ONE DAY TO FALL BY THERESE BEHARRIE

"I see you. Not who I want you to be, or who I think you should be. I see you." 

Of all the taxis in all of Cape Town, Sophia Roux had to stumble into his.

She should be at her “perfect” sister’s bedside, awaiting the arrival of the newest member of her family. But the thought of spending hours at the hospital with her suffocating relatives has Sophia hailing the first taxi she sees. Only to realise too late that the man at the wheel of her getaway car is the most unpleasant one she’s ever had the misfortune to meet.

Parker Jones, the handsome yet surly driver in question, is used to dealing with baggage of the family variety. And it just so happens he’s in need of temporary escape from his own. Witty banter with a beautiful—if exasperating—woman while chauffeuring her around the city on a gorgeous spring day makes for an ideal break from reality.

But a lot can happen in twenty-four hours: babies can be born, family can reconnect. And maybe the most unlikely pair can fall in love.

Get it: amzn.to/2HMgj1G 


I can't explain how much this book has impacted my life. It's surprising that it takes place in one day because these characters experience so many emotions and situations, character development, important moments in their lives, falling in love, fights and so much more and it all happens in this one day. Everything felt incredibly natural, intrinsic and believable. Our couple meets when Sophia needs to leave the hospital where her sister is about to give birth, she hails a taxi and when she goes in she meets Parker. He was in the hospital too because his mother suffered an accident and he leave because he knows everything is about to change. From there, they go on multiple adventures around the town, they get to know each other, they have meaningful and deep conversations and they eventually have to deal with their lives outside of their interactions with each other. They go from having a really bad and complicated day to, at least, having a more interesting day.

One Day To Fall was written so beautifully, the way everything was constructed made me root for the characters and their lives outside of the romance from the beginning but their attraction and growing love might have been my favorite thing about this story. I don't see a lot of books where an author puts this much care in carefully building interactions between the two main characters and in how they communicate between the bubble that they're in during this day and the outside world. The complexity of their personalities and relationship that varied between hate to love and looking for distractions throughout this awful day managed to catch my attention and to kept me interested in knowing how everything was going to end up. I could honestly keep reading about their lives for ages. I want to know about their future and how they are going to grow. If this book would have a thousand more pages I would be really happy to read them. I would even anticipate them.

I don't think this is a book for everyone, but if it's for you, it has the capacity to grab you and hold you close and probably never let you go. I know one day romances is not something that everyone likes. It's also a slow book to get into. I would highly encourage everyone to give it a chance, because it's definitely a story that took me on a journey, that made me cry, laugh and believe in these character's narrative. It made me think about life and the change of relationships as you live, how complicated those changes are and how even though they are hard and they hurt in the process of healing or breaking, that process and those endings are worth it. The writing is absolute poetry and the intimate moments between them were full of chemistry and closeness. I really think their interactions and the way they were written made the entire book. I honestly think this is a piece of art that everyone should read.

CW: parent with dementia, mentions of death of a parent, side character giving birth.

Along for the Ride by Mimi Grace

Former hot mess Jolene Baxter is committed to doing better. It’s why she offered to help her sister and brother-in-law move across the country. However, her goodwill is tested when last minute changes—mainly her father ditching her for an all-expenses paid vacation—forces her to make the journey with a man who is the human version of a pebble in her shoe. Jason Akana operates on lists and bitter coffee, but none of those things will help him on a sixteen-hour trip with the most infuriating woman. Maybe they can get along and forget their heated confrontation five years ago at his best friend’s wedding…when pigs fly. But the addition of vehicle problems, an unplanned pit stop in a small town, and chemistry that inconveniently tags along, shifts their perspectives. And once the dust settles after their trip, a tentative friendship emerges. Will these two stubborn people successfully navigate the unexpected feelings that follow close behind? Or will they hit a roadblock before reaching happily ever after?
Content Warning:
1. Deceased parent (died long before the start of the book)
2. Verbally pushy person who's romantically interested in the heroine (NOT the hero)



Along for the Ride is a repeat the scenes in your head kind of book, a book that stays with you for weeks after you finished it. A book that you read, you finish, you read another book and you constantly go back to something that made you swoon, or made you think, or made you laugh. At least, that was the experience that I had with it. At the beginning, you had this trope of a road trip with two main characters who dislike each other but who have to cross the country together to help people they love that they have in common (her sister and his best friend are a couple). I went into this book thinking it was going to be just that and I got so much more. I got conversations that were deep and meaningful, I got a heist in the middle of the road trip that made them know each other better, I got them going back to their homes and reflecting on what had happened, and then after all that, Mimi Grace kept giving us more story. I also got classics that the road trip and hate to love tropes have like "there's only one bed" (for multiple nights!!!!), moments of fake relationship, knowing each other's music taste, moments of panic where they had to rely on each other, moments of laughter and happiness and all was done so beautifully. 

I think my favorite thing about all this is how well it was written. I seriously thought I got to know the characters, their motivations and their flaws. Also what would unite them in the moments that they shared. They were put in sometimes super mundane situations but a lot of times they had to confront bizarre moments that I don't think would have worked if they wouldn't have been constructed in such a realistic way. I rooted for their relationship from beginning to end, even when they were insecure and they didn't know what they wanted. I wanted them to succeed in achieving everything they wanted. During the reading of this book I actually thought this story would be perfect as a movie because I could picture the scenes in my head so clearly. It had a beautiful and believable pace. 

