Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publishers of "The Politics of Love" for the opportunity to read this novel for a fair review.

This is an interesting dynamic of two professional women. Rand is a psychotherapist specializing in transgender rights activism, who also happens to be Democratic in her politics. Shelley is a successful attorney, working on behalf of her Evangelical parents’ faith-based organization, and who happens to be Republican in her politics and also a closeted lesbian. Both have their own issues, but the chemistry between them is elecrifying and neither are able initially to respond to the other in a way that quenches their thirst for each other.

I enjoyed the dynamics which were considerably enhanced by other characters, especially Jamie and Rachel. It was also great to read something so intune with cultural and political differences and the spectre of trying to live an authentic lifestyle agaisn t the back drop of homophobic dissent and vitriol. I thought the author did a good job of the characters individual struggles with their need to emerge and be fully themselves, although I did think Shelley was way too tolerant of Rand's lack of appreciation!

4*

Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for the ARC of this book.

I'd been wanting to read a political romance for a while, and I think this one was well done. I was unsure of how I'd react to Shelley, who comes from an Evangelical Republican family, but she was the standout character for me. Her personal growth arc throughout this book was wonderful to witness, and I was strongly rooting for her. Rand, the Democratic activist, was also likable, though not without issues. Shelley and Rand have erudite conversations and for the most part are great at listening to each other. This book isn't necessarily a fluffy, escapist romance -- I like those kinds of stories, too, but this one had more angst. This book also wasn't a formulaic romance novel, which was refreshing.

The Politics of Love had potential to be a five-star book, but I had three major gripes:

1. There was so much head-hopping in the last ten-ish percent of this book, which was jarring.

2. I felt like Shelley's arc was fully realized, whereas Rand's was lacking. I would have liked a bit more focus on Rand's growth at the end of the book.

3. There's one scene near the end of the book where Rand tries to show how much she cares for Shelley, and...I don't want to give too much away, but I thought Rand's move was lazy, performative, and flat-out unnecessary.

Overall, I enjoyed this read and will be looking forward to more from Jen Jensen.

Thanks to the help of NetGalley I have been working on expanding the genres that I read. Romance is not a genre I usually gravitate towards, but a goal of mine this year is to choose my books more deliberately and make sure I am supporting all voices.

Well let me tell you, I love this story. I love Shelly, I love Rand - I love every moment that these two independent women show their strengths and weaknesses. I love the way politics are effortlessly woven into a story that educates you, breaks your heart, and then puts it back together again. I absolutely adore this story.

CW: homophobia

3.5 stars book,

English: I liked this book. There are things that I really appreciate about and others that I did not like so much.
I want to appreciate the romantic story between a lesbian woman and a transsexual woman who is not that witty in literature (or wasn't until just a few years ago). I also very much appreciate that it is not a teenage or women's romance in your early twenties; not because they have anything wrong with it, but I feel that it is very common and is not so common in characters between their 30s and 40s.
Also, the fact that Rand has the support and acceptance of her friends and family about who she is and that the drama is not based on the fact of being trans.
And finally, although I do not think I am the best to comment on American politics since I am Latina, I very much appreciate that both positions are presented and discussed respectably, both as a Republican and a Democrat, and that the characters can contribute their points of view. views even if they are contradictory, in a way in which both parties are heard.

Now there are a couple of things that, in my opinion, I did not like very much. <<spoilers>>
First and foremost the insta-love. I am not one of the people who believe that 2 people really fall in love at first sight and at the same time although I do consider that it can happen to feel a great attraction.
But I think what I liked the least was Rand's attitude towards Shelley when pressing her to come out of the closet and above all that when she finally could take courage and do it. Knowing everything Shelley was facing, not only the fact of being conservative and openly say that she is gay, but knowing that her family was not going to support her and adding the social repercussion that she was going to have, Rand in a month of being by her side she behaved like a teenager and left her totally alone. I know that she also had her own problems and that later she wanted to remedy things but I think it was a horrible action and that at least as her "friend" she should have put her things aside for a moment and been with Shelley as Rachel did.

After what I said, I think it is a good book. I would very much like it to be published in the main because it shows that two people can have a completely different opinion about something (especially in politics) and manage to maintain a relationship with respect, dialogue and understanding. Politics tends to blind people and even break relationships, and it shouldn't be so. This book proves it.

