Tag Archives: 3 stars

ARC — How (Not) to Date a Pop Star — Jada Trainor

Genre: Young Adult
Actual Rating: 3 stars
Spicy Meter: 1 fire emoji
Content Warnings: Mentions violence. Contains some sexual content.

“How (Not) to Date a Pop Star” follows Tyler Moore, an extremely famous pop star, and his childhood best friend, Aaliyah Preston, to whom dancing and the arts is more than a pastime, as they reconnect after fame and busy schedules got in the way.

Look, if you’re grabbing a book titled “How (Not) to Date a Pop Star”, you absolutely know what’s coming. Not only is it being published by Wattpad, but it reads 100% like a Wattpad story, and that’s what I loved about it.

If you’re coming in to find an insightful, deep romance, don’t. Do not grab this book, you’ll be disappointed. Now, you’re looking for a silly book that’ll go right over you and just give you the good vibes of a friends-to-lovers quirky story involving a mega pop star? Then go ahead and grab this.

This one is for the fanfic readers and StarStruck (2010 Disney TV movie) lovers. I don’t regret grabbing this advanced reader copy because it was exactly what I needed to get out of this reading slump I’ve been in.

If you click here, you’ll be redirected to Goodreads, so you can add the book to your TBR list.

ARC provided by NetGalley and Wattpad Books in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: July 11, 2023

ARC — The Sweet Spot — Amy Poeppel

Genre: Women’s Fiction
Actual Rating: 3 stars
Spicy Meter: N/A
Content Warnings:Mentions parental death, cheating, and abandonment.

“The Sweet Spot” follows multiple points of views to tell a story of three women—women at different stages of life and who don’t particularly like each other—as they face the oddest of situations. Lauren is a ceramic artist who’s happily married and has 3 kids. What she was not intending was to cause Melinda’s husband to leave her after 30 years of marriage, simply by giving a small pep talk to the art curator who was having an affair with Melinda’s husband. Melinda worked in HR at a firm for years, but after finding herself forcefully retired after an incident, she ends up working as a school receptionist. What Melinda was not intending was to get Olivia fired after Olivia had a confrontation with Melinda at the mistress’s store and it goes viral on Tiktok. And what none of them expected was to find a baby upon their doorstep.

Getting to meet Lauren first, Melinda second, and Olivia last, these interlacing points of view bring us a story that’s so sad and improbable that it’s comical. These three ladies and a few of the side characters have so many flaws that aren’t regularly portrayed in fiction. Amy Poeppel gives us a very unique story in “The Sweet Spot.”

But I can already see from the reviews on Goodreads that my opinion is the unpopular one this time around. I really enjoyed the whimsicality of the characters, but the story never fully captivated me. I did not DNF this book out of pure willpower and stubbornness, because I honestly was done with this narrative at around 20%.

It’s complicated because the book is really well-written and the characters are thoroughly constructed and fairly unique, yet I did not empathize with any of them. I was not interested in their story and their lives and their problems. Lauren’s struggles with her commissions, Melinda’s grudge over someone steeling her husband, and Olivia’s unemployment after a meltdown inspired barely any emotion in me.

Although this book wasn’t my cup of tea, I would recommend it to readers who have enjoyed books by Sally Rooney, especially “Conversations with Friends”, and books by Frederik Backman, especially “Anxious People” and “My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry”.

If you click here, you’ll be redirected to Goodreads, so you can add the book to your TBR list.

Or you could click here, and be redirected to Amazon, so you can order the book.

ARC provided by NetGalley and Atria Books in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: January 31, 2023

ARC — The Wrong Kind of Weird — James Ramos

Genre: Young Adult
Actual Rating: 3 stars
Spicy Meter: 1 fire emoji
Content Warnings: Has some bullying and miscommunication.

