Romance Annotation: When Katie met Cassidy by Camille Perry

Synopsis (Spoiler free): When Katie met Cassidy starts the Monday after Katie Daniels’ fiancé breaks up with her to date her former best friend. Struggling to cope with everything as she goes into work on Monday, she is intrigued when she finds herself negotiating a business deal with a strong willed woman, Cassidy Price, who is wearing a man’s suit. Cassidy is also interested in Katie Daniels, and against both of their better judgements they go out for drinks together. What follows is a funny romp through a relationship and the story of how to find yourself when things don’t go exactly as planned.

Pacing: The plot moves pretty quickly, never really dragging at any one point. There doesn’t really feel like any wasted time and you can visibly see their relationship deepening as the book goes on, making the progress obvious so that every chapter feels important. The climax of the book happens about four chapters from the end. The chapters also alternate between the two main characters and are usually pretty short which also makes the book feel like it has a pretty fast pace.

Storyline: As with romance books, the storyline of When Katie met Cassidy concerns itself mainly with the romance between the two main characters. It hardly deals with any other plot that does not directly impact their romance. For example it mentions at one point that Cassidy is working toward a promotion but never discusses what that means, why she wants it, or if she gets it by the end of the book. It is brought up more as an indicator of how much her relationship now means to her since she is willing to put her job on hold to spend time with Katie.

Characters: Both Katie and Cassidy fit perfectly into the romance genre archetype. They both need to learn different things about themselves and overcome their shortcomings before they are able to fully commit to being in the relationship. Additionally, they have to understand and work with the baggage that the other has from their upbringings. 

Setting: Unlike other genres, romance isn’t specific to a particular setting. This means that the setting, though important for some readers, does not determine whether or not this is a romance book. This book does take place in modern day New York, which is used as a city in which a country girl is able to explore her newly found sexuality.

Tone (Spoilers): The tone is upbeat and light-hearted throughout the book as you watch the beginnings of Katie and Cassidy’s relationship. Additionally, there is never really any concern about the happy ending not occurring, which is one of the biggest marks of the romantic genre.

Language: The language in this book is descriptive but mainly in regards to the emotions and looks of the main characters. The setting takes a back seat and it is all about how the characters look to one another and how they feel.

Read-alikes:

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

Eyes like those by Melissa Brayden

The Assistants by Camille Perry

References

Saricks, J. G. (2009). The readers’ advisory guide to genre fiction. Chicago: ALA.

Photo from goodreads.com.