Tag: young adult contemporary romance

Book Review: All I Want for Christmas by Wendy Loggia

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Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 240 pages
Author: Wendy Loggia
Publisher: Underlined
Release Date: November 3rd, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

This sweet and magical romance about a girl who has just one wish–someone to kiss under the mistletoe–is the perfect holiday escape!

Bailey Briggs is counting down the days to Christmas: she lives for holiday music, baking cookies, going on snowy sleigh rides, and wearing her light-up reindeer ears to work at Winslow’s bookstore. But all she really wants this year is the one thing she doesn’t have: someone special to kiss under the mistletoe. And she’s 100 percent certain that that someone isn’t Jacob Marley–athlete, player, and of questionable taste in girlfriends–and that Charlie, the mysterious stranger with the British accent, is the romantic lead of her dreams. Is she right? This will be a December to remember, filled with real-life Christmas magic . . . and, if she stays on Santa’s nice list, a wish that just might come true. 

DEFINITELY CHRISTMASY.

Welllllll. I’ll give it points for bringing out every Christmas vibe possible. It did have me wishing I could whip out a sweater in the 100 degree heat outside my window.

This turned out to be a love triangle and we allllll know I tend to not love them. This was another case of that fact. Bailey came off as really whiny most of the time and was focused a lot on looks rather than character/personality of the two boys. Quickly it became clear who was going to choose and when that reveal came out I found myself not too keen on it all. Magical realism thrown into a story to finish it off, isn’t a great finisher in my mind.

Super cheesy and I do think younger audiences would enjoy all of the holiday atmosphere. It’s overall sweet and charming. I loved all of the activities that Bailey got to go do and I just wish the love triangle was taken out of it.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: minor car accident

Book Review: Glimpsed by G.F. Miller

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Young adult contemporary romance
Length: 374 pages
Author: G.F. Miller
Publisher: Simon Schuster
Release Date: January 5th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Perfect for fans of Geekerella and Jenn Bennett, this charming, sparkly rom-com follows a wish-granting teen forced to question if she’s really doing good—and if she has the power to make her own dreams come true.

Charity is a fairy godmother. She doesn’t wear a poofy dress or go around waving a wand, but she does make sure the deepest desires of the student population at Jack London High School come true. And she knows what they want even better than they do because she can glimpse their perfect futures.

But when Charity fulfills a glimpse that gets Vibha crowned homecoming queen, it ends in disaster. Suddenly, every wish Charity has ever granted is called into question. Has she really been helping people? Where do these glimpses come from, anyway? What if she’s not getting the whole picture?

Making this existential crisis way worse is Noah—the adorkable and (in Charity’s opinion) diabolical ex of one of her past clients—who blames her for sabotaging his prom plans and claims her interventions are doing more harm than good. He demands that she stop granting wishes and help him get his girl back. At first, Charity has no choice but to play along. But soon, Noah becomes an unexpected ally in getting to the bottom of the glimpses. Before long, Charity dares to call him her friend…and even starts to wish he were something more. But can the fairy godmother ever get the happily ever after?

NERDY AND ADORABLE.

This was such a cute YA read. On the lighter side with a fun twist on the classic fairy godmother play. I really enjoyed this one and yay for Bookstagram putting it on my radar!

One of the little things I loved was how often Charity changed the color of her hair and how I desperately wish I could do the same. I love how quick she was to help others and was truly a nice person. Her flaws were there, but so was her growth and acknowledgement that maybe things could go a different way.

Charity’s relationship with Noah was ADORABLE. Totes adorbs. A bit of enemies to lovers, lots of Star Trek discussions and more. They had instant chemistry and I thought the banter was fantastic. Noah was incredibly sweet and I really fell in love with these two.

I didn’t find the conflicts and teenage drama frustrating. It worked well into the story and I had a hard time putting this down. A great read, loved it.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary romance
  • Language: little
  • Romance: kisses

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Book Review: Amelia Unabridged by Ashley Schumacher

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Contemporary + Romance
Length: 304 pages
Author: Ashley Schumacher
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: February 16th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Sparks fly between two teens as they grapple with grief, love, and the future.

