Review: My Kind of Trouble by L.A. Schwartz

Posted October 9, 2024 by Lola in Posts without a category / 2 Comments

My Kind of Trouble
by L.A. Schwartz

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/f

Blurb:
Harmony Hale has been putting the art in con-artist for years. Now, she’s finally ready to take down the town mayor who ruined her father’s life. But Harmony’s tried-and-tested con – selling a non-existent music festival – requires her to win over the insufferably stubborn librarian who could lease her the land for the festival site.

Autistic librarian Preston Jones spends his days fighting conservative book challengers and looking after his younger sister Lacey. He has no time for a romance like the ones in his books – and certainly none for the brash festival promoter knocking down his door.

Preston sees things in black and white, and Harmony is nothing but trouble. But when Harmony promises to help save Preston’s library programs, he begins to wonder if this hustler with a heart of gold might be the one he’s been waiting for.

With Harmony’s con coming to a crescendo, she must choose between revenge and running again, or the happily ever after she never saw coming…

My Review

I received a free copy from the publisher through Netgalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

I immediately requested this one after spotting it on Netgalley and seeing it had an autistic main character. After getting diagnosed as autistic last year I’ve been reading more books with autistic main characters and I liked the sound of this one. I wasn’t sure about the conwomen part, but decided to give the book a try anyway. And I am glad I picked it up as I had a great time reading this book.

At the start the book fit pretty much my thoughts when requesting it, I liked Preston and found him relatable. I did not like Harmony and the way her con meant she’s lying to everyone, I also didn’t like how pushy she was to Preston, but then she also seemed surprisingly understanding and accepting when he was firm.

Slowly I grew to like Harmony more, as I got to know her better her reasons made more sense and it was clear how much losing her father hurt and how desperately she was trying to fill that gaping hole his loss left. Once I understood her better I started liking her more. It also helped that the people she cons aren’t nice people, she’s not just in it for the money, but more for a type of social justice. She also has such a vibrant personality and I do love those type of characters in books. And the way she interacts with Preston especially when they grow closer was wonderful, I loved how understanding and accepting she was. And I just really liked them together.

Their romance was quite the slow burn, but once they get over a certain hurdle it went a lot faster and I could really feel their connection when they start to work together. I liked how Harmony helped him with the library and the people who wanted to shut down some of the programs and ban books. I liked how Preston and Harmony spend time together checking out vendors for the festival con. They made for a great couple and I liked reading about them.

One thing I did struggle with was the conflict, with that set up it was clear what the conflict would be and after a certain point I was just waiting for the lies to come to light and everything to go wrong. And that part just wasn’t my favorite, but I actually did quite like how it all played out and got resolved. I had predicted part of the resolution, but it was still satisfying to see it play out. And I liked how the conflict and drama wasn’t drawn out. And seeing Harmony be vulnerable and share her feelings with Preston was awesome.

I also liked how Preston was autistic and how that was part of who he was. I liked how relatable he felt and it was fun to spot things I could relate to and behaviors I recognized. He also has a sister who’s autistic and it was interesting to see some different traits and traits that present differently in her.

To summarize: This was a lovely romance story between an autistic librarian and a conwomen. I picked this one up because of the autistic main character and liked him from the start. I struggled more with Harmony and how she lied for her cons, but slowly warmed up to her when understanding her reasons and methods more. She is such a vibrant character and I liked how understanding and accepting she is. I liked their romance and seeing them getting to know each other and grow closer. They were a great couple. I did struggle a bit with the conflict, it was obvious what the issue would be and when I got closer to the end I just wanted to get the conflict over with. I did like how the way it played out made sense and I liked how it got resolved. I thought the autistic representation was well done and I found both Preston and his sister Lacey relatable. All in all I had a great time reading this book!