Review: Enjoyable, Playful, and Humorous Romance
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 25, 2014
“A Moral Dilemma” is a fun romp, taking the best elements of the chick lit genre (young woman seeking love while juggling career, with the support of devoted best friends) and turning it into a fresh, enjoyable read.Rebecca starts out the book with some light detective work based on a suspicion that her beloved boyfriend, with whom she owns a beautiful and expensive flat, is cheating on her—and with the help of an obliging bartender, she soon has video evidence. On top of her heartbreak, she has to deal with a contentious co-worker and a boss who scoffs at the potential of Rebecca’s anti-aging facial exercises to bring money into the exclusive salon where she works.However, when Rebecca meets the rich Isabella Coombs, who fears her husband may be a cheater too, she’s drawn to help her, and soon Rebecca finds herself in a position she swore she’d never be in: trying to tempt Charles Coombs to prove once and for all to Isabella whether her husband is (or isn’t) faithful. It’s all to help a friend, of course…until things spiral out of control and nothing is what it seems.I read a lot of chick lit, but “A Moral Dilemma” puts a new spin on the genre (besides the protagonist not working in publishing). I liked that the plot wasn’t just based on meet cutes and missed encounters with a romantic interest—it plays with what you as a reader will accept as moral and immoral behavior, and even changes that definition throughout the book based on how the personalities of the characters are revealed. Her attempted seductions of Charles also add humor and, as the story goes on, suspense. I also liked how fully realized Abby and Juju were as characters—while you walk in Rebecca’s shoes and empathize with her as a character, Abby and Juju have their own personalities and backstories that make their secondary plots compelling as well.In sum, I really enjoyed “A Moral Dilemma” and would recommend it to readers who enjoy chick lit in the vein of Sophie Kinsella, but with a bit more depth when you look at it closely.