Not Like Before - bookrastinating.com

English language

(1 review)

Lola never wanted to be on camera alongside an A-list star—but maybe Mackenzie is everything she needs.

History professor Lola Barnes never cared about celebrities, and filming alongside superstar actress Mackenzie Vale isn’t exactly on her bucket list. But there aren’t a lot of experts on Mackenzie’s hometown on the remote Celadon Isles, so when the studio filming a deep dive of Mackenzie’s backstory comes knocking, no isn’t really an option.

This exposé is the last thing Mackenzie wants to do. She’s had a good run as an actress without the ravenous press finding out she’s trans, but keeping it that way when the media is digging around in her childhood and with her gossipy family isn’t going to be easy. But it might be her last shot at her dream casting—and her agent doesn’t take no for an answer, anyway.

And it isn’t any easier when Mackenzie is immediately …

Lola never wanted to be on camera alongside an A-list star—but maybe Mackenzie is everything she needs.

History professor Lola Barnes never cared about celebrities, and filming alongside superstar actress Mackenzie Vale isn’t exactly on her bucket list. But there aren’t a lot of experts on Mackenzie’s hometown on the remote Celadon Isles, so when the studio filming a deep dive of Mackenzie’s backstory comes knocking, no isn’t really an option.

This exposé is the last thing Mackenzie wants to do. She’s had a good run as an actress without the ravenous press finding out she’s trans, but keeping it that way when the media is digging around in her childhood and with her gossipy family isn’t going to be easy. But it might be her last shot at her dream casting—and her agent doesn’t take no for an answer, anyway.

And it isn’t any easier when Mackenzie is immediately head-over-heels for the gorgeous professor they tapped to film with her. And it isn’t any easier when going back to the isles means confronting all the things Lola ran away from there over twenty years ago—and that the only thing comforting her is a bond with the last person she’d ever expect to fall for.

As a tight filming schedule, a nosy agent and a relentless director force Lola and Mackenzie to face the ghosts of their pasts, will they crumble in the face of everything they ran from once? Or can they find strength in one another and be more than they were before?

Not Like Before is a 90,000-word grumpy/sunshine celebrity romance with a trans woman lead set on a fictional island where everyone is at least a little gossipy, and is the second collaborative novel between Lily Seabrooke and Jacqueline Ramsden. Features a celebrity actress made of pure sunshine and a historian who’s secretly soft under the surface, a meddling ex, Mackenzie’s meddling family, Lola’s meddling friend who loves Mackenzie more than she loves life, and Mackenzie’s agent, who is, unsurprisingly, meddling. Content warnings for on-page sex, a toxic ex, parental abandonment, gambling addiction, implicit threats of outing, a panic attack, falling off a boat, Hope being a fangirl, Taron being smug, and of course, the granny bra incident.

1 edition

April Wick Reads Too Much reviewed Not Like Before by Lily Seabrooke

Lovely grumpy/sunshine romance

5 stars

I read Not Like Before when I was having a bad day and it was just the sort of sweet, lovely book I needed, full of people who really care about each other (well, except some of the antagonists I guess). The plot was driven by very believable aspects of the characters' personalities instead of relying on miscommunication or other contrivances - at no point did I find myself wanting to grab the characters and shout, "Just talk to each other!" in their faces, as is sometimes the case with romance novels.

I'm so incredibly grateful that there are authors like Seabrooke and Ramsden writing books with excellent trans representation. Their experience may not be identical to mine, but it's similar enough that I cried with empathy at some of Mackenzie's more emotional moments. Also, it's neat to see a nonbinary antagonist who is a fully-developed secondary character with motives …

I read Not Like Before when I was having a bad day and it was just the sort of sweet, lovely book I needed, full of people who really care about each other (well, except some of the antagonists I guess). The plot was driven by very believable aspects of the characters' personalities instead of relying on miscommunication or other contrivances - at no point did I find myself wanting to grab the characters and shout, "Just talk to each other!" in their faces, as is sometimes the case with romance novels.

I'm so incredibly grateful that there are authors like Seabrooke and Ramsden writing books with excellent trans representation. Their experience may not be identical to mine, but it's similar enough that I cried with empathy at some of Mackenzie's more emotional moments. Also, it's neat to see a nonbinary antagonist who is a fully-developed secondary character with motives that are clearly based on realistic personal flaws/issues that anyone could have. Taron is a complex enough antagonist that I can imagine reading something from their perspective in which I actually feel sympathetic for them, even though they're absolutely awful in this book.

Speaking of secondary characters, I love Hope's mix of innocent optimism and academic thoughtfulness. I'm absolutely rooting for her to get a book of her own! Her soliloquy on history and choices was beautiful and inspiring.

I have one quibble with this book: I can't figure out where the Celadon Isles are supposed to be, or much about their history and culture - and one of the main characters is a historian of the Isles. I wish we got to learn more from Lola about her specialty.

Everything else about it is great! As a celebrity vacation romance it pretty much has to be a light read, but the characters are substantial enough to get really invested in their emotions.

I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys sapphic romance, trans representation, and/or a good grumpy/sunshine trope.

Disclosures: (1) I received an ARC of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review here. (2) I'm trans, and I may be predisposed to appreciate books by and/or about trans and nonbinary folks. (-: