Making Up by Lucy Parker

"Her eyes lifted back to his, and that something passed between them again: thought-shifting, life-twisting, almost tangible."
Once upon a time, circus artist Trix Lane was the best around. Her spark vanished with her confidence, though, and reclaiming either has proved…difficult. So when the star of The Festival of Masks is nixed and Trix is unexpectedly thrust into the spotlight, it’s exactly the push she needs. But the joy over her sudden elevation in status is cut short by a new hire on the makeup team.

Leo Magasiva: disgraced wizard of special effects. He of the beautiful voice and impressive beard. Complete dickhead and—in an unexpected twist—an enragingly good kisser.

To Leo, something about Trix is…different. Lovely. Beautiful, even though the pint-size, pink-haired former bane of his existence still spends most of her waking hours working to annoy him. They’ve barely been able to spend two minutes together for years, and now he can’t get enough of her. On stage. At home. In his bed.

When it comes to commitment, Trix has been there, done that, never wants to do it again. Leo’s this close to the job of a lifetime, which would take him away from London—and from Trix. Their past is a constant barrier between them.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36533218-making-up
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Making-London-Celebrities-Lucy-Parker-ebook/dp/B078TK1FQ8
I haven't been able to stop thinking about this since I finished it. It was such an adorable and brilliantly written book that I'm so happy I got to read. I had never read anything by Lucy Parker but I'm thrilled that I started with this one because now I'm hooked for life. I'm going to read the other two books in the series and I know I'm going to love them because I already love the characters that I got to meet. Trix, who is our pink haired, anxious, aerial artist heroine is intelligent, short-tempered and snarky. She's recovering mentally after a previous very abusive relationship and if there's something I love is seeing a wonderful woman picking herself up, growing, thriving and getting better mentally, showing her strength and becoming fierce and unbreakable by herself. 

This showed such a healthy relationship with the hero and with Trix herself and the people around her, who gave her the space to heal from her wounds. The emotional support that Leo provides her is gorgeous to see. He knew his place and I loved the relationship that they had. We have an enemies to lovers dynamic but before that we have beautiful conversations and complex dynamics. They're both incredibly ambitious in their own careers but they know their limits or they understand them during this book. I adored the humorous tone in the writing and everything was well constructed and I was hooked since the first page. I wish we could get more romances like this one, with healthy and steamy relationships between two people who adore and worship the ground that the other person walks on. Beautiful book!
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Anger is a Gift by Mark Oshiro

"Anger is a gift.. Remember that." She stood. "You gotta grasp on to it, hold it tight and use it as ammunition. You use that anger to get things done instead of just stewing in it."
Six years ago, Moss Jefferies' father was murdered by an Oakland police officer. Along with losing a parent, the media's vilification of his father and lack of accountability has left Moss with near crippling panic attacks.

Now, in his sophomore year of high school, Moss and his fellow classmates find themselves increasingly treated like criminals by their own school. New rules. Random locker searches. Constant intimidation and Oakland Police Department stationed in their halls. Despite their youth, the students decide to organize and push back against the administration.

When tensions hit a fever pitch and tragedy strikes, Moss must face a difficult choice: give in to fear and hate or realize that anger can actually be a gift.


A powerful, heartbreaking and important book. Anger is a Gift was a gorgeously written book that depicted a realistic picture of what teenagers are dealing with in the United States right now. It had a strong description of systemic oppression and the power dynamics that surround black and queer identities. The narration was my favourite part. Moss had a very warm and kind personality and he valued the things that he had in his life, his mom, his friends, etc. It was so nice reading from his perspective but incredibly hard as well since he had PTSD from seeing his dad being shot by the police and had anxiety and panic attacks and sometimes I had to stop reading because of how well and realistic the depictions of his attacks were. It was also a story about intersections. Moss was black, latinx, gay and had anxiety. And all his identities were vital parts of his person. 

My other favourite part was the cast of characters. I felt like I could have read a book about any one of them because their characterization and their individual stories were fantastic, sometimes fun to read, sometimes they were super adorable, and sometimes it was very heartbreaking. And I was rooting for all of them. We had so many races, sexualities and disabilities and the intersections between them and they were all depicted in a very respectful and gracious way. The reality is that this book broke me. When I got to the 50% mark point I was in tears and didn't stop crying until the end. And it was so necessary for this story to be told. This book also blew me away, when I started to read it I didn't know I would be so invested in the characters and in their personal lives. I even want to cry writing this review. 

I adored that we had a black latinx queer character told by an own voices perspective. Mark's point of view is so important. This is also a story about family and all the different types that we encounter throughout life. In particular, Moss' mom was so supportive and I also would want to read a book about her because you could tell that she had a lot of issues that she was trying to put aside in order to be there for Moss and if that's not an important parent figure to have in young adult I don't know what is. This book was brilliant and one of my new favourites. Please be aware that this book depicts police brutality in a very hard way to read. Make sure to look at trigger warnings before reading! 
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What it Seems by Sydney Blackburn


Hi everyone! I got this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review and it comes out today May 21st. At first glance, I requested it because it seemed super interesting, we have an m/m story with a demisexual and a bisexual character who meet while one of them is in drag! This story is about friendship, love, exploration and discovery and it's very adorable.
     

Darcy is ace and not interested in dating anyone, so he and Michael just hang out. A lot. When he needs to do an on-screen kissing scene, Michael is the best person to ask for help.

