Tag: young adult contemporary romance

Book Review: Dating Makes Perfect by Pintip Dunn

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 400 pages
Author: Pintip Dunn
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Release Date: August 18th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The Tech sisters don’t date in high school. Not because they’re not asked. Not because they’re not interested. Not even because no one can pronounce their long, Thai last name—hence the shortened, awkward moniker. But simply because they’re not allowed.

Until now.

In a move that other Asian American girls know all too well, six months after the older Tech twins got to college, their parents asked, “Why aren’t you engaged yet?” The sisters retaliated by vowing that they won’t marry for ten (maybe even twenty!) years, not until they’ve had lots of the dating practice that they didn’t get in high school.

In a shocking war on the status quo, her parents now insist that their youngest daughter, Orrawin (aka “Winnie”), must practice fake dating in high school. Under their watchful eyes, of course—and organized based on their favorite rom-coms. ’Cause that won’t end in disaster.

The first candidate? The son of their longtime friends, Mat Songsomboon—arrogant, infuriating, and way too good-looking. Winnie’s known him since they were toddlers throwing sticky rice balls at each other. And her parents love him.

If only he weren’t her sworn enemy.

ABSOLUTELY LOVED.

Ohhhhh my goodness, this was precious. If you’re a YA contemporary romance fan, add this to your TBR stat. It was reminiscent of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and I was smitten with this childhood friends to lovers story.

The audio was great and really brought these characters to life. I loved getting to know Winnie’s family. It’s always refreshing to me when I get to read about sibling and parent dynamics in a book. They were heavily present and really showed off the cultural aspects and coming of age for Winnie.

Faking dating trope alert! Bless Winnie’s Mom for including this because Mat and Winnie were definitely endgame. I thought having all of the dates be recreations of pop culture romances were laugh out loud inducing. I’m sure people thought I was the weird one smiling out on my jogs while I listened to this. It really is a can’t help but smile book.

The ending came together so beautifully well. Winnie came through in owning who she wanted to date and how she wanted to go forward. Her parents were accepting and loving of her decision (and her sister’s). All around heartfelt and wonderful.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult contemporary romance
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: kisses/make-outs

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ARC Book Review: Never Saw You Coming by Erin Hahn

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Erin Hahn
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: September 7th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Raised by conservative parents, 18-year-old Meg Hennessey just found out her entire childhood was a lie. Instead of taking a gap year before college to find herself, she ends up traveling north to meet what’s left of the family she never knew existed.

While there, she meets Micah Allen, a former pastor’s kid whose dad ended up in prison, leaving Micah with his own complicated relationship about the church. The clock is ticking on Pastor Allen’s probation hearing and Micah, now 19, feels the pressure to forgive – even when he can’t possibly forget.

As Meg and Micah grow closer, they are confronted with the heavy flutterings of first love and all the complications it brings. Together, they must navigate the sometimes-painful process of cutting ties with childhood beliefs as they build toward something truer and straight from the heart.

In Erin Hahn’s Never Saw You Coming, sometimes it takes a leap of faith to find yourself.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for an eARC.

I LOVED THIS.

Hahn’s books are only getting better and better. Oh wow did I love this. My favorite of her books so far.

I am a religious person so I wasn’t sure how I would feel reading this. But the way that many important topics were discussed and approached made me tear up and want to hug this book. It hit home in many ways and honestly strengthened how I feel in my spirituality. It’s okay to question. It’s okay to love. It’s okay to find what works best for YOU. I may not 100% agree with every little thing in this book, but faith is handled differently by each of us and no two experience life the same way.

The absolutely precious first love romance between Micah and Meg had me grinning from ear to ear. IT WAS SO CUTE. I loved it. They truly hit it off and I couldn’t get enough of their open conversations and meaningful dialogue about their struggles and triumphs. Even better, there wasn’t some wildly dramatic conflict between them. The conflict lied elsewhere and I could shout for joy about how that was handled.

NSYC had me hooked from the first chapter. I read it in a day because I needed more more more. The characters were flawed and beautiful. I ended up loving the themes of faith and the essence of human nature versus God himself. It wasn’t a book of belittling, it was a book of hope and growing up. Being resilient in the torrent of trials and leaning on what matters to you most.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: kisses to heated make-outs; some implied closed door scenes
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: brief mentions of suicide and self harm, an incarcerated father, loss of a parent by drunk driving

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Book Review: A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Contemporary Fiction + Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Laura Taylor Namey
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Release Date: November 10th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

For Lila Reyes, a summer in England was never part of the plan. The plan was 1) take over her abuela’s role as head baker at their panadería, 2) move in with her best friend after graduation, and 3) live happily ever after with her boyfriend. But then the Trifecta happened, and everything—including Lila herself—fell apart.

