Tag Archives: 1.5 fire emojis

One Last Stop — Casey McQuiston

“When you spend your whole life alone, it’s incredibly appealing to move somewhere big enough to get lost in. Where being alone looks like a choice.”

Genre: Romance, LGBTQIA+
Actual Rating: 1.5 stars
Spicy Meter: 1.5 fire emojis because technically there was spicy stuff, but it happened mostly on the subway which is so disturbing.
Content Warnings: Describes homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, hate crimes, racism, death, car accident, suicide, classism and gentrification.

“One Last Stop” follows August Landry, a 23-year-old bisexual woman who just moved to New York City to run from her past. One day, on the subway, she runs into Jane Su, a wonderfully unique girl and immediately develops a crush. But when August asks Jane out, things get awkward. That is until August realizes Jane is actually stuck in time—has been since the 1970s. And so August will use all she’s learned from her past life to help Jane go back to her time—or get out of the subway in present day.

And really, “One Last Stop” had all the cards to make me fall in love with it: New York City? Check. Sapphic romance? Check. Shy main character? Check. Public transport crushes? Check.

Yet, I can’t even believe I finished this damn book. I found August and Jane’s relationship so weird. I’m sorry, but if I run into a subway crush that’s ‘stuck in time’? Hell no. I’m getting off that line and never getting on it again.

But it’s not only that. It’s not only that August got literally obsessed with Jane. No. The worst part of it all is that THEY HAVE SEX ON THE FREAKING SUBWAY. IN PUBLIC TRANSPORT. WHAT. THE. HELL. This book is unforgivable. I would rather die than have to read it again.

Which is weird, because I had never not liked a Casey McQuiston book. I am actually pretty upset her image of her will be tainted by this book in my mind. I can’t, in my right mind, recommend this book to anyone. God only knows why it has a 4+ stars rating in Goodreads. People are literally insane.

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ARC — Something Bright and Burning — Whitney Amazeen

“He does the most dangerous thing a person can do; he lets me hope.
And this kind of hope-the kind that makes me feel like somehow everything’s going to turn out okay in the end-will only end in disappointment.”

Genre: New Adult, Romance, Women’s Fiction
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Spicy Meter: 1.5 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Is all about teenage pregnancy, discusses rape and blackmailing leading to sexual assault, sexual content in general, suicide, underaged drinking, incest, miscarriages, financial hardships, parental death and abandonment, and religious guilt.

“Something Bright and Burning” follows Everly Martin, as she finds out she’s pregnant at 18… and she’s not sure who the father is. Her whole future is ahead of her, she’s taking college classes and working and barely making ends meet. The father could either be Vaughn, the douchebag coworker who’s forced himself on her, or John, the older man she met at a bar. But then there’s also Nicolai, her best friend’s brother, and someone Everly had an instant connection with. In this world, where there are no right answers, will Everly choose to follow what she things if best for her or her baby? Or for both?

Told through journal entries, poems, and a first-person narrative, “Something Bright and Burning” is an ode to hardship and self-improvement. Some characters were a bit cartoonish but, in general, almost all were well-defined, with their diverse personalities, stories, and beliefs.

“I often feel like she willingly allows me to shoulder the weight of our family’s responsibilities. When she leaves the parent role empty, I have no choice but to fill it.”

The only thing I wasn’t 100% sold on was the poetry… It was simply not my cup of it. It was just some instagram-worthy prose, just like the next guy. No poem really spoke to me. It just felt like a little something added to give the main character some hobbies and personality traits.

But oh, was the plot twist so so wild. It has been months, maybe even years, since a plot twist had hit me so hard. Just that plot twist makes this book worth reading. I wish I could go back and read it for the first time all over again.

This book kind of reminded me of Lauren J. Sharkey’s “Inconvenient Daughter” and maybe even a bit to Hanya Yanagihara’s “A Little Life”. It just undertook some very heavy subjects. It did an amazing job of portraying life, with some of its extreme threats.

I would highly recommend this book. “Something Bright and Burning” is a complex read, with a ton of triggering situations (and therefore a ton of content warnings), but if you find the heart to read through them, you won’t regret it.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and Swan Pages Publishinf in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: September 20, 2022

“It’s not you, Nicolai. It’s me, I want to tell him. But
those words have never worked for anyone. So, I don’t look back. I grab all my shit, I take a deep breath, and leave.”

Better Than The Movies — Lynn Painter

“Sometimes we get so tied up in our idea of what we think we want that we miss out on the amazingness of what we could actually have.”

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Young Adult
Actual Rating: 5 stars
Spicy Meter: 1.5 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Underage drinking and smoking, other than that can’t really think of anything else.

“Better Than The Movies” is a rom-com style novel all about rom-coms. Liz Buxbaum and Wes Bennet have been next door neighbors their whole lives, sounds cute, right? Well, it doesn’t help that Wes has been trying to be a pain in Liz’s butt for as long as she can remember. But then in comes Michael, her childhood crush that moved away to Texas when they were younger, and she can’t help but fantasize about dating him. But Michael thinks Wes is into Liz… So, in an attempt to convince Michael that Liz isn’t into Wes, they start… fake dating? But only so they can fake break up later on and Michael can be assured Liz is completely available. But as said break up date comes closer and closer, Liz feels unsettled. She’s liked this new friendship that’s grown between herself and Wes—who’s making it a whole lot harder to hate him.

