B
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Romance
Theme: Fish Out of Water, Workplace
Archetype: Diverse Protagonists, Teacher/Professor
Vera “Nick” Nicholson is an underpaid and overworked lawyer. After nearly seven years, she’s still at the bottom of the ladder at Turner, Witherspoon, Anders, and Tyler, PA. (*slow clap* for the initialism of her employer’s name, which is the first sign that this romcom often has its tongue planted firmly in its cheek.) One day, Nick is given a weird job: tracking down a missing Mercedes-Maybach S560 belonging to one of the firm’s top clients—without involving Winston-Salem’s law enforcement. Enter “Fast” Eddie Abrams, who runs the National Recovery Bureau (NRB) and likes to do business out of a diner in Kernersville, aka K-Vegas.
When Nick is let go from TWAT during their typical layoff of junior associates, Nick signs on as an asset recovery agent with the NRB. Even better? She gets paired with Frankie Stohler, a bubbly third-grade teacher who picks up weekend work with the NRB to help pay for school supplies. Nick and Frankie are given increasingly bizarre, difficult jobs that require creative thinking and even more creative wardrobes, and they quickly fall in love along the way.
Because Nick is originally from Philadelphia, she brings a “wait, what?!” attitude to a lot of what she sees and experiences as a transplant in North Carolina. That made her a great tour guide for me, since I don’t know anything about the South other than what TV and film has taught me. Does the quirk feel over the top at times? Yes. Does that mean it’s not realistic? I don’t know, but I had fun with it. For example, I had a little snort laugh the first time Nick calls the NRB and hears, “Praise the Lord and thank you for calling the National Recovery Bureau, where your assets are as sacred as God’s holy Word.” I also raised my eyebrows and laughed when Nick and Frankie recover a hearse that still has a passenger in the back, because I wondered how they’d get through it.
As silly as the book is overall, I appreciated its occasional pauses to address more serious issues. Nick still has a mountain of student loans, she experiences racism (more on that below), and Nick helps Frankie make sandwiches so some of her students can have dinner that night, since the school’s meal program only covers breakfast and lunch. These moments ground Nick and Frankie in reality, balancing out the silliness and making me believe that they live in the real world, despite all their hijinks.
I also enjoyed the romance side of the romcom equation. Nick is shy around Frankie, since she crushes very hard, very fast. Frankie is straightforward about her own crush on Nick and her real feelings that develop from there. There’s zero angst to their relationship and I never questioned whether they would end up together. That was just fine by me, because there’s enough tension elsewhere, especially each time they execute a recovery project. For those who are interested, all the sex scenes are closed-door.
It’s also important to know that The Big Tow is #OwnVoices in the sense that the author and the leads are all lesbians, but not from a racial perspective. The author is White and the whole story is told from Nick’s perspective, and she’s half Black and half Guatemalan (Frankie is White). Because I’m a White Canadian, I can’t speak to how solid Nick’s representation is. Her racial identity isn’t an aside and we see some of the racism Nick experiences as a woman of colour, like when she’s followed around a store for no reason. I know literally nothing about Guatemalan culture, however, and that’s a strong part of Nick’s identity. In particular, Nick’s belief system is a blend of Catholicism and superstitions her mom handed down to her about demons like El Cadejo and La Siguanaba. Frankly, if I wasn’t already a fan of the author, I doubt I would have read this book because it’s not #OwnVoices representation from an Afro-Latinx perspective. I’ve been making an effort to decolonize my reading list, which includes choosing books where the author and their lead characters share the same racial identity.
The Big Tow was fun and a nice distraction. I wouldn’t say it changed my life, but I enjoyed myself when I was reading it. The only drawback for me was the running commentary I had with myself as I wondered whether Nick’s racial representation is good or if any of it is harmful, since I honestly don’t know enough to say either way. I’m still not sure how I feel about that aspect of the book, so I’ll likely stick with only reading #OwnVoices books, even if a favourite author steps outside of their racial lane. If you like romcoms, this might be a good choice for you, especially if you like them quirky and don’t mind the idea of a White author writing from the perspective of a woman of colour. Definitely download a sample because you’ll know pretty quickly if this is your jam or not.
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I noticed this is the second review this week that had difficulty with a main character being of a different race than the author. I admit to being somewhat conflicted on this subject – I totally affirm the desire for more diverse authors but have certainly enjoyed books where authors made their leads a different race/orientation/ethnicity. I wish there would be some articles specifically looking at this topic on the site instead of just allusions to the issue.
A very thoughtful review, and it’s appreciated. This sounds like a fun weekend read and I’ll check it out. Thanks!