Tag: contemporary romance

Book Review: Last Chance Summer by Shannon Klare

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Shannon Klare
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Release Date: July 21st, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In Shannon Klare’s fun and sexy YA novel Last Chance Summer, a teen is shipped off to work as a counselor at a summer camp―only to butt heads with her co-counselor.

Alex is a sheriff’s daughter with a less than pristine reputation. When she’s caught drinking at a party by her dad’s deputy, she’s in deep trouble. With an already incriminating incident in her past, Alex’s parents ship her off to her aunt’s summer camp to work as a counselor.

What’s worse than spending your summer deep in the mosquito-infested woods of Texas?

Being paired with an obnoxious co-counselor who wants nothing to do with you.

Alex is determined to make the best of her summer, even if it means putting up with Grant, who has secrets of his own that he’s determined to protect. Can Alex and Grant put their egos to the side and find the bright side of a summer that neither of them signed up for? 

SWEET SUMMERTIME.

An enjoyable backlist summer time read with allllll those camp vibes. I really liked this!

Alex and Grant had a solid enemies to lovers vibe, but yet sweet? I don’t know how to explain it. I loved the banter and the fun ways they got to know each other in a camp setting. They had maaaany super cute moments where I was cheering them on.

Alex had a lot to learn and explore within herself and this book did an alright job accomplishing that. I think there could have been a deeper dive into the entire story. It’s a short book and I felt much of it was surface level. The ending went kind of quickly with the bigger plots being wrapped up.

It was an engaging read I had a hard time putting down. It’s a simple read that’ll have you thinking of all things summer.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: mild
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: drunk and underage driving (resulting in loss of life), loss of a parent, grief depiction

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Book Review: Love & Olives (Love & Gelato #3) by Jenna Evans Welch

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Rating: ★★★★☆
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 506 pages
Author: Jenna Evans Welch
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: November 10th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Santorini felt like an island holding its breath. As if it were keeping in a secret…

Liv Varanakis doesn’t like to think about her father much, which makes sense—he fled to Greece when she was only eight, leaving her with just a few painful memories of their shared love for the lost city of Atlantis. So when teenage Liv suddenly receives a postcard from her father, who explains that National Geographic is supporting a documentary about his theories on Atlantis—and asks if she will fly out to Greece and help—Liv is less than thrilled.

When she arrives in gorgeous Santorini, things are just as awkward as she’d imagined. There are so many questions, so many emotions that flood to the surface after seeing her father for the first time in years. Liv doesn’t want to get sucked back into her father’s world. She also definitely doesn’t want Theo, her father’s charismatic so-called protégé, to witness her struggle.

Even so, she can’t help but be charmed by everything Santorini has to offer—the beautiful sunsets, the turquoise water, the sun-drenched villages, and the delicious cuisine. But not everything on the Greek island is as perfect as it seems. Because as Liv slowly begins to discover, her father may not have invited her to Greece for Atlantis, but for something much more important.

TAKE ME TO SANTORINI.

Oh wow. I read Love & Gelato years ago and adored it. I ended up skipping book two after seeing less than stellar reviews. I HAD NO IDEA THERE WAS A BOOK THREE??

I’m so glad I read it because it was the charming quintessential young adult contemporary that I love reading. This gave me major wanderlust about traveling and now I have officially added Santorini to my bucket list. I loved all of the Atlantis theories and lore. I remember a time when I was really into this fabled city and it was fun exploring that too. The ending made me tear up with the discussions on mental health and doing the best you can.

Olive held a lot of pieces I love about teen girls. I liked her bravery in going to see and confront her father, but also her willingness to see what’s been happening in his life. She had a great balance of (deserved) anger and finding new joys while overcoming personal anxieties. I thought the sweet romance with Theo was so stinkin’ cute. It continually made me smile. My only tiny issue was that I hate when a main character dates someone off page for 95% of the book (he really didn’t have a point past the first 15%).

Anyways, LOVED THIS. A great edition to the series.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: bipolar disorder, panic attacks, smoking

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Book Review: Complete (The Sweet Rom”Com” #3) by Kortney Keisel

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 315 pages
Author: Kortney Keisel
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: August 24th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Ben and I are just friends.

