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3.0
Toni and Addie Go Viral
ByPublisher Description
Mistakes Were Made meets Delilah Green Doesn't Care in a charming lesbian romance from New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr
Hot new author and her lead actress stun fans in a secret wedding―is it all a publicity stunt? Or something more…
On a whim―and hoping to pay off the hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt her grifter father left behind―Victorian history professor Toni Darbyshire sells her lesbian detective novel in a massive deal. Suddenly thrust into the overwhelming new world of publishing, plus a television adaptation, Toni’s life gets even more complicated when her one-night stand turned pen pal (and the namesake for her main character) shows up in person for casting of the show.
Aspiring actress Addie’s had a crush on the professor ever since she watched her lectures on the Victorian era to prep for a stage role. Now, getting cast in Toni’s TV series could be her big break. But Addie’s in over her head when promo pictures of their fake Victorian wedding go viral. She could lose more than just her heart … and her historically accurate underthings.
Hot new author and her lead actress stun fans in a secret wedding―is it all a publicity stunt? Or something more…
On a whim―and hoping to pay off the hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt her grifter father left behind―Victorian history professor Toni Darbyshire sells her lesbian detective novel in a massive deal. Suddenly thrust into the overwhelming new world of publishing, plus a television adaptation, Toni’s life gets even more complicated when her one-night stand turned pen pal (and the namesake for her main character) shows up in person for casting of the show.
Aspiring actress Addie’s had a crush on the professor ever since she watched her lectures on the Victorian era to prep for a stage role. Now, getting cast in Toni’s TV series could be her big break. But Addie’s in over her head when promo pictures of their fake Victorian wedding go viral. She could lose more than just her heart … and her historically accurate underthings.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesToni and Addie Go Viral Reviews
3.0
“Wow, people will really do anything except go to therapy.”
“I’m glad I read the other one first or I probably wouldn’t have in the first place. I was quite annoyed by Addie in a lot of the book, though I can’t pinpoint why.
Though I also feel a bit called out for every time I thought/said “Will yall please just talk””
“Toni and Addie Go Viral opens with a bang—literally, a news article announcing a wedding—and promises a gleefully messy sapphic romance built on fame, publishing, and fake relationships. While the premise is irresistible, the execution proved more complicated for me, largely because of how uneven the emotional terrain between its protagonists becomes.
It’s difficult to root for Toni, whose unresolved trauma bleeds into nearly every interaction she has. Her emotional avoidance, insensitivity, and tendency to retreat behind walls she’s fortified over a lifetime make her frustrating to follow as a romantic lead. Addie, meanwhile, initially reads as a baby-gay ingenue, but quickly reveals herself to be far more emotionally capable and self-aware than Toni. Watching her repeatedly offer grace, patience, and understanding—only to be hurt again—made their dynamic feel lopsided. That said, Addie’s eventual insistence on her own worth and boundaries was one of the most satisfying moments in the novel.
A subplot involving a homophobic actor (and Addie’s ex) escalates into harassment that becomes increasingly upsetting. While I understand the narrative function this serves, it felt unnecessarily heavy-handed, and I struggled with how much page space it occupied. Other mechanisms could have been used to provoke conflict without leaning so hard on trauma tied to queer vulnerability in public spaces.
There are moments of genuine charm here, and Marr clearly understands the pressures of visibility, queerness, and success colliding all at once. Still, for me, the romance never fully balanced out. Addie does most of the emotional labor and bears the brunt of the hurt, while Toni remains stuck in patterns she’s unwilling to fully confront. I enjoyed aspects of this book, but ultimately, it didn’t come together in the way I’d hoped.”
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