Tag: contemporary romance

Book Review: On Rotation by Shirlene Obuobi

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 352 pages
Author: Shirlene Obuobi
Publisher: Avon Books
Release Date: June 21st, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

For fans of Grey’s Anatomy and Seven Days in June, this dazzling debut novel by Shirlene Obuobi explores that time in your life when you must decide what you want, how to get it, & who you are, all while navigating love, friendship, and the realization that the path you’re traveling is going to be a bumpy ride.

Ghanaian-American Angela Appiah has checked off all the boxes for the “Perfect Immigrant Daughter.”

– Enroll in an elite medical school
– Snag a suitable lawyer/doctor/engineer boyfriend
– Surround self with a gaggle of successful and/or loyal friends

But then it quickly all falls apart: her boyfriend dumps her, she bombs the most important exam of her medical career, and her best friend pulls away. And her parents, whose approval seems to hinge on how closely she follows the path they chose, are a lot less proud of their daughter. It’s a quarter life crisis of epic proportions.

Angie, who has always faced her problems by working “twice as hard to get half as far,” is at a loss. Suddenly, she begins to question everything: her career choice, her friendships, even why she’s attracted to men who don’t love her as much as she loves them.

And just when things couldn’t get more complicated, enter Ricky Gutierrez— brilliant, thoughtful, sexy, and most importantly, seems to see Angie for who she is instead of what she can represent.

Unfortunately, he’s also got “wasteman” practically tattooed across his forehead, and Angie’s done chasing mirages of men. Or so she thinks. For someone who’s always been in control, Angie realizes that there’s one thing she can’t plan on: matters of her heart.

IN THE MIDDLE.

I have mixed thoughts on this one.

Firstly, I loved the medical school setting. I think it was unique and I learned a lot more (as someone who almost went to med school) than I previously knew. I love when a read is more impactful than expected and there were many, many conversations in here about important themes and topics that I appreciated being highlighted. There’s always space to grow and listen, and this book provided a moment like that.

Romance wise, I wasn’t sold. It started off iffy and then by the time I truly thought it was sweet, things soured quickly. I didn’t like the way the conflict was handled, I never fell for Ricky and I really wanted the best for Angie. Just not convinced this was it.

This does read more as fiction over romance (which I know some prefer). For me, I was hoping for a bit more romance interspersed. The audiobook narrator was wonderful, but I hesitantly say to go with the audiobook option. I learned via other reviews that there’s footnotes about a lot of the medical related things in here and it came off in the audio as more of an over explanation. Knowing about the footnotes helped me change my frame of mind while listening. Adding that in here so others know too!

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: strong
  • Romance: brief fade to black
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: racism, misogyny, sexism, drug abuse, death, medical scenes, anxiety, mentions of gun violence

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Book Review: Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 364 pages
Author: Rachel Lynn Solomon
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: July 28th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The Hating Game meets Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by way of Morgan Matson in this unforgettable romantic comedy about two rival overachievers whose relationship completely transforms over the course of twenty-four hours.

Today, she hates him.

It’s the last day of senior year. Rowan Roth and Neil McNair have been bitter rivals for all of high school, clashing on test scores, student council elections, and even gym class pull-up contests. While Rowan, who secretly wants to write romance novels, is anxious about the future, she’d love to beat her infuriating nemesis one last time.

Tonight, she puts up with him.

When Neil is named valedictorian, Rowan has only one chance at victory: Howl, a senior class game that takes them all over Seattle, a farewell tour of the city she loves. But after learning a group of seniors is out to get them, she and Neil reluctantly decide to team up until they’re the last players left—and then they’ll destroy each other.

As Rowan spends more time with Neil, she realizes he’s much more than the awkward linguistics nerd she’s sparred with for the past four years. And, perhaps, this boy she claims to despise might actually be the boy of her dreams.

Tomorrow … maybe she’s already fallen for him.

BETTER THAN EXPECTED.

I honestly didn’t know what to think about a book that takes place in roughly 36-48 hours. That’s short, ya know? But I looooved the way this was developed and how it all unfolded.

I adored Rowan and Neil. They are a classic high school rivals to lovers and the forced proximity of the last day of school helped them realize all of those connections. I think some of the drama was a bit dragged out and I could have done with a little less of that in the end.

