It’s Top Ten Tuesday time again friends! This week its a love/valentines freebie so I figure it was the perfect time to list some romance books I want to read this year.
Daisy Haites by Jessica Hastings
Funny Story by Emily Henry
The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberley Lemming
Final Offer by Laura Asher
Back in February I picked 5 romance books that are high on my TBR that I wanted to try to prioritize and I’ve actually finished them all which I am stoked about! They definitely weren’t all wins but I am glad I stuck to it and completed my list.
Happy Place by Emily Henry – Overall this was ok. I just couldn’t get over the fact that if these two would of communicated when they were going through their rough patch in San Francisco then all of the drama wouldn’t of happened. Both of them didn’t want to burden the other and they just kept kept this false sense of happiness to keep the status quo. There was definitely some cute and semi-steamy moments, but I don’t think second chance romances are for me. ⭐️2/5 stars
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood – I really like this, I thought the premise was fun and the stakes weren’t too high. I wanted Olive to have a little more confidence in herself and stand up for herself a bit more. I liked the banter between out two main protagonists and learning about Adam more thoroughly and finding out there’s more to him than meets the eye was very cute. ⭐️4/5 stars
Honey & Spice by Bolu Babalola – This was amazing! I loved all of the characters, they each felt unique and distinct and had a purpose within the plot. There was a lot of social commentary and the plot as a whole felt realistic and wasn’t forced. I loved Kiki’s attitude and the way that Malakai wormed his way into her heart was so endearing and gave me all the feels! ⭐️5/5 stars
Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert – just like the title I found this to be incredibly cute! These two teens actually communicated to each other instead of assuming what the other is feeling and there was more to the story than just their romance! Probably not going to be picking up any more YA romance but this I definitely wasn’t disappointed this give me all the warm fuzzy feels. ⭐️4/5 stars
The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang – unfortunately this was a very forgettable read! I didn’t really enjoy our main protagonist as much as the other female leads in this series. She let her family walk all over her and didn’t stand by her boundaries leading to this stagnant nature of the book that dragged all of the conflict out unnecessarily in my opinion. ⭐️2/5 stars
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together. Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven’t spoken since.
I really loved Poppy as our main protagonist. She is very self aware which I enjoy and most of what she is feeling and going through is so very relatable. Absolutely loving your family and their quirks and being so quick to defend them against anyone but still also being mildly embarrassed of them and then being ashamed you feel embarrassed. I think every teenager/young adult has felt these emotions and it just felt so realistic that this is highlighted as we look back. The fact that she is kind of going through a quarter life crisis after accomplishing all her goals is also very relatable and definitely made me develop more of a connection to her character.
We don’t learn as much about Alex as I would of liked to. Had this been a dual perspective and we see the war raging inside his mind about keeping Poppy at arms length as a friend instead of crossing that boundary would of been nice to have. He is very standoffish and aloof but I really enjoy the fun, witty side that comes out of him almost reflexively when he is with Poppy.
The whole premise of the book was highly engaging and very juicy! I loved the countdown to that fateful summer in Croatia and the fallout that ensues and how we see the two of them try to mend that bridge and gain some semblance of their previous friendship. From the outside it is soooo obvious that these two are soul mates but I loved seeing them having to come to that conclusion on their own!
⭐️5/5 stars I absolutely loved this book!
Hallie Welch fell hard for Julian Vos at fourteen, after they almost kissed in the dark vineyards of his family’s winery. Now the prodigal hottie has returned to their small town. When Hallie is hired to revamp the gardens on the Vos estate, she wonders if she’ll finally get that smooch. But the grumpy professor isn’t the teenager she remembers and their polar opposite personalities clash spectacularly. One wine-fueled girls’ night later, Hallie can’t shake the sense that she did something reckless–and then she remembers the drunken secret admirer letter she left for Julian. Oh shit.
Hallie’s character I didn’t really gel with. She’s supposedly 27/28 years old and she honestly acts as if she is 20-22. Running around town, getting drunk and vandalizing businesses whilst being very cavalier in her own business ( showing up whenever she wants). I understand she is still mourning her grandmother but I don’t think that’s an excuse to throw away all sense of composure and decency. I feel like she needs to grow up and maybe book that appointment with her therapist she keeps putting off and start to heal properly.
Julian I didn’t really like all that much as well. He is very standoffish and he also knows he has a lot of issues that he kept pent up and won’t get any kind of help for it. For the most part he is quite comfortable sticking to his routines and burying all of those emotions further and further down until the inevitable break down. Also in the smutty scenes where he whips out all of this dirty talk was very jarring and kind of pulled me out of the story.
I did however, really enjoy the setting and premise of the plotline. If these character were a bit more memorable and slightly more mature maybe it would of worked a bit better for me. I kept waiting for twists and conflicts and passion but overall it was just a bit weak.
⭐️2/5 stars I felt unfulfilled
Back in February I picked 5 romance books that are high on my TBR that I wanted to try to prioritize and actually read! And so far this year I’ve read three of the five so I figured this was a good chance to do a little recap of the five and give my thoughts on the ones I’ve completed so far.
Happy Place by Emily Henry – Overall this was ok. I just couldn’t get over the fact that if these two would of communicated when they were going through their rough patch in San Francisco then all of the drama wouldn’t of happened. Both of them didn’t want to burden the other and they just kept kept this false sense of happiness to keep the status quo. There was definitely some cute and semi-steamy moments, but I don’t think second chance romances are for me. ⭐️3/5 stars
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood – I really like this, I thought the premise was fun and the stakes weren’t too high. I wanted Olive to have a little more confidence in herself and stand up for herself a bit more. I liked the banter between out two main protagonists and learning about Adam more thoroughly and finding out there’s more to him than meets the eye was very cute. ⭐️4/5 stars
Honey & Spice by Bolu Babalola – This was amazing! I loved all of the characters, they each felt unique and distinct and had a purpose within the plot. There was a lot of social commentary and the plot as a whole felt realistic and wasn’t forced. I loved Kiki’s attitude and the way that Malakai wormed his way into her heart was so endearing and gave me all the feels! ⭐️5/5 stars
Amy Leigh Reads 