In general, we got a lot of construction for the setting, the plot and the characters. We had a majority black cast with super different lives, jobs, interests. Their families and backstories made for hilarious and sometimes complex situations and I could feel what they were going through each step of the way. I was incredibly invested in their lives, the relationships that they had with their families and friends and with each other and I was super interested in the new characters that we were introduced along the way. I can't wait to read more from Mimi Grace since this was a fantastic debut. 

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Ice Cream Lover by Jackie Lau

"Because even though I'm a grumpy bastard who stomps all over people's dreams, sometimes I just want a cuddle, you know?" 


I hate ice cream. Ever since my fiancée left me at the altar and skewered me in her bestseller “Embrace Your Inner Ice Cream Sandwich: Finding the Positive You in a World of Negativity,” I haven’t been able to stomach the stuff.

Unfortunately, my five-year-old niece is a budding foodie and her favorite place in the world is Ginger Scoops, a cutesy Asian ice cream shop. Since I’ve been looking after my niece a lot lately, I’ve spent too much time there, sipping black coffee, refusing to eat ice cream, and trying not to look at the owner, Chloe Jenkins. Chloe is obnoxiously cheerful, and I can’t stand her. 


Naturally, I end up kissing her.


But I’ve sworn off women after the fiasco with my ex-fiancée, and I’m convinced I’m no good at relationships. Still, with Chloe I’m tempted to do the impossible: give love and ice cream another chance…



The premise of this book is a bit weird at first, a guy is left in the altar and then his ex fiance goes on to write a very famous book about "embracing your inner ice cream sandwich" and that's why he hates ice cream. This sounds incredibly funny and, like I said, a bit weird, but I'm a super big fan of Jackie Lau and when I went into this book I knew what I was about to read was going to be well written and from an unique perspective. And that was definitely what I got. Jackie Lau has a wonderful way of introducing you to characters that you immediately feel connected to. And it's true that we met some of these characters in the first book in the series but in this book I felt like I linked to them in a deeper level. I understood them even if they made decisions that were so different from the ones I would make and I felt like I knew them from the beginning. Like I mentioned, the hero in this story is Drew. A grumpy Chinese-Canadian guy who hates ice cream but who is taking care of his niece who loves food and specifically this new Asian ice cream shop that was opened by Chloe, our bisexual, biracial heroine who is following her new dream of managing this business, honoring her late mother's Chinese heritage. 

These two characters are opposites in a lot of ways but have a lot of things in common. They are very melancholic and emotional. They bring a lot of good things from each other. But Drew doesn't think he deserves to be with anyone because he will melt someone's "ice cream sandwich" (yes, her ex's book is self-help), he definitely had a lot of things to figure out. And Chloe as well. Also, there were a lot of people who hurt them and who managed to give them some really big insecurity issues. And seeing their development into being more independent and well rounded people was incredibly interesting. I also absolutely adored the descriptions of food and the ice creams and I am not at all an ice cream person. The ideas for the flavors and the intricate metaphors and connections that were made made me extremely happy. I adored her first book in the series The Ultimate Pi Day Party and this one was a wonderful companion and I loved seeing the characters from the first book in this one as well! 

As I mentioned, I adore how Jackie Lau writes. You can tell she actually really cares about her characters and gives them complex and multidimensional lives and personalities. Specially in the relationship that Chloe has with her family and the life that she has after the death of her mother. I always love how she writes her biracial heroines and how she writes about the lack of representation or the lack of a community that they can find of people who look and can have similar experiences to theirs. I appreciated that she added Michelle in this book, who talked about her experiences from another point of view and who saw herself in Chloe and that was a very important moment. Being biracial also impacts her relationship with her father and those conversations were some of the most captivating and profound in this book. Jackie Lau always makes me feel such a large range of emotions and manages to write sexy, adorable and complex couples but also beautiful family relationships and friendships and I can't wait to read more from her!

The Inside Track by Tamsen Parker


Nick Fischer is a screw-up; everyone knows it and they’re not afraid to tell him so. The only thing he’s got going for him is that he plays a reliable rhythm guitar for License to Game, and his big fat bulldog, Princess Fiona, is so ugly she’s cute. Dempsey Lawrence is a former child star turned financial advisor, and while she’s curious about the hot mess of a man who’s her co-panelist for a presentation on financial literacy, she has no intention of pursuing anything with him. Too loud, too crass, too wild, Nick is altogether too much. Plus, he’s famous, and she is so over stardom and everything that comes with it. Except that when Dempsey gives Nick an inch, he takes a mile, and she finds that she doesn’t mind so much. Until Nick brings the pitfalls of stardom to Dempsey’s doorstep, then all the attraction in the world might not be enough to promise a happily ever after.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43792892-the-inside-track
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07L2HGXSF/


The Inside Track was nothing like what I imagined I would find in this book. In general I'm a bit wary of books about music stars, but this was deep and intricate and it explored important emotions that made me cry and feel profoundly at so many points. At the beginning I must admit that it was difficult to get into because Nick had ADHD and you don't know that when his narration starts but his mind goes at a million miles an hour and it reads like that; without giving you time to think. It doesn't make a lot of sense in the combination of the sentences. But once you get into it, you understands how he thinks and how he talks just like Dempsey does. I know it's a love or hate thing that not everyone is going to get into but I would say give it an opportunity before you dismiss it. This book has two main characters who are dealing with their own mental health in their own way. As I said before, Nick has ADHD. He's funny, goofy and definitely brings the lighter part of the relationship (which doesn't mean he's better, he just takes things differently). Also, he has a dog! He can't focus on one thing at the time, but he does his best to help Dempsey in any way he can. I loved him as a hero and as an individual character. 

