Tag Archives: Romance

A Lot Like Adiós — Alexis Daria — Primas of Power #2

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Spicy Meter: 3 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Discusses serious family fights and abandonment. Has very explicit sexual content.

“A Lot Like Adiós” follows Michelle Amato and Gabriel Aguilar, two childhood best friends who had an almost hookup and then never spoke again. Gabe moved across the country, Mich went for a career in their home city. But then in an unexpected turn of events, 13 years after their fallout, they end up working on together on a project—and obviously, the sparks still fly.

Anyone remember how my first review on this blog was about Alexis Daria’s “You Had Me at Hola”? Well, I’m back with the sequel-ish’s review. And what I mean by sequel-ish is that this book really wasn’t about Jasmine and Ashton, which was a real disappointment. I bought “A Lot Like Adiós” swearing I’d get more of than Jashton goodness, but that wasn’t the case. So, no, this isn’t a sequel, it’s just an adjacent, standalone novel that takes places in the same “universe”, if you will.

It’s good, tho. It’s fun and quirky and you get these flashback of sorts, it’s lovely. It was very spicy, but the spice wasn’t as great as between Jasmine and Ashton if you ask me, hence the 3 fire emoji rating.

Mich and Gabe were cute, don’t get me wrong. They just weren’t what I was looking for. I’ve legit spent a year trying to get into this book and I was just never in the mood. I don’t regret grabbing it, but I just wouldn’t recommend it as highly as I did the first book in this series.

I would recommend this read if you’re a sucker for second-chance romance and those childhood best friend rekindled loves. But if you’re just looking for a romance, grab “You Had Me at Hola” instead.

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ARC — Pride & Puppies — Lizzie Shane

“I’m just saying in real life the Darcys don’t always turn out to be Darcys.”
“So date a Bingley.”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: 2 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Mentions parent death. Also, dangerous levels of mutual pining.

“Pride and Puppies” follows Dr. Charlotte Rodriguez as she swears off men and is set to adopt a puppy instead of looking for another boyfriend. And so in comes George Leneghan, her neighbor and coworker who actually has an incredibly well-behaved dog—so he must have all the tips and tricks she’ll need. As they start spending more time together, Charlotte may or may not be developing feelings she swore she wouldn’t towards George, feelings George had always had for her.

This is for all the Pride and Prejudice (2005 movie) lovers. No, you don’t really need to have seen the movie (or read Pride and Prejudice) to enjoy this book, but it just makes it so much more fun. It was a bit slow-paced for my liking, but I loved the characters and the lightheartedness of it all.

Charlotte and George are both so weird and socially awkward, I loved it. Their friendship growing into something more felt so natural. I truly fell in love with this novel—and it has nothing to do with the fact that I, too, love Colin Firth (and Matthew Macfadyen) as Mr. Darcy.

If there is one thing that I didn’t like that much about “Pride and Puppies” is how the doctor/rehab/medicine part of it was a bit vague and not really in the forefront of either the plot or the narrative in general. I’m guessing this could be a plus to some people, but, in my case, my boyfriend is a doctor and I love medical dramas so it would’ve been cool to kind of get that viewing off his story.

Either way, I would highly recommend you go buy this book, be it for yourself or for someone else. It really has that vibe of being a good gift book. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for it this holiday season.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: November 22, 2022

“Other little girls could keep their Prince Charmings. She was devoted to Mr. Darcy.”

ARC — To Get To The Other Side — Kelly Ohlert

“Chickira? Henrietta? Princess Lay-A. Hennifer Lopez! Clucky Charm? I’m going to call you Chick-Chick.”

Genre: Romance, Comedy
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
Spicy Meter: 1 fire emoji
Content Warnings: Discusses sick animals, bullying, child abuse, and frustration and unhealthy parental relationships after practicing a professional sport. Has some sexual innuendos.

“To Get To The Other Side” follows Trixie, Bear, and Chick-Chick—two roommates and a chicken found abandoned in the streets of Chicago. Trixie found Chick-Chick in the middle of the street and, by trying to sneak her into her not-pet-friendly apartment, is kicked out by her landlord. That’s when she finds an ad about a so-called Bear, who’s looking for a roommate and doesn’t mind pets…ish. Obviously a chicken was a bit unexpected, but Trixie and Chick-Chick end up falling right into his routine… perhaps falling in too well. To the point he’s thinking she could be more than just a roommate.

