Book Review: The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 416 pages
Author: Christina Lauren
Publisher: Gallery Books
Release Date: May 16th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Sparks fly when a romance novelist and a documentary filmmaker join forces to craft the perfect Hollywood love story and take both of their careers to the next level—but only if they can keep the chemistry between them from taking the whole thing off script.

Felicity “Fizzy” Chen is lost. Sure, she’s got an incredible career as a beloved romance novelist with a slew of bestsellers under her belt, but when she’s asked to give a commencement address, it hits her: she hasn’t been practicing what she’s preached.

Fizzy hasn’t ever really been in love. Lust? Definitely. But that swoon-worthy, can’t-stop-thinking-about-him, all-encompassing feeling? Nope. Nothing. What happens when the optimism she’s spent her career encouraging in readers starts to feel like a lie?

Connor Prince, documentary filmmaker and single father, loves his work in large part because it allows him to live near his daughter. But when his profit-minded boss orders him to create a reality TV show, putting his job on the line, Connor is out of his element. Desperate to find his romantic lead, a chance run-in with an exasperated Fizzy offers Connor the perfect solution. What if he could show the queen of romance herself falling head-over-heels for all the world to see? Fizzy gives him a hard pass—unless he agrees to her list of demands. When he says yes, and production on The True Love Experiment begins, Connor wonders if that perfect match will ever be in the cue cards for him, too.

The True Love Experiment is the book fans have been waiting for ever since Fizzy’s debut in The Soulmate Equation. But when the lights come on and all eyes are on her, it turns out the happily ever after Fizzy had all but given up on might lie just behind the camera.

I LIKED IT.

I’m very up and down, hit and miss with Christina Lauren books. This fell somewhere in-between. Honestly I’m feeling a little generous giving four stars, but here we are.

The plot set up and style was fun. I did like that it was unique with the TV show and romance books aspects. I absolutely adore Fizzy and Connor was incredibly swoony too. Definitely felt the chemistry from them and how much they wanted to be together.

BUT. The third act. I can’t. I can’t handle Connor offering up vulnerability, honesty and communication and Fizzy throwing that in his face. Very much rage inducing for me and I even waited until the next day to finish because this book had been going so well?!

I will commend the finale. It went exactly as I hoped and was super cute. SUPER. Therefore, it made me happy and I love a sweet happy ending.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: strong
  • Romance: 2-3 open; high explicit
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: parental abandonment mentioned, infidelity mentioned

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Book Review: Better Left Unsent by Lia Louis

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Fiction + Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Lia Louis
Publisher: Atria
Release Date: May 21st, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

So many ways to torpedo your career and your love life…So little time.A woman accidentally reveals all her secrets in this witty and charming novel from the author of Eight Perfect Hours.Two years ago, thirty-year-old receptionist Millie Chandler had her heart spectacularly broken in public. Ever since, she has been a closed book, vowing to keep everything to herself—her feelings, her truths, even her dreams—in an effort to protect herself from getting hurt again.But Millie does write emails—sarcastic replies to her rude boss, hard truths to her friends, and of course, that one-thousand-word love declaration to her ex who is now engaged to someone else. The emails live safely in her drafts, but after a server outage at work, Millie wakes up to discover that all her emails have been sent. Every. Single. One.As every truth, lie, and secret she’s worked so hard to keep only to herself are catapulted out into the open, Millie must fix the chaos her words have caused, and face everything she’s ever swept under the carpet.

Thank you to Simon Audio for the gifted audiobook.

I LIKED IT.

I did like this book, but I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite by this author. I’ve read books with this plot line before and I liked how it played out for the most part. There’s a lot of good self reflection for Millie and I did love seeing her growth and finding where her true identity was.

The sub-plot romance was sweeet. I thought they had good chemistry. It’s a nice slow build with lots of good moments between them. I think the drama contrasted well to the story and the emotionally journey felt very honest and raw which I always appreciate.

I didn’t love one of the reveals. And while the explanation is absolutely there, something was missing from that for me.