Dempsey felt like his complete opposite. She's introverted, darker and more complex. She has an anxiety disorder and is dealing with agoraphobia and trauma. Even though I can't talk about the representation with Nick's ADHD, I really related to everything that happened to her. Not the fame part, obviously. But I thought her anxiety and agoraphobia were amazingly written. Her dark places reminded me some of my darkest places and made me feel all those emotions that I talked about before. I absolutely adored how she let herself feel those emotions and how she knew how to get herself out of there when it was necessary. She knew herself in the way you know your mind when you've had a mental illness for years and you know when you're having a bad day, a good day and how you're going to feel better or worse. That felt very realistic to me and well written and researched even though they were in this not so common setting of fame and fortune. 

Their relationship was one of my favourite parts of this book. The way that they let themselves be however they wanted to be but also called themselves out when it was necessary was beautiful. I loved the domesticity that we experienced between them, their friends and the dog. There was a real chance here to go over the top and Tamsen Parker didn't go there and I appreciated that. I loved how she respected her characters and gave them time and space to grow and heal and be better people. I absolutely adored the writing, the metaphors and the way the situations and emotions were constructed. This is a very unique book that will stay in my mind for a very long time. 



Crashing Into Her by Mia Sosa

"Every night before bed, I think about what she looks like when she's aroused, the noises she makes when she comes, what she tastes like. It's my new nighttime routine: shower, brush my teeth, think about Eva, lights out."
Relationships are a thing of the past for Eva Montgomery. Her current motto? You can’t spell “manipulative” without man. But Eva has needs, and a one-night-stand at her best friend’s wedding is the perfect way to kick off her new approach to singledom. Then a job opportunity puts her in the same city with the guy she can’t forget . . .

Anthony Castillo is a perpetual bachelor—no strings, just flings—a status he maintains by being honest about his intentions and never looking back. So why is he still thinking about the firecracker of a woman who rocked his world at his cousin’s wedding? It’s a question he refuses to answer, until she comes crashing back into his life, taking his emotional walls down with her.

When her father doubts her ability to make it in LA, Eva vows to go big and prove him wrong. With her athletic background, she’s an ideal candidate for stunt work. But first she’ll need training, and the instructor is none other than her former hookup, Anthony Castillo. Except he’s not as cocky as she remembers and he’s definitely still sexy as sin. The only problem is . . . Anthony doesn’t want her anywhere near his stunt school—or his heart.



Every time I read one of Mia Sosa's books, I fall more and more in love with the way she writes and constructs the pacing of the plot. This is something that I've seen only in a few other authors and that is that she keeps me on my toes, she doesn't create the normal plot that we see in romance where the characters meet, sleep together, fall in love, something happens and they fight at the 70 or 80% mark and they get back together. No, she constructs her own pacing and I love that. Even though Pretending He's Mine is still my favorite from her and one of my favorite romances ever, this one is very close. She gave us moments that are imprinted in my mind and that I can't stop thinking about. That reggaeton scene was one of my favorite things that I've ever read just because it was so hot and original but it also had a nostalgic factor that reminded me of a lot of scenes of romantic comedies where dancing brought two characters together even when they didn't want that. 

I absolutely adored the characters as individuals. Eva was smart and intriguing and I was constantly interested in what she was going to do next. She was ambitious and I loved the determination that she had to prove herself to her father. She's a character with flaws, with lots of courage, with lots of goals and spirits and she makes you root for her all the way. Anthony shares a lot of her qualities. He's headstrong and spirited and intelligent. He also wants to prove himself and is full of flaws. None of them want to be in a relationship but they're very attracted to each other. They want their one night stand to be just that and that makes their meetings so much more entreating. I love how they call each other out on their bullshit when they need to and how they keep each other on their toes. 

The most amazing thing for me about this book is the chemistry between them. They're one of the best couples that I've read. I love how they think they're super different between them but in reality they're the perfect match. Their sex scenes were some of the hottest scenes that I've read. Also, their discussions about life and family were really interesting to read, they didn't try to hide their feelings and they worked together through them, they helped each other out with the problems that they had to figure out especially with their families and you can tell they were good for each other. The fact that they were friends before being together made me so happy! And I adored the descriptions of food! This was a brilliant series that definitely goes to my favorites and Mia Sosa goes to my favorite authors list!!



