Tag: contemporary romance

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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Book Review: Dear Aaron by Mariana Zapata

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 500 pages
Author: Mariana Zapata
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: June 10th, 2017
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Ruby Santos knew exactly what she was getting herself into when she signed up to write a soldier overseas.

The guidelines were simple: one letter or email a week for the length of his or her deployment. Care packages were optional.

Been there, done that. She thought she knew what to expect.

What she didn’t count on was falling in love with the guy.

GREW ON ME.

Who knew I would have to wait SO LONG for these two to actually meet? And who I would kind of be into it? This is definitely very heavy on epistolary elements but as the pages went by I started to realize that I was invested in how adorable these two were. There was something magic about connecting through writing before Aaron and Ruby had a chance to meet.

I liked that this had it’s own vibe. It’s different than other romances I’ve read and I FELT for both of these characters. It’s a simple romance read without a lot of heavy plot dynamics. Aaron and Ruby fell in love in this precious way that I connected a lot with.

The ending was a little abrupt for me and I wish we could have seen a little bit more (and the rest is redacted for spoiler reasons). I’ve had this sitting on my TBR for so long and I’m glad I got to it! I wouldn’t call it my FAVORITE of MZ’s books but it is highly enjoyable and brought a smile to my face. Aaron is straight swoony with his words and I was melting many times over.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: light, but strong
  • Romance: one open door
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: discussion of deployment and some mentions of war themes, absent mother

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Book Review: Love at First Psych by Cara Bastone

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 4h 35 min audiobook
Author: Cara Bastone
Publisher: Audible Audio
Release Date: March 2nd, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

True love is put to the test in this romantic comedy brought to hilarious life by Santino Fontana (Frozen, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Stephanie Einstein, and a full cast!

This Psych 312 assignment just might send me off the deep end. Determining whether love at first sight really exists with Robbie Moravian as my project partner of all people?

He’s the sappiest man alive, so upbeat I could scream, and clearly rooting for happy endings at every turn. How does he not learn from experience considering our own meet-cute last semester almost got us expelled?

But we both need to pass this course to graduate. So we’re interviewing five random couples about their meet-cutes and relationships and spending all this time together. Which is certainly…educational.

Because it turns out Robbie isn’t just the charming golden boy I thought I knew. There’s some actual depth beneath all those lame dad jokes and the ‘70s-inspired thrift wardrobe (even if he does look ridiculously great in a flared collar). Next thing I know he’s walking me back to my office on the regular and finishing all my sentences and protecting me from freak storms, and…

Wait. Could Robbie be right? Can happy endings really come from unhappy beginnings? Is he about to change my entire world view?

Group projects are the worst.

SUPER CUTE.

I hope these short and sweet audiobooks by Bastone never stop because I have really adored each one. This was another great, quick read that brought a smile to my face.

I loved Robbie’s BIG golden retriever energy and the reverse grump x sunshine dynamic. I know Marigold comes off a bit poorly in the beginning, but with this being so short you see the growth in her character quickly. Yes, it’s all a bit cheesy and can feel a bit much. I liked it for what it was and the boost of serotonin it gave me.

All of the interviews left pulled me out of the story and I wish those would have been shortened or not overall included. I know it was the basis of the plot, yet I was easily side tracked and wanting more of the romance between the main couple.

Cute and quick, recommend if you’re needing something light and simple.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance Novella
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses

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