Hottie on Her Shelf by Christi Barth finds Hallie Scott signed up to run for mayor of Swan Cove by her 
best friend as a birthday present. The current mayor, Fitz Montgomery, was expecting to be unopposed. That was the way it had always been. A Montgomery had always been mayor. While Fitz didn’t want the position, it was expected by his family.
Fitz is thrilled to have someone to run against, and secretly hopeful that he’ll lose. Knowing Hallie, the town librarian, had no political experience, he offers to help her and give her campaign advice. Hallie is skeptical but decides to take him up on it. While things initially start off hostile between the pair, Fitz wears Hallie down and they start a secret relationship. But when the elder Montgomery’s decide that their son needs to win at any cost, will it signal the end of their relationship?
Fitz is a great character. He’s charming, compassionate, and a great listener who only wants to make everyone happy, at the expense of his own happiness. Unlike his parents, who are snooty and look down at anyone who has less than them, Fitz doesn’t care about wealth. He doesn’t care that Hallie comes from the town over, which is considerably poorer, or that her family struggles financially. Being with Hallie, makes him happy, and it seems like one of the few choices he has ever gotten to make for himself.
While I really liked Fitz, Hallie is not as likeable. First, it felt like she was written to fit every stereotype available about librarians. Then, unlike Fitz who didn’t care about Hallie’s social status, she cared a great deal about his. She immediately assumes the worst about him because of who is family is and their wealth. While Fitz’s parents were judgmental towards people who weren’t wealthy, Hallie was judgmental against affluent people. Even when she said their different economic classes didn’t matter, it was clear it did affect Hallie’s behavior and attitude towards Fitz.
She was also wishy-washy. On one page she’s saying she wants to make things work with Fitz, then not long after she’s saying they’re just too different to work and wants to end things. I was left wondering what was wrong with her, because she had just said she wanted to work things out with him. The back and forth was annoying, and there were some other instances that I found her irritating as well.
I liked the concept of the story and believe I would have enjoyed the book more if I had actually liked Hallie. I couldn’t find too much to like about her, which brought down my overall enjoyment of the book.
This book would be for readers who enjoy small town romances, enemies-to-lovers stories, or romances about two people who come from different economic classes.
Book Info:
Publication: July 11, 2022 | Amara |
Hallie Scott expected the hangover from her thirtieth birthday. She did not expect to find her calm, orderly life as Swan Cove’s head librarian to completely change overnight when her best friend added Hallie to the mayoral ballot because of one little remark. One. Now she’s going head-to-head with the small coastal town’s prominent “prince,” Fitz Montgomery…whose charm is about to get seriously checked.
All Fitz wants is to prove himself, beyond being the latest in the unbroken line of Montgomery mayors. Nobody, least of all Fitz, expected the town’s cute-as-hell librarian to step up and run against him. Hallie’s definitely in over her head, which is a problem, since Fitz wants a fair fight. But is he helping Hallie level the playing field…or arming his opponent?
Hallie and Fitz are on completely different sides. Their backgrounds, their lives, their ongoing ebook vs paperback argument. But they’re both about to learn that the art of war is nowhere near as complicated as falling for the enemy.