My Fake Canadian Wife by M. Hollis

“Why was it so hard to find good mainstream media where you could see two girls falling in love with a happy ending? Even harder if I wanted to find stories with black girls. Brazilian black girls falling in love? Mostly, I’d only found them in indie and self-published books. Maybe it would be easier to enjoy more media if everything I tried to watch didn’t look as white as the walls of my apartment.”
When Dora receives a letter from the immigration service in Canada saying she will be deported soon, as her visa is expiring, a friend suggests she marry a woman. Since she doesn’t currently have a girlfriend, faking a relationship might be her only option since she can’t muster the desire to return to school for advanced photograph studies.
Abby is a reserved librarian who seems enthusiastic about helping with the marriage plan. As the two girls get to know each other through dates in snowy Toronto and meeting Abby’s family for Christmas, Dora starts to wonder how much of this relationship they are faking and how much is real.




If there's something I can tell you is that I can always count on M. Hollis to write adorable, heart-warming, sapphic stories with interesting characters and plots. The idea for this book is definitely what made me interested in it in the first place. It's an own voices book about a lesbian, Brazilian girl who is an aspiring photographer. She moves to Canada to pursue a new life but when her visa expires she has to find a new way to stay in the country. After analyzing a lot of options she encounters her coworker's best friend, Abby, who is a pansexual librarian and who wants to marry Dora to help her stay in the country. They start hanging out so they can learn about each other before they officially marry and they even spend Christmas at Abby's place with her family, faking a relationship. 

This is a gorgeously written book. As I said, I always love how M. Hollis constructs cute and interesting f/f relationships. I love how she isn't afraid to write harrowing and challenging situations in the middle of her fluffiness and how the resolutions aren't always what you expect them to be. I think this book in particular is written from such a personal place for her and I could feel that through the pages. I appreciated what she had to say about the topics that were touched here. I also felt that she held these characters close to her heart and that she wrote them with a lot of love and care. I adore the awkwardness that they had at the beginning and how realistic it felt when they didn't know what to say to each other but also the slow progression into a friendship and then a relationship. 

The problem that I had with this novella is one that I had with her other books as well and that's that they're too short. In this one, I couldn't fall completely in love with the relationship because we didn't see a lot of it. We were supposed to know that they were talking and getting close but it was all in a montage rather than a deep descriptions of feelings and that's just a preference but I like to see the falling in love part more than the beginning and the resolution. I didn't mind very much because I knew going in that it was a novella, but I still was left wanting more. I would have liked to see more from Abby as well since I liked her character a lot because of the dichotomies of being shy but also super upfront when needed. Overall, this was a very beautiful story and I adored seeing what we got from their relationship. I would definitely recommend this if you're looking for something soft, fluffy and easy to read! 

I was sent this book as an advanced copy by the author for reviewing purposes, but all opinions are my own.



Dance All Night by Alexis Daria

Broadway hotshot Nik Kovalenko is a confirmed bachelor.

Ballroom champion Jess Davenport is a bona fide Scrooge.

Last year, they shared a midnight kiss at a New Year’s Eve party that made both of them believe—briefly—in the magic of the holiday season. The magic was cut short when Nik went on tour the next day, but he never stopped thinking about that kiss—or Jess.

When the holidays roll back around, Nik runs into Jess again. He doesn’t want to spend another year pining for the Scrooge who got away, so he tells Jess he’ll stay if she’ll give him a shot at being her Christmas Present.

Jess thinks he’s full of it, but she agrees to three dates. If Nik can make her believe in holiday magic in a place as un-wintery as Los Angeles—and convince her that he’s ready to stick around—she’ll give him a chance. But he won’t know until New Year’s Eve. If she kisses him at midnight, he’ll have his answer…


If you're looking for a christmassy, adorable and beautiful romance to spend the holidays with, this might be the one you're looking for. It has a hero who loves Christmas and who's trying to get the heroine to feel the joy of it with him with three dates before New Years Eve, when she decides if she wants to be with him or not. Every time I read one of her books, I remember that Alexis Daria is an incredible writer. She has a wonderful way of portraying realistic and relatable characters that you root for but who have to have a lot of growing up to do during the duration of the book. The dynamics that they had especially during their first date when you can see them together bantering back and forward and dancing and enjoying what they do were gorgeous and I think the beginning of their story contributes a lot to those dynamics. The fact that they meet during New Years and then meet again next December but stayed following each other's social media and career was adorable. 

The main thing that kept me rooting for this couple is how the hero wasn't playing games. He wanted to show her his change during the past year and knew how to do it. He was honest and direct and he also was rooting for her and themselves even though she wasn't in the best place mentally to do the same yet. This is exactly what you would want if you're looking for fluff and something inspiring for Christmas. It's full of joy and the desire that you have to connect with people during the holidays. It's realistic and charming. It's a New Years kiss, a Christmas cookie, a romance that you look for. All in one. 

An ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!



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Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore

The biggest lie of all is the story you think you already know.

The del Cisne girls have never just been sisters; they’re also rivals, Blanca as obedient and graceful as Roja is vicious and manipulative. They know that, because of a generations-old spell, their family is bound to a bevy of swans deep in the woods. They know that, one day, the swans will pull them into a dangerous game that will leave one of them a girl, and trap the other in the body of a swan.