We’ve tried to be more, but it never works. There’s no chemistry between us.

At least that’s the story I tell everyone.

Truth is, I’m pining for Ben. HARD. Like Taylor Swift, You Belong With Me, hard. I don’t know what happened. Suddenly, his casual touch is fire, and his easy smile stops my heart.

But Ben has put me in the friend zone. Permanently. His supermodel girlfriend and him setting me up with a pro football player confirm this.

It’s time to bury these feelings. Lock them up. A famous pro athlete is exactly what I need to get over my infatuation. Except Ben isn’t making things easy. He’s leveled up his touching and flirting—all good stuff unless you’re trying to move on with your life.

So what’s a girl to do? Confess my feelings and risk losing my best friend? Or keep on pretending and end up with the wrong man?

Complete is a friends-to-lovers, laugh-out-loud love story that keeps the romance closed-door. It’s book three in The Sweet Rom “Com” Series but can be read as a standalone.

GOOD HEAVENS.

I am a puddle after this one y’all!! Let me era of friends to lovers romances commence. This is one of the best renditions of this trope I’ve read.

Ben was such flirty hot mess and I loved it. I actually burst out in true laughter multiple times (aka the yacht scene IYKYK). There were many genuinely funny scenes that are the reason I love this romcom genre. Keisel did an amazing job at creating a book filled with serious subjects combined with the happiness I need when I read. I loved seeing Ben work through his parent issues. He definitely needed shaken a bit to get the point across, but when that aha moment hit you here the chorus shouting, FINALLY.

I adored Brooke!! She was a fantastic FMC that was filled with love and hope and I want to be her friend. The subplot with Trey actually worked out better than I could have hoped for. I was nervous that he’d get tossed aside, and I love how Keisel handled that. Not to mention, I am so here for the jealousy. I realized that I do love some jealous aspects (on both sides) to really push those feelings, when you know they are just IN LOVE.

Clearly I loved this. It’s my new favorite Keisel book and makes me excited for whatever she has in store next.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: death of a parent mentioned, recounting of home life (with yelling and indifferent parents)

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Book Review: Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Sarah Dessen
Publisher: Viking Books
Release Date: June 16th, 2009
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

It’s been so long since Auden slept at night. Ever since her parents’ divorce—or since the fighting started. Now she has the chance to spend a carefree summer with her dad and his new family in the charming beach town where they live.

A job in a clothes boutique introduces Auden to the world of girls: their talk, their friendship, their crushes. She missed out on all that, too busy being the perfect daughter to her demanding mother. Then she meets Eli, an intriguing loner and a fellow insomniac who becomes her guide to the nocturnal world of the town. Together they embark on parallel quests: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she’s been denied; for Eli, to come to terms with the guilt he feels for the death of a friend.

In her signature pitch-perfect style, Sarah Dessen explores the hearts of two lonely people learning to connect.

TEAM STEPMOM.

These were some tough parents to read about. A Dad who brought me to rage induced rants because of his lack of care for his wife and new baby. A Mom who was incredibly stubborn and seemed incapable of seeing other’s view points and was constantly passive aggressive. And they honestly brought the story down for me. I was expecting to see some growth from them (and for Auden to talk it out) but I don’t feel like that happened enough at the end to be satisfied.

I enjoyed the story overall. It’s very much classic/older YA and that’s part of it’s charm. I purely picked this up to watch the movie and am not upset that I did. I liked the friendships that Auden was able to develop. I especially loved her step-mom. Instead of being the usual trope of awfulness, she was a woman stuck in a rough post-partum situation and I liked that they leaned on one another (even if Auden wouldn’t recognize it).

The romance was very lackluster. Honestly it almost felt as if there wasn’t one? It’s a slow burn with little page time. I would have loved a lot more of Eli and how he could have better factored into the story.

A formulaic YA contemporary that is, ya know, perfectly fine.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: make-outs
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: teacher/student relationship mentioned (side character), cheating, alcohol consumption, post-partum depression, loss of a friend (side character, but plays central role)

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