“The Wrong Kind of Weird” follows Cameron Carson, a self-proclaimed geek, as he travels through the ins and outs of love in high school. Cameron is secretly hooking up with Karla Ortega, who’s by all definitions popular, but she isn’t the best at showing him appreciation when they’re around people. So it’s really weird for Cameron when Mackenzie Briggs, a nice and funny girl, becomes his friend and isn’t afraid of other people knowing.

I think my enjoyment—or lack thereof—when it came to this book was completely my fault. I just never really connected with the main character. I don’t think it’s because he’s male, because I’ve loved narrators of all genders, but there was definitely something that was keeping me from connecting. Maybe I’m not as ‘Young Adult’ as I think I am.

One thing I did like, though, was how, slowly, Cameron began understanding his worth—and Mackenzie’s worth as well. “The Wrong Kind of Weird” is definitely a coming-of-age story and, although I expected more romance sprinkled in it, I truly loved all the characters as a concept. What I didn’t enjoy as much were the dialogues and the way Cameron narrated. I’m not sure how to explain it, it’s like I was rooting for the characters but just didn’t want to listen to them speak or think.

Anyways, I would definitely recommend this book to a younger audience. This would be a phenomenal gift for any young reader that’s just now learning how to fit into their crowd by being themselves. I’m just not sure if I would recommend it to anyone 25+.

If you click here, you’ll be redirected to Goodreads, so you can add the book to your TBR list.

Or you could click here, and be redirected to Amazon, so you can order the book.

ARC provided by NetGalley and Inkyard Press in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: January 3, 2023

ARC — The Happiness Project — Kirstie Pelling

“It seems the secret to happiness was there all along, a smiling face, winking at me from the froth.”

Genre: Romance, Women’s Fiction
Actual Rating: 3 stars
Spicy Meter: 1 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Discusses parent death and mental illness. Deep dive into cancel culture. I was honestly struggling so much to read this that I can’t recall anything else.

“The Happiness Project” follows Daisy Blane, a self-proclaimed Happiness Expert while she hasn’t even found happiness herself. That’s all you have to know about this book, really. She gets “canceled” and critiqued for just that a few times. She looks for happiness and love where there is none. But she gets her happily ever after, so at least there’s that.

There are two very unique things about this book: 1) there are no proper quotations just these ‘ ’ little guys and 2) the amount of times the narrator thinks/says “I” will drive you insane. ‘I did this and then I did that.’ It got repetitive and annoying after a while. It almost made me think about DNFing at one point, but I am sort of glad I stuck through.

This is a cute, lighthearted read that is trying to be quirky to a fault. I know we’re supposed to empathize with Daisy, but I just could not connect with her. One would think a panda-looking, adorable dog could save the day, but Doodle really wasn’t enough to save this one for me. This didn’t feel like the Romance books I love, it was much more Women’s Fiction with just a tiny sprinkle of Romance.

I’m not sure I will be recommending this book—unless you’re a big fan of first-person narration, then perhaps this book would be for you.

If you click here, you’ll be redirected to Goodreads, so you can add the book to your TBR list.

Or you could click here, and be redirected to Amazon, so you can order the book.

ARC provided by NetGalley and Embla Books in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: December 1, 2022

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.

If you click here, you’ll be redirected to Goodreads, so you can add the book to your TBR list.

Or you could click here, and be redirected to Amazon, so you can order the book.

The Cheat Sheet — Sarah Adams

“Do you see now? You’re always giving me things that remind you of me, but I’m over here stealing things that remind me of you.”

Genre: Romance, Comedy
Actual Rating: 3 stars
Spicy Meter: 1 fire emoji
Content Warnings: Describes panic attacks, discusses a career-ending car accident, and describes someone very drunk.