But when two local boys become drawn into the game, the swans’ spell intertwines with the strange and unpredictable magic lacing the woods, and all four of their fates depend on facing truths that could either save or destroy them. Blanca & Roja is the captivating story of sisters, friendship, love, hatred, and the price we pay to protect our hearts.



Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36952596-blanca-roja
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1250162718


If you know anything about me, you know Anna-Marie McLemore is one of my all time favourite authors. Her books have inspired me to do so many things, to think outside of my comfort zone, to look inside myself and reconcile with a lot of parts of me that I thought would never be healed and for that I will always be thankful. This book is up there with my new favourites ever. It touched on so many topics that were powerfully important to me and that demanded my full attention and comprehension and feelings. The reimagining of a classic tale in the voice of these two sisters who were highly complex and deep and multi-layered was well done and constructed. They were extremely flawed in their quest of learning how to survive and be their own persons and I saw my sister and myself in them a lot. This book impacted me in so many ways because it talked about raw and angered emotions that were trying to come out to the light and two main characters who were fighting and finding those emotions in every turn. The rivalry that were trusted upon these girls was the center of the plot but the thing that attracted me the most were the relationships that were formed and strengthened throughout the book. 

I obviously adored how Anna-Marie McLemore wrote this book. With light-skinned and dark-skinned latinx sisters, with a transboy who uses he/she pronouns, with a boy who is trying to get over domestic abuse and trying to escape his family and  his name. All those complexities were so beautifully explained and expanded. You could feel everyone's stories and were rooting for everyone's happiness. All their paths' cross with one another as they look for their salvation, for their meaning and their self-discovery. It's about two romantic love stories but it's mostly about the complicated love of these two sisters. No one writes like her. No one crafts like her. 

Apart from all the technical and critical aspects of this book that touched me and made me feel that this book was objectively one of the best books of the year, I want to get sappy and tell you what it meant to me. I'm a sister. I have a complicated relationship with her but she's the most constant thing in my life and she's my best friend and has been my best friend since she was born. We're both latinas and have been compared to each other throughout our entire lives. This book felt like it put a lot of the feelings that we both shared into words. I know it's a book about rage and anger but it's also about those relationships that are unique and unbreakable when you live like we live. Like Blanca, I put my sister above everything and I protect her from the world and that doesn't mean she hasn't suffered but being the bigger sister I put myself in that role that I never left even now that we're both adults. It was so validating seeing that dynamic in these characters in how even though they were put against each other at so many points they still came together and fought for one another and that meant everything to me. 




Not Another Family Wedding by Jackie Lau

Natalie Chin-Williams might be a cranky professor of climatology who thinks the world is doomed, but she believes in lasting love…just not for herself. She has a long history of failed relationships, plus the men she dates inevitably want children and she doesn’t.

Now thirty-six and single, Natalie expects endless comments about her love life when she attends her baby sister's wedding. Worse, weddings are always drama-filled disasters in her family. She needs emotional support to get through the weekend, so she enlists the help of her friend Connor Douglas, the dependable family doctor.

The wedding reception goes south when a drunk aunt announces a family secret that sends Natalie reeling and shakes her faith in love. Luckily, she has her long-time friend to lean on—a man she somehow ends up kissing. But there’s no way this could turn into anything lasting, is there? That’s impossible for her, especially now…



There hasn't been a book by Jackie Lau that I haven't loved. She's one of my favourite authors at writing comedic situations that are also romantic and emotional. In this book, we have a main character that truly might be one of the characters that's closest to my heart now. She's in her 30s and doesn't want children. She lives within a family that's constantly asking her questions about when she's going to have them and that really affects her. I related a lot to her since I'm sure I don't want children and I've had a very similar journey with a lot of my relatives. She has to accept throughout the book that there are some members of her family that are trying to accept her and love her and who are fighting for her and some members that aren't worth caring for. Also, even though there were some tense moments and some sad moments, everything was so funny surrounding the problems with the weddings and I appreciated the sister relationship and that was also very relatable since I also have a younger sister who's my best friend and who's going to get married before me. 

I absolutely adored that Jackie Lau doesn't shy away from talking about important issues that affect the everyday life of her characters. In this book, there was a lot of talk about racism and especially internalised racism because Natalie is biracial with an Asian dad and a white mother. Additionally, it discussed problems and decisions surrounding pregnancies, abortion and postpartum depression. It was talked about in such a caring and tender way. It described how it also affects the people who surrounds the person who's suffering especially the children of the mother who's suffering of the postpartum depression and how they understood her as they got older. I'm so happy it discussed Natalie's abortion in a way that didn't diminished the way she felt but it wasn't this traumatic event that she was going to regret. I appreciated all those talks so so much. 

Connor was a fantastic hero. We didn't know everything about him since the beginning but I rooted for his happiness because he was obviously a good person who cared a lot about Natalie even if he wouldn't admit it. As we knew more about him, I began to love him and ship them as a couple and not only caring for Natalie and her happiness. What I adored the most about them is how different they were and how much they understood each other as well. Especially since she was such a pessimist about the world and he was a ray of sunshine. The gradual realisation that they cared for each other as more than friends was the best thing to read about. What I have to say is I'm aromantic and there were a lot of arophobic things as the phrase "just friends" was constantly used and it was implied that even though she didn't want kids she had to want romance otherwise she would be REALLY weird. I know those things weren't on purpose because there were a lot of discussions on prejudice and what other people think about your life and I know the author wouldn't do that to other people but it would be nice not to see those things in romance anymore. Other than that I have nothing bad to say, I loved every minute!