Still, in the end, I love the clever writing from Louis. I enjoy the plot and main characters. The themes of owning your truth and turning a terrible situation into a chance to change and grow was really powerful to read.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fiction + Romance
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: kisses
  • Content Warnings: psychological abuse recounted

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ARC Book Review: The Calculation of You and Me by Serena Kaylor

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 304 pages
Author: Serena Kaylor
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: June 18th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A calculus nerd enlists her surly classmate’s help to win back her ex-boyfriend, but when sparks start to fly, she realizes there’s no algorithm for falling in love.

Marlowe Thompson understands a lot of things. She understands that calculus isn’t overwhelmingly beautiful to everyone, and that it typically kills the mood when you try to talk Python coding over beer pong. She understands people were surprised when golden boy Josh asked her out and she went from weird, math-obsessed Marlowe to half of their school’s couple goals. Unfortunately, Marlowe was surprised when Josh dumped her because he’d prefer a girlfriend who was more romantic. One with emotional depth.

But Marlowe has never failed anything in her life, and she isn’t about to start now. When she’s paired with Ashton Hayes for an English project, his black clothing and moody eyeliner cause a bit of a systems overload, and the dissonant sounds of his rock band make her brain itch. But when she discovers Ash’s hidden stash of love songs, Marlowe makes a desperate deal to unleash her inner romantic heroine: if Ash will agree to help her write some love letters, she’ll calculate the perfect data analytics formula to make Ash’s band go viral.

As the semester heats up with yearning love notes and late nights spent with a boy who escapes any box her brain tries to put him in, Marlowe starts to question if there’s really a set solution to love. Could a girl who has never met a problem she couldn’t solve have gotten the math so massively wrong?

Thank you to Wednesday Books for the eARC and LibroFM for the audiobook.

A BIT OF A LETDOWN.

I loved the authors previous book and it had made me all the more excited to pick this one up, and I’m not quite sure what to do about my thoughts.

My biggest issue was that for 90% of the book it was focused on the FMC getting back together with her ex. This left very little room for the new relationship to form and for a spark of true chemistry to be there. I was so tired of the constant focus on her ex.

I did like the general themes. I loved the acknowledgment of the power of romance books and how we can all love in our own ways and how important that part of our selves is. I liked the tight friendship group for Marlowe and a realistic family life too.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: low
  • Romance: kisses

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Book Review: A Sea of Blood and Sapphire by Florence Gray

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance Retelling
Length: 395 pages
Author: Florence Gray
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: May 15th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

As long as mermaids live, the sea will fill with blood.

On the night of Amaris’ eighteenth birthday, she is finally free to surface from the depths of the Sapphire Sea, but when she joins her pack, she’s horrified by the barbaric hunt. She knows the cost of saving her mortal enemy’s life, but she can’t bring herself to join in on the bloodshed.

Amaris is left with no choice but to consult the sea witch in order to escape from her father’s wrath. She soon finds that there are worse things than being the predator, gambling her soul and becoming the prey.

Hans Christian Andersen’s story of The Little Mermaid with a dark and compelling twist, this new adult fantasy novel will leave every reader swept away in the tides of magic, mermaids, and romance.

LET DOWN.

I was really excited for this release when I saw it floating around and now I’m here to say that it wasn’t worth it. This is clearly a The Little Mermaid retelling but attempting to make it adult with little success. I know others might enjoy more of these aspects, so take my thoughts how you will.

For one, I wish it had eventually turned into its own story. I didn’t feel like anything really new was added to the retelling. Every direct component was there and more or less like the original. Just add in awkward innuendo and romance book tangents that didn’t fit the plot and you’re there. Along with that was the heavy use of modern language that took me out of the book. I’m in a fantasy world and too often these small things kept adding up adding to my displeasure overall. I thought some of the world building pieces were cool, and I wish those had been fleshed out more for a more complete story.

Different parts of the romance worked for me. There’s decent banter and I understood the enemies to lovers. For a standalone the pacing and slow burn nature did fit well. But I officially do not like epilogues that are there only to add another *love* scene, it’s just not necessary.

Meh. I’m bummed. Moving on.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance Retelling
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: innuendo, 2-3 almost scenes, 2 open door; low – med. explicit
  • Violence: moderate-high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of loved ones, whipping, near death experiences, murder, small battle themes

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