Tag: contemporary romance

ARC Book Review: Wild About You by Kaitlyn Hill

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: NA Contemporary Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Kaitlyn Hill
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: May 21st, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Two total opposites. One race through the Great Outdoors. In this grumpy-sunshine teen romance from the author of Love from Scratch and Not Here to Stay Friends , the trail to true love doesn’t always come with a map.

Natalie Hart has always been loud, unfiltered, and unapologetically herself. But then comes her freshman year of college, when she loses her merit scholarship and gains one pesky little anxiety diagnosis.

Hesitant to take out more student loans, Natalie decides to shoot her shot and applies to Wild Adventures , a popular outdoorsy reality show. Sure, Natalie prefers her twelve-step skincare routine to roughing it on the Appalachian Trail while competing in challenges against other college kids, but that scholarship prize money is calling her name. High risk, high reward, right?

Enter Finn Markum, her randomly assigned, capital- O Outdoorsy teammate whose growl could rival a black bear. These partners have more friction than a pair of new hiking boots. Or is it flirtation? Turns out falling in love might be the wildest adventure of all…

Thank you GetUnderlined for the gifted ARC.

UH, I LOVED THIS.

I really didn’t have any kind of expectations going into this, I was just genuinely hoping to like this book and it ended up hitting me in the feels on many levels.

I adored the grump x sunshine set up. I loved Natalie. She made me laugh and want to hug her. I felt that 19 years old, trying to figure out the next step, and having to do it mostly alone. Not having the best parent connection and struggling with anxiety (the anxiety rep was amazing y’all). Meeting her match in Finn, the cutest grumpy cinnamon roll. I loved him and that even without a POV I got a great background and depth of self and I loooooved the banter between them. And also how they worked through apologizing and communicating. It wasn’t a linear road, nor was it wildly dramatic and blown out or proportion. I love the realness of it all.

The setting was fun. I liked the trek through a portion of the Appalachian Trail and the reality show worked well into the story. Even as a main part of the atmosphere I don’t think it overwhelmed the character driven story about Natalie.

This surprised me in all the best ways. I constantly found myself wanting to pick it up and enjoy it. Made me smile and swoon, and I appreciated the themes throughout too.

Overall audience notes:

  • NA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: low-moderate
  • Romance: make-outs
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a parent (off page, recounted – cancer)

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ALC Book Review: I Wish You Would by Eva Des Lauriers

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Upper YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 305 pages
Author: Eva Des Lauriers
Publisher: Henry Holt
Release Date: May 21st, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In this drama-filled love story, private confessions are scattered on the beach during a senior class overnight and explosive secrets threaten to tear everyone apart, including best friends (or maybe more?), Natalia and Ethan.

It’s Senior Sunrise, the epic overnight at the beach that kicks off senior year. But for Natalia and Ethan, it’s the first time seeing each other after what happened at junior prom―when they almost crossed the line from best friends to something more and ruined everything. After ghosting each other all summer, Natalia is desperate to pretend she doesn’t care and Ethan is desperate to fix his mistake.

When the senior class carries out their tradition of writing private letters to themselves―what they wish they would do this year if they were braver―Natalia pours her heart out. So does Ethan. So does everyone in their entire class. But in Natalia’s panicked attempt to retrieve her heartfelt confession, the wind scatters seven of the notes across the beach. Now, Ethan and Natalia are forced to work together to find the lost letters before any secrets are revealed―especially their own.

Seven private confessions. Seven time bombs loose for anyone to find. And one last chance before the sun rises for these two to fall in love.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

LEAN INTO IT.

I knew going into this that it would be drama with a capital D. Honestly, knowing that going in allowed me to enjoy it more. I wasn’t overanalyzing everything and rode this rollercoaster in style.

Audiobook notes: The audiobook was fantastic. It’s a dual POV story with two narrators which worked wonderfully. Definitely recommend this format.

Anyways, this is a concentrated timeline of about 48 hrs with a few flashback chapters here and there. It kept the pace fast and I did find myself continually wanting to pick it up so I could see what spectacle was going to occur next.

There are some good moments of growth towards the end. And I didn’t mind the main characters. Yes, it’s filled with miscommunication but I also tried to remind myself these are 17/18 year old’s and I’m glad they worked things out in the end.

