I found Kate Cole’s book Under Construction on Instagram. I try to support indie romance authors, especially Canadian authors, and Instagram is a great place to find local authors. Cole’s first book in her Women in Trades Romance series definitely caught my attention. But if I’m being honest, it was the book cover that actually got me interested. (I 100% judged the book by its cover.)
Avery is living a double life: a badass heritage stone mason by day, and a woman who loves wearing pink and dancing by night. Avery’s job of restoring the historic Taylor Building is made that much harder because of the perfectionist project manager Kent, who gets under her skin in the worst way. But when Avery bumps into Kent in the real world (away from scaffolds, highlighters, and hardhats), things get weird. But weird in a good way (eventually).
Under Construction is a fun take on the enemies-to-lovers trope. “Sometimes there’s more to people—and projects—than meets the eye.”
From Kate Cole’s website
What I enjoyed most about this book was Cole’s writing style. The playfulness of the writing and the characters kept me engaged and entertained. The puns, the play on tropes (looking at you shoes and staircase), and the playfulness of the characters made this such a delightful read. In fact, I read it twice in a row it was that good!
What impressed me was the research and knowledge that went into writing this book. Stone masonry. Stones. Quarries. Mortar. Tools. Everything a stone mason needs. I really liked the information about the changing technologies within the field. I’m not sure if Kate Cole works on a site, but she knows her way around a trawl it seems.
As an editor, I loved how polished this book was. Typos? Couldn’t see any! I especially noticed the use of strong verbs, and the balance of action-narration-dialogue. The work that went into this book is so clear. It’s a labour of love to polish a book this well, and Kate Cole clearly loves to write and revise. In her acknowledgements she thanks her beta readers and editor, and I am reminded that writing, although a solitary endeavor, is done within community. I can’t wait for the next book in the series to come out! I’m now a huge fan.
One recommendation I would have as an editor is to be okay with some run-on comma splice sentences sometimes. I appreciate the semicolon, colon, and em dash a lot (like, really really a lot), but sometimes it helps with the flow to use a comma (and maybe break some punctuation rules). But again, the writing in this book is such high quality that this advice is personal preference.
Here are some of my favourite lines from Under Construction:
- “By the time I get to the mortar shack, my mood is as dark as a hundred years of accumulated stone soot and atmospheric soiling.”
- “I name all my pets after food products; it just what I do.”
- “For the record, I’m smart enough to know when a woman knows better than me–which is often–and man enough to let a woman take charge when the situation warrants it.”
- “I feel his hard chest against me; the smell of him fills me up like a sedative, warding off the anxiety I’ve felt ever since hearing those dreaded words ‘we need to talk’.”
If you’re looking for strong characters, clever puns, and excellent writing, check out Kate Cole. You won’t be disappointed!
