A review by bookishmillennial
Even If The Sky is Falling by Charish Reid, Sarah Smith, Farah Heron, Lane Clarke, Denise Williams, Taj McCoy

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
General disclaimer if you've read other reviews by me and are noticing a pattern: You're correct that I don't really give starred reviews, I feel like a peasant and don't like leaving them and most often, I will only leave them if I vehemently despised a book. Thus, no stars doesn't indicate that the book wasn't worthy of any starred system. It just means I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all, even if the lesson is that I'm a ho for the smut, or confronting my own mommy/daddy issues lol. Everyone's reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Happy reading! Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial

There are seven short stories in this collection and they are all equally delightful, steamy and cozy!!!! The first short story gives you the reasoning behind why a nationwide emergency alert system goes off, implicating that a meteor is going to hit Earth. Then we dive into the rest of the short romcoms that include many tropes, like second chance romance, forced proximity, locked in, "lets-just-bang-it-out-once-to-get-it-out-of-our-systems" and more!

Because these are short stories, the romance moves fast so just keep that in mind! Highly, highly recommend if you're looking for diverse romance, as I adore all of these authors, and I will absolutely be buying my own copy of this for times I want a fun, steamy quick read, especially since the cover is so stunning too.

All the Stars by Taj McCoy
NASA senior comms specialist Halley & her colleague Griffin broke up over a year ago, & haven't spoken since. However, when he is assigned to her unit at their Colorado base. When someone on her team accidentally sets off the national alert system, Halley & Griffin have nothing but time to revisit the demise of their relationship.

Keep Calm & Curry On by Farah Heron
Maya runs a spice booth at the Verona County Flea Market with her sisters, called Masala Girls (a fun twist on 'Spice Girls') when she runs into a childhood friend-turned-family-enemy, Tarek Mizra, the owner of Curry Junction, a new food truck. When the alert rings, they are stuck together at the market and forced to face the past that ripped their families apart. Shoutout to Tarek for not only NOT knocking romance, but naming romcoms as his favorite film genre.

My Lucky Stars by Lane Clarke
I love an opposites attract sapphic awakening. Jones is three months off of a breakup while her ex is newly engaged to the woman he left Jones for. Dark skinned, grumpy Jones is in law school, but was disappointed when the only other Black girl, light-skinned, green-eyed, sunshiny pageant-queen Dianna, seemingly betrayed her by performing the most palatable version of herself for their White classmates. When they're stuck together at school, Jones navigates new feelings that she didn't realize she had until being in such intimate proximity to Dianna.

Bunker Buddies by Charish Reid
I think this was my favorite story because it was probably so many booktrovert's dreams come true hahaha. Shea, a university professor, visits a local bookshop frequently, and after 20 orders, has finally worked up the courage to ask the bookstore owner, Nick, out to coffee. Then the emergency alert rings and Nick takes Shea to safety to his grandpa's underground bunker. These two had such great chemistry and even did a little role play (sheeeesh!) so it's no surprise that I devoured this story!!!!

Interlude by Sarah Smith
Talk about another steamy fantasy!!!! Songwriter and jingle-writer Jocelyn is stuck in her basement with her contractor, Caleb, and plays out the "we just met but we're both hot and the world is ending so wanna bang?" trope if there is one hahaha.

Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better by Denise Williams
This is academic enemies to lovers and second chance romance and it is an absolute delight! Hale and Piper (which I can't get over that this character is named Piper Drake when there is a steamy romance/fantasy/steampunk author named Piper J. Drake, although I could totally imagine her as this character HAHA) are stuck together during the emergency alarm and reconcile their past feelings for each other while they were classmates. Such a treat!

Epilogue by Taj McCoy
Lovely, predictable and sweet epilogue of the first short story.

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