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Make Me Fall by Sara Rider

Enemies make the worst neighbors, but the best lovers

After losing her job, her home, and her friends in her divorce, Nora Pitts is determined not to make the same mistakes when she starts over in the small town of Shadow Creek, Washington. No more slaving away in the lab at the expense of her social life, and definitely no more men. Ever. But making friends in her thirties is so much harder than she anticipated. And when it comes to her gorgeous yet obnoxious neighbor, it’s a whole lot easier to make enemies.

Eli Hardin doesn’t have a lot of sympathy for his uptight neighbor, until he overhears her so-called new friends making fun of her un-datable status. Suddenly he finds himself volunteering for a date with a woman who’s been leaving angry hate-notes in his mailbox, and in way over his head. Because all it takes is one disastrous date with Nora for Eli to fall hard.

But falling for Eli isn’t something Nora’s ready for—not when he’s her complete opposite, and especially not when he turns out to be the best friend she’s made in Shadow Creek. But as her attraction and her feelings for Eli grow hotter, resisting him might just lead to heartbreak anyway.



A lot of what Sara Rider did with this book was absolutely amazing. It was such an enjoyable and beautiful romance with characters that had a lot of layers that they had to let go in order to be what they wanted to be and to be completely happy. I really enjoyed the first book, but this one topped it. I felt like everything was more complex and interesting and the situations felt like they had more dimensions and I was super happy to see that. I went into this book thinking that it was going to be something and it surprised me being something completely different. When you  begin the book, you think it's going to be rivals to lovers, because they're neighbors who hate each other. But then you realize that the real meat of the story is in their developing friendship, in seeing them accepting and caring about each other and then falling for each other. Normally, with friends to lovers you get friends that when the book starts they already know one another but here you get to see it grow from the beginning and it's wonderful. 

Like it happened with Real Kind of Love, the characters in this book felt like real people. The descriptions of their feelings and their interests made me care about their happiness and that's what you want in a romance. Also, the fact that they were complete opposites was so refreshing because they united in things that could complement them but also disagreed a lot and at the end worked things through and grew as people because of it. Additionally, I loved seeing a divorced heroine in her 30s struggling to make friends in a new town since that's a very real thing that people go through since they usually don't have the setting of a school or university to make long lasting friends. Nora has extreme germophobia and I loved that Eli always respects her feelings and boundaries and never questions what she has to do in order to feel ok. I thought that was very thoughtful of the author. 

I have to say that even though I liked a lot of things, I was still disappointed at the lack of representation. It was an entirely white, straight, cis, allo book without characters with marginalized identities and that never lets me like a book completely. There was a little LGBT+ rep coded and a lot of mental health coded but it was never talked about at all on text and I think this book would have been amazing if those things would have been included and talked about because Nora had a lot of reflections about her germophobia but it never went further than that, even when it got really bad.  But that is a choice that the author made for her character. Even though those things affected my overall enjoyment, I loved the plot and the characters! 


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If I Loved You Less by Tamsen Parker

                                                 

Sunny, striking, and satisfied with her life in paradise, Theodosia Sullivan sees no need for marriage. She does, however, relish serving as matchmaker for everyone who crosses her path. As the manager of her family’s surf shop in Hanalei Bay, that includes locals and tourists alike.

One person she won’t be playing Cupid for is the equally happy bachelorette down the street. Baker Kini ʻŌpūnui has been the owner of Queen’s Sweet Shop since her parents passed away and her younger brother married Theo’s older sister and moved to Oahu. Kini’s ready smile, haupia shortbread, and lilikoi malasadas are staples of Hanalei’s main street.

However, Theo’s matchmaking machinations and social scheming soon become less charming—even hazardous—to everyone involved. And when she fails to heed Kini’s warnings about her meddling, she may be more successful than she ever intended. Theo has to face the prospect of Kini ending up with someone else, just as she realizes she’s loved Kini all along.

A modern retelling of Jane Austen's Emma.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38965901-if-i-loved-you-less
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/If-I-Loved-You-Less-ebook/dp/B07H3RGN22


This book was everything I've ever wanted from an Emma retelling. It was adorable, lovely, soothing and infuriating at times but it was also a deep exploration of human emotions and relationships and a look inside a very morally questionable main character who does things she thinks are right but everyone can see they don't always have the best results even if they have good intentions. I didn't want a main character who was perfect and proper and was presented as a good person. Theo is a brilliantly constructed character, she's annoying and irritating and she's never presented as being a role model. She's a work in progress who wants to be better and who's growing as a person throughout the book. I was rooting for her because I knew her potential but I know that she could come off as very annoying. Her relationship with Kini was my favourite thing ever. The chemistry between them wasn't over the moon but the dynamics that they had and their friendship was incredibly believable and that made me have confidence in them as a couple. Their little interactions that weren't supposed to mean anything but meant everything in the long run brought a smile to my face every time and Kini was always there for the teachable moments for Theo and I think that says a lot about her character. Also, she said "badly done" and I was DEAD. 