Worried about Lila’s mental health, her parents make a new plan for her: Spend three months with family friends in Winchester, England, to relax and reset. But with the lack of sun, a grumpy inn cook, and a small town lacking Miami flavor (both in food and otherwise), what would be a dream trip for some feels more like a nightmare to Lila…until she meets Orion Maxwell.

A teashop clerk with troubles of his own, Orion is determined to help Lila out of her funk, and appoints himself as her personal tour guide. From Winchester’s drama-filled music scene to the sweeping English countryside, it isn’t long before Lila is not only charmed by Orion, but England itself. Soon a new future is beginning to form in Lila’s mind—one that would mean leaving everything she ever planned behind.

SMITTEN.

Absolutely loved this. What a gem. And to think I chose it at random because it was available on my library app and was less than 10 hours of a read (I listened on audio).

I connected with Lila on so many levels. Struggling with grief and loss. How she’s an avid baker. Loves to run (and also uses it as a coping mechanism). Many things just resonated with me.

Throw in a cute British boy and I became hooked. What I love about the evolution of their relationship was that it truly started out as a friendship. There wasn’t a dive into the romance. It was slow and progressive. It had room to breath as we found more about Orion’s history and Lila coping with hers. I found it beautiful and even more romantic for the way they came together.

Not to mention, all of the new friendships Lila made. This side cast solidified my love too. The way everyone took in Lila, as she was, and allowed her to be with them as she was ready. And all of the baking!! My mouth was watering every few pages. I desperately need to find some good Cuban food now.

This was a magnetic young adult contemporary. Highly recommend. A new favorite.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult contemporary + romance
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a loved one(s), depictions of grief and depression

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ARC Book Review: A Feeling Like Home by Haleigh Wenger

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Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 270 pages
Author: Haleigh Wenger
Publisher: Sword and Silk
Release Date: August 3rd, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Sixteen-year-old Paige Williams can’t stop self-sabotaging.

Not when her dad gets sick, not when her relationship implodes, not even when her parents send her to another-freaking-state for the summer to live with her sister. Paige just wants to have fun, spray paint a few walls, and block out everything stressful, including her growing concern that she might be sick as well. To make things worse, her parents threaten her with boarding school in the fall if she can’t prove she’s changed her bad habits.

Paige’s parents sign her up for a rebuilding project in Texas where her sister lives. Meanwhile, Paige reluctantly befriends her sister’s straight-laced teenage neighbor, Joey, who is a frequent guest. He’s so different from her, but Paige realizes that may not be a bad thing, especially since being around Joey curbs her urge to vandalize and ignore the rules. He even makes her forget about the debilitating stomach cramps she struggles to hide.

Just as Paige begins to feel settled in Texas, her dad’s worsening Crohn’s disease brings her home to Seattle. When her own health fails her, she has the choice of staying at home and receiving care. Or, she could go back to Texas and prove for once and for all that she’s more than her mistakes and more than a disease. Torn between two worlds and two versions of herself, Paige must decide where, and with whom, she truly feels at home.

Thank you to the author for an eARC.

MIXED THOUGHTS.

There’s some good and some bad here. Trying to wrangle my thoughts for this one.

Something I could understand were the emotions coming from 16 year-old Paige. She’s going through a lot and I recognize the thoughts and feelings she would be going through during a hard time in her life.

Now an item I really didn’t love. Paige. While I mentioned above, some stuff was fine, the rest definitely was not. One major issue, cheating. I don’t like it. Ever. I can’t get on board with any reasoning as to “why it’s okay.” It’s not. She dragged on a love triangle that was ridiculous and rubbed me the wrong way multiple times.

This book covered a lot of difficult subject matter (See trigger warnings). It was painful to watch the story unfold searching for hope. I liked the way Wenger brought that out in the end and gave Paige (and her family) a chance to reconnect and find some measure of peace.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loved one with a chronic disease, loss of a parent, being diagnosed with a chronic condition, vandalism, cheating

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