Tag: Romance

Reviews

Beach Read Review

by amyleighreads3 Comments on Beach Read Review

52867387._SY475_Beach Read follows January and Gus two authors that were rivals in college who end up being neighbours. They are currently both suffering from writers block so they come up with a bet to swap their respective genres and see who can get their book sold first.

This was a fantastic book. I went into it with the expectations that it would be a light fluffy contemporary yet it delves so much more into deeper topics and was quite thought provoking and touching. 

I loved January’s character. I was drawn into her life from the first chapter and she kept me highly engaged throughout the course of the book. I found her to be highly relatable and her optimistic way she perceives life refreshing. Moving into that house and being forced to face what her father has done to her and how it has affected her life whilst also having run ins with Sonya was highly entertaining.

Gus I was a little hesitant about at the start. He didn’t really evoke any kind of emotion from me, he was too closed off and standoffish. Once he started opening up more to January and revealing his emotions and thoughts was when I started warming up to him. He definitely has an enigmatic nature to him that initially draws you in to his character but once we got more of his backstory with Naomi and even with Pete and Maggie he became a lot more well rounded and developed.

I loved the actually writing that took up a lot of time in the plot. The way they prioritised their work even though they were crazy for each other I think was very mature of them. I feel a lot of time in romance the main protagonist would just give up everything for their love interest and would of missed the deadline. 

This was definitely a slow burn. There were various scenes that got me very eager to read on and find out whether or not January will get her happy ending!

⭐️5/5 stars I devoured this book!!!!

Reviews

Get A Life, Chloe Brown Review

by amyleighreads2 Comments on Get A Life, Chloe Brown Review

43888874Chloe Brown has been sheltered most of her life and has pushed away a lot of her friends because of the chronic pain she deals with on a daily basis. That is until one day she is involved in a near death experience that prompts her to move out of her house and start to fulfil some of the dreams she has put on hold because of her condition.

I really liked Chloe. She really knows her limits and is just currently trying to still live her life even though she is in pain. I find her not to be the most relatable of characters because of her wealth however, I think she is still quite down to earth and has really tried to step up and live by her own means. There isn’t a lot of positive representation of plus sized characters in literature and I really enjoyed the way that Chloe was portrayed and the language used to describe her. She didn’t really display any insecurities about her size and it wasn’t really a big factor of the story it was just who Chloe was.

Red really charmed me right from the start. From his relationship with his mother and the way he takes care of a lot of the older tenants in the complex, yet he is still kind of a badass with a motorbike. The banter between them was wonderfully entertaining, with the tension at the start slowly morphing into a friendship and then the way they both kind of push away their feelings before finally succumbing… I was a huge fan! He is just so considerate of her and is always asking how she is feeling or preemptively will make things easier for her. He was just such a sweetheart but still had his own issues he has had to deal with and sort out his feelings about his ex before he stepped fully into the relationship with Chloe.

One thing I appreciated about the book was the communication between the characters. If one of them was upset they would express that to each other and kind of work their way through all of their obstacles. Even when they had their fight and weren’t talking to each other Red was still working towards a resolution!

I thought Chloe’s sisters were really distinct and funny. Again they were always making sure Chloe was ok and checking in on her and was very supportive of her and her chosen lifestyle. I’m really interested to hear more about them and I am very excited to pick up the next book when it is released!!

⭐️4/5 This was just wholesome, endearing and highly entertaining.

Reviews

The Bride Test Review

by amyleighreads5 Comments on The Bride Test Review

39338454Khai has no interest in dating or marriage so when his mum goes over to the Vietnam and brings a potential wife back to live with him for the summer he is outraged. Forced to cohabitate Khai starts to get used to the idea of Esme living with him and she is starting to see that he does have feelings after all.

I absolutely loved this story! It was a very fast paced, quick read for me that I finished in one sitting and I came out of it with just warm fuzzy feelings. I think the book really explored the cultural differences between the generations.  Like how Khai’s mum is perfectly comfortable interviewing for potential wives for Khai and trying to push him to get married ASAP and how uncomfortable and resistant Khai and Quan are about the whole situation. Also Esme’s mum telling her to seduce Khai just to marry him quickly because he lives in America and is handsome.

I love how unique and interesting Khai’s character is. I thought his autism was represented very well throughout the course of the plot and his reactions to certain situations was consistent and felt real. The way he struggled to understand other people’s emotions when he processes things in a very different way was interesting to read. He felt like a truly well rounded character and his naivety and inexperience really endeared him to me. The whole conversation he had with Quan and Michael after his first time was super cute!

I had some mixed feelings about Esme throughout the course of the book. I was a little skeptical about her reasoning’s for accepting the deal in the first place and I can’t help but feel that she was intentionally trying to just seduce Khai at first without even attempting to get to know him. But as the story progressed I definitely warmed up to her as she started to dig into her own background and better herself whilst she was there; trying to find her father and going to back to school and getting her GED.