For reference, I want to say that Emma is one of my favourite books in the entire world and definitely my favourite classic. I think Tamsen Parker did it justice. I don't know how she did it but even though it was a complete different setting and a complete different era, she maintained the same feel and atmosphere that the original book has. And I would say that it was elevated with the f/f relationship and the construction of the secondary characters. Now, let me talk a little bit about them. If you read Emma or If I Loved You Less, you know there are a lot of secondary characters that you need to follow in order to understand the conflict. This happens because it's a small town and you need to get the feel that everyone really knows everything and is up in everyone's business. The characterization of all these people that you were meant to follow was completely wonderful. I felt like I knew all these characters, their personalities, their dreams, their motivations. I could picture them in my head so so clearly and normally I hate having to remember a lot of names and a lot of characters but in this book it came naturally to me. It was like I was so immersed in this book that I was there meeting them and getting to know them in real life. 

This took place in Hanalei, a small town in Hawaii and the cast was of a diverse background. Kini was implied to be Native Hawaiian but I don't think we get on page confirmation on that. I think we should have gotten more from that since the description felt a bit shallow. Of course, I can't talk about the representation and I would love to hear from someone with that heritage. Also, Theo identified as queer and I really liked how her identity was shown as something fluid and how she went on tangents about that because that's something I do as well with my sexuality. I think a lot of my enjoyment with this book was influenced with my enjoyment of the original because there were a lot of things in common. But I have to say that it was well written, it felt like Theo had a growth because she was an awful person at some points but she worked to be better and the descriptions of the settings and feelings were beautiful. Definitely one of my recent favourite books. 



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Stripped by Zoey Castile

Skilled, sculpted, and sexy, the men of adult entertainment are the kind of guys a woman reserves for her fantasies, not her reality. But is there more to these professional hotties than meets the eye?…

The day Robyn Flores meets Zac Fallon is one of those days. You know, when you’re already late for work. Mostly because you haven’t really slept since your best friend abandoned you for her fiancé and her exponentially better life. The kind of day you drag yourself to the cleaners to pick up your laundry, only to discover you’ve got the wrong bag—Star Spangled sequined thong, anyone? So Robyn is definitely not ready for the ridiculously gorgeous guy at her front door, except that they have each other’s clothes. But then, is any woman ever ready to meet the love of her life?

There’s just one problem: Zac Fallon is not the love of Robyn’s life. Zac knows, despite the all-too-intimate dinner they share, he doesn’t have a shot at her. Because the next time Zac sees Robyn, he’s front and center of the male revue headlining her best friend’s bachelorette party. So much for wooing the pretty schoolteacher, much less impressing her old-fashioned family, with his upstanding lifestyle. Now he’s only got one way to win his dream girl. It’s gonna be the steamiest, most irresistible seduction she’s ever seen. And this time it will be no act…

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Stripped-Happy-Endings-Zoey-Castile-ebook/dp/B077WYKSFB/

To start, I absolutely adored the premise of this book. A sexy romcom about a male stripper and a schoolteacher? Brilliant! What attracted me the most since the beginning of this book was how it was written. It was so light and easy to read that I hadn't noticed I had read 5 chapters in a small amount of time. It had an amazing comedic timing that laughed with the characters and not at the characters and that felt incredibly natural. It never undermined Zac's job or made it seem like it should be something to be ashamed about and he certainly was never ashamed about it and Robyn completely respected him and what he liked to do. Even though there were struggles between the couple, in general, it felt like a very low angst book. The characters had a lot to figure out before they could be together, but the moments of friendship and domesticity during their flirtation and the situations before they realized something was happening between them was so beautiful to read. I always love to read about two very different people putting those differences aside but not erasing them to be together. They accepted and loved each other the way they were. It was adorable all the way through.

I'm all for my latinx sisters writing wonderful and lovely romance I can get behind, with characters that feel real and situations that could happen in the everyday life but also with those moments that seem almost too incredible to be true. This book was all that and more. It was diverse and gorgeous and I rooted for the characters all the time. That's one of the things that I love the most about romance books, how in a few pages I'm already connected with these characters, wishing them to be happy and have everything they want and overcome the problems that they might have. I really enjoyed how easy it was for me to fall in love with this story. 

The respect that they had for each other and what they loved to do and how much they cared about each other's happiness is what constructed their chemistry for me, which was on fire the entire time. Zac was so nice and kind, he really left the pages and was a full rounded person, with flaws and virtues and a complexity that I wasn't expecting at first. Robyn was a representation of what a lot of us go through at some point in our lives. Where she  had a lot of her life planned and then things don't turn out the way she wanted. And that doesn't mean that the exact solution for her is to have another plan, there's nothing wrong with a not so planned life. Also, she was humorous and witty and so much fun to read. 

If you want an entertaining, adorable and wonderfully written book, you have to pick up Stripped! 

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Real Kind of Love by Sara Rider

What happens when a fake relationship turns into a real kind of love?

