’t be that many novels based around the topic.)

 

But, if you’re more like me, and don’t usually gravitate toward straight-up bodice-ripping romance—but you do absolutely love a witty, cleverly-written rom-com with appealing characters and a lot of heart—then you should also consider putting this one high up on your list. It’s a real treat.

 

~GlamKitty