Thanks to Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley for allowing me the book.


Spanish: Este libro me gustó. Hay cosas que de él que aprecio mucho y otras que no me gustaron tanto.
Quiero apreciar la historia romántica entre una mujer lesbiana y una mujer transexual que no es tan ocurrente en la literatura (o no lo era hasta hace unos pocos años). También aprecio mucho que no sea un romance de adolescentes o de mujeres en sus vente años; no porque tengan nada malo en ello sino que siento que es muy común y no lo es tanto en personajes entre sus 30 y 40 años. También, el hecho de que Rand tenga el soporte y la aceptación de sus amigos y familia acerca de quien es y que el drama no sea en base al hecho de ser trans. Y por último, aunque no creo ser la mejor para opinar sobre la política estadounidense ya que soy latina, aprecio mucho que se presenten y se discuta de forma respetable ambas posturas, tanto como Republicana como Demócrata, y que los personajes puedan aportar sus puntos de vistas aunque sean contradictorios, de una manera en la cual ambas partes son escuchadas.

Ahora bien hay un par de cosas que, en mi opinión, no me gustaron mucho. <<spoilers>>
Primero y principal el insta-love. No soy de las personas que crean que realmente 2 personas se enamoren a primera vista y en el mismo momento aunque sí considero que puede suceder sentir una gran atracción.
Pero creo que lo que menos me gustó fue la actitud de Rand con Shelley al presionarla a salir del closet y sobre todo que cuando por fin puedo tomar coraje y hacerlo sabiendo a todo lo que se confrontaba Shelley, no sólo el hecho de ser conservadora y decir abiertamente que es gay, sino que sabiendo que su familia no la iba a apoyar y sumándole la repercusión social que iba a tener, Rand en mes de estar a su lado se comportó como una adolescente y la dejo totalmente sola. Se que ella tenía también sus propios problemas y que luego quiso remediar las cosas pero creo que fue una horrible acción y que al menos como su "amiga" debería haber dejado de lado sus cosas por un momento y haber estado con Shelley como sí lo hizo Rachel.

Después de lo dicho, creo que es un buen libro. Me gustaría mucho que se publicara en principal por el hecho de que demuestra que dos personas pueden opinar completamente diferente a algo (sobre todo en la política) y lograr mantener una relación con respeto, diálogo y comprensión. La política suele cegar a la gente y hasta lograr romper vínculos y no debería porque ser así. Este libro lo demuestra.

Gracias a Bold Strokes Books y NetGalley por permitirme el libro.

This book is incredible, and not at all what I was expecting. Shelly Whitmore is a well known attorney and works on behalf of her Evangelical parents faith-based organization but she’s gay. She’s always known that she was but to keep this secret to herself she developed severe anxiety and depression. She meets Rand Thomas who is a psychotherapist and transgender right activist on a talk show and they somehow connect. Shelly realizes that she can no longer keep her true self hidden even at the cost of losing the love of her family. Rand lost her wife to cancer 3 years prior and she has never felt for anyone, including her wife, the way she feels for Shelly.
This was a great read and i can't wait to read more books from this author in the future.

A book that is going to be politically active and socially relevant in times to come as it asks the most important question we need to ask ourselves right now does the politics matter more or love? Shelley and Rand are my personal favourite women and their narration in the book very beautifully paints through the words their worlds and their perspective. Another LGBTQIA story that I had a wonderful time reading not just because of its theme but it's deep internalised writing and such retrospective analysis of the characters was needed with its topic being a thunderous one. Glad to have read this one.

I sadly had to dnf this book at the 30% mark. The dialouge and therfore the love story between the two main characters was so forced and therefore unbelievable that I couldn't continue reading this book.

But not only the protagonists talked like robots but also the side characters. I couldn't sympathies with a single character.

I believe that this book is more suited for people who don't read romance as often as I do, because the premise is really good (especially because I LOVE books about politics) but the execution just didn't do it for me

This is a hard book to rate, because I really enjoyed the first half, but found myself struggling to finish it. We follow Rand, a democrat therapist, and Shelley, an ex-evangelical Republican lawyer, as they intertwine themselves into each other's lives. It is a love story, but also not, because it takes so long for Rand to stop shutting Shelley out.

