Vladimir by Julia May Jonas is another attempt to find a way to enjoy romance novels.
Completed: July 22, 2025
Recommendation: Mild Recommendation
Recommended By: The Guardian
Review:
I guess I am a pretty pedestrian (some might say, "Hallmark," romantic). I don't find masturbation romantic. I'm not a BDSM kinda guy. I guess I just really like when two people click. I do see this in the Hallmark romances, although it is not common there. The push me, pull you style of romance has no attractiveness for me. I don't get a rush over the enemies turned lovers (although I have room for that...it is more that there is not the "thin line" between these two things as some suggest for me). I get how everyone has a bunch of angst around romance and so a touch of that is just realistic...a month of that seems, to me, like a wild indulgence. Not so interesting for me. The book is well written with pretty good character development and a reasonable story line (until the end when it all falls apart in my mind and becomes a rush to stop writing at some word requirement). There is a lack of transition to the ending (imagine, and they all lived happily ever after--though that is not the exact nature of this particular ending). It just felt like it wrapped up once the romantic drama was done, then there was a bunch of hand waving and it is over.