Tag Archives: Comedy

99 Percent Mine — Sally Thorne

Genre: Romance, Comedy
Actual Rating: 2 stars
Content Warnings: Sexual content, chronic illness, and medical content.

“99 Percent Mine” is the sophomore book by Sally Thorne and it follows Darcy Barrett, her twin brother Jamie Barrett, and their childhood friend Tom Valeska. Darcy is a young, free spirit that just wants to travel the world, although her heart’s a bit of an impediment to that. The Barrett twins have inherited their fortuneteller grandmother’s house and have to remodel and sell it, as per their grandmother’s will. So in comes Tom Valeska, Jamie’s best friend, and Darcy’s long-standing crush, who coincidentally is a contractor and house-flipper. This story pretty much told itself.

This wasn’t a comedy and it wasn’t even that much of a romance either. The characters seemed to be emotionally stunted, and the interactions between them were awkward and over-the-top in all the wrong ways. I like reading fiction books because they tell a story of something that I feel could potentially happen in real life, and this book wasn’t that.

I feel like I wasted my time reading this book but in the end, I think it was my bad because I grabbed it without checking any reviews. I blindly believed it would be amazing because Sally Thorne is amazing, but now I guess she is a hit-or-miss writer, like most other authors.

I would not recommend this book, but I would actually really highly recommend “The Hating Game” and “Second First Impressions”, which are the other two books by Sally Thorne and those two really are *chef’s kiss*.

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 Party Crasher — Sophie Kinsella

“A relationship isn’t a snapshot. (…) It’s a journey.”

Genre: Romance, Comedy
Actual rating: 4 stars
Content Warnings: Discusses divorce and deals with abandonment issues, but there aren’t really any other content warnings that I can think of.

“The Party Crasher” follows Effie, a (currently unemployed) event planner, as she crashes her family home’s “house cooling” party. Effie’s father and stepmother Mimi were the ones who raised her but now, after Effie and her siblings grow up and move away from home, they get a divorce. This has left Effie to question if everything she lived in her childhood was real because she really could’ve sworn they were a happy couple. A few years later, in comes Krista, Effie’s father’s gold-digging girlfriend. As Effie’s family’s quirky home is finally sold, Krista organizes a house cooling party and “forgets” to invite Effie. Hurt, but on a mission to rescue one of her childhood toys, Effie sets out to attend the party anyway, without anyone seeing her there. In a series of unfortunate (and comedic) events, Effie ends up not going unnoticed and has to resort to the help of her siblings and even an ex-boyfriend. In this heartwarming novel, Sophie Kinsella gives us the quirkiest of quirky families.

This has been the funniest romantic novel for me. I see so many books cataloged under romantic comedy when they’re really just romances without a huge tragedy, but wow, that was not the case with “The Party Crasher”. This book made me cringe and feel secondhand embarrassment and giggle and downright laugh at times. Effie, the main character, was going through a rollercoaster of emotions, and so was I.

I would say this was a relatively PG romance, but it was still cute and heartwarming in all the moments that mattered. I liked the characters, even the hatable ones, and I liked how fast-paced this book was, there were no dull moments.

I would recommend this book to young adults looking for a funny, light, romantic story to get out of their heads. This book is enthralling and entertaining, it’ll help you forget everything in the real world for a few hours.

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.

All The Feels — Olivia Dade

Genre: Romance, Comedy
Actual Rating: 5 stars
Content Warning: Discusses fat-shaming and domestic violence.

“All the Feels” follows Lauren Clegg, a former ER therapist, and Alex Woodroe, a famous actor in the long-running TV show “Gods of the Gates”. Hired to keep Alex out of trouble, Lauren must follow him wherever he goes. With a budding friendship and a ton of sexual tension on the line, this book, although shelved as a sequel, really isn’t. You could read it as a stand-alone, so don’t let that deter you.

Does this book encompass the close-proximity trope? Honestly, I don’t know. I feel like Lauren and Alex would’ve fallen in love either way, but I guess their close proximity did help. Also, I will not be picking favorites from this series. I just loved them both so much. The writing is great, the characters are charming and complex, the stories are radically different (although they both include famous actors and non-famous, plus-sized women falling in love), and they are both spicy, if you know what I mean.

I would recommend this book to anyone who’s ever fantasized about soulmates or read fanfiction or both. I would recommend reading Spoiler Alert first, but honestly this series is like multiplying, the order of the factors does not change the product—you’ll love the stories no matter which one you read first.

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.

Spoiler Alert — Olivia Dade — Spoiler Alert #1

Genre: Romance, Comedy
Actual Rating: 5 stars
Content Warnings: Discusses fat-shaming.