There were some chapters that felt very disjointed, as if there was a chapter missing in between, and the timeline felt very confusing. Some moments the characters acted as if they barely knew each other, and others they thought about the countless emails they had sent each other over the last year and how much they knew about each other.
What I did like about this was the political aspect, the discussion of both democrat and republican American politics without the author picking a clear side. However, the pacing of this novel left me feeling like it dragged on, so I can't give it more than 3 stars.

<i>The Politics of Love</i> follows Shelley, an attorney, and Rand, a therapist and trans rights advocate. They're both queer and they both like each other, which is a seemingly unlikely occurrence given the fact that Rand is a liberal and Shelley is a closeted conservative. After adding this to the fact that Shelley has mental health issues and a family that she knows won't accept her real self and that Rand is grieving the loss of her wife, there's certainly some obstacles to Shelley and Rand's relationship.

Although the premise was promising and the cover was gorgeous, I was admittedly disappointed in <i>The Politics of Love</i> for a few reasons. First, <b>the pacing was just way too quick.</b> I just wasn't convinced that Rand and Shelley could have fallen this hard for each other so quickly. I felt like a lot of the thoughts that these characters had about each other related to physical characteristics, which just wasn't something I particularly cared for. I also thought that some of the events didn't flow well. The structure felt like <i>okay this happened, now moving on, okay now this happened, alright next, now this happened</i> and so on.

Furthermore, even though I read this book because of the political subject, <b>I thought the message about politics was a little messy.</b> At some point, I thought the author was trying to make the point that two people can love each other even if they have different beliefs...but then Shelley changes her political party. The line <i>"I've updated my party affiliation to Independent. For you. Because I've heard you too."</i> just didn't sit right with me. I didn't agree with Shelley's political views, but I think I would have liked to see a portrayal of individual growth, not an action "for you" aka Rand, which is more of a weird proclamation of love and sacrifice than an indication of actual change.

<b>I think the thing that bothered me the most was the writing.</b> For an adult novel, this writing felt ridiculously underwhelming. I became hyperaware of the fact that nearly every sentence started with a noun--and most often a pronoun. Good writing will make you focus on what the words are conveying, not the order in which the words are written. It was incredibly distracting and did not flow at all. There was way too much tell instead of show, and something about the characters felt too surface-level.

<i>The Politics of Love</i> was a quick queer romance centering around politics and acceptance, but overall, the characters and writing style fell flat.

Two women, an Evangelical conservative and a transgender rights activist, meet when an interview about a transgender bill doesn't go as anyone planned.

Rand: Widowed and suffering from guilt towards her wife she's struggling with survivors remorse.

Shelley: Growing up in a conservative and religious environment left Shelley suffering from crippling anxiety due to not being able to live as herself. Shelley is intelligent, and loves reading and learning new things.

Pro:
Interesting premise - By having a lesbian christian republican Jensen already makes this plot unique. I like the political side of this book very much.
Well described anxiety and coping mechanisms - Living with anxiety often come with different coping mechanisms. I find Shelleys to be very realistic, and it's well written.

Con:
Unnecessary drama - I loved the first half of this book, and was very sad when Rand acted as she did. Even though it's understandable due to the remorse she's feeling, I found it unnecessarily cruel and unforgivable. How Shelley handles it doesn't feel real considering how much anxiety has affected her for a long time. It left me with a numb feeling after finishing the book, and greatly reduced my reading pleasure.

This review is based on NetGalley ARC provided in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.

Wow, sometimes opposites attract more than we give them credit for.
Not saying that the difference is not only on political part, but everything in between.
I think this is first type of story like this where I wanted to know how all got resolved. Some issues were more involved and at times make or brake situations.
Loved the fact, both parties could compromise.
I admire that very much.

Shelly is a lawyer and conservative, daughter of famous evangelical. She often makes the rounds on nightly news and talk shows, offering conservative opinions. But one conversation with Rand who is a transgender rights activist and psychotherapist starts a domino effect on her life. Her attraction to the other woman and her opening opinions has her confronting her sexuality and her politics.

