Tag Archives: William Morrow

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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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*.

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The Guest List — Lucy Foley

Genre: Mystery and Thriller
Actual Rating: 3 stars
Content Warnings: Discusses murder, abortion, involuntary porn, and alcoholism.

You’ve been cordially invited to the wedding of two rising micro celebrities. Told through different points of view, and occasionally alternating between timelines in the past and the future, “The Guest List” is as close to a murder mystery party as a book can get.

I was so excited about this book. Seeing as it won in its genre in the 2020 Goodreads Choice Awards (and I just recently started reading mystery novels again), I thought I would’ve loved it. But I was not happy with the ending and how they got there. I feel like so many knots were left untied, and, honestly, I didn’t even sympathize with the characters at all.

It’s not that I wouldn’t recommend this book—it was really well written and the plot line (up until the very end) was well carried out and very interesting—I just didn’t love it. Give this book a read if you already like Mystery and Thriller novels. Don’t let this be your first exposure to the genre, because you might be discouraged from ever reading it again.

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We Met in December — Rosie Curtis

“But it’s really just hit me. I’m 30 and life is happening all around me, and I can’t spend any more of it doing what looks like the right thing just to keep some imaginary observer happy. I’ve only got one life, and I want to start living it now.”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 3 stars
Content Warnings: Discusses racism and discrimination.

“We Met in December” follows Jess and Alex, a mismatched pair of flatmates that grow a friendship out of walks around London. Jess had an instant crush on Alex, but 1) There was a no dating policy between flatmates and 2) He was already dating someone else—she thinks. And Alex just made a huge life change, leaving his profession as a lawyer and going back to school to be a nurse, so he’s supposed to focus his energy on anything but dating. Taking place in a year, this book is magically written but also painfully slow.

The characters are lovely but not too memorable. I almost DNFed at 75% because I was not engaged in the story yet—but by 88% it had won me back. For this reason, I can’t rate it any higher than 3 stars. I loved the ending but hated the getting-there part. This seemed more like a plain fiction book, not a romance book.

I would recommend this book to fans of Woman’s Fiction. This is the slowest burn I’ve seen in a romance, if you can even call it that. The ending was worth the wait, but it’s up to you if you’re willing to stick it out. You’ll barely get a few pages of romance out of this.

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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.

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

If I Never Met You — Mhairi McFarlane

“She thought there was a lot of truth in the closest friendships being unconsummated romances.”

Genre: Romance, Comedy
Actual Rating: 5 stars
Content Warnings: Mentions pedophilia, but isn’t a prominent topic.

This book follows Laurie and Jamie as they embark on a fake relationship that benefits both parties. Laurie is newly single after being in a relationship for more than 15 years and is in a rather uncomfortable position, as her ex is her coworker and said ex has conveniently knocked up his girlfriend of less than a month. Jamie, on the other hand, doesn’t believe in relationships but his boss thinks he should be in a stable one in order to get his dream promotion. Will the fake relationship follow its course and serve its purpose? Or will it evolve into something more?

Holy hell, did I enjoy this book. I already had high expectations because one of my friends (who’s a rather harsh reviewer) gave this book a 5-star rating, and oh did this delivery. Mhairi McFarlane brilliantly illustrated this rather complicated story. There is so much depth in the characters as individuals and the way their unlikely friendship grows. It’s astounding. I want to start this book over again. Right now. Erase my memory so I can relive all the emotions and feel all the heartache and butterflies and nervousness.

I would recommend this book to anyone into romance, especially if you like authors like Emily Henry and Sally Thorne. Well, you know what? Even if you don’t like authors like Emily Henry and Sally Thorne, STILL GIVE THIS BOOK A TRY. You won’t regret it. It’s a fun (and funny) easy-going book, it won’t be life-changing but it won’t be a waste of your time either.

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