Tag Archives: 4 stars

Good Girl Complex — Elle Kennedy — Avalon Bay #1

“I lived my whole life without Cooper Hartley. Then, six months together and I’ve forgotten what it was not to know him. Six months, and only minutes to shred it to hell.”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: 3 fire emojis (spicy, but not my cup of tea)
Content Warnings: Discusses cheating, parent death, sexual harassment, and addiction. Has quite a bit of sexual content.

Full disclaimer: I only grabbed this book because I was approved to read an advanced reader copy of “Bad Girl Reputation”, the second book in this series… but I am so happy I did.

“Good Girl Complex”, the first book in the Avalon Bay series, follows Mackenzie (Mac) Cabot, a trust-fund kid who moves to Avalon Bay to get her undergrad degree at Garnet College. In this small town, she meets Cooper Hartley, a local bad boy. Due to her people-pleasing nature, Mac hasn’t lived much—until Cooper came along. But secrets are being kept. Secrets that could tear their friendship and relationship apart.

Here’s the thing. I am surprised this book has so many mixed reviews. Being a people pleaser myself, I couldn’t have loved this book more. There wasn’t that much character development, and the ending feels a bit rushed if you ask me, but this book was still such a fun read.

This was my first Elle Kennedy book and I can already tell I will like everything she writes. Her narrative and alternating timelines kept me hooked the whole time. I literally read this book in a day.

I would highly recommend this book if you like the good girl-bad boy trope. You know the Rory Gilmore-Jess Mariano dynamics in “Gilmore Girls” and the Kat Startford-Patrick Verona dynamics in “Ten Things I Hate About You”? Well, mesh that into a book and you get “Good Girl Complex”.

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ARC — The Make-Up Test — Jenny L. Howe

“You don’t have to take care of me.”
“Yeah, I do. We have a mild truce now, remember?”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: 3 fire emojis
Content Warnings: As given by the author—Fatphobia both in flashback and in present day, fatshaming from a family member, and deals with death and loss.

“The Make-Up Test” follows Allison Avery and Colin Benjamin, two grad students with the same advisor. Sounds simple enough, right? Except it isn’t. Allison and Colin dated while they were in undergrad and it did not end well, to say the least. Now, years later, and in a more competitive program, they’re left to work together to the best of their abilities. That is, until their advisor tells them she’ll only be able to keep one grad student moving forward. Now, with higher stakes, they end up in the exact same situation they were years ago. Will history rewrite itself? Or will old habits prevail?

You see that endorsement on the cover? Well, I agree wholeheartedly with Ali Hazelwood: I’ll read anything Jenny Howe writes. Her narrative is clever and her (most of her) characters complex and layered. This book had a second-chance romance and lovers-to-enemies-to-friends-to-lovers trope. It’s told partially through flashbacks, which were nice and helped us understand why the main characters act the way they do.

I loved Allison and how she was protrayed as more than just a student. I, myself, am currently in grad school and something I feel like my whole life revolves around that—but Allison’s doesn’t. We get to see her shifting relationships with old friends and how her family dynamics, all but ideal, affect her, but she pushes on.

And then there is Colin. Bland, one-dimentional Colin. Now, I really did feel like he was only there to fill up that romantic void in Allison’s life. Like he had no other purpose than that. We do get a sob story about his family background, but it doesn’t really seem to phase him or define him in any way. He’s just an insecure, white man hoping to thrive in academics. That’s it.

But the story was entretaining and relatively fast-paced. I think it was definitely worth the read. My only complaint is that it wasn’t as spicy as I thought it would be. The sexual tension was there, but the scenes didn’t deliver. I felt like it was missing something. I wasn’t ready to let go of these characters.

I would highly recommend this book, I can’t believe it’s a debut novel. If you like second-chance romance and enemies-to-lovers, “The Make-Up Test” is for you.

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

Publication Date: September 13, 2022

“You don’t like happy endings?”
(…) “I think the problem is more that I like them too much. No one gets that in real life.”