In this fake-dating, enemies-to-lovers tribute to all young adult rom-com movies, you will ultimately fall in love with some of the most infuriating characters ever. Liz, with her blinding stubbornness; Wes, with his trust issues; Michael, with his insecurities—and misguided decisions. I could not get enough of this book.

I think it’ll be amongst my favorite reads this 2022. Where is Netflix when you need it most? This book needs to be made into a movie. Like now.

In this mostly-clean read, you’ll get all the teenager lessons you’ll need: how all lies are discovered in the end, how your family can support you—even if you’re not related by blood, how it’s okay to mess up and forgive and be forgiven, but mostly how high school and first loves and first crushes aren’t the end of the world.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who’s looking for a cute, rom-com-movie-inspired read. If you enjoy fake-dating and enemies-to-lovers this book is also for you. But specifically, if you’re looking for a book to gift to a teenager in their junior or senior years, THIS IS IT. Don’t look any further. This book has the perfect mix of romance and deception and friendship and family and high school and prom and love.

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“Enemies-to-lovers—it’s our trope, Buxbaum.”

Meet Cute Club — Jack Harbon

“People think of this lonely cat lady substituting affection in real life for fake people kissing, but there are so many people of any gender writing this stuff.”

Genre: Romance, LGBTQIA+
Actual Rating: 3 stars
Spicy Meter: 1.5 fire emojis (Very descriptive, but it just wasn’t for me)
Content Warnings: Veeery sexual, and mentions child and emotional abuse.

“Meet Cute Club” follows, well, the Meet Cute Club, a book club centered on romance books (hell yeah!). Jordan Collins is a recently-unemployed romance book aficionado who founded (and funds) the Meet Cute Club. As the club slowly loses member, Jordan is afraid his efforts and dreams have all been for nothing. Then in comes Rex Bailey, a new (and temporary) employee at Jordan’s favorite book store. In what I would personally call the least-cute meet cute, Rex makes fun of Jordan’s choice of books—until he decides to give romance a try himself, and ends up not hating it and deciding to help Jordan bring the book club back. Will they find their own romance in the process? Or will Rex’s impulses and Jordan’s nature get in the way?

This is a short, fast-paced romance. I feel like it’d be a great airport book. It really sucks you into the story, I read it in less than 24 hours, even though I had some busy days then. But I also felt like it was missing something.

I’m usually all for a queer romance, but this really wasn’t it. I’m not giving up on Jack Harbon quite yet tho, I’ll be looking forward to reading more of what they have to offer.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a gay romance. It is very explicit, I’ll give it that. And it’s truly face-paced, so if you’re not into slow-burn romances, then “Meet Cute Club” is for you.

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To Sir, With Love — Lauren Layne

“Because you said you loved him. Because you deserve your fairy-tale ending. And because I’d do anything for you, Gracie Cooper. Even if it means letting you go.”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 5 stars
Spicy Meter: 1.5 fire emojis
Content Warning: Discusses parent loss, cancer and other sicknesses, and the loss of a business.

“To Sir, With Love” follows Gracie Cooper, the managing owner of her family’s champagne business in Midtown Manhattan, and Sebastian Andrews, who’s technically the landlord of where Gracie’s store is located and who’s company wants to buyout Gracie’s lease in order to build something else in its place. Gracie feels unexplainably pulled towards Sebastian from the get-go, but she feels like she’s cheating—even though she’s technically not—because she’s in love with an online pal she met in a blind dating app. But said online pal, who she calls Sir, is not even available, his friends set up his account as a joke, he isn’t even single. So, will Gracie get her happily ever after with Sebastian? With Sir? That’s for you to find out as you grab this read.

I think this will be one of my favorite books this year. I think that through it I finally understood that I love books where I know something the main character doesn’t. It’s pretty obvious from the start who Sir is, but seeing Gracie not know was a marvel. I think the progression of Gracie’s relationships were wonderful and realistic, and the ending was sweet and gratifying. The one thing I found it lacked was the spiciness I’ve come to expect and appreciate in a romance novel.

I would recommend this book to readers who love romance books but who aren’t looking for the too-explicit stuff, just looking for a cute love story. I feel like “To Sir, With Love” would be a great gift for a young reader, since it’s pretty PG.

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“I don’t think you can plan for the right time. Or the right woman. As far as timing’s concerned, maybe sometimes you’ve got to make it the right time and simply trust it’s the right woman.”

ARC — Here for the Drama — Kate Bromley

“All love stories are complicated.”

Genre: Romance, Women’s Fiction
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
Spicy Meter: 1.5 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Toxic work dynamics.

“Here for the Drama” follows Winnie, as she moved across the world from the United States to the United Kingdom—straight to the heart of London’s theater world. She is the right hard of a renowned, American playwright, and she is trying to hold the play from falling apart as the director and her boss butt heads, and as she falls for the one guy she was told not to fall for. To say there’s a lot going on in this book would be an understatement.

If you’re reading a book titled “Here for the Drama” I assume you’re, well, here for the drama. Over-the-top would be an accurate way of describing this book and all Winnie goes through. I loved the dynamic banter and I loved the forbidden romance feel to it (not the spicy part, that part was entirely awkward and worded weirdly), but I think it was a bit much at times. I wasn’t completely engaged and sometimes only skimmed through, just reading the dialogue, that’s why I’ve given this book 3.5 stars.

I would recommend “Here for the Drama” to anyone who’s ever watched Mexican Novela type shows (let that be actual novelas or perhaps tv series like “Jane The Virgin”). Basically, if you like unrealistic, slice-of-life drama and the New York City-London vibe, then this book is for you.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: June 21, 2022