Review: The Bed Hierarchy – Lauren Connolly
The Bed Hierarchyby Lauren Connolly
Publication Date: July 20, 2021
Genres: Romance
Pages: 54
Source: the author
I received an advance review copy of this book from the author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
My rating:
He has one week to get over his crush. Problem is, there's only one bed.
One innocent night can change the course of a life. Theo discovered this first hand when Olive Buchanan came into his world for less than 24 hours. Six years later, he still can't get past the memory of her. That's the only reason he's agreed to attend the Buchanan family's annual vacation; to prove that his best friend's little sister is not the perfect woman his mind has made her out to be. He has one week to put aside this secret obsession and move on. A task that is suddenly difficult when he finds himself getting closer to her every night...
*Previously appeared in the Only One Bed, Vol. 1 Anthology
Content notes: View Spoiler »
This is a cute and funny novella that was previously in the Only One Bed anthology. So, as you can probably guess, it includes the only-one-bed trope plus the best friend’s sibling trope.
Theo has had a crush on his best friend Tim’s sister for six years. She visited one weekend while they were in college and ended up staying over at his place after a party. While they were both extremely drunk, they had a conversation they completely changed the course of Theo’s life. But, of course, she doesn’t know that, since he hasn’t seen her since then. But this year, he’s decided to attend their quasi-family reunion at a beach house and finally rid himself of this crush. But thanks to the vacation bedroom hierarchy (no kids and not paying for the vacation house!), he ends up sharing a room with Olive, and then due to her demonic cat, a bed. Will the week end with Theo cured once and for all?
Theo was a fun, if clueless, character, and the novella is entirely from his point of view. It was pretty obvious to me that Olive was absolutely in to him from the beginning, but Theo’s so busy trying not to reveal how much he wants her to notice. It’s very cute (and sometimes humorous) watching them together, though, and I enjoyed all their encounters among all the usual beach house shenanigans. It is a very short timeframe (Monday to Friday, plus an epilogue) so I did think that things moved a little too fast, but I loved how Tim reacted to a possible relationship between Theo and his sister.
Overall, a quick, fun summer read, perfect for an afternoon at the pool with a chilled beverage!
