Tag: romance reader

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.

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Buy The Seven Year Slip at an indie bookstore near you
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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.

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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
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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.

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Buy Practice Makes Perfect at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Fiction, Romance

When in Rome by Sarah Adams ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪
Genre: Romance

Pop star Amelia Rose needs a break from reality before her tour begins. Her car breaks down in a small town in the yard of attractive bakery-owner Noah, who lets her crash in his guest room until her car is fixed. Spoiler alert, it takes a while.

I love the famous person dates a normal person trope, but this story was far too slow for me. The romance was cute and I loved the gossipy small town vibe, but I honestly don’t know what happened for the majority of the book. The romance was cute and there was a solid buildup, but anything else that happened felt like fluff. There was an attempt to delve deeply into Amelia’s relationship with her mom, but it didn’t feel fleshed out enough to me. I think it could have added a lot to the story had there been more showing and less telling.

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Buy When in Rome at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Fiction, Romance

Our Place on the Island by Erika Montgomery ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪
Genre: Romance
Similar to: Elin Hilderbrand

Our Place on the Island follows three generations of women in a dual timeline leading up to the matriarch, Cora’s second wedding. Her granddaughter Mickey is shocked by the sudden announcement and drops everything to head to Martha’s Vineyard and the family house there, Beech House. When she arrives, she slowly learns that there’s more to her grandmother’s seemingly sudden wedding than meets the eye.

Mickey is a chef and the descriptions of food throughout this book were mouthwatering and almost tangible. Ditto to the setting – the details about Beech House and summer days on Martha’s Vineyard were wonderfully atmospheric and made this a perfect book to read on the beach (which I absolutely did).

The present and past timelines were distinct and I loved the exploration of class differences that Cora experienced as a new bride on the island. Her character was well rounded and I could palpably feel her struggle as she tried to fit in while staying true to herself.

Mickey’s story in the present day was distinctly less compelling to me, and I wish we’d gotten more insight into her mother to really explore the family dynamics fully. That said, this was a fast and enjoyable summer read.

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Buy Our Place on the Island at an indie bookstore near you
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Book Review, Fiction, Romance

How to Fake it in Hollywood by Ava Wilder ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪.5
Genre: Romance
Similar to: Once More with Feeling

How to Fake it in Hollywood is a classic celebrity fake dating romance. Grey and Ethan both agree to a fake relationship they believe will be mutually beneficial to their reputations. They quickly find that the chemistry they’re faking is beginning to feel more and more real.

I loved the chemistry and the build up. It felt organic and I was rooting for them to give in and get together. That being said, everything else in the story felt somewhat plot device-y. The issues each celebrity was dealing with were not explored in depth enough to feel real and meaningful to me.

Although the romance was strong in the beginning, by the end it seemed kinda toxic and I’d lost interest in the two being together. That combined with a very drawn out and repetitive second half of the book left me ultimately disappointed.

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Buy How to Fake it in Hollywood at an indie bookstore near you
How to Fake it in Hollywood on Goodreads

Book Review, Romance

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪
Genre: Romance 

I am truly baffled by all the glowing reviews for this book. If you’re just looking for some smut without a strong narrative tying it together, knock yourself out, but I was hoping for a solid storyline I didn’t get.

Anastasia is a competitive figure skater heading toward an important competition when her team suddenly finds themselves forced to share their rink with the hockey team. Nate, the team captain, is immediately intrigued by Anastasia’s intensity and lack of interest in him and wants nothing more than to make her warm up to him.

From the fun, cute premise, this quickly devolved into a bunch of sex scenes and a random plotline of people getting punched and blaming random other people for it and Nate suddenly becoming a stand-in for Anastasia’s figure skating partner because of course there would be no other actual skater who could do that.

Anyway, big pass for me.

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

Book Review, Fiction, Romance

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes ~ Book Review

Morgan

My Rating: 🍪🍪🍪🍪.5
Genre: Romance
Similar to: Remarkably Bright Creatures, One Night on the Island

Wow, what a wonderful read. On the day that Evvie finally gets up the nerve to leave her horrible husband, he is killed in a car accident, leaving her to play the role of grieving widow. The complexity of the emotions Evvie is left to manage were enough to make her a compelling character. Dean, a former major league baseball pitcher, is running from his own demons when he rents out the apartment at Evvie’s house.

This was a slow burn romance, but I loved how it was based in a friendship that I truly believed in. The conversations between the two were fun and witty and serious and raw. I also enjoyed Evvie’s best friend Andy and the nuances of their friendship. Holmes does a wonderful job of showing the layers of different types of relationships and doing so in a way that was realistic.

There was definitely a heaviness to this book, but it felt more like actual life than a lot of fluffy contemporary romances do. To top it off, the writing was delightful.

Check out my bookstagram: @Treat.your.shelf
Buy Evvie Drake Starts Over at an indie bookstore near you
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