Book Review: Read Bottom Up by Heel Shah and Skye Chatham

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Publication: April 2015 from Dey Street Books
Acquisition: received a copy from the publisher

Synopsis:

A charming novel about falling in love (or like) in the digital age—the never-before-seen full story

Madeline and Elliot meet at a New York City restaurant opening. Flirtation—online—ensues. A romance, potentially eternal, possibly doomed, begins.

And, like most things in life today, their early exchanges are available to be scrutinized and interpreted by well-intentioned friends who are a mere click away.

Madeline and Elliot's relationship unfolds through a series of thrilling, confounding, and funny exchanges with each other, and, of course, with their best friends and dubious confidants (Emily and David). The result is a brand-new kind of modern romantic comedy, in format, in content, and even in creation—the authors exchanged e-mails in real time, blind to each other's side conversations. You will nod in appreciation and roll your eyes in recognition; you'll learn a thing or two about how the other half approaches a new relationship . . . and you will cheer for an unexpected ending that just might restore your faith in falling in love, twenty-first-century style.

(from Goodreads)

4 / 5 Stars

Adult contemporary rom-coms are very much not my thing. When this one showed up in my mail box I was thinking - thank you so much Dey Street Books for thinking of me but oh man, what am I going to do with this now!

It sat near my computer for a bit then one day I went to move it to a more convenient location and flipped through it a little.

The format of emails and text messages was intriguing and then I read the Author's Note and saw how it was written basically in real time - with each author in the dark about a lot of what the other was writing.

Color me more intrigued!

I read the first page, then the second and before I knew it was throwing my bias to the wind and I finished it in pretty much one sitting.

Read Bottom Up was a really fun. The dual perspective, the realistic relationships, the unexpected but welcomed outcome - all of it fit so well together.

A very surprising and enjoyable read!