ARC — Lucy Checks In — Dee Ernst

“You sound happy, she texted me.
Maybe I am, I texted back. Or maybe I’m too tired to be sad.”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: 1 fire emoji
Content Warning: Mentions alcoholism, parent death, and cheating.

“Lucy Checks In” follows Lucia Giannetti, a shunned hotel manager, as she moves to the other side of the world, from New Jersey to France, in order to help renovate Hotel Paradis, a boutique hotel in Rennes, a small historical town. As soon as she arrives, she notices she’s way in over her head, but after a scandal left her unemployed and unemployable in the United States, she has nothing left to do but try.

I don’t even know where to begin. How can I describe a book that’s well written but not particularly captivating to me, personally? Basically I wasn’t a fan of the hotel remodel theme, but I liked a few of the characters and it was definitely catchy, I read it almost entirely through a 5-hour airplane flight.

Also, not to sound age-ist, but it seemed weird to me how Lucy was described as a 49-year-old with grey hair, yet the girl in the cover looks like anything but that, in my opinion. Misleading covers are one of my pet peeves.

This book was a slow-burn romance that drove me insane, and I am sad to say that the fire was not worth the wait. And not to mention that the nickname “Bing” was a bit of a turnoff for me, but for each their own, I guess. Actually, I wouldn’t even classify this as romance per se, more like Women’s Fiction or just Fiction would be fine. It deals with a lot more than just romance and the romance parts aren’t even the most important if you ask me.

This is would be a very cool read for anyone who likes DIYing and remodeling and fixer upper shows. “Lucy Checks In” is a colorful romance with a plethora of whimsical characters and an enemies-to-lovers and Grump-meets-Sunshine trope that’s quite cute. I would highly recommend this read, especially if you’re looking for a mild romance with not a lot of sexual descriptions.

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

Publication Date: August 16, 2022

“She said, ‘But if you loved me, you’d stay.’ He said, ‘But if you loved me, you’d go.’ ”

To Sir Phillip, With Love — Julia Quinn — Bridgertons #5

“I had to do something, (…) I couldn’t just sit and wait for life to happen to me any longer.”

Genre: Historical Romance
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: 4.5 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Discusses suicide, parent death, child abuse, and grief.

“To Sir Phillip, With Love” is the fifth book in the Bridgerton book series, and it follows the fifth out of eight Bridgerton siblings: Eloise. Eloise Bridgerton is already considered a spinster, unmarried at 28 years of age, when she starts to correspond with her distant cousin’s widowed husband, Sir Phillip Crane. After a year’s correspondence, and right after her best friend Penelope marries her older brother, she decides to run away to meet him and properly determine if he could be the one for her.

If you’ve seen the Bridgerton Netflix series, you’ve actually met Sir Phillip Crane already, he is the one who’s married to Marina, who’s portrayed in the Netflix series as a Featherington cousin and is a prominent character in the first season, while she’s written as a Bridgerton cousin in the books and hadn’t really been mentioned until now.

This book is sweet and gentle, filled with suspense, as we never know what Eloise might do with her volatile nature. Through this story, we get to see sides of her, both maternal and affectionate, that we haven’t really seen before. It was truly a wonderful read.

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy Regency Era romances, and who like the idea of pen pals falling in love, sight unseen. Also, it gave me some Sunshine meets Grumpy trope vibes, but take that with a grain of salt.

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Romancing Mr. Bridgerton — Julia Quinn — Bridgertons #4

“I love you with my past, and I love you for my future.”

Genre: Historical Romance
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: 3.5 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Discusses parent death, fat shaming, and bullying.

“Romancing Mr. Bridgerton” is the fourth book in the Bridgerton series, but will actually be the third season for the Netflix series. It follows Colin Bridgerton, the third of eight Bridgerton siblings, and Penelope Featherington, the third and youngest daughter of a family that continuously diminishes her. Penelope has had a crush on Colin ever since they met, but after 12 years of their acquaintance, she believed he was meant to be with someone else, most definitely not her… right?