Things moved along really quickly in the beginning and I wasn't sure how the author was going to run with it, but the author did an amazing job and created so much room for growth in Rand and Shellys lives and in their relationship. I loved the thoughtful and educated conversations between Shelly and Rand, it really added to Shelly's character and helped the reader understand her better. I really wasn't sure how a conservative and a liberal were going to work out but I think the author did a good job, and created a really interesting and eye opening story. I really enjoyed Shelly's character, she was empathetic and intelligent and sweet and all around likeable. The story was well balanced and nuanced and I enjoyed it a lot. I really enjoyed the writing style of this author and while this is my first book by the author I'm sure it won't be the last.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

With political issues being at the forefront of every news broadcast a politically coloured book could not have come at a better time. I am not from the US so it is always hard for me to understand why there really are only two parties to choose from, In the Netherlands, I think I have my choice from at least 20. All of them all over the spectrum, there always is a party that ticks most boxes for you. You can also elect anyone from that party, we don't get stuck with one horrible choice. Anyway, let's talk about the book.

Shelley is a well known politcal figure. She is a lawyer and writer working for her father's evangelistic Republican Party supporting organisation. Shelley has always known she was different and didn't always agree with the standpoints of her parents, but lately, it's been taking too much of a toll on her. When she stumbles into Rand on the elevator on their way to a discussion for MSNBC she realises that she has to make changes. Rand is an activist, writer and psychologist, known for her support for the trans community. Shelley surprises Rand and the MSNBC host when she agrees with Rand's point of view and would need to do some more research. Rand and Shelley strike up an unusual friendship. They mail back and forth for a year on different topics, while both of them attend therapy sessions to work through personal issues. When Shelley finally comes out and her parents aren't supportive she decides to make more changes, quitting her job, moving to Phoenix, become more independent, letting go of her religion. Shelley and Rand connect in Phoenix, Shelley falls hard, but Rand is cautious. While they keep debating all aspects of life and spending all of their time together they aren't a couple. Could they overcome their very different beliefs and personal problems to become one?

I liked how the book showed both sides of the argument and showed respect for both sides, as it should be in a debate. You don't have to agree, but you have to respect, even if it is ridiculous to you. I liked the story and politics, but I didn't care much for either of the main characters. I think I have to credit the writing for me still being able to enjoy the book. This book shows that a well-written story doesn't necessarily have to have characters you like. The ending was unexpected for me as well, I was expecting a full-blown HEA, but it wasn't. It was happy, but not necessarily forever, just for the time, could go either way. It fit the story quite well.

"If I am who you want me to be," Shelley said, "I can't be who I am. It's killing me."
★★★★☆

The Politics of Love is a new, opposites attract lesbian romance novel by Jen Jensen, out July 14th from Bold Strokes Books. It follows two characters - Shelley Whitmore, a closeted lesbian who is sick of hiding who she is for the benefit of her powerful Evangelical Christian Republican family, and Rand Thomas, a therapist and prominent transgender rights activist - who first meet by way of a television appearance wherein they’re placed on opposite sides of a political debate.

The romance between Shelley and Rand seemed at first like it would be fast moving, but then settled into a leisurely slow-ish burn pace for the majority of the novel. At times, the romance felt like an addendum to the larger, overarching themes of the book, but I didn’t mind that at all. I can appreciate when romance novels aim to be something “more”, and The Politics of Love does just that. I found both of the leads likable in their own way, for completely different reasons. There were absolutely a few times when I wanted to take Rand by her shoulders and shake her, but the angst felt logical, rather than unnecessarily inserted by the author to spice up the plot.

To be totally honest, after I was approved for an ARC of The Politics of Love, I began to panic. “Why didn’t I just wait and read this on my own?” I groaned to my friend via Messenger. “Politics are so divisive right now, and this book has the potential to be a PR minefield!”

“You’re overthinking,” she replied. “Just read the book.” So I did. And I loved it, and now that it’s over, I realized the irony of the entire situation. My anxiety about reading a romance that crosses the political divide in our hyper-polarized society because of our hyper-polarized society is, in fact, peak irony.

I suppose now is as good a time as any to mention that I myself am a Democratic Socialist, but I wasn’t always. Like Shelley, I was born and raised in the Bible Belt, and have lived here for my entire, 27 year life. My mother is a Baptist Sunday school teacher. I grew up going to church multiple times per week, hearing myself damned to hell by our fire and brimstone Southern Baptist preacher. I knew I was a lesbian from fourteen on, and cried myself to sleep each night, praying to at least be bisexual instead of a lesbian, so that I’d have a chance of falling in love with a man and making my family happy.

