Book Review: Girl Gone Viral by Alisha Rai

Girl Gone Viral (Modern Love #2)

by Alisha Rai

Release Date: April 21, 2020

Source: Edelweiss

Goodreads

In Alisha Rai’s second novel in her Modern Love series, a live-tweet event goes viral for a camera-shy ex-model, shoving her into the spotlight—and into the arms of the bodyguard she’d been pining for.

OMG! Wouldn’t it be adorable if he’s her soulmate???

I don’t see any wedding rings [eyes emoji]

Breaking: #CafeBae and #CuteCafeGirl went to the bathroom AT THE SAME TIME!!!

One minute, Katrina King’s enjoying an innocent conversation with a hot guy at a coffee shop; the next, a stranger has live-tweeted the entire episode with a romantic meet-cute spin and #CafeBae is the new hashtag-du-jour. The problem? Katrina craves a low-profile life, and going viral threatens the peaceful world she’s painstakingly built. Besides, #CafeBae isn’t the man she’s hungry for...

He’s got a [peach emoji] to die for.

With the internet on the hunt for the identity of #CuteCafeGirl, Jas Singh, bodyguard, friend, and possessor of the most beautiful eyebrows Katrina’s ever seen, comes to the rescue and whisks her away to his family’s home. Alone in a remote setting with the object of her affections? It’s a recipe for romance. But after a long dating dry spell, Katrina isn’t sure she can trust her instincts when it comes to love—even if Jas’ every look says he wants to be more than just her bodyguard…

Oh, wow. This was such a miss for me and I am so sad it was. When I started this book, I thought the premise was so promising with how Katrina is a super private person, has anxiety, and hates attention, so when she goes viral, her bodyguard whisks her away to his farm house hours away. A bodyguard romance!? YES. Sadly, this book ended up being so boring and the romance was overshadowed by other storylines. 

The story in this book was very slow moving and I hated how we still have a lot of unknowns about these characters' pasts. Katrina is a very complex character, but I feel like her backstory was not developed to its full potential. I still have questions about her relationship with her deceased husband and what happened to her that has scared her from having attention on her again. Then, with Jas's character, we didn't really get his full story until almost the very end and I wish that we had that in the beginning. There was drama currently happening the related to his past, but we only got conversations about it, not any confrontation with it or something more substantial. 

As for the romance, it was sweet, but it didn't really go anywhere. Jas's issues with his family overshadowed his romance and I didn't really find myself caring about when Jas and Katrina were going to get together. There wasn't really a spark for me and I was more bored that anything while reading. While I really enjoyed The Right Swipe, I just wasn't a fan of this book.