In this book we finally get a glimpse at who Lady Whistledown is (although if you’ve seen the Netflix series, you already know). It was a somewhat dull book in the beginning but then it became more and more interesting and engaging as it went.

Although perhaps I’ll blame it on the high expectations I had for the book. I loved Penelope in the Netflix series, but she was even more lovely in the books. I feel like the series portrays her as a villain, when she’s really not.

I really thought this would be my favorite book, but it wasn’t. I would still thoroughly recommend this series to readers who like Regency Era dramas and this one in particular if you like the friends-to-lovers trope.

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ARC — Booked on a Feeling — Jayci Lee — A Sweet Mess #3

“Reality could wait for a few minutes. She was busy living her dream with her love… her best friend… her forever.”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
Spicy Meter: 3.5 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Describes panic attacks.

“Booked on a Feeling” follows Lizzy Chung, a burnt out LA lawyer, and Jack Park, her childhood best friend. After a bad panic attack in the middle of a court case, Lizzy decides to take a long vacation in a small town called Weldon, where Jack lives. What Lizzy doesn’t know is that Jack has had a crush on her ever since they met. In their close proximity they grow closer still and feelings begin to blossom. But what will happen once Lizzy is set to go back to LA? Will they fight for their love or will they let external things get in the way?

This book is the third book in a series I have not read, so I think I’m safe to say it works perfectly like a stand alone novel. Jayci Lee did a great job in showing you the lovely small town of Weldon, with all it’s quirks and unique details.

But here’s the thing about this book: it’s nothing new. In no moment was a surprised or excited for something to happen. It’s a simple, feel-good, friends-to-lovers romance. And there’s a charm to that. It’s predictable and sweet, so if you’re looking for that then this book is for you.

I loved the friendship and love there was between the main characters. I loved the running scenes. I loved the book store theme. There were many things I loved about this book…but the spicy scenes were not it. Their intimacy was awkward and intense only to be shut down cold. It was really weird. But this is a good romance book anyways.

I would recommend “Booked on a Feeling” to anyone looking for a fast-paced, light read. This book is easy-going and short, so if you’ve just had a very heavy read, it could serve like a nice pallet cleanser.

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

Publication Date: July 26, 2022

Conversations with Friends — Sally Rooney

“Everyone’s always going through something, aren’t they? That’s life, basically. It’s just more and more things to go through.”

Genre: Fiction, Coming-of-age
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: 1 fire emoji
Content Warnings: Deals with cheating, affairs, big age-difference relationships, and alcoholism. Mentions miscarriages and endometriosis.

“Conversations with Friends” follows Frances and her best friend Bobbi, two college students, as they’re sucked into the lives of older friends. These two childhood friends-turned lovers-turned friends again are performing spoken-word poetry in Dublin when they’re spotted by Melissa, a writer who’s married to a somewhat recognizable actor. From there, they’re exposed to a world where expressing controversial opinions is welcomed and affairs aren’t necessarily the end of the world—or the end of a relationship.

I feel weird about writing this review, because I must say I never gave Sally Rooney’s book a fighting chance. I hated it from the start. I hate books about cheating. I hate them so so much. I actually grabbed this book without knowing what it was about, I simply grabbed it because I wanted to see the Hulu series and I am morally opposed to seeing a series or movie without reading their book first—if only to respect the author’s original intention for their story. So imagine my not-so-pleasant surprise when the affairs start unraveling. I dreaded it, pure and simple.

But I do have to give it to Rooney. Although hard to read without the conversations in “ ” quotations, this book was a masterpiece. It was exceptionally written and incredibly crude. It felt like real life, which for me is the best compliment a fiction book can get.

I can confidently say I liked the book better than the series with this one, so if you liked the series with Joe Alwyn and Alison Oliver, then grab this book as soon as you can. Also, if you’re looking for a book with vibes similar to “A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara, without it being downright depressing, then this book is for you.