So, unlike some other reviewers, I went into The Politics of Love fully expecting to identify with Shelley, the closeted gay Republican, at least on a base level, and I was not disappointed. At some points, I related to her inner dialogue so much that I was practically highlighting entire pages. I would be remiss not to mention that The Politics of Love also includes really excellent anxiety representation. In addition to identifying with Shelley’s experiences with compulsive heterosexuality and repressing her sexuality for her family, the way Jensen wrote Shelley’s anxiety really rang true for me, as someone with multiple anxiety disorders.

In the end, I think a lot of my worry about this book was unfounded. After seeing a lot of negative commentary accusing the YA M/M romance The State of Us of trying to humanize the Right without expecting them to humanize the LGBTQ+ community (and that’s not even touching the issues with the racism), I feared The Politics of Love might fall prey to the same mishaps, reworked for an adult audience, but that wasn’t the case at all. It was obvious that Rand and Shelley respected and learned from each other, genuinely finding middle ground on which to build their relationship.

Final thoughts: The word politics might be in the title, but The Politics of Love was far from a manifesto or evangelism for either side of the aisle. Instead, it was a sweet, slightly angsty romance about finding love and acceptance in unexpected places.

The Politics of Love At A Glance
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Themes/Tropes: Opposites Attract, Age Gap (< 10 years), Coming Out, Slow burn
LGBT Rep? Yes!
OwnVoices? Yep
Content Warnings (CWs): Non-consensual public outing, homophobia, death of family member, grief

ARC Note: Thank you to Bold Strokes Books and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Rated 4 out of 5
What a wonderful read with outstandingly likeable characters. Having next expected to sympathise with Shellie, who holds (or her father) holds very radical beliefs on LGBTQ+ I didn’t expect to fall so hard for Shellie. But, I did.

Having a story written with the romantic female leads from opposing sides of life was both interesting, and well done. Each character got a chance to shine. I wasn’t so sure I’d be so invested in a politics based story, especially having no interest in it, but the lesbian story was what I came for. But, Jenson again surprised me, having me invested from the get go, making it near impossible to put down.

My own dislike is how sharply it ended, that sometimes it felt I was told rather than showed. This didn’t overall impact my love for it, still rating it a strong four, but it’s the reason for the last star.

I'm not sure how to impart my experience of this novel. I picked it up because I was intrigued by the politics and whether it was possible to like a lesbian Republican, or even see her point of view. My knowledge of American politics is very limited and simplistic. I imagined that the idiot in charge embodied the beliefs and policies of the Republicans.

Shelley Whitmore meets Rand Thomas on a television debate around transsexual rights. Shelley is a lawyer working for her father’s evangelical organization. She’s also smart, measured and suffers from anxiety. Rand didn’t expect the interview to go quite the way it did but had no hesitation in continuing the discussion after the debate. Rand is an activist and therapist.

The story unfolds from the third person point of view alternating between Shelley and Rand. What I found interesting about it is that it’s almost like the narrator was picking up a snow globe, turning it around, giving the characters close look but then withdrawing and seeing how the particles settle. I think much of it is telling rather than showing but I wasn’t irritated or bored by it. I didn’t feel distanced from the characters. There are also strong dialogue based scenes and just as many where the dialogue seems oddly mundane.

Shelley was a surprise. I was sure I wouldn’t like her at all but as it turned out, I adored her. Rand should have been easy to like but I could feel myself wanting to shake her. What this novel showed me is the many shades of grey in a person’s upbringing and beliefs. I think I’m more conservative in my views than perhaps a lesbian should be and I loved the depiction of how complicated it can all be as well as how simple it can be too.

Book received from Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

3 stars. Shelley Whitmore is an attorney and a strong advocate for the Republican party. Her Evangelical parents are famous for their support of the Republican party and its values. She becomes somewhat unsure of some of her values after meeting Rand Thomas, a psychotherapist and activist. Rand and Shelley have an instant connection that neither of them want to accept, even after spending a year emailing back and forth every day.