There’s a lot of great discussions throughout on multiple important topics. And mixed in with a really neat scavenger hunt idea this was a hard book to put down. I enjoyed the audio version and had no issues with the narrator. This is fast paced, coming of age, taking those steps into adulthood kind of YA read. Add a dash of a sweet romance and it’s a good book.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: brief open door
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: anti-semitism, misogyny, domestic abuse mentioned, car accident mentioned, bullying

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Book Review: Love Off-Limits (Some Kind of Love #3) by Jenny Proctor

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 293 pages
Author: Jenny Proctor
Publisher: Four Petal Press
Release Date: October 21st, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Tyler is hard enough to resist. Put a baby goat in his arms? Oh, I’m a goner.

Romance is the last thing on my mind when I meet Tyler at a wedding.

Yes, he’s gorgeous. Yes, we have instant chemistry.

But I can’t go there with him. I’m too busy convincing my skeptical parents I’m ready to run our family farm to give Tyler’s smoldering smile a passing glance.

Fine. I glanced. And possibly . . . kissed.

But then I went home all the way in a different state. See? Crisis averted.

Until Tyler shows up in North Carolina looking for a job. Of course, I give him one. We’ve already established I’m terrible at resisting his charm.

It’s a disaster waiting to happen, really. Tyler doing manual labor within easy sight of my office window. Me trying NOT to randomly tumble into his arms. But no matter how cute he looks holding a baby goat (or how much I wish I was that baby goat), he’s off-limits until I earn my dad’s trust.

The trouble is, there’s always a risk when you push away something good. If you push too hard, you just might lose it forever.

Love Off-Limits is a stand-alone novel in a connected series. Enjoy the charming small-town appeal of a mountain farm, characters with closed-door but still sizzling chemistry, and of course, a baby goat named Penelope to tug on all your heartstrings. 

GREAT READ.

I was in the midst of trying to find a sweet romance to read in-between some fantasies and this one delivered!! Adored and read it in a day.

It was incredible that I found myself enjoying an insta-connection. That’s generally not my favorite trope, but the writing had me drawn in from the get-go. I really liked Tyler and Olivia. Fantastic chemistry and swoony kisses.

The setting was fun. I love a good farm background and this place sounded absolutely gorgeous. I found myself laughing out loud at some of the antics like chasing chickens and falling into manure. The comedic humor was on point and the ADORABLE GOAT? Oh my goodness, heart eyes.

I didn’t necessarily see this as a forbidden romance? It didn’t have the sense that they actually couldn’t be together. Besides that, no complaints. It was everything I was looking for and made me want to continue the series.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: parent who had a stroke

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Book Review: Never Leave Me (Waters of Time #2) by Jody Hedlund

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary/Historical Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Jody Hedlund
Publisher: Revell
Release Date: January 4th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In the last stages of a genetic disease, Ellen Creighton has decided to live out her remaining days at the estate of her longtime friend Harrison Burlington. Harrison cares deeply for Ellen, but as a wheelchair-bound paraplegic, he’s never allowed himself to get serious in a relationship. However, he’s desperately trying to save her by finding the holy water that is believed to heal any disease.

When he locates two flasks, Ellen refuses to drink one of them because she believes the holy water killed her sister and father. In an effort to convince her to take it, Harrison ingests the contents first, and when Ellen witnesses the effects, she can no longer deny the power of the substance in the bottles. Dangerous criminals are also seeking the holy water, and Ellen soon learns they will go to any lengths to get the powerful drug–including sending her back into the past to find it for them.

Bestselling and award-winning author Jody Hedlund plunges you into the swiftly flowing river of history in a race against the clock in this breathtaking, emotional second Waters of Time story.

UNPOPULAR OPINION.

This did not work for me like the first book did.

Why?

I felt it was too repetitive to the first story. Same bad guy doing the exact same thing. Same reason for going to the past. Same things happening in the past. I don’t know, just a bit too many similarities for this not to drag.

The romance between Ellen and Harrison was really sweet. I did love the first quarter and last where they got a lot more page time together. There were some seriously swoony and charged moments between the two and who am I kidding, that’s ALL I WANT.

I mostly sped read through the later half of this hoping to get back to the main characters actually sharing the page. I wanted a lot more from the surrounding plot and it even took until 30% in to actually know what the whole story would entail. I don’t know, just wasn’t as captivated by this one y’all.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary/Magical Realism Romance
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: make-outs
  • Violence: mild
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: physical altercations, kidnapping, loss of loved ones, full detail childbirth scene

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