Today’s review is about GIVE ME BUTTERFLIES by Jillian Meadows. It’s a standalone contemporary romance that features Millie, an entomologist, and Finn, an astronomer. Millie’s dream job opens up at the museum, but Finn is part of the interview panel. While she wants the position based on her own merit, she can’t stop ignoring her attraction to Finn.
Author: Jillian Meadows
Series: Oaks Sisters, #1
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Avon Books
Publish Date: January 21, 2025
Print Length: 384
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Give Me Butterflies Synopsis
Synopsis
A swoony, steamy, STEM romance in which two curators at a science museum–a handsome but grumpy astronomer and an anxious but sunshine-y entomologist–realize they are the perfect match. Now with exclusive bonus content!
Millie has never taken the expected path. Her childhood love for bugs and science led her to entomology, and her role as a curator, inspiring museum visitors every day. It’s her dream to run her own department–so when a rare director position opens, she is determined nothing will distract her from her goal. Especially not Finn, her grumpy coworker with his permanent scowl, electric blue eyes, and endless supply of astronomy ties.
. . . Not that she’s spent time noticing any of those things.
Finn doesn’t mean to glare at everyone, but he’s juggling his role at the museum, navigating the grief of losing his sister, attempting to make his nieces smile, and trying not to ruin dinner for the fifth night in a row. He can’t afford to let anything slip, and certainly doesn’t need more to deal with–especially not Millie literally stumbling into him, with her bright smile and sunny optimism.
He bugs her. She’s too starry-eyed for him. They want nothing to do with each other. But with Finn on the interview committee, avoidance is impossible. And Millie soon realizes it’s one thing when a job is on the line. It’s quite another when it’s her heart.
Give Me Butterflies Review
I received a free, digital, advanced reading copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. My review is my own and reflects my honest opinion about this book.
GIVE ME BUTTERFLIES is a contemporary romance that appears to be the first in a series of standalones. Millie is an entomologist at a museum preparing to interview for her dream position, head of the entomology department. Nothing can distract her from her goal, including the attractive, grumpy curator Finn, the museum’s astronomy director. That becomes more difficult when Finn becomes an interview panelist for the job she wants. But a series of awkward incidents lead Millie to learn more about Finn. Try as she might, she likes what she sees despite fighting against it to prove she can get the job on her own merit.
Described as a STEM romance, GIVE ME BUTTERFLIES is really more of a cutesy, heartfelt romance with light STEM elements. The reader doesn’t really spend any time with Millie that centers around insects. And time spent including Finn’s astronomy interests centers only around stargazing with Millie and in remembrance of a family member. The only reason to call it a STEM romance is because both characters are scientists and that’s as deep as it gets. While I hoped for and expected more of the STEM component to come into play, I adjusted my expectations to enjoy this book for what it is.
Millie more or less embodies the sunny disposition trope. But she is not without her own troubles and anxieties, which the author sensitively portrays on the page. She is apparently passionate about bugs, but that passion is more evident when she gushes about her favorite almond croissants and interacts with Finn’s nieces. Finn’s grumpy exterior is all show and he is definitely a cinnamon bun kind of guy who has his own family pains to work through. Their ease with and adoration of each other is clear. And I appreciated that they communicate well, nixing the disliked miscommunication trope.
However, in addition to the lack of STEM elements, there are a couple other things that didn’t quite work for me. There are a lot of interactions between coworkers that I thought would not actually happen in a contemporary work setting. For example, Millie platonically kisses her coworker on the cheek at work. Even though they’re best friends, that’s not really work appropriate. There’s also a scene at work where Finn teases Millie about her choice of nicknames because they sound like stripper names. There are a few other interactions that occur at work that made me raise an eyebrow. These scenes add levity and depict Millie’s friendliness, but it’s unrealistic.
I also didn’t care for the easy resolution of Millie’s job interview progression, which is actually more of a background storyline relative to her courtship with Finn. I can’t say too much because it’s a spoiler. But suffice it to say Millie competes with one other candidate for the job. In the end, the museum panelists had an easy out to choose Millie. I suppose I wanted more conflict here, though it at least leads to a healing confrontation.
My nitpicking aside, GIVE ME BUTTERFLIES is an easy read for anyone who likes a cozy romance and happy endings. Science doesn’t feature so much here, but Millie’s bubbly personality and Finn’s heartfelt confessions and adorable nieces steal the show.
Rating: 3.5
Content warnings: sexual content, emotional abuse, death of a parent, cancer
Reading format: Kindle e-book
If you liked this book, you may also enjoy Ali Hazelwood’s STEM romance novels: CHECK & MATE, LOVE ON THE BRAIN, and THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS.
I’m always curious about these STEM romances, so it’s too bad there weren’t any STEM elements. I think I’ve read one of Ali Hazelwood’s books (lol I should remember!) and I think she does a much better job with them.
Yea, Hazelwood incorporates more science-y things. They’re never in the weeds and I guess I’d still call it superficial level science plots, but GIVE ME BUTTERFLIES basically had none.
It is a bit of a shame that science didn’t appear a lot there. It still sounds like a nice enough book amd I will keep an eye on it but tour review resetted my expectations for it! Thanks for sharing!
It’s a cute book if you like lighter romances. 🙂 Based on the synopsis, though, I’d just hoped for a little more of a science element.
great review celeste! i pretty much had the same feelings for everything you talked about haha. definitely still an enjoyable read!
Thanks! Glad I’m not the only one who thought so. I think those who skew more toward pure contemporary romance readers won’t mind the lack of science so much. It was just marketed as STEM, so that’s what I expected!
This kind of sounds like a mixed bag of a book to me which is a shame (especially when it has such a stunning cover). It sounds like the STEM features were only included for a selling point and the romantic potential of stargazing. But at least it sounds like the characters were pretty interesting and had a nice dynamic between them.
I know, the cover is so pretty! The characters were good folks and not annoying, so that aspect definitely worked.