Tag: romance reader

Book Review, Romance

Better Left Unsent by Lia Louis ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Romance

I’ve been a huge fan of Lia Louis’s previous books, but there was something lacking from Better Left Unsent. The premise was unusual and had a lot of promise: Millie writes down her thoughts, the ones she would never say out loud, in draft emails as a way of releasing them. One day, she finds that all her drafts were delivered. Millie is left to pick up the pieces of her life when her deepest thoughts have been shared with the exact people who were never supposed to see them.

Louis always writes wonderfully quirky and loveable characters, and this was no exception. Millie and her friends seem realistic in their quirks and I loved spending time with them. Although the romance was on the back burner for much of the book, I really enjoyed Jack and Millie’s chemistry. It was clear that they complemented each other wonderfully and I was so rooting for them.

The premise definitely did not feel deep enough to sustain the whole book. Millie’s constant need to clean up after herself/the emails got old pretty quickly and there wasn’t much else plot-wise to keep me hooked.

The loveable characters and promise of romance kept me reading, but the charm I expect from Louis’s books wasn’t sustained throughout.

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Buy Better Left Unsent at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Romance

The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wiesner ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Romance
Read if you liked: The Good Part

I saw this book compared to Josie Silver and Rebecca Serle and that perhaps set my expectations too high. Sadie’s life feels like it’s falling apart. She’s lost her job, her boyfriend, and her apartment and finds herself crashing in the spare bedroom of her brother’s childhood friend. With nothing to lose, she makes a wish to redo the last year of her life and low and behold, her wish is granted.

In an attempt to keep the “bad” things from happening to her all over again, Sadie finds herself censoring her words and actions and trying to fit into a mold she thinks will get her where she wants to go. I found this conceptually interesting, but it quickly felt repetitive and made me frustrated with her as a character.

The secondary characters in Sadie’s life were really lovely and interesting and the found-family she created around her ultimately helped her to figure out what was most important to her. I appreciated the way this journey helped Sadie to find herself and thought the premise was an interesting way to approach it (albeit, not a unique one).

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy The Second Chance Year at an indie bookstore near you
The Second-Chance Year on Goodreads

Book Review, Romance

You, With a View by Jessica Joyce ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Romance
Read if you liked: Mrs. Nash’s Ashes

After Noelle loses her grandmother, she discovers photos and letters hinting at an old flame her grandmother had and never told her about. Noelle and her grandmother shared all their secrets, or so she thought, and she takes to TikTok for answers about the lost love she never knew about. Noelle is ultimately successful in tracking down Paul, only to discover that he’s the grandfather of her devastatingly handsome high school rival, Theo. Together, the three of them set off to take the road trip Paul never got to take with Noelle’s grandmother.

First of all, posting the info about her grandma without asking her family first felt weird to me, although Noelle seems to have issues telling the truth to people she cares about, so I guess that tracks. That part aside, I loved the premise of this story, Noelle’s unlikely friendship with Paul, and the way he told his story over the course of their travels through the letters he got from Noelle’s grandma.

The actual trip itself was pretty boring. It had so much potential, but it kept focusing on Noelle feeling guilty for not being honest about her life, Theo being in awe of her photography skills, and her going through comments on her TikToks. There wasn’t a whole lot of substance, particularly enough to make the romance feel realistic.

The concept behind this book was incredible and there certain relationships that I really enjoyed. I also love a ‘finding yourself road trip.’ The overall execution though, was lacking for me.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy You, With a View at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Fiction, Romance

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Romance

Florence spent a lot of time during her childhood at a funeral home – the family business, especially notable since she has the ability to see ghosts. When she returns home unexpectedly for her father’s funeral, she finds that the ghost of her hot new editor, Benji, has come with her.

I really loved the romance in this book. Florence and Benji have palpable chemistry, particularly impressive since he’s a ghost for most of the book, and I was holding my breath to see what would happen with the two of them. There’s a mystery swirling around Benji’s life and death and why he seems to be following Florence, and the exploration of it unfolded very naturally.

The book also included a storyline about Florence’s work as a ghostwriter for a well-known romance author and her struggle to come up with her next book following a brutal breakup.

This was such a lovely mix of eccentric family, romance, career, and grief (and a little bit of paranormal obviously) and it made for a well-rounded story that was unique and hard to stop reading. I loved the conclusion and how wonderfully everything came together.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy The Dead Romantics at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Fiction, Romance

Love, Holly by Emily Stone ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Romance
Read if you liked: A Winter in New York

Holly takes part in a lonely-hearts letter writing program every holiday season – an opportunity for anonymous strangers to share their stories and their struggles at a time that can be particularly challenging. For Holly, it’s a time to reflect on her lost relationship with her sister following a car crash when she was driving. When she receives a letter from an older woman named Emma, Holly realizes she might be able to actually help her in person.

The whole premise here seemed kind of off to me since the whole point of the letters was that they were anonymous. Emma got over that point a little too quickly when Holly, a total stranger, showed up in her life, lied to her, and started trying to meddle. Holly was somewhat unremarkable to me as a main character, but that said, I loved all the other characters in her life who she surrounded herself with, and the found-family aspect of the book between Emma and Holly. Their relationship and bond was very special and I appreciated the way they learned from one another.

I really enjoyed the romance as well, from the initial electric chemistry between Holly and Jack when they first meet to the slow-burn rekindling in the present day. The complexity of their lives that kept them from fully embracing their connection felt realistic and kept me on my toes.