This book was good, but not great. I felt like the changes for Shelley happened too fast and Rand was a little too afraid of everything. I did not like that aspect of the book and it ruined it a little for me. I really liked Shelley's character and I enjoyed her journey but it seemed to happen pretty quickly throughout the book. I did enjoy this book. I read it in one day., but it was just an average novel. I would recommend this maybe to someone who enjoys the author.

The Politics of Love by Jen Jensen really surprised me. Not only did we get a ton of character growth, no big misunderstandings during the romance, but we also got a very smart look into how to make a relationship work with contradicting stances on very big topics. I loved how the author was able to fluidly bring in clashing political arguments from both a very conservative side as well as a very liberal side and explain the issues between Shelley and Rand with very fleshed out and coherent thoughts that supported both sides without the book just being a constant debate. The ideas are smart and logical and well researched and added to the story without making the entire story about political ideologies. More so than that, both characters have big personal triumphs that they overcome. Shelley comes to terms with the fact that she is gay and her ideologies do not align with her evangelical parents and Rand comes to terms with her grief of realizing she was not in love with her partner Kim before she died and had wanted a divorce but stayed with Kim until the end.

Thank you to Bold Strokes Books for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review. I will definitely be purchasing this book once it comes out.

3.75 Stars. This was a good read. I actually think I enjoyed this more than I expected to. Politics, especially in this day and age, are so divisive that I had no idea how Jensen could make this storyline work. I’m happy to say I was pleasantly surprised and thought she did a good job. While this is Jensen’s second book, it is my first read by her. I think she shows a lot of promise and it makes me excited for her future books.

This is a story about Rand, a therapist and liberal activist for the LGBTQ+ community and Shelley a libertarian conservative lawyer who works for her father’s Evangelical organization. Shelley is sick of living her life in the closet and when she meets Rand she can’t help but be enamored by the kind of person she is. Maybe it is time for Shelley to live her own true life but is it possible for her to come out of her parent’s shadow?

I was very curious how Jensen could possibly make such an opposites attract story. Plus there are not many conservative activist characters in lesfic and how would that work? Well surprise, guess what character I absolutely adored? Shelley the libertarian! While I disagreed with certain views, she was such a likeable character and so easy to root for. Instead the lesbian activist Rand was the unlikable one most of the time. I was watching Jensen on a panel today of BSB authors and she mentioned that she was having an issue with liking Rand’s character too. Luckily, Rand was more redeemable towards the end but I sure did not expect to like the character of Shelley so much more.

While I really liked the plot of the book and how everything unfolded, I did have a few issues. They are pretty small in the grand scheme of things but I think I should mention them anyway. One was that the book felt a little short. The ending did not feel rushed but it was still over too quickly for my tastes. Just when I really got completely invested, it was over. My second issue was that I had some problems with certain dialogue. Choppy is not really the right word maybe more like staccato in form. Short clipped sentences in a row and sometimes the character would ask a question to someone else but they would keep talking right through it. Since I read reasonably fast, I found it would jar me out of the story at times. Also, when this happened I was not always sure who was talking so again I would have to stop and go back to reread the same part to figure it out. This was not a constant problem but it appeared a handful of times. I think having the characters banter back and forth more like word tennis and maybe some added dialogue tags would easily fix this. Jensen writes really well so if she fixed this issue for future books she would really be all set.

If you are looking for a good opposites attract story I would definitely recommend this one. It was well done and more enjoyable than I expected. I’m now looking forward to reading Jensen’s debut ghost hunter book soon. I have a feeling I am going to enjoy it.

This was an interesting read. The author's style of writing was very engaging and some of her descriptions were very inventive. The characters were all very well developed. The political points the author raised were interesting. Overall it was a very well written book from a promising author. Having said that, I struggled with the way this book started out as what I thought was going to be an insta-love story, then became a slow burn romance, and then lots of angst flooded in. I struggled to understand how Rand, given that she was a therapist, could be so emotionally stilted; I didn't find her character particularly endearing, the romance felt entirely one-sided; and I found myself wishing Shelley would move on and find someone more emotionally available. Shelley was such a great character and I felt like Rand took her for granted. The book was very very well written, but I would have liked to see a more reciprocal emotional connection and maybe a little less angst.