Ain’t Doin’ It by Lani Lynn Vale Review

arcblurbaintdoinitCoke Solomon has lived a full life.





He can’t stand it.

He wants her, and he has to have her.




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Single, sort-of alpha a-hole dad meets quirky, virgin animator that’s usually seen as just strange. Add in a ten year age gap, a crazy ex-wife, a failed kidnapping, and someone’s aversion to relationships, and you have the recipe for disaster… or happily ever after.

Ain’t Doin’ It was a sweet story with Cora’s weirdness drawing you in as easily as she draws her characters. Although Coke is a single dad, his daughter is closer to Cora’s age (she’s in her early twenties, Coke’s daughter is 17), allowing them to bond more like friends than mother/daughter. Cora is compassionate, loving, and a little more reserved due to her upbringing. She doesn’t express herself well in person, so she pours herself and her feelings into her artwork. But she ain’t weak that’s for sure. Coke’s desire to stay single is because of a crazy ex-wife, who’s seriously off her rocker. It doesn’t happen all at once, but through Coke’s resolve, Cora worms her way into his heart little by little (like we all knew she would, I mean seriously.)

Why is this book 4 stars and not 5? For a couple reasons. One, the blurb is seriously misleading. The age gap is not that big. I believe it’s only ten years. Am I being picky because of this? Maybe, but blurbs lead you to read the book and this one doesn’t accurately depict the novel. Two, this book was mostly fluff. Sure, there was drama, but it moved past everything so quickly you didn’t really have time to comprehend what was happening. There was just a lot of sex. The oomph I wanted just seemed to be missing.

Despite these, this book deserves every star I gave it. It’s well written, and cute. There’s also the mental illness factor. I’ve only read 2 Lani novels (I know! Shame!) and both have had, what seems to me, like well researched problems. They weren’t thrown out there for the hell of it, but added another dynamic to the characters. There comes a sort of normalization with adding this layer. They characters aren’t crazy, and aren’t made out to be crazy, and they don’t make excuses for themselves, but have identified their problems and learn to lead well rounded lives with them. And their significant others try to understand them as best as possible, even though it takes experiencing it to truly understand it. It helps create not-so-perfect characters living with things that are common, yet taboo to talk about.

Overall, this will not be my last Lani book.


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