I think the best way to describe this book is as weird? The writing isn’t horrible but the story is just odd. Love at first sight and then close proximity and kind of enemies to lovers for a hot second… and a chicken? Found in the middle of the street? I don’t know. I love fiction just as much as the next chick (no pun intended), but this really wasn’t it for me.

This is a sort of closed-doors-romance, where we know they bang but we don’t know anything about it, if that makes sense. So I wouldn’t call it a clean romance per se, but I also can’t give it much of a spicy rating as is.

I think I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as I expected. (I’ll blame it on judging a book by its cover). It’s supposed to be a romantic comedy, but I didn’t find any of it funny—more like I found it all very unrealistic. I read to escape my reality, but not in this whimsical, idealistic way. Life isn’t like this. People don’t talk like that.

Trixie is annoying, Bear (who the hell is called Bear?) is fictional at worse, and the name of the chicken is Chick Chick. Need I say more?

I would recommend this book if you’re looking for a short, silly read. No substance, all fluff—and clean fluff at that.

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

Publication Date: December 6, 2022

Without Merit — Colleen Hoover

“With or without Merit?”

Author: Colleen Hoover
Narrated By: Candace Thaxton

Genre: Romance, Young Adult Fiction
Actual Rating: 2.5 stars
Spicy Meter: N/A, it’s clean (although lots of talk about spicy stuff)
Narration: 4 mikes
Content Warning: Describes a suicide attempt, depression, sexual assault, accidents, hypochondria, terminal illness, and very very toxic family relationships.

“Without Merit” follows the Voss family, a dysfunctional family living in a repurposed church out of spite, but it specifically follows Merit Voss, as she deals with being a teenager in love dealing with depression and a lowkey estranged twin. In this coming-of-age novel, you’ll get to live through adolescence over again—with its ups and downs and its indecisiveness and struggles.

I… kinda hated this book? It’s weird because I loved the audiobook narration and I love Colleen Hoover as a writer and I like YA clean romance novels once in a while—but this was something else entirely. I am part of a dysfunctional family and love reading about them as much as the next guy but, damn, was the Voss family above all that. There is dysfunctional and then there is that family, holy. It was all so weird it was distracting. This is as fiction as fiction can get. In no way could this family exist in real life, I swear.

Anyways, I would not recommend this book as your first or even fifth Colleen Hoover read, but if you’ve got nothing else to do and are looking for a filler novel then you could hypothetically grab “Without Merit”, I guess.

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“I used to feel like I was on the top of the world. Then one day, I noticed that it felt like I was no longer on the top of the world. I was just floating around inside of it. And then eventually, it felt like the world was on top of me.”

That’s what depression is.

Talk Bookish To Me — Kate Bromley

Author: Kate Bromley
Narrated By: Natalie Naudus

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars (and I’m being generous)
Spicy Meter: 3 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Discusses cheating, parent death, and hit and runs.

“Talk Bookish To Me” follows Kara Sullivan, a romance novelist that’s stuck in a writer’s block, as she finds the cure to that bad slump when she is reunited with her first love and college boyfriend, Ryan Thompson, through a friend’s wedding celebration. Little did she know that her proximity to Ryan and their past love could only lead to more heartbreak.

Lets start with the praise. I loved Natalie Naudus’ narration. I will definitely be looking out for audiobooks worked on by her. I also like books that talk about books, so having the main character be a writer was fun. The spicy bits weren’t the best but they were definitely creative, alright?

Now, on with the not so good. Take the cheating content warning very seriously, it isn’t just lightly mentioned, it is literally a shit show. I didn’t particularly like Kara, but can definitely confirm I hated Ryan more. Cheating in books is a big turn off for me, it is my one pet peeve. I hate it when cheating is consensual (aka both parts know they’re cheating), but I hate it even more when it isn’t (aka one of the parts doesn’t know the other part is cheating). So I can honestly say I was really enjoying the book pretty much until that plot line was uncovered. It took all I liked about the book and threw it out the window. Honestly, I feel that by giving it a 3.5-star review I’m being lenient on the cheating just because I loved the narration. Normally I would rate it much lower.

Anyways, personally I did not like this book because of its plot, but if you’re into cheating tropes, then this book might be for you.

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ARC — Kiss Her Once for Me — Alison Cochrun

“Honesty game: I feel like I’ve known you forever.”

Genre: Romance, LGBTQIA+
Actual Rating: 5+ star emojis
Spicy Meter: 2 fire emojis
Content Warnings: As given by the author—there are moments of homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia. Deals with generalized anxiety disorders and stigmas around neurodiversity. Mentions adultery and cheating.