“The Cheat Sheet” follows Bree Camden and Nathan Donelson, two (almost) inseparable childhood best friends. Bree aspired to be a professional ballet dancer but, when an accident ruina her chances, she pulls away from everyone and everything. Now, years later, she’s back to being friends with her best friend and forever crush, Nathan, who is now a star quarterback in the NFL. It’s just platonic for them tho. Bree would never even come close to Nathan, she can’t lose her friendship again. Little does she know, Nathan may have those same feelings. Perhaps, he’s had them all along too…

This book had all the things I like in a romance: friends-to-lover and football themed. Yet, I didn’t like it that much. Bree was annoying, the double pinning was exhausting, Nathan was clearly a man dreamed by a woman… I could go on and on about the things I didn’t like about this book. But it was a fun read nonetheless.

The panic attacks seemed like they were written by someone who’s never had a panic attack (or perhaps just didn’t know how to describe them), but they were very off putting, seemed oversimplified.

Personally, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book, but Booktok does, so read it at your own risk. It’s not particularly a bad read, it just wasn’t particularly a good read either. If you’re looking to read books by Sarah Adams, I would highly recommend going for “The Off Limits Rule” instead.

If you click here, you’ll be redirected to Goodreads, so you can add the book to your TBR list.

Or you could click here, and be redirected to Amazon, so you can order the book.

ARC — The Stars Between Us — Cristin Terrill

“This is a significant decision, son. Are you entirely sure?”
“I am. Even if I wanted that fortune, it would require me to hurt someone I love in order to claim it and I wouldn’t—couldn’t—do that to her. (…) No amount of money is worth hurting the girl I love that way.”

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Actual Rating: 3 stars
Spicy Meter: 1 fire emoji
Content Warning: Discusses classism, death and murder, fire injury details, and infidelity.

“The Stars Between Us” follows Vika Hale, a barmaid in an impoverished planet, as she learns she is to have an arranged marriage to the son of a very powerful and rich man, from one of the privileged planets. But what will happen when people around this powerful man begin to be targeted by a rebel group? People are dying and Vika feels like she might be in danger, but won’t stop until she finds out why this is happening.

I had high expectations of this book, having it compared to a futuristic Bridgerton, but it was sadly disappointing to me. It felt longer than it actually was, that’s how dreadful it was. Some names really threw me off (I mean, do we really think there’ll be someone named Janus in the future?) and the use of peculiar language also felt really weird (an’t instead of can’t, da referring to her dad…).

The dialogue between characters felt forced almost all the time, they were stiff-y and downright rude sometimes. In the very first chapter, Vika screams “Stop!” to her mom and dad bickering, and that is something I just would never imagine anyone in their sound and respectful mind doing. Vika had the absolute worst attitude always. This was just a very weird read.

It did have a few really cool plot twits tho, I’ll give it that. I’d recommend this book if you’re looking for a futuristic, space-setting, peculiar science fiction read.

If you click here, you’ll be redirected to Goodreads, so you can add the book to your TBR list.

Or you could click here, and be redirected to Amazon, so you can order the book.

ARC provided by NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: August 2, 2022

“Ariel exhaled, cause she knew, seeing the way they looked at each other in that moment, that those two were as inevitable as gravity.”

Teach Me — Olivia Dade — There’s Something About Marysburg #1

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 3 stars
Spicy Meter: 4 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Discusses divorce, discrimination, power imbalances, and inequalities in education and opportunities.

“Teach Me” follows Rose Owen and Martin Krause, two AP high school Social Studies teachers in the lovely town of Marysburg. Martin is the new guy, the one who inadvertently stole Rose’s favorite subject to teach, who Rose is set on being nice-ish to. They have an undeniable connection that they’re both denying, each because of their own reasons but they both agree on the same principle: it’d just be extremely complicated.

Well, these books definitely work like standalones. Take it for me, I’ve read this series out of orderbut I mean I did like it better than the second book in this series 40 love. I can’t say I didn’t like “Teach Me”, but in all honesty I’m writing this review and I’ve already forgotten half of the plot line. So, that’s basically it—it’s a good book but it’s somewhat on remarkable. But, I mean, I did like it better than the second installment in this series, the book titled “40-Love”. Which is sort of a letdown because Olivia Dade is one of my favorite authors and the last books I’ve read by her have been a bummer.

