A Disaster in Three Acts by Kelsey Rodkey

Published on July 13, 2022

A Disaster in Three Acts Cover.jpg
Reviewed by Jayde Valosin

 

Imagine this: All of your dreams ride on your ability to make an amazing documentary, but at the very last moment, your subject pulls out of the project. Devastated, you need to find a new focus (and fast) but the only person you can think of is your ex-best friend. The ex-best friend who rejected you during a game of spin-the-bottle six years previously and who then went on to date your new best friend. And who you definitely don't miss or still have feelings for. At all.
If you think this sounds like the setup to the perfect romantic comedy, you definitely aren't thinking like Saine Sinclair.
All Saine wants is to get into Temple University, and to do that she'll need to partner with Holden Michaels as he competes in the Vice and Virtual gaming competition to win a virtual reality headset before it becomes available to the public. While she's not thrilled to be working with him, especially not considering their history, she knows she needs to suck it up, just until her project is complete. She doesn't like sneaking around her best friend and Holden's ex, Corrine, but she appreciates the distraction from everything going on at home and finds that Holden is better company than she expected. But Holden isn't telling her everything, and a few bad decisions will leave Saine with a lot to think about- and apologize for-if she's determined not to lose him again.
With A Disaster in Three Acts, Kelsey Rodkey has perfectly made a main character who readers might not like, but who they will definitely still want to see come out on top. Saine is selfish and shortsighted, often putting her emotions and desires over those of even her closest friends and family. Some of her choices, and her reasons for defending those choices, are frustrating, but the characters around Saine don't provide an easy way out, choosing instead to hold her accountable. This forces Saine to grow as a person and own up to her mistakes, resulting in some of the best parts of the book. Holden and Saine's friends and family provide a lot of background interest for the story.
Romance readers will love this one, but almost any reader who gives this book a chance will find something to appreciate.

 

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