3/5. Releases 12/26/23.

Vibes: Grease, romcoms, rakes, and good girls.

Heat Level: 2.5/5.

When sheltered Sandrine meets Danny Smith, there’s an immediate connection. But she assumes they’ll never meet again after he’s called away for an emergency–until she goes to London and discovers that Danny is actually Dane, the (potential) future Duke of Rydell and notorious rake. Determined to get back at the now-seemingly-careless Dane, she decides to turn over new leaf and become bolder, brasher, and much harder for him to resist.

This is a very clear Grease retelling, and though I didn’t know that until right before I read it–I love Grease, so I’m good with it. The approach is funny, irreverent, and cute. The heroine is charming, the hero is hot (if not especially original as far as rakes go) and the writing is good. Where the book goes wrong is… well, towards the end, where I kind of feel like Lenora fumbled the ball. Which is disappointing, when you expect the book to be at least a 4-star read (or above) for so much of the story.

Quick Takes:

–When I say this is a Grease retelling… it’s really a Grease retelling. Not just in terms of of the names, or the innocent girl re-meets guy she thought was a sweet boy when he’s actually a bad boy thing. There are Pink Ladies. There’s a curricle called Lightning Streak. “Rydell”. Sandrine describes herself as “hopelessly devoted” to Dane at one point.

Again, I like Grease. This book did the retelling part right–it’s obvious, it’s campy, it’s self-aware. If you’re not familiar with Grease, I think it would still work for you? You might see it as a bit over the top, but it’s still fun. If you hate Grease? This may be inaccessible for you. As a Grease lover, it’s hard for me to tell.

–Sandrine and Dane have a really cute chemistry. It’s frothy, it’s sexy, and I generally loved how boldly she came on to him. He was completely bowled over by this little virgin, and the book milked a lot of humor from their interactions as Sandrine starts asking for what she wants. (And she does just like… ask. Which I also enjoyed. I mean, Sandrine begins the book not knowing what orgasms are, and by the end she’s basically asking him to service her.)

–There’s a whole subplot about general trauma and the way that mothers can hurt their daughters without meaning to. I didn’t expect it, and I would overall say that it’s actually done pretty well. Bell went with a bit of a twist that I found… a little weird in context at first, but overall interesting and solid.

–Okay, so how did this go from a pretty strong read for me for so much of the book, to a disappointment? For one thing, I was really expecting the series setup here to follow the other Pink Ladies (Sandrine’s new girl gangs, based on Grease’s somewhat scandalous Pink Ladies clique) and it was… surprisingly tied up at the end. I was so excited to read about a fully-fledged story about Roslyn (based on the jaded leader Rizzo) and her on again/off again rake hookup, Kenwick (based on T-Birds leader Kenickie, Rizzo’s FWB who’s clearly in love with her). And… it doesn’t seem like that’s going to be happening. Their subplot sounded so interesting, and it gets a really rushed tie-up.

Which confused me, to be honest. Sandy and Danny’s story in Grease is iconic, but very classic good girl/bad boy that was really set apart by campy humor (Sandy telling Danny that she’s not going to be “your… your SIN-WAGON” lives rent-free in my brain) and John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John’s chemistry. The story itself is not that different. So while Sandrine and Dane are so cute, I was really expecting Lenora to go somewhere different by fleshing out her historical Rizzo (who’s aged very interestingly as a character, in my opinion–a bad girl with a secret soft side) and Kenickie. And she… isn’t? I guess? I was bugged.

–The entire ending is super rushed, to be honest. It felt like at the last minute Bell realized there were other Grease markers she wanted to hit, and you went from some fairly high-stakes conflict to a quick semi-grovel and the ONE Grease reference that just… did not work. Lenora Bell is a talented writer; I’ve liked other books from her. There was a line I think she crossed towards the end that basically devalued her writing ability.

–Sandrine put up a fight towards Dane’s desires and goals for them towards the end that felt really tacked on, in both a false conflict way and a “ummmm she’s a feminist I guess?” way.

The Sex:

Solid! I actually really enjoyed the sex scenes in this book, and they were creative and fun and not just based on penetration. There’s a scene where Dane basically teaches Sandrine how to receive cunnilingus (and this is led up to by an adorably inexperienced seduction from her that he naturally is just destroyed by) and at the end he tells her she did well? And at one point she had to pause for a really realistic reason and when she returns she just pops her legs open? It was honestly so cute in a strange way, and I found the book generally super sex positive.

The sex was really one of the best parts of this novel, and I do think that should be commended.

So yeah. I’m a little let down here. I really wanted my Roslyn and Kenwick book, and I just disliked how this was rushed towards the end. If you’re a super (hopelessly) devoted Grease fan, try it. Otherwise, you may be disappointed.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A hist rom Grease isn’t for me.