“Kiss Her Once for Me” follows Ellie Oliver, an animator and demisexual hopeless romantic, through two very impactful moments of her life—both revolving around the winter holidays. Bring on December 2021, where Ellie has just moved to Portland and is working at an animation studio, when she unexpectedly has a meet-cute and calamitous one night stand with Jack, only to never see her again. Then flash-forward to December 2022, where she’s working as a barista after losing her dream job in animation and she somehow agrees to fake-marry the coffee shop’s cute landlord, Andrew, so he can get his inheritance. But before they get married, Ellie has to endure a few days at his family’s cabin, celebrating Christmas… only to find out Andrew’s sister who he’s referred to as Jacqueline is actually Jack. The same Jack who broke Ellie’s heart last Christmas. -Queue in “Last Christmas” by Taylor Swift (2007 cover)-

First things first: get this book as a Christmas/holiday gift for all your lesbian, bisexual, queer, and sapphic-loving reader friends. Now. Go order them so they’ll be there for the holidays. I cannot begin to explain how much I loved this book.

“Kiss Her Once for Me” will be hands down my favorite holiday book this season—I have no proofs but also no doubts. This book had it all. Fake dating? Check. Marriage of convenience? Check. Miscommunication? Check. Close proximity? Check. Diverse characters? Check. Character growth? Check. Epic sapphic couple? Check check check.

I would not change a single thing about this book. Alison Chochrun is a swiftie, alright? The amount of times Taylor Swift is mentioned cannot be a coincidence, and I was there for it. I, too, have devoted countless hours to listening to Taylor Swift. I, too, believe evermore is an ode to Christmas. I, too, believe Lover is the superior album.

It isn’t the most explicit read, but there are some steamy scenes—and although this usually knocks down some stars while rating, I didn’t mind it too much through this read. The kissed were sweet and the conversation and intimacy achieved through communication was stellar. I did not feel like something was missing when I finished this read.

I would highly recommend “Kiss Her Once for Me” if you’re looking for a sapphic romance full of wintery feels. If you enjoy books by authors like Casey McQuiston, Rachael Lippincott, and Alexis Hall, then Alison Cochrun’s writing is right up your alley. This was such a fluid, lovely read. Oh, how I wish I could start reading it for the first time all over again.

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

Publication Date: November 01, 2022

ARC — Archangel’s Resurrection — Nalini Singh — Guild Hunter #15

“The kiss, it was everything, feeding his parched soul and healing broken things inside him.”

Genre: Romance, Fantasy
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: 2 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Some sexual content and lots of violence and death.

“Archangel’s Resurrection” is the 15th book in Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter series, and it follows Alexander, Archangel of Persia, and Zanaya, Queen of the Nile, through their impossible love story. We see them grow up, grow together, and grow apart out of necessity. Starting before they’re ascended to archangels and ending in a distrustful happily ever after, this romance is worth the eons it took to make.

Is it so wrong of me to want someone to love me as much as Alexander loves Zani? Is it? Okay, okay, so first things first: I am new to this series, but I did my research before reading this advanced reader copy (ARC)—and by that I mean I read summaries for the other books and decided to be open to any plotlines I might have missed. Basically, I got comfortable with not knowing.

I would not call this a standalone novel by any means, but I do give it credit where credit is due: you don’t need much background story to understand and appreciate this story Nalini Singh has brought together. It was a bit slow-paced for my liking, but I love the characters’ introspection, I feel like I got to know them so well (or perhaps old readers already knew them, but they were all new to me).

Based on what I saw from Nalini’s writing, I would highly recommend this book and this series. I didn’t believe I would enjoy this book as much as I did, especially this being my first exposure to the series. I don’t have time to grab this series right now but I am so tempted to tackle it on, page-count be damned.

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ARC provided by Berkley Publishing Group through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am part of this book’s blog tour, but this in no way affects this review.

Publication Date: October 25, 2022

“I love you, my Zani. I will love you till the end of time, whether that is tomorrow or eons from now.”

The Atlas Six — Olivie Blake — The Atlas #1

“(…) What could possibly be the but, Varona? What about this would you kill for?” (…)
“Jesus, Rhodes, what part of this wouldn’t you kill for?”

Author: Olivie Blake
Narrated By: Andy Ingalls, Caitlin Kelly, Damian Lynch, David Monteith, James Cronin, Munirih Grace, Siho Ellsmore, and Steve West.

