YOU GUYS IT’S BACK! CALENDAR GIRL IS BACK! I’ll be whinging about it shortly, but for now I am truly excited to jump back in. This is the penultimate book in the series, can you believe it? Glamorous high-class callgirling! Long lost siblings! Annoying best friends! Terrorist plots! Kidnapping! Mob activity! Gambling! This series truly has it all.
Calendar Girl (November) Chapter 1:
Wes and Mia are in New York for Mia’s job–oh yeah, I forgot she’s doing a television segment now…and she’s not doing the plot of this series anymore–enjoying some snowy weather.
I’d settled on the fact that I’d be without Wes for two weeks, which for me was too soon after his captivity. The mere thought of being separated from him for any length of time gave me hives, but I did everything I could to act unaffected. He was on the road to recovery and doing incredibly well with his therapy. The last thing I wanted him to think was that I didn’t believe he could handle himself for two weeks without his overprotective girlfriend to watch over him.
Right, yes, of course. Mia is filming a new segment. Wes has trauma that needs to be addressed through sex from the time he was held captive by terrorists. How could I have forgotten?
It wasn’t until I’d made plans to interview my buddy Mason Murphy, star pitcher for the Red Sox, and Anton Santiago, the Latin Lov-ah, that he changed his mind.
Oh good! Not only do we get the return of beloved fan favorites (pause to allow crickets to finish chirping), but we get another boyfriend who can’t stand for his girlfriend to be in the presence of another man outside of his watchful eye.
One night last week, Wes confided that he’d had an entire session with his therapist, Anita Shofner, about the men I still had in my life. He knew I took calls regularly from Mason, Tai, Anton, Alec, Hector, and Max. Of course, he didn’t mind calls from Max, my long lost brother, or Hector, because he was gay and in a committed relationship with Tony. He admitted to being a bit jealous of the other four men. He’d met Anton and appreciated that the Latin Lov-ah had helped me through a difficult time, but he straight up did not trust him due to his reputation for being a ladies’ man. Even Mason, who was head over heels in love with his PR gal, Rachel, had his hackles rising.
I guess it’s good they’re communicating and that he’s still seeing his therapist. I really struggled to find something positive to say here. It’s not that the jealousy is totally unwarranted…it’s just he knew what he was getting into with all this, and he knows that Mia hasn’t even slept with most of these guys. I don’t know. I think I’m just burnt out on these jealousy tropes, and this one is taken to the extreme. I mean look at that list! And Wes still had/has Gina in his life–being kidnapped together aside.
Mia is just happy it got Wes to go with her to New York…yay?
“When are we meeting with your friends?” There was a hint of irritation in his tone. His reaction to seeing Anton again and meeting Mason was odd. My guy had always been really down to Earth and comfortable in his own skin.
Wait so the jealousy is now being attributed to the kidnapping? I’m no expert on trauma, but that’s a new one.
They have sex off-screen, and then Wes does something unexpected:
While I lay there catching my breath, a Mia blanket over my man, I felt Wes lift my left hand, bring it to his lips, and kiss each finger. Then the sneaky bastard slid something weighted over my bare ring finger.
“When are we going to get married?” he asked out of the blue.
[…]
“Is that a proposal?” I quipped.
His eyes narrowed, and he tipped his chin toward my hand. I looked down at the band of diamonds sparkling back at me. “We’ve already discussed this.” He added, “You know that you’re never getting asked. You don’t have the option to decline.” His words were firm, leaving no room for compromise.
Is this really what romance is all about? Jealousy and being harassed by your partner about when you’re going to get married? Apparently, that’s what women really want. Mia, you always have a choice. Blink twice if you need me to send help.
Mia agrees to marry him (ug), and Wes declares they’re getting married next year…on Jan first! Omigod, it’s already November! Do you see what he did there? He must get this woman locked ASAP!
Later, Mia and Wes go to see Anton. Heather, who was also a character in this series, greets them at the door. Mia describes for multiple paragraphs what she and Heather are wearing. This is honestly the strangest series of books. I missed them. I mean, look at this dialogue:
Wes cleared his throat behind me.
“Oh, snap. Heather, you remember my boyfriend, Wes?” I gestured to Wes’s shoulder.
“Um, I think you mean fiancé, sweetheart.” He smirked and winked.
Heather’s eyes widened as if she’d been electrocuted on the spot. “Holy black balls, Batman! You’re getting married! That is so awesome!” She pulled both of us into a combo hug, looping one arm each around our necks. “Heck, yeah. Anton is gonna love this. Weddings are his gig!”
Holy sweaty balls, Batman! That sure is some hip happening dialogue!
“Who’s getting married?” Anton spun around, wooden spatula still in hand. “Lucita! You? Tell me it isn’t so.” He crossed both hands over his heart and shrank back against the counter’s edge.
I laughed. Wes didn’t. He slung an arm over my shoulders. “Yep. Show ’em your ring. We’ll be getting married on the first of January.” His words were filled with male pride.
Can you imagine if Wes’ voice had been full of pride of an unspecified gender? I can’t.
Also, I am really getting anxious about Mia marrying Wes. I’m praying there’s a small chance she’s going to come to her senses and flee. He keeps pushing her to set a date in front of poor Anton and hip-happening Heather.
“We’ll talk about this later. Okay?” I leaned up and kissed him once, and then twice for good measure so he’d know I wasn’t blowing him off.
[…]
“Okay, sweetheart. Later. As in, tomorrow.” His response was firm and held an edge of authority.
R U N, MIA!
Mia spends the rest of the chapter catering to Wes’ needs, and he sort of blames them on the kidnapping again. I have a feeling this will be tackled more later, so I’ll hold my tongue for the most part. However, I really hate the idea of this ramping up of the jealousy being blamed on being kidnapped by terrorists. It just feels like such an outrageous abuse of a sensitive storyline that was super out of place in this series. I’m curious what all of your initial thoughts are on that. Maybe I’m being too harsh.