Overall audience notes:

  • Upper YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: one closed door scene; mild innuendo throughout
  • Violence: low
  • Content Warnings: mentions of inappropriate teacher/student relationship, homophobic remarks, cheating (off page), divorce, underage alcohol use

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Book Review: Say You’ll Be Mine by Naina Kumar

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 352 pages
Author: Naina Kumar
Publisher: Dell
Release Date: January 16th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In this utterly charming debut romance, a teacher with big dreams joins forces with a no-nonsense engineer to survive an ex’s wedding and escape matchmaking pressure from their Indian families. Their plan? Faking an engagement, of course.

Meghna Raman’s parents wanted her to be an engineer, but instead she’s followed her passion, becoming a theater teacher and aspiring playwright. But when she discovers that her beloved writing partner, best friend, and secret crush, Seth, is suddenly engaged—and not to her—she realizes he’s about to become the one-that-got-away. Even worse, he’s asked her to be his best man. And worse than that, she’s agreed. Determined to try and move on and relieve a bit of the pressure she feels, Meghna agrees to let her parents introduce her to a potential match. Maybe she’ll even find the engineer her family wishes she became. . . .

Grumpy, handsome engineer Karthik Murthy has seen enough of his parents’ marriage to know that it isn’t for him. He only agreed to his mother’s matchmaking attempts to make her happy, never dreaming he would meet someone as vibrant as Meghna. Though he can’t offer her a real marriage, a fake engagement could help Meghna soothe the sting of planning Seth’s wedding festivities and Karthik avoid the absurd number of set-ups his mother has planned for the next year.

But as they find common ground, grow protective of one another’s hearts, and learn to fall for the flaws they thought they hated, an undeniable chemistry takes shape. Soon, Meghna and Karthik’s expectations and insecurities threaten to risk something that’s become a lot more real than they hoped.

Say You’ll Be Mine is a delightful trip back to the heyday of swoony romantic comedies from the nineties, but with a deep and poignant look at the effects of culture and family in our most intimate relationships.

WHAT A GEM.

I took a random chance on this one and it was a HIT y’all. I really adored this whole story. Fake dating/engagement has kind of burnt me out lately, and I can happily say this broke that streak for me. I loved the way this was approached and handled.

If I was being a bit nitpicky the FMC, Meghna frustrated me a bit with the red flags here ex boyfriend/current best friend was clearly exhibiting from the get-go. Gratefully, the way it was delt with helped me kind of roll with it all and just let it be.

The romance was the sweetest and best kind of slow burn!! I loved that this wasn’t high unnecessary heat. There was great relationship development and some absolute heart squeezing moments that made me want to hug Karthik myself. I loved this entire progression of the story. I loved the families and friends and how there was just enough side plot without being a distraction from the main couple. Oh, and it’s dual POV! Also recommend the audio. Loved that format.

A fantastic debut, I am a fan and can’t wait for more.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: low
  • Romance: 1-2 open; low explicit
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: a Dad accused of workplace harassment, cheating (side characters)

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ARC Book Review: The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 352 pages
Author: Christina Lauren
Publisher: Gallery Books
Release Date: May 14th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Christina Lauren, returns with a delicious new romance between the buttoned-up heir of a grocery chain and his free-spirited artist ex as they fake their relationship in order to receive a massive inheritance.

Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam “West” Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she’d signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways.

Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There’s just one catch.

Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather’s will, Liam won’t see a penny until he’s been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he’s in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has no choice but to turn to the one person he’s afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents—his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife.

But in the presence of his family, Liam’s fears quickly shift from whether the feisty, foul-mouthed, paint-splattered Anna can play the part to whether the toxic world of wealth will corrupt someone as pure of heart as his surprisingly grounded and loyal wife. Liam will have to ask himself if the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie.

Thank you to Simon Audio for the free audiobook.

CHAOTIC GOOD.

I binged this in a morning while chaotically packing for a trip and I think the balance of the chaoticness of this book really hit a mood I didn’t know I was in. This book is filled with drama, a FMC who absolutely does not have it together and a handsome man who needs her help. I didn’t even know this was a MOC book until I started it and I loved the set-up.

There were a few writing quirks that stood out, like how she kept referring to his 🍆 as “g*ddamn” that I just couldn’t understand the necessity. And this and that that stood out enough for this not to be a full five star.

I actually didn’t mind the drama because this book leans into it hard and I felt like that was the point. I wanted the drama, the escapism of this beachy kind of read and the enjoyment of a good romance. I liked how Anna and Liam figured things out and even though there was a benefits moment, you could tell they had insane chemistry together and the caring groundwork was already in place.

This is another tally in the win column for a CL book.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: strong
  • Romance: 4+ open
  • Violence: low

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