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The Off Limits Rule — Sarah Adams — It Happened In Nashville #1

“It’s been years since I’ve met a woman who genuinely blushes, and here she is, yanking down the hem of her cover-up and darting secret glances at me when she thinks I’m not looking. I’m looking, though.”

Genre: Romance, Comedy
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy meter: 2.5 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Mentions a child needing a routine surgery, other than that none that I can think of.

“The Off Limits Rule” follows Lucy, a single mother and hairdresser, and Cooper, a good-looking guy who’s totally into Lucy. The only problem? Cooper is Lucy’s older brother’s best friend and she has been labeled to be completely off-limits… So he can’t be with her, right? But what if she’s the one?

I loved this book. Loved the dynamics between Lucy and her family, Lucy and her friends, Lucy and Cooper. You could perhaps even say I was the one crushing on Lucy through this book. She was so relatable as a character. And then comes in Cooper, a guy who’s completely too good to be true, which is the exact kind of guy I want to read about sometimes.

And so I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone looking for a short, comical, mild romance. Cooper was such a tease and I was there for it. Their love story was wild but sweet. Definitely grab this book if you’re looking for a story that isn’t that complicated or long.

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ARC — Same Time, Same Place — David M. Barnett

“Everything is the same. But different. Just like Daisy said.”

Genre: Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: 1 fire emoji
Content Warnings: Mentions harassment and family violence.

“Same Time, Same Place” follow Daisy Dukes (yes, that’s her name) and Nate Garvey, two security guards who work at the Museum of Social History. As Nate works the day shifts and Daisy works the night shifts, their days only overlap for a few minutes during handover—that is until things start going missing at the museum, for a few days at a time, before being put back on their museum display. Delving into how our past affects our future, and told through different points of view, this is a dynamic and engaging read that goes to show that our history doesn’t define us and that love can be born from the oddest of places.

Sadly, I didn’t connect with the characters in this book as much as I thought I would. I enjoyed the story and the quirky romance, but there was something too ficticios about the characters for me. I did like how they redeemed themselves and how the mystery came to fruition. Maybe 4 stars is too high a rating for characters I didn’t love, but David M. Barnett did such an excellent job with the writing that I couldn’t give it any less.

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy both romance and mystery books, even if the publisher hasn’t categorized it under Mysteries. There isn’t too much suspense here, but mystery is definitely in the mix.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: June 07, 2022

ARC — Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting — Clare Pooley

“The advantage of boarding the train at Hampton Court was that it was the end of the line, or the beginning, depending, of course, on which way you were traveling. There was a life lesson there, thought Iona. In her experience, most endings turned out to be beginnings in disguise.”

Genre: Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Content Warnings: Mentions medical emergencies (choking), and deals with homophobia and bullying.

“Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting” follows a set of characters that all commute on the same train—all getting on and off at different stops. After one eventful morning breaks the ice between them, one wonders: what would happen if you throw the rules of commuting away? What if you were to talk to a perfect stranger—who you see every day, through your silent commute? Told through different points of view, we get a glance at different realities, all being tied by their preferred mode of transport.

This book had so many funny, quirky, and diverse characters. Actually, I think it’s been the most diverse cast I’ve read this year. Contrary to what I expected, Iona is, in fact, not a millennial like myself—and that only made me realize that I can’t remember the last book I read where the character wasn’t a young woman. I loved Sanjay, I could relate so much to his inner narrative. I learned to love Piers, or “Smart-But-Sexist-Manapreader” as Iona would call him before meeting him formally. I feel like I am most like Emmie when commuting, always with a book in hand. I think the narrative I enjoyed the less was Martha’s, but even then I wouldn’t change a thing, because all these characters brought together a heartwarming story.

I dread human interaction with strangers but, strangely, this book kind of made me want to talk to a stranger. Connect a little. It made me realize that there are so many different lives being lived all around. It’d be a disservice to only focus on my own.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun, easy, fast-paced read with different points of view. If you’ve enjoyed books like “Anxious People” by Fredrik Backman, then “Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting” by Clara Pooley is for you.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: June 07, 2022