Book Review: The Polly Principle (The Laws of Love #2) (ARC)

Author: Davina Stone

Polly Fletcher loves marrying off her friends. Which is kind of weird considering she has no intention of ever walking down the aisle herself. Social worker by day, sex siren by night Polly has a clear set of principles that guide her life; her Tinder app, her Jimmy Choo shoes and a packet of condoms in her clutch.

So when she meets a sexy, silver-eyed stranger at a friend’s wedding, all she’s after is a wild night between the sheets.

Solo Jakoby has his Ducati motorbike, a backpack of his belongings, and a disaster he’s running away from in Sydney. And sure, he’s wildly attracted to the curvaceous beauty, but he has a job to do, and some unpleasant memories to forget. So what if their night together blew his mind? They’re never going to meet again.

But when Solo and Polly are flung together in quite different circumstances how are they going to handle the chemistry that just won’t seem to let up between them?

And when they start to uncover each other’s past hurts and vulnerabilities, is their crazy attraction set to turn into something deeper? Something that may just challenge Polly’s firmly upheld principle—to never, ever give away her heart.

After the joy that was The Alice Equation, I was excited to get started on the second novel in The Laws of Love series. The Polly Principle was an excellent follow-up that features a new main character within the same universe. I love these types of series as each character gets their time to shine and the reader still gets to get glimpses into the lives of the other past characters. Similar to the first novel, this is a slow-burn romance that is well done as the two main characters go through obstacles to acknowledge their feelings for the other.

Polly Fletcher is a social worker for the neurology department at a hospital in Australia. The reader first saw glimpses of her character as Alice’s best friend in the first novel, but this time, she is front and center as the main character. Alice is still featured through conversations and to support as Polly’s best friend, but she is not a main character. Due to events in Polly’s past (they are revealed throughout the book), Polly is not a fan of love. She is okay with casual relationships as they can be on her terms, but she is not ready to move beyond this lifestyle. She is a fan of love for her friends, so after the success of her meddling in Alice and Aaron plus other friends, she is ready to move on to her next set-up. At the wedding of her friend, Jake, Polly meets Soloman (“Solo”) Jakoby. The two of them hit it off and decide to have a seemingly one night stand due to their insane attraction to the other.

Obviously, as a romance story, the two of them are not destined for just one meeting and end up seeing each other again in the very near future.  The two of them fight their feelings and attraction for the other due to their new circumstances, but it is proven to be a lot more difficult than either of them thought. The story delves into each of their backstories and the readers learn about each character and what makes them tick. The reveals of their pasts were well done and come about in a very natural way as pieces are revealed when they are appropriate to the story and are integrated well into the dialogues and flashbacks.

As a lot of the story takes place in a mental health capacity due to the characters’ careers, there is a lot of discussion about PTSD and how it affects characters in different ways. The novel goes through multiple pieces from medications to therapy methods.  Almost every side character gets to reveal more about themselves, so it was nice to experience all of them in addition to the main characters. It gave the novel a more relatable and realistic feel when I read through the pages. The novel ties together the first and seamlessly sets up the next novel as the author sets the stage to get the reader excited to read the next novel without taking away from the enjoyment of the current.

Although the novels take place on a moving timeline, each features a new main character, so, in theory, it could be read as a standalone. It would be recommended to read them in order as it gives background and introduction to the universe and characters. Both Polly and Solo are complex characters with their own pasts and insecurities that they work on. Polly’s obstacles were relatable as not only does she have complicated relationships with other (romance and her family), but she has a constant struggle with her body image. She is a size 12 aus (size 8 US), which is nowhere near overweight, but she has trouble with how her body does not measure up to the perfect ratio expected of society. It is a very relatable issue and highlights that body image issues are not just limited to those considered fat.

The Polly Principle had its own style compared to The Alice Equation while still feeling like they were written by the same author. It made each story interesting to read in their own way yet still feeling connected to the other. I hope the feeling continues as I will definitely be picking up the third novel, A Kiss for Carter, which will finally feature Polly’s friend and Solo’s housemate, Carts. It will be thrilling for this character to get his own HEA.  Overall, this was another delightful read by Divina Stone and I cannot wait to read the next novel and any other works that she publishes in the future!

**I want to give a special thank you to Booksirens and the author, Davina Stone, for a review copy of this enjoyable novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**