Review: Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren

Love, loss, friendship, and the betrayals of the past all collide in this first women’s fiction novel from New York Times and #1 international bestselling author Christina Lauren (Autoboyography, Dating You / Hating You).

The story of the heart can never be unwritten.

Macy Sorensen is settling into an ambitious if emotionally tepid routine: work hard as a new pediatrics resident, plan her wedding to an older, financially secure man, keep her head down and heart tucked away.

But when she runs into Elliot Petropoulos—the first and only love of her life—the careful bubble she’s constructed begins to dissolve. Once upon a time, Elliot was Macy’s entire world—growing from her gangly bookish friend into the man who coaxed her heart open again after the loss of her mother...only to break it on the very night he declared his love for her.

Told in alternating timelines between Then and Now, teenage Elliot and Macy grow from friends to much more—spending weekends and lazy summers together in a house outside of San Francisco devouring books, sharing favorite words, and talking through their growing pains and triumphs. As adults, they have become strangers to one another until their chance reunion. Although their memories are obscured by the agony of what happened that night so many years ago, Elliot will come to understand the truth behind Macy’s decade-long silence and will have to overcome the past and himself to revive her faith in the possibility of an all-consuming love. 

I have conflicting feelings about this book. There were parts I liked. And other parts I didn’t necessarily enjoy or it made me feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Love and Other Words is a second chance romance type of story. Macy and Elliot met when they were teenagers. Develop a friendship. Become something else and then spend a decade apart only to randomly meet in a city one day and the fire within them about each other starts to burn again.

I think most of my issues with the book arise in the second half. The story is told in the sole POV of Macy; however, in the past and the present. So, as the book goes along, we get to see her and Elliot meeting and then their eventual departure.

Their relationship was fine. It was cute. And I like their early beginnings much better. Macy lost her mother at a young age and she had a loving and supportive father in her life. However, when she met Elliot, it was clear that she found something that she was missing.

I wish the book had been in the POV of Elliot as well. Macy and Elliot’s “breakup” was a traumatic experience for both of them. And we got to see how Macy dealt with it; however, Elliot’s POV regarding the situation in it was glossed over. And that left me feeling uncomfortable given the severity of the situation.

Final Analysis

Love and Other Words was fine. It’s a cute enough second chance romance book. However, the family subplot flows much better than the romance. 

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Review: Beach Read by Emily Henry

A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.

Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.

They’re polar opposites.

In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they're living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer's block.

Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really. -

I’ve seen this book floating around for a while, and I’m ashamed to say that it took me this long to read it. I read it all in one sitting. I could not put it down. From start to finish I was hooked. From the love story to the complicated family history, I was here for it all.

This isn’t a cute romcom, easy beach read. It deals with a wide variety of subjects, and there were several times where I felt like I was going to cry. Trigger warnings: for death, abuse, cults, infidelity.

It’s told in the POV of January. And her POV is so raw and real. And I felt every word.

As for the characters? Well, they are two writers who are polar opposites who make a deal to help each other with their next book. What more is there to ask for? There was banter. It was funny. It was sad. It was a nicely packaged book; one that when I finished, I couldn’t wait to start from the beginning.

Both January and Gus were great. They both had this complicated past that had made them who they were and influenced their style of writing. Heartbreak changed the course of January’s writing and she’s stuck. Unable to write those optimistic romance books anymore. Unable to believe in happy endings again. Enter Gus. Her temporary neighbor. Her rival from college, who writes more serious things. She’s annoyed by him, and at the same time very attracted and drawn to him.

They bounced out of each other very nicely. And there is no better way to put it—than I’m obsessed. I loved their conversations about writing and about how they see things differently. And as they worked on their books together, it was interesting to see them develop individually and romantically.

Final Analysis

Beach Read is a raw and emotional tale with a great and engaging romance. 

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Review: Just Not That Into Billionaires (Billionaires of Manhattan #6) by Annika Martin

Francine is stunned when she discovers she's been married—for the last ten years—to Benny, her surly, nerdy frenemy she worked with one summer in Vegas.

How in the world did they end up married? Though there was a certain drunken night...

She tracks Benny down, sure he'll be as shocked about the marriage as she is, sure he'll be happy to dissolve their union ASAP so she can get the documents she desperately needs.

She's surprised to find that Benny is now a cold, wolfish billionaire. And yes, he'll sign the paperwork...for a price: she has to spend the next three weeks playing his adoring wife. –

I had an interesting experience with Just Not That Into Billionaires. And I ultimately am deciding that it wasn’t for me. I wasn’t immediately drawn into the story in the beginning. I will admit I was a tad confused. And that could be my fault since I had gone in with expectations this was a fake marriage type of situation. It’s not.