Michael soon discovers he isn’t as straight as he thought he was, and Darcy likes kissing him a little too much for someone certain he never would. Those are a lot of changes to accept, but they just might be worth it.

Michael’s straight and infatuated with a woman he worked with one day, over a year ago. But when he finally sees her again, he’s astounded that the woman of his dreams is a man in drag.


                                                
This was a short, sweet and lovely story about two characters who are figuring out a lot of things in their lives, mainly their sexuality and how it is expressed. We start with a guy who knows he's asexual but who is still trying to understand the spectrum and he's still discovering a lot of different aspects about himself. Later in the book he realizes he's demisexual and the way it's told is really gorgeous and validating. We also follow another guy who at the beginning of the book is identifying as straight but who has had a few m/m experiences with a good friend of his. Throughout his journey in this story, he starts noticing and accepting that things might not be black or white and that bisexuality is an important and integral part of himself. This realization specifically happens during the development of his relationship with Darcy. I also appreciated how they became good friends first and how their dynamics started to change towards a more romantic side but it seemed to flow and develop seamlessly. 

I've never read anything by this author before but I adore how the relationship and the world in which they move were constructed, it felt like the narration was very gentle and sincere and it gave space for their characters to grow and learn about themselves and about each other. I think the fact that this book was so short almost did the story a disservice. There were so many parts that were skipped over and that I wanted to see explored more. Like Michael realizing his bisexuality, it seemed like we went from one point to another without exploring the middle of it or getting to see how he started to feel comfortable after denying it for a while. Not saying that this realization can't happen from one moment to the other, but it felt like every once in a while we lost a little bit of the story. I also have to add that one of the main characters acts in drag if you're interested! I enjoyed this book a lot and it's an adorable story that you can read in a couple of hours. 
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Resort to Love by Priscilla Oliveras

Hi everyone, this is my first official review for my new blog. Do you like how it looks? I'm so happy that it's a book by Priscilla Oliveras, who is an author that I absolutely adore. I was kindly provided an ARC of this book by NetGalley and the author. Resort To Love comes out today, May 15th!! So I really encourage you to pick it up, especially if you're looking for something lighthearted and fun. It's the third book in the Paradise Key series, which is written by different authors and follows a group of best friends as they find love and accomplish their goals.
Sometimes, going back to the beginning is the only answer.

Paradise Key Resort holds the best and the worst of Sofía Vargas’s adolescent memories of love and heartbreak. Now, she hopes to wipe the slate clean and boost her career from resort manager to owner by winning a quirky town contest. But when an old flame throws his hat into the ring, Sofía realizes that protecting her heart will be the biggest challenge.

Nathan Patrick Hamilton III has played the part of the good son all his life with one exception—indulging in a secret on again-off again relationship with Sofia in high school and college, knowing that family duty would eventually tear them apart.

Years later, Nathan feels like he finally has a chance to win back the girl of his dreams and right the way he wronged her. But Sofía doesn’t trust or forgive easily and it’s going to take more than kooky town hall meetings, an emergency trip back to Key West, stolen kisses and a re-creation of their first date, for him to even be in the running. Is the ultimate prize the resort or winning back Sofía's heart?

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CQ77PTX
Resort to Love is a second chance romance between Nate and Sof, who were friends with benefits for years but decided to call it off. Now they meet again in circumstances that are affecting both of their lives. The first thing I have to say is that if you're in the Northern Hemisphere, you NEED to read this book during the summer. It has the perfect atmosphere to make you feel like you're in a paradise in this small town. Priscilla Oliveras is incredible at descriptions and here you're transported to wherever she wants you to go.

We also meet two very driven and ambitious characters, who come from very different backgrounds, who made mistakes but who, even after all these years, obviously love each other. We get to spend most of the book following their second opportunity at their love story and you feel like you're getting to see all of their past history and how it intertwines with the present and you're rooting for them the entire time. My favourite thing about this book is the Latinx heritage that so many of these characters have. I adore the sense of familia that is incorporated all through the book and how much it feels like it's true to Latinx sense of family, even if it's not the one you're born in, but mostly the one you choose... and choose again, even (and specially) through the difficult times. I adore the group of friends Sof has and that makes me want to immediately pick up the rest of the series! I loved how it felt realistic, how she sometimes spoke to all of them at once, but sometimes she had one on one because in real life you're not speaking with your entire group of friends all the time. You have different types of relationships with different people. And I specially adored how Nate fit into the group and how he slowly became part of Sof's familia again.

This book was so special to me. Though the thing that bothered me (and I know it's a very particular thing) is that sometimes the Spanish was translated literally. I like when Priscilla rephrases the sentence because otherwise in my head it sounds like I'm reading the same thing twice (I'm bilingual by the way). It's not something that I would particularly change, because I know it's good for non-Spanish speakers, but to me it stopped the flow of the narration. But other than that, I enjoyed this book a LOT and I gave it 4.25 stars!
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First Post

Hi!

So... this is more terrifying than I thought it would be. This is my first official post on my new blog! If this is the first time you met me, let me present myself: I'm Mel, I have a booktube channel and I'm from Argentina.

This is mostly a place to keep my reviews of books, since doing it on Goodreads kind of feels fruitless. But hopefully I will make recommendations, TBRs and interesting things that you'll like too!

I'm mostly focusing on Romance books but you'll definitely see other genres as well.

These are my links in case you're interested:

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