Quick Take: Cozy up this fall with my Fall Reading Guide, featuring 10 exciting new releases to keep you entertained as the leaves change, including the first-ever authorized novel to return to Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House world.
(more…)The Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag: 2023
Quick Take: My Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag explores twelve books, including my favourite 2023 read so far, a book that made me cry, and anticipated new releases. I also have a TBR list to read before 2024!
(more…)Book Review: Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao
The Gist: A realistic exploration of the complex relationship between US immigrant parents and their American children, making the rom-com a heavier read than expected.
Series: Standalone
Release Date: November 10, 2020
Chloe Wang is nervous to introduce her parents to her boyfriend, because the truth is, she hasn’t met him yet either. She hired him from Rent for Your ’Rents, a company specializing in providing fake boyfriends trained to impress even the most traditional Asian parents.
Drew Chan’s passion is art, but after his parents cut him off for dropping out of college to pursue his dreams, he became a Rent for Your ’Rents employee to keep a roof over his head. Luckily, learning protocols like “Type C parents prefer quiet, kind, zero-PDA gestures” comes naturally to him.
When Chloe rents Drew, the mission is simple: convince her parents fake Drew is worthy of their approval so they’ll stop pressuring her to accept a proposal from Hongbo, the wealthiest (and slimiest) young bachelor in their tight-knit Asian American community.
But when Chloe starts to fall for the real Drew—who, unlike his fake persona, is definitely not ’rent-worthy—her carefully curated life begins to unravel. Can she figure out what she wants before she loses everything?
• Taiwanese-American Hero
• Taiwanese-American Supporting Characters
• Really difficult relationship with parents
• Strong themes of sexism
• Brief mentions of homophobia and racism
• Cancer
• No OW drama
– But, the Hero does continue his fake boyfriend job, which the Heroine knows about.
• Does have OM drama
– Heroine’s parents are trying to set her up with the extremely sexist only son of their elitist friends
• Does have the Heroine pushing the Hero away
• Does have a separation between the Hero and Heroine
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Format: Kindle
Rating: 3.5-stars
(more…)24 New Books: My Primaveral Book Haul
24 new books comprise my primaveral book haul! I’ve divided the haul into ebooks and physical books, with gems from my favourite genres.
(more…)33 Books About Love for Every Trope
For Valentine’s Day, I dedicated my Instagram stories to a feature of a few of my favourite romances in each trope. However, I realized in COVID a new genre discovery also is an essential component to books on love: self-love. Therefore, I’ve expanded my list of romances to focus more on the theme of love, especially self-love!
(more…)Magical and Entrancing: Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
The Gist: An entrancing standalone epic fantasy; it brings the magic of books to life through the Heroine’s journey to discover who is attempting to sabotage the Great Libraries and made all the more enjoyable by its adorable enemies to friends to lovers romances and themes of friendship.
Series: Sorcery of Thorns, #1
Release Date: June 4, 2019
Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.
As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.
• Asexual supporting character
• Allusion to torture
• Gaslighting
• No OW/OM drama
• Does have the Hero pushing the Heroine away
• Does have a separation between the Heroine and Hero
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 4.75-stars
(more…)Heartfelt and Nostalgic: Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Series: Standalone
Release Date: July 14, 2020
Today, she hates him.
It’s the last day of senior year. Rowan Roth and Neil McNair have been bitter rivals for all of high school, clashing on test scores, student council elections, and even gym class pull-up contests. While Rowan, who secretly wants to write romance novels, is anxious about the future, she’d love to beat her infuriating nemesis one last time.
Tonight, she puts up with him.
When Neil is named valedictorian, Rowan has only one chance at victory: Howl, a senior class game that takes them all over Seattle, a farewell tour of the city she loves. But after learning a group of seniors is out to get them, she and Neil reluctantly decide to team up until they’re the last players left—and then they’ll destroy each other.
As Rowan spends more time with Neil, she realizes he’s much more than the awkward linguistics nerd she’s sparred with for the past four years. And, perhaps, this boy she claims to despise might actually be the boy of her dreams.
Tomorrow…maybe she’s already fallen for him.
• Lesbian supporting character
• Bisexual supporting character
• FF side romance
• No OW drama
• Does have OM drama
— The Heroine has conversations with an ex to get closure. It stirs up past regret.
• Does have the Hero and Heroine pushing each other away
• No separation
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Format:
Rating: 5/5 stars
(more…)27 ebooks: My September Book Haul
My original plan was to add my Kindle book haul to my August Wrap but it just made the post way too long and convoluted. So, I’ve decided to post a separate book haul dedicated to all the books I’ve purchased as ebooks, which, for me, are Kindle books.
(more…)The Monthly Wrap: July
A detailed look at March’s reading habits: 24 books read, two DNFs, seven books read from my Up Next Shelf. I also read books continuing four favourite series of mine, and I finally finished the Throne of Glass series!
(more…)He Said, She Said by Kwame Alexander
Series: Standalone
Release Date: November 19th, 2013
Insert Here
– The Heroine finds out from someone else that the Hero cheated on her
• Does have a descriptive sex scene with OW
• Does have the Hero and Heroine pushing away
• Does have a separation between the Hero and Heroine
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
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