Anyways, I would recommend this book to readers who are looking for a read set in the high school/teaching setting. It’s not a bad book, and it’s definitely really good in the spicy sense, but it just wouldn’t really be my first choice when recommending Olivia Dade.

If you click here, you’ll be redirected to Goodreads, so you can add the book to your TBR list.

Or you could click here, and be redirected to Amazon, so you can order the book.

Heartbreak for Hire — Sonia Hartl

“I’d gotten stuck in a cycle of resentment and revenge. And I didn’t know how to find my way out again.”

Genre: Romance, Comedy
Actual Rating: 3 stars
Spicy Meter: 4 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Extremely toxic work environment, mentions cheating, abandonment, and dealing with narcissistic personalities.

“Heartbreak for Hire” follows Brinkley Saunders, a grad school dropout who’s been working for a woman-owned business called Heartbreak For Hire—where they do just that: get payed to break the heart of egocentric douchebags. But what if they’re not all so bad? In comes Mark, one of her ex-targets now turned coworker, who’s an adjunct professor with some nerdy hobbies and passions. Their attraction is both undeniable and inappropriate, but Brinkley is set in not falling in love and in saving up for her dream of opening up an art gallery, so pursuing their love would be a waste of time, right? Right?

I had a love/hate relationship with this book. I loved the concept but really hated how so many important points were left untied. Like, for example, we saw how abusive Margo, Heartbreak For Hire’s boss/owner, was, and we saw how Brinkley dealt with that, but we didn’t really get to see how that outcome impacted Margo and her business or if Brinkley ever suffered from PTSD after that. I don’t know. I feel like the “evil” characters should have a more clear downfall.

Other than that, I really enjoyed the book and I feel like the characters were really likable. I’m not sure who I would recommend this book to, but, basically, if you have nothing else to do, might as well grab it. It’s not a bad book, it’s just not a great book either. Hence the 3-star rating.

If you click here, you’ll be redirected to Goodreads, so you can add the book to your TBR list.

Or you could click here, and be redirected to Amazon, so you can order the book.

40-Love — Olivia Dade — There’s Something About Marysburg #2

“Love couldn’t solve everything, but without love, there was nothing to solve.”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 3 stars
Spicy Meter: 4 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Considerable age difference couple, physic injuries, competitive sports injuries, and mentions of cheating and fat-shaming.

Where to begin. 40-Love follows Tess Dunn, a just-turned-40-year-old high school assistant principal on an all-inclusive island vacation, and Lucas Karlsson, a 26-year-old tennis instructor at the resort Tess is staying. Following a questionable meet-cute, Tess knows this summer flings will only crush her, but what if it went past that? Lucas wasn’t looking for another fling and was more than sure Tess was what he wanted right now. Will their chemistry overcome all odds or will the age difference pull them apart?

Oh God. I love Olivia Dade. Really. She’s one of my favorite authors for sure. But oh did I feel uncomfortable throughout this whole book. Call me a hypocrite, because I do enjoy some age-difference novels now and then, but 40-Love really wasn’t it. Because putting the age difference aside, there were some very clear power imbalances that I just didn’t feel comfortable with. The romance scenes were great, A+ in the spicy meter, but I just couldn’t get their differences out of my mind. I am sorry, but if a 26-year-old is willing to flip their life around for any person they just met, they should be going to therapy instead because there are some unresolved things there (and that’s ignoring the fact that that person they’re leaving everything for is 40 years old, which just unravels a whole other level of mommy or daddy issues to add upon that).

I think I’m being generous with the 3-star review. I don’t think I would personally recommend this book when recommending Olivia Dade, but if you like big age difference romances then grab 40-Love. This is supposed to be the second book in a series, but it works really well as a stand-alone.

If you click here, you’ll be redirected to Goodreads, so you can add the book to your TBR list.

Or you could click here, and be redirected to Amazon, so you can order the book.