Genre: Dark Fantasy, Romance
Actual Rating: 5 stars
Spicy Meter: 1 fire emoji
Narration: 5 mikes
Content Warnings: Discusses and describes suicide, death (in general and parent and sibling death), murder, kidnapping, terminal illnesses (degenerative diseases), abandonment, child neglect, and some sexual content.

“The Atlas Six” follows six magical young adults as they study and prepare to hopefully join the Alexandrian Society, a secret society of academicians who keep the secrets of lost civilizations and who initiate 5 new members out of 6 candidates every 10 years. These candidates are the best magicians of their time, and so in come the mismatched bunch that wins your heart throughout this story. Libby Rhodes and Nico da Varona have known each other their whole lives and they’re both physicists who can create and change matter with their minds. Reina Mori is a naturalist who can create life itself. Parisa Kamali is a seductress and telepath that’ll know exactly what to say and when to say it. Tristan Caine can see through reality and through magic. Callum Nova is an illusionist that can manipulate everything and everyone to no limit. Together, they could wreak havoc on the world—apart, they could wreak havoc amongst themselves.

“The Atlas Six” was a Tiktok, pandemic sensation, but I truly believe it could’ve made it big without those circumstances as well. This is the epitome of dark academia, it gives all those aesthetic vibes. Mix magic with morally-gray characters and there you’ll have “The Atlas Six”.

I listened to the audiobook of this novel and I adored every single narrator, no buts or exceptions, and I honestly can’t wait to listen to these characters brought to life again in “The Atlas Paradox.”

This story is very character-driven, and I’m more of a plot-driven reader, but I learned to love the characters, so by the end I didn’t mind one bit. I loved Libby and Nico instantly, I lowkey ship them together but also ship Nico with his roommate, so I don’t know what to tell you. I found Reina intriguing from the start, I think of all the magical powers hers is the one I would like to have myself. I felt indifferent about Tristan at first but his friendship and relationship with Libby and his accent won me over little by little. And then there were Callum and Parisa, the characters I hated to begin with and then grew to appreciate.

If one thing is true about this world that Olivie Blake has built is that no one is purely evil or purely good. Circumstances and power can turn anyone into something they are usually not.

If it isn’t obvious by now, I cannot recommend this book enough. Here’s hoping the sequel doesn’t disappoint.

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“Knowledge is carnage. You can’t have it without sacrifice.”

ARC — Built To Last — Erin Hahn

“On Sunday, I cut off all my hair.
Lyle said trim, so I get a bob. Not just because of Lyle. I wanted a definitive way to show the world I wasn’t that girl anymore. I don’t cry on cue, I don’t take shots of tequila in club bathrooms, I don’t flash my underwear on the red carpet, and I no longer let men make my decisions for me.”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Spicy Meter: 3 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Deals with alcoholism, insecurities, cheating, parental neglect, and Hollywood trauma.

“Built To Last” follows Shelby Springfield and Cameron Riggs, two childhood costars and lovers, after they’re reunited years later to take part on a home renovation show that’ll change their lives. Since their childhood show (and their breakup), Shelby hit rock bottom and moved back to Michigan to help in her father’s home reno business, while Cam got his college degree and joined Nat Geo, traveling around the world all alone. When their other former costar, Lyle Jessup, calls in to pitch them HomeMade, a new home renovation show, they don’t say no to that pilot, but aren’t too sure about everything else. Working closing with your ex you still love? Kind of a slippery slope to travel—but they’re set on tackling it.

This second-chance romance is the sweet break you’ve been waiting for. With some close proximity and mutual pining, Shelby’s and Cam’s love story is a somewhat slow-paced one, but one that’s worth the wait.

This is the first time I’ve read the “one room/one bed” trope where, in fact, they don’t end up sleeping in the same bed, and nothing actually happens throughout it. It was weird, and perhaps refreshing, being so sure something would happen, and then it didn’t.

The one thing I didn’t like about this book was it’s spicy content. The intimate scenes were weird and climax kept being described as a feeling of bonelessness, and that just really threw me off. Not that Shelby and Cam don’t have chemistry, because they do, it’s just those moments felt weirdly described to me.

All in all, I really enjoyed this read. I would recommend it specifically if you’ve enjoyed other reality tv show-ish books, like “For Butter or Worse” by Erin La Rosa, or if you just like those kinds of show in real life. But even if you’re not the biggest fans of these kinds of shows, like me, “Built To Last” is a cute, relatively short, lighthearted, second-chance romance with a HAE that’s definitely worth grabbing for this fall season.

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

Publication Date: October 18, 2022

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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