Eighteen-year-old Amelia Griffin is obsessed with the famous Orman Chronicles, written by the young and reclusive prodigy N. E. Endsley. They’re the books that brought her and her best friend Jenna together after Amelia’s father left and her family imploded. So when Amelia and Jenna get the opportunity to attend a book festival with Endsley in attendance, Amelia is ecstatic. It’s the perfect way to start off their last summer before college.

In a heartbeat, everything goes horribly wrong. When Jenna gets a chance to meet the author and Amelia doesn’t, the two have a blowout fight like they’ve never experienced. And before Amelia has a chance to mend things, Jenna is killed in a freak car accident. Grief-stricken, and without her best friend to guide her, Amelia questions everything she had planned for the future.

When a mysterious, rare edition of the Orman Chronicles arrives, Amelia is convinced that it somehow came from Jenna. Tracking the book to an obscure but enchanting bookstore in Michigan, Amelia is shocked to find herself face-to-face with the enigmatic and handsome N. E. Endsley himself, the reason for Amelia’s and Jenna’s fight and perhaps the clue to what Jenna wanted to tell her all along.

THIS WAS BEAUTIFUL.

I’m talkin’ made me tear up multiple times. Wanting to hug this book and give every ounce of love to these characters. Intensely poignant, yet hopeful and kind. Wow this is a read that I will be recommending to everyone!

The writing is what made me really love it. It was enchanting. Somehow taking the worst parts of someone’s life and combining them with the hopeful new beginnings of young love and starting over. The discussion of the healing powers of books/reading made me remember all too well how true that statement is for me.

I loved seeing Amelia grow through her trials and finding her footing in a new [to her] world. There’s many explorations of grief, loss, depression and more. I appreciated how these topics were discussed and how I was still able to love these characters and the story and not feel dragged down by the weight. Sometimes these types of reads can be too much for me, but this hit perfectly in many aspects.

This whole cast was top notch. Every character brought something to the story. Every character helped Amelia learn more about herself and her place in life. The romance was insta, but he way Schumacher portrayed it was everything I needed to enjoy such a quick intimate relationship. It was two people brought together through grief and the bond between them was tightly woven.

Read this book. I loved it all.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult contemporary + romance
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: depictions of grief and depression after loss, losing a best friend, losing siblings, parental neglect, anxiety and panic attacks, drowning, car accident

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Book Review: 11 Paper Hearts by Kelsey Hartwell

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Kelsey Hartwell
Publisher: Underlined
Release Date: January 5th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A YA contemporary rom com about a girl who follows a trail of paper hearts from her mystery admirer–and it’s a paperback original perfect for fans of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and the Kissing Booth.

Ella’s life was picture perfect. She had a circle of close friends, a jam-packed social life, and an amazing boyfriend. But then something completely unexpected happened: a car accident after a Valentine’s Day dance. When Ella woke up in the hospital, she couldn’t remember the accident . . . or anything about the weeks before it, including the reason she broke up with her boyfriend.

Now, a year later, she begins receiving paper hearts from a mysterious admirer who seems to have the answers she craves. Ella is intrigued. The hearts contain clues to help Ella remember her life before . . . and take her on a journey she never imagined. Following the paper hearts is the most spontaneous thing Ella has ever done . . . but will she find love?

VERY SWEET.

I suuuper enjoyed this one y’all! It was perfectly cute and sweet. What I love about a great young adult contemporary romance. The premise of the hearts was fun to follow on the journey.

My only true complaint was how oblivious the main character was. The people she assumed who were writing the hearts made me laugh because of how CONVINCED she was that it she was right. Her friends were also terrible and I was enraged half the time at them. Gratefully it alllll worked out in the end so it at least worked within the story.

Besides that, this was a wonderful adventure! I loved following Ella’s story. Andy was so dang precious. They had banter that kept me smiling, and a vibe that I was hooked on. It’s completely predictable, but that is where it works best. A cute and predictable romance that will give you some good warm fuzzies.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult contemporary romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: car accident
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: car accident resulting in retrograde amnesia, bullying, terrible friends

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