The whole concept for the story I found super entertaining and I just can’t help but think that this kind of situation really happens in real life; mothers pushing their sons to get married because everyone else in their families is getting married. I don’t know if they would go as far as to return to their home countries to pluck a random girl from a bathroom but that’s the beauty of fiction. I was highly entertained and engaged throughout the book and I can’t wait to see what Helen Hoang comes out with next!

⭐️5/5 stars Loved it!

Reviews

From Lukov with Love Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on From Lukov with Love Review

38326753._SY475_This was a totally spur of the moment pick up for me. I’ve still been feeling a little funky in terms of my reading so I’ve been picking up a lot of romance to try to remedy that because its just so easy and entertaining to read. So when I saw a few different reviews for this book pop up in some recent booktube videos I decided to give it a go and actually loved it!

We follow the story of Jasmine who is a hardcore figure skater who was recently dumped by her skating partner. She hasn’t been able to find a new partner since so she is unable to compete. She has been training at the same complex as Ivan Lukov who is the reigning national champion, a 2 time gold medalist and is known as being the best figure skater in the world at the moment. Jasmine and Ivan cannot stand each other and since Ivan’s partner has bowed out for the season Jasmine is the only one good enough to step up.

The hate to love trope is my absolute favourite in romance novels and this book did so well in building up the sexual tension throughout the course of the storyline. The chemistry between these two from the start was palpable and I loved that it delved a lot more deeper into their backgrounds than what I was anticipating.

Jasmine’s candour really pulled me into the book. There’s just something about characters swearing in books that really endears me to them (lol). I just feel like that’s exactly how I would react in the same situation. As someone who swears a lot it make the book feel more realistic to me, which made me appreciate the story even more. I liked the fact that she is really trying to balance her life and not just have it be all about skating. The gradual arc of her character was very well done and she really had to overcome a lot of situations before she could really accept herself. I especially liked that she noticed how she has treated her family in the past and has tried to rectify the situation by being more involved and aware of everyone and their feelings.

Ivan at the start I thought was a little too good to be true being handsome, rich and the best figure skater in the world. I think his cocky attitude mixed with all the hard work we see him put in to being the best helped to ease my concerns about him as a character. Once we started to learn more about him and penetrate that guard he always has up and see some of the more emotional scenes he has with Jasmine and he finally shows how much he cares about her is when I started to fall under his spell! OMG after he made that speech to Jasmine’s father I was sold!

I highly enjoyed my read of this book. I think I picked it up at exactly the right time and I think it definitely helped me get around this slumpy feeling I’ve been having! I was totally surprised by how much I enjoyed this book and it just left me with some happy feels!

⭐️5/5 stars Caught me by surprise and made me shed a tear!

Reviews

Josh & Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating Review

by amyleighreads2 Comments on Josh & Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating Review

817PmlU2CYLCute!

This was my second foray into Christina Lauren’s work and I was pleasantly surprised. Because I had loved The Unhoneymooners so much I tried not to set my expectations too high because I didn’t want to be disappointed but I really loved this read!

Hazel and Josh went to college together and though they never dated Josh sure got an eyeful of Hazel when he walked in on her with one of his room-mates. She also puked on his shoes and wrote him a confession via email when she was high on medication after having her wisdom teeth out. Ten years later life throws them back together and they try their absolute best to not end up with each other!

I really vibed with Hazel’s character. I loved her spontaneous nature and her willingness to just be herself and not care what other people think. But at the same time she was aware of the fact that maybe some people might not be able to understand her or tolerate her behaviour without being embarrassed. Her arc was subtle but still important in the context of the story. She distanced herself from potential partners for so long because of her personality, especially when she reunited with Tyler; she reverted back to how she was making excuses for his remarks and dimming herself. I loved when she finally just told him to go f*ck himself, and decided that she was enough and wouldn’t change herself to be with someone else.

I think Josh contrasted perfectly with Hazel. Their banter especially was super entertaining to read. He came across as quite rigid and reserved at the start of the book. He’s very organised whereas Hazel is like a tornado ripping through everything. I liked how we see him gradually get more comfortable around Hazel especially when they are thrown together so much and he is kind of forced to deal with her. It’s definitely cute to see him try to be standoffish with her but she still worms her way into his life whether he likes it or not.

The book was very fast paced and engaging, I finished it in like one sitting. I liked the diversity in the characters and I think they came across as quite relatable. I don’t think the premise was really all that unique but the execution of the plot was just right for me. I think the ending was a little too perfect in a way, but I was invested enough that I was happy with the outcome!

⭐️5/5 stars I cringed, I laughed, I swooned, all the feels!