“Spoiler Alert” follows April Whittier, a geologist and fanfic-writing stan of a popular tv show, and Marcus Caster-Rupp, one of the actors of said popular tv show and a fanfic-writer himself. April and Marcus have been chatting on online forums for years under aliases. When April finally posts a picture of her cosplays online—under another alias—it goes viral and trolls go off with their insults because of her plus-size take. Without knowing that April is his fandom bestie, Marcus invites her on a date to spite the trolls and because he found her cute. But what will he do when he finds out she is his closest friend from the fanfic forums? That’s for you to find out once you grab this book.

How have I never heard of Olivia Dade before? This book was perfect. Her writing was descriptive without being boring, and her characters were well defined and complex. The dialogue was witty and funny, and did not seem forced at all. Was it predictable at times? Yes, sure. But come on, everyone was rooting for the exact ending we got, what’s wrong with that?

I would recommend this book to anyone who’s ever read or written fan fiction—or anyone who loved the Disney movie Starstuck. Essentially, if famous person-normal person romances are something you’d enjoy, read this book ASAP. It was so good, I seriously couldn’t recommend this book enough.

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 pre-order the book.

The Date Swap — Lydia Westing (Scribd Audiobook)

Genre: Romance, Comedy
Actual Rating: 3 stars
Content Warnings: None that I can think of.

This audiobook follows Lyla and Daniel as they fake their way through two family weddings—they did not have dates and were both heading to adjacent resorts, so might as well, right? Set in Hawaii, this could be a fun listen if you’re going on a tropical vacation.

For what I understand, this seems to be an exclusive audiobook for Scribd, which is kind of cool, but I must say I was a bit disappointed. This audiobook felt like a Wattpad story of sorts. Just make any of the main characters a famous pop star, and there you’d have it. I also wouldn’t call this a romance. It did not bang (truly). But it was fun and short, and entertaining enough to listen.

The audiobook is about 3 hours long (or 1.5 hours long if you listen to it in x2, like I do). I think if it would’ve been any longer, this might’ve been a DNF for me. But if you have Scribd, by all means, give it a listen. I’m not sure who I’d recommend this book to, but it serves as a quick filler or pallet cleanser after any book that’s touched a heavy or dark subject.

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

Second First Impressions — Sally Thorne

“That red string never gets it wrong, and unlikely puzzle pieces always fit together.”

Genre: Romance, Comedy
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Content Warnings: None that I can think of.

This books follows Ruthie Midona, an employee at the Providence Luxury Retirement Villa, who’s both reluctant and curious about re-entering the dating scene. So, in comes Teddy Prescott, the son of the new owner of the Retirement Villa, who’s looking to earn some money in order to buy his way into a tattoo studio a few towns over. Between them comes an un expected friendship filled with sexual tension, but if there’s one thing they both agree on is that they wouldn’t be right for each other; Ruthie is looking for something serious and permanent in Providence while Teddy is only passing through town, eager to move on. Set in a retirement villa, this book is quirky, funny, and perpetually entertaining.

If I’m being honest, I’m not too fond of the “preacher’s daughter” trope (and hence I had a hunch I wouldn’t like Ruthie—or this book), but I can say I was pleasantly surprised. Overlooking that Ruthie is a preacher’s daughter and Teddy is a tatted-up bad boy, I still loved this book because the characters were so much more than their stereotypes. Sally Thorne, as per usual, has done an exceptional job on her character and world building. I honestly pictured myself working alongside them, happily helping in turtle rehabilitation.

This book is definitely a romance book and oh, does it bang. The sexual tension was patiently built, having us more than 70% through the book and still not having something as simple as a kiss. The only reason this book didn’t get a higher rating was because I felt like it was childish at times, especially when the main characters fought.

I would recommend this book to readers who have enjoyed books by authors like Emily Henry, Christina Lauren, or Sally Thorne herself. This isn’t a mind-blowing romance book, but it is still pretty great and entertaining, and so I would still recommend it.

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.

“Tidy, messy. Give, take. Adorer, adoree. Together, we can be all these things.”

In a Holidaze — Christina Lauren

“The only person whose expectations you have to live up to is yourself.”

Genre: Romance, Comedy
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Content Warnings: None that I can think of.

Have you ever seen a time-loop kind of movie? Like Groundhog Day or Before I Fall? Well, this is just that but in a book, and surrounding the holidays. This book follows Maelyn Jones as she is stuck reliving her Christmas holiday week after wishing for a shot to find happiness. And oh, does she find it.

“In a Holidaze” did not take the path I thought it would. Maelyn does not end up with who I thought she would end up with, but good for her, I guess. I liked it anyways.

This is a light, funny read, set in a cozy cabin in the middle of Utah. It’s literally a perfect holiday read. It’s surrounding Christmas but isn’t solely about the holiday, and it’s short and snappy. I mean, what can I say? The duo Christina Lauren never disappoints.

I would recommend this book to people who’ve read other Christina Lauren books and loved them. I would not necessarily recommend this be your first exposure to the authors, as they have longer, better-constructed books (like “The Unhoneymooners” or “The Soulmate Equation”), but “In a Holidaze” is a good holiday-y 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.