As an audiobook narrator, Clementine Cox has no trouble mastering the voices of space aliens, elven warriors, or even demon-possessed cats. But the moment she tries her hand at an erotic romance, she’s stumped. With her deadline looming, she books a week at a secluded cabin to restore her inner muse, telling her loving-but-overbearing family it’s a romantic getaway with her not-so-existent new boyfriend to keep them from worrying. She never expects them to invite themselves along to meet the new guy. Now, she has less than twenty-four hours to find a pretend boyfriend in order to save her job and, potentially, her sanity.

Workaholic Jake Donovan isn’t interested in a real relationship. After a broken engagement, all he wants to do is focus on keeping his brewpub, the Holy Grale, afloat. But when he finds out his favorite customer is in need of a fake boyfriend, and his business partners insist he take a much overdue vacation, he has no choice but to help Clem out. All he has to do is enjoy the sunshine, play nice with her family, and keep his hands to himself for the week.

But Jake’s not prepared to like waking up next to Clem every morning as much as he does. Or to feel so welcome by her quirky family. And as the line between real and fake starts to blur, he realizes one week

might never be enough.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39509019-real-kind-of-love
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Real-Kind-Love-Books-Brews-ebook/dp/B07BPFM113/

I can't explain how adorable this book was. It was everything I could ever ask for a weekend read: cute, lighthearted but it was also a book that didn't shy away from putting the characters through complications, especially relating to family dynamics and expectations. I adored the fact that the heroine, Clem, was an audiobook narrator, in particular she was reading a romance book with rough sex and the hero is "helping her" with her involvement with the book. It was all kind of cliche but in an amazing way, don't get me wrong. It had a humour that made me really happy and had me laughing out loud. At the same time, I was rooting for their relationship even though it was obvious that both of them had a lot of things that they had to get through. 

The family aspects were really relatable and I had so many reason to like the main characters and feel for them in relation to the situation that they were in. I thought this story would be very straightforward but it actually surprised me a lot of times. And of course, I adored the fake relationship, which is one of my favourite tropes ever and the one that made me want to read this book in the first place. It was written beautifully and made me want to keep reading. I connected with Clem's struggles especially and with her character and personality. And even though I know her family was too much, I adored reading about them. They gave me a lot of funny moments. 

As you can tell, I really enjoyed this book. I have a few complaints though. First, I would have liked more diversity because it felt super white and straight at some points. Also, I really disliked the fact that we were constantly being told that Clem wasn't that pretty, that she was "pleasantly average"  but she was a skinny, white girl with very stereotypically pretty features and everyone thought she was pretty. Apart from that, there's a passage where the guy said that "if he ever got a taste of her, there'd be no way he'd stop until he'd stripped down all her defenses". I know it's probably not intended as a literal thing, he was thinking that he was bad and he always hurt people and there was never a moment where he made unwanted advances but I just don't like that it said that there'd be no way he'd stop, it's part of the language that we have to change. 

This book was gorgeous, though. If you're looking for something cute and fun, this is the one for you! 
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What Kind of Day by Mina V. Esguerra

“All right,” she said. “And you can call me Naya.”“I’m Ben. And if my presence makes you uncomfortable, you don’t need to call me anything. I will be quiet as a mouse.”“I don’t like mice.”“I will be as quiet as your favorite quiet thing.”
It's a bad day for Ben. After years of earnest work, he's been fired from his job as a speechwriter for a Philippine senator. Name tarnished and bridges burned, he steps into what he thinks is a shuttle ride home, and accidentally joins a tour of his own city.

It was supposed to be a good day for Naya. Her passion is traveling, her hobby is discovering cool things to see and do, and taking people on tours of Metro Manila is her only job right now. An extra person at the last minute isn't ideal, especially if the person is a former colleague and the subject of the day's hottest political trash fire. But work is work, and she decides to let him stay in the tour.

She's hoping she won't regret it. He's hoping his day turns around. What kind of day could it be? Maybe the best kind.


This was the most beautiful exploration of Manila. I felt like Mina V. Esguerra let me in in a love letter that she had made for the city. The wonderful love story made it even more exciting and I left the book wanting more from this couple and this tour. I adored reading about older characters who have nothing figured out and who felt incredibly relatable to me. I really appreciate how amazingly written they were. They felt realistic, fully-fledged and level headed. It had a maturity I don't see in a lot of books and I thought the discussions that they had were handled with a lot of care for the topic. I don't have the same interests as these characters but I could feel the love and passion that they had for what they liked. I also felt the attraction that they had and their dynamics were really well constructed. The characterization was amazing and I was constantly rooting for their happiness. 

The entire thing, from the start, felt so realistic. It didn't sell something that wouldn't happen in real life. Their personalities were so different but at the same time they fit together very well. Naya was strong and interesting and Ben was a sweetheart who had a lot of questions and almost no answers but who did the best he could to achieve what he wanted. The thing that I loved the most about this book was how optimistic it felt. I loved the message. How there are good days and bad days but you have the capacity to make good days happen. It talked about the balance of those things and also the balance of doing something you love and doing something that gets you paid, it's also about the balance between them, who were at different stages in their lives but who were still looking for the thing that would make them truly happy. It was so adorable and cute! 

Even though it started very slow for me and I had some problems with the pacing, in general this book made me incredibly happy in their own search for their happiness, which is something that a lot of us can relate to. Make good days by reading this book right now!! 
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