Benny and Francine got married ten years ago in Vegas, and she finds out when she’s trying to get a visa so that she can go on tour. When she confronts Benny about a divorce, he refuses and then agrees to sign the paperwork if she acts as his wife for three weeks.

Once the actual plot was revealed, the book got more interesting. Benny and Francine had the whole friend enemy thing going on ten years ago, and the mystery of why Benny wanted to keep the marriage up was enough to keep me reading. Then, it was revealed why and my interest in the story started deflating a little.

I didn’t care for either Benny or Francine as characters. They both felt off to me. I never truly bought their relationship. And some of the things they said to each felt stiff and unrealistic.

Final Thoughts

Just Not That Into Billionaires was okay. Some of the romance aspect felt off and the jarring plot point in the end felt completely left field. 

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Review: Huge Deal by Lauren Layne

Even for a top-gun banker, temptation this hot is quite a gamble in a sexy Wall Street romp from New York Times bestselling author Lauren Layne.

An alpha among the wolves of Wall Street, Kennedy Dawson rose to the top of the pack by striking the right contracts at the right times. But there's one deal that's been giving him a run for his money-a pact to never again let his assistant, Kate, get under his skin. She may be smart, gorgeous, and sharp as a whip, but she's definitely off-limits.

Kate Henley isn't a banker, but she knows a thing or two about risk management-specifically, about managing her attraction to her smolderingly sexy boss. She already fell once, and Kennedy showed no sign of paying a return on her investment. So when Kennedy's brother starts pursuing her, Kate figures she has the best of both worlds. Jack is charming, rich, very attentive, and the spitting image of his older brother.

It's also making Kennedy think twice. But to win Kate's heart, he'll have to broker the deal of a lifetime ... and prove he's worth the risk.- 

When is it going to stop being surprising that Lauren Layne knows how to write a romantic comedy well? She never disappoints, and once again delivered on a delicious romance.

Huge Deal could have been cliché. There are so many stories about an assistant being secretly in love with their older boss. It’s a common plotline, and despite being someone who enjoys work romances it gets a little tiring reading the same thing over and over again. Not with Huge Deal though.

I was entertained throughout the entire story. Kate had been working for Kennedy for several years. During those first couple of years, she was madly in love with him, until she overhears a conversation between him and his partners and it completely shatters her. Just like that she’s over him. At least she thinks.

Kate was amazing. Kennedy was great. They were completely different types of people. Kennedy is all serious, brooding. Kate is a little bit of a nerd, detail oriented, and believes in love at first sight. I think my favorite thing about them both was how well they knew each other. Obviously, it’s Kate’s job to know Kennedy well. She had been working with him for six years. And Kennedy thought he didn’t know Kate that well; however, there was a scene towards the middle of the book where it was obvious that he had been paying attention, and even if he didn’t realize it, he had felt something for her.

Final Thoughts

Huge Deal is a great workplace romance with great characters and an entertaining story. In addition to a great romance, it has amazing friends who play an important factor in the lives of Kate and Kennedy. I hadn’t read the first two books within the Wall Street series but Huge Deal makes me want to go back and witness the early beginnings of Kate and Kennedy and watch the other characters fall in love. 

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Review: Darling Venom by Parker S. Huntington

I wasn’t supposed to be on that roof on Valentine’s Day.

Neither was Kellan Marchetti, the school’s designated freak.

We met on the verge of ending our lives.

Somehow, the tattered strings of our tragedies tangled and tightened into an unlikely bond.

We decided not to take the plunge and agreed to check on each other every Valentine’s Day until school ended.

Same time.

One roof.

Two restless souls.

We kept our promise for three years.

On the fourth, Kellan made a decision, and I was left to deal with the consequences.

Just when I thought our story ended, another one began.

They say all love stories look the same and taste different.

Mine was venomous, disgraceful, and written in scarlet scars.

My name is Charlotte Richards, but you can call me Venom. -

Review

Last year, I binged read all of Parker S. Huntington’s books and had an absolute delight. And ever since then I had been patiently waiting for a new release from her. When Darling Venom dropped, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. I went in completely blind and with full trust of the author.

From my previous readings, I knew that Huntington wrote dark subjects and it wasn’t surprising that this was a dark and heavy book as well. No spoilers, but please adhere to the trigger warnings.

