Strong Continuity And Also Strong Growth. This book is Luke Young’s first in several years – I believe his last new release before this one was 2017’s Seriously Messed Up, which *still* holds up as one of the funniest, most truly laugh out loud books I’ve ever read. This book actually opens with a scene that will readily bring to mind that book for any who have read it, and the overall tale actually has a lot of similarities to Young’s formerly long running Friends With … Benefits series, including a fair amount of quite explicit, damn near erotica level sex that brings to mind the “Ian Dalton” “sexier” versions of Friends With… Benefits series.
And yet, Young also shows quite a bit of growth in writing almost a women’s fiction level romantic tale of self discovery, as well as in creating some genuinely heartbreaking moments not usually seen in his prior works. Clearly, the time away from new releases has allowed Young to grow and develop as a storyteller – and while that is never a bad thing, this in particular is also a case of a great comedic storyteller learning to show true depth, while staying true to his comedic roots, which overall makes him an even *stronger* storyteller.
So read this book. I can almost guarantee you’ll never find anything quite like it, as despite my extensive and wide ranging reading (particularly since Young released his last book), even *I* have never encountered one quite like this one – and yet it is perfectly in line with the romance/ women’s fiction spaces, and thus familiar *enough* to not be alienating in any real way (barring personal hangups about any number of topics).
Very much recommended.
This review of Blame It On Emerald Isle by Luke Young was originally written on July 15, 2023.
