Some Girls Do is a romance set in Australia between Lacey, the fashion student desperate to go home from loneliness, and a much older male friend Coop whom had the hots for her for a long time but left her alone because she's also his best friend's little sister. The push-pull tension was very realistic, and the pretense they had to maintain was perfect rom-com.
To recap, Fashion student Lacey Weston is tired of being shoved around by her 3 big brothers. Their mother, on her deathbed, made the brothers vowed to keep Lacey in design school, but Lacey, missing home too much, has turned self-destructive, including sleeping with professors. One night, betrayed by said professor (he's married with children), she almost froze to death on her friend Coop's door. Coop was in Brisbane watching out for Lacey, despite Lacey's previous pining for Coop when she's only 19. Now years older, Coop still wanted Lacey, but still knew he can't touch her. So he took her home instead. Upon meeting the three brothers, none of whom wanted Lacey to stay, Lacey played the ultimate gambit: threatening that she's pregnant... and then Coop stood up and claimed he's the father, and took a blow in the jaw for it. Now Lacey can stay... and Coop had to stick around... for a little while. Now he and Lacey are living together (platonically), he's the substitute town mechanic, and they're going out as BF/GF. How can Lacey and Coop figure their way out of this mess... and confess their feelings for each other?
Lacey was being a bit immature, being of college age, and just getting rebellious including falling for a professor (who's married! with kids!) but it seems she always had a thing for older men... including Coop who was her brother's best friend. Coops is almost 10 years older, ex-cop, and auto mechanic, strong, with a sense of justice, and protective toward Lacey, but also know that he can't touch her, even with her permission. When Lacey played the pregnancy gambit, Coop decided to stand up and help her with her fiction (he knew she wasn't pregnant!) and that was awfully noble of him...
SPOILER AHEAD
But that also made him very... passive. In fact, one of the darkest moments in the book is when he sent her away to Brisbane so she can pursue an internship with one of the best fashion designers in Australia (after proving her worth when she had to construct a wedding gown in mere hours and was recognized by a local TV station for being a savior). But soon she was sad and moody, and finally realizing she needs to be home... and love Coop.
So what's my beef with the story? The guy's a bit too noble and passive. The girl at least uses tactics to get what she wanted, even if it was being deviously lying. It's almost as if the guy's being the doormat in this story.
Category: Contemporary
Primary Plot: Young woman wants to go home, her brothers don't, she got an old friend to help her claim she's pregnant (by him)
Tropes: pregnancy, disguise, friends to lovers, best friend's sister
Overall Rating: 4/5
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