Darling Venom is a story of best friends’ older brother. Of enemies to lovers. To slow burn loves. All and all, it’s a story of family, addiction, redemption, forgiveness, grief and strength. Tissues should be very close when reading this book. The story starts when Charlie (Charlotte) is a teenager and one night she meets Kellan on the roof of their school. Under any other circumstances, they two would not have spoken to each other, but that night they did. And they make a promise. Both of them hold on to that promise for three year, and in the fourth year, Kellan breaks it. Now alone, Charlie is left to deal with the consequences and wonder what happened. One day she meets Kellan’s older brother, Tate, and she begins to find some truths.

This book was 700 pages, and not once did it drag on or feel that at all. I was one hundred percent tapped in for this journey. Huntington does a great job of writing complex characters and a compelling story. I hung onto every word and read this book in one day. It’s a heartbreaking story. And thankfully it's a slow burn book so I felt everything. And even after finishing it, I can’t stop thinking about it.

Despite a tragic past, Charlie remained bright and committed to bringing light to others. She was an amazing and strong main character. And throughout the book, we see her living and thriving. I found her relationship with her older sister to be extremely sad. When they both were teenagers, they had this amazing bond, and in a flash that all changed. It was so heartbreaking to hear Charlie constantly talk about how Leah blamed her for everything. But that still didn’t stop Charlie from trying to cheer her sister up and standing by her side.

Kellan and Tate didn’t have the exact background and relationship as Charlie and Leah. However, like most things with Tate and Charlie, their lives mirrored each other. Tate was a couple of years older than Kellan. And from the beginning, they didn’t have the best relationship, partially due to their father. And the first introduction of Tate is from the eyes of Kellan. And Kellan didn’t hold back his dislike of his older brother.  

And once Tate is finally introduced in the story, Charlie already has this idea of who he is, and their first meeting doesn’t exactly help his case. Early on, in the book, we start to get more of who Tate actually is and he’s such a complex character, just like Charlie. They both wanted what was best for their siblings. And they carry the guilt of the mistakes they made with their siblings heavily. It really made for an interesting dynamic with the two. Even if they didn’t initially like each other in the beginning, Charlie and Tate were forever intertwined with each other and I think they were the only two people who understood each other’s pain.

With all the characters in the book we see their development as the plot unfolds. We see their highs, their lows. It all felt very rich and beautifully crafted.

Final Analysis

Darling Venom is a heartbreaking story with mutli layered characters that is hard to put down. 

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Review: You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle

When your nemesis also happens to be your fiancé, happily ever after becomes a lot more complicated in this wickedly funny, lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers romantic comedy debut.

Naomi Westfield has the perfect fiancé: Nicholas Rose holds doors open for her, remembers her restaurant orders, and comes from the kind of upstanding society family any bride would love to be a part of. They never fight. They’re preparing for their lavish wedding that's three months away. And she is miserably and utterly sick of him.

Naomi wants out, but there's a catch: whoever ends the engagement will have to foot the nonrefundable wedding bill. When Naomi discovers that Nicholas, too, has been feigning contentment, the two of them go head-to-head in a battle of pranks, sabotage, and all-out emotional warfare.

But with the countdown looming to the wedding that may or may not come to pass, Naomi finds her resolve slipping. Because now that they have nothing to lose, they're finally being themselves—and having fun with the last person they expect: each other. –

“Relearning you has bene the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” 

I remember being so taken aback when I first read this book, because the first chapter is their second date. And in it they were so excited to be with each other. Then, the second chapter is one year and nine months later and that lovey-dovey feeling in the beginning is gone. There is a disconnect between Naomi and Nicholas. Lack of communications, and very clear that their relationship had shifted. They cited it to the fact that their relationship progressed two quickly and now neither one of them are sure if there will be a wedding.

Naomi is about to lose her job. She has no backup plan, and essentially alone in terms of family. She has Nicholas; however, he’s successful and very arrogant and hard to communicate with. And his family? His mother is an absolute nightmare. She’s rude, controlling, and inconsiderate. And his father, well, he's not all the way tuned in. And Nicholas never stands up for Naomi when she's being attacked by her mother. 

In the beginning, it was hard to see why these two people didn’t just end it. They were very unhappy, and very confused about everything. Until, they start the pranks to see who would be the one to end the engagement.

The pranks were entertaining. And as they went on, it started to become clearer that it might be able to work between them. They both started opening up more. And Nicholas started standing up to his mother. Thank goodness! They started being a team. They started to fall back in love.

I would have loved to have Nicholas’ POV as well. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Naomi’s but towards the end of the book we started to see a new side to Nicholas, and I would have loved to be in his head as he graveled with everything.

Final Analysis

You Deserve Each Other is a friends to lovers to enemies to love type of story that is lightheaded and entertaining.

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