This was a cute, if predictable, read, but not my favorite by Emily Stone.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy Love, Holly at an indie bookstore near you
Love, Holly on Goodreads

Book Review, Magical Realism, Romance

The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪.5
Genre: Romance/Magical Realism
Similar to: In Five Years

After the death of her aunt, Clementine moves into her aunt’s apartment; the apartment she was always told is magic. One day, she returns to it to find a strange man, Iwan, there, claiming to be renting the space from her aunt for the summer. As Clementine gets to know him, she simultaneously realizes that she’s falling for him and that he exists seven years in the past.

I lovvvve a book with a whisper of magical realism in an otherwise normal reality. It took me a minute to understand the premise of this one, but once it clicked I was enchanted.

The chemistry between Iwan and Clementine was sooo palpable. I loved that it was fostered in the haven of the magic apartment in the past and forced to be confined there until they crossed paths again seven years later.

Clementine is struggling to come to terms with existing in a world without her aunt and grief plays into her narrative so palpably and painfully. She also finds herself at a crossroads in her career and all of these facets made her a complex, well-rounded character who I found myself rooting for.

The only piece of this story I didn’t absolutely adore was the ending which felt like it rushed to tie up all the loose ends. Nonetheless, I’ll definitely reread this one to be re-immersed in the magical world Poston created.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy The Seven Year Slip at an indie bookstore near you
The Seven Year Slip on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Romance

Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Fiction
Similar to: In Five Years
Release Date: March 19, 2024 (Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for my ARC)

Rebecca Serle has done it again. Daphne, our protagonist, receives a slip of paper whenever she meets a new man she’ll have a romantic connection with. The paper tells her how long they will be romantically involved. That is, until she meets Jake, whose slip of paper has only his name.

I absolutely love the way Serle incorporates the littlest bit of the fantastical into an everyday narrative. It makes for such captivating stories. I loved that there was no justification for the expiration dates in Daphne’s life, they simply were. Her relationship with Jake seemed so effortless and heartwarming and I believed in their chemistry. I also appreciated the way the story explored her past and her previous relationships, illustrating how the expiration dates came to be correct.

This is a short book and a very quick read, but it made my jaw literally drop multiple times. They were twists I would never have guessed were coming and moved the story along in such interesting ways. I will say I was not 1000% happy with the ending, but I loved the rest of the book so much that it still gets 5 stars from me.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy Expiration Dates at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Fiction, Romance

Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Romance

When Delilah returns to her small town to photograph her stepsister Astrid’s wedding, the last thing she expects is to find herself charmed by one of Astrid’s friends. This book was like movie theater popcorn, it was sooo digestible. Delilah is painted as the classic woman who escaped her small town life to pursue photography in NYC who doesn’t care about love. She was very believable and sure of herself and was truly a delightful main character.

Delilah faced a lot of sorrow and loneliness growing up, and it’s clear that returning to her small town of Bright Falls is very triggering for her. She comes in with her walls as high up as they could be, and I loved watching them slowly come down as she sees that people and perspectives change.

The characters really shone in this book. The main crew of side characters were all very nuanced and distinct and I loved seeing them band together and connect over the course of the story. I will definitely be checking out the next book in the series.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy Delilah Green Doesn’t Care at an indie bookstore near you
Delilah Green Doesn’t Care on Goodreads

Book Review, Fiction, Romance

Wreck the Halls by Tessa Bailey ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Romance

Beat and Melody are the children of two former rockstars who haven’t performed together in decades. When they are offered a million dollars to reunite their mothers on live tv, they each decide to take the plunge, agreeing to be live-streamed for the weeks leading up to the Christmas Eve reunion. Beat and Melody have only met once before, but their chemistry is immediate as soon as their livestream extravaganza begins.

Melody was your classic quirky, clumsy rom-com character who comes out of her shell as the livestream audience grows and falls in love with her. She was funny and entertaining and for the most part felt like a real person. Beat on the other hand was very one-dimensional and so much of his internal monologue was focused on his sexual preferences that I felt like I didn’t know him at all.

The premise of this book felt a little like a TikTok livestream meets Black Mirror episode, but I could totally see something like this happening and the public loving it. It was also interesting how the two of them had to navigate their lives with very little private time.

I would love to have known more about their mom’s banned, the Steel Birds. We meet the two mothers, Trina and Octavia, late in the book and they felt thrown in without completely being formed. The whole ending of the story in general was extremely rushed and unrealistic.

The romance was definitely there in this book and it did what it was trying to in terms of feeling very Hallmark movie-esque. Cute, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend it.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy Wreck the Halls at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Fiction, Romance

Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪
Genre: Romance
Similar to: When in Rome

Not sure why I picked this one up when it’s set in the same universe as When in Rome, which also got 2 starts from me. Practice Makes Perfect focuses on Annie who feels desperate for low-stakes dating practice after she overhears her date telling a friend that she’s incredibly boring. Enter Will, a sexy bodyguard who Annie decides is perfect for fake dating despite the fact that she is desperately attracted to him.

My main qualm with this book is that I could not stand Annie. She’s incredibly naive and immature and takes no agency in her own life. She spends a lot of time complaining that everyone in town sees her as this innocent little butterfly and yet she plays right into that role and doesn’t correct her sisters when they treat her that way. It honestly made me wonder why Will put up with her.

Also, the lack of communication between Will and Annie was frustrating. I often struggle with the fake-dating trope because there’s always a period where one person has feelings and won’t tell the other person and I’m like just talk to each other!!

Anyway, I did enjoy the small town gossipy setting and the slowburn of the romance, but that was about it.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy Practice Makes Perfect at an indie bookstore near you
Practice Makes Perfect on Goodreads