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…

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41188043-not-another-family-wedding

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Another-Family-Wedding-Chin-Williams-Book-ebook

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!

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.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40800009-make-me-fall

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FKF7MDV/

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! 

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. 

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…

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33009919-stripped

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! 

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! 

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.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40058181-what-kind-of-day

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CXNFL61

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!! 

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!