Take a photo of a barcode or cover
ratetheromance's Reviews (659)
I kept hearing about this book so I decided I had better read it! I loved that this book had a completely new and fresh story! I doesn't easily fit into an existing trope and that is wonderful. Popular NYC hand-lettering artist, Meg, created a wedding program almost a year ago in which she left a hidden message about the marriage being doomed to fail. Now the groom has shown up at her work and he wants to know exactly how Meg knew his marriage would be a mistake. I thought I knew how the story would unfold after having read the set-up, but I was completely wrong. This story is completely unique and very well-written.
The first half of this book moves extremely slowly. Having said that, I didn't think of quitting because I was so invested by the story being built. But I was 43% in before things really started to move forward and that was far too long to lay the foundation for the story to pick up. But it is absolutely worth continuing, despite the slow beginning. This story is nuanced, sweet, filled with beautifully realistic relationships, and well worth the time it takes to read through that slower start.
This book was a breath of fresh air within the Romance genre and should be added to your TBR shelf for sure!
The first half of this book moves extremely slowly. Having said that, I didn't think of quitting because I was so invested by the story being built. But I was 43% in before things really started to move forward and that was far too long to lay the foundation for the story to pick up. But it is absolutely worth continuing, despite the slow beginning. This story is nuanced, sweet, filled with beautifully realistic relationships, and well worth the time it takes to read through that slower start.
This book was a breath of fresh air within the Romance genre and should be added to your TBR shelf for sure!
This book was not at all what I expected and that is just one reason why I loved it so much. Get your passport ready and prepare to swoon!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Lucy's is the maid of honor at her sister's wedding and the control freak bride has planned every detail of her wedding...TWICE! When the wedding is over it's Lucy's job to cancel her sister's back-up honeymoon, but instead she decides to take her first vacation ever and pose as her sister at the fancy hotel. There's just one problem: the hotel is for honeymooners only and Lucy has no groom.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
So often, travel romances are a steamy romp on a beach in Fiji with all sizzle and no substance. This book surprised me with friendship, mystery, romance, family, humor, and love! No canned storyline or super-predictable tropes here.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
This is a wonderful story that makes you feel ALL THE FEELS in the best way. There are great friendships in this book, a suffocatingly involved family, and some life lessons thrown in there too.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I absolutely adored the unexpected twists in this story and fell in love with every character, even the very grumpy hotel concierge! I certainly hope we get to see more stories from these supporting characters in their own books. A series...pretty please?
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I received and ARC of this title from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Lucy's is the maid of honor at her sister's wedding and the control freak bride has planned every detail of her wedding...TWICE! When the wedding is over it's Lucy's job to cancel her sister's back-up honeymoon, but instead she decides to take her first vacation ever and pose as her sister at the fancy hotel. There's just one problem: the hotel is for honeymooners only and Lucy has no groom.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
So often, travel romances are a steamy romp on a beach in Fiji with all sizzle and no substance. This book surprised me with friendship, mystery, romance, family, humor, and love! No canned storyline or super-predictable tropes here.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
This is a wonderful story that makes you feel ALL THE FEELS in the best way. There are great friendships in this book, a suffocatingly involved family, and some life lessons thrown in there too.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I absolutely adored the unexpected twists in this story and fell in love with every character, even the very grumpy hotel concierge! I certainly hope we get to see more stories from these supporting characters in their own books. A series...pretty please?
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I received and ARC of this title from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
Get ready for CHARACTER GROWTH, bitches!
Esther is a super-smart and kinda grumpy heroine. I absolutely loved that she struggles with being too blunt and cranky at work because she always has to clean up messes from other less-thorough workers. It's a really subtle look at females in a male-dominated profession.
Esther and her best friend also have a wonderfully real female friendship. It is filled with ups and down and mistakes and hurt feelings, but they are also so loyal to each other and always have each other's back. THIS is such a more honest portrait of female friendships than one usually gets in books.
And if you like a character to experience growth and change in a book then this is about as good as it gets. Esther is such a complex and smart character and you see her logic and her reasons for the way she behaves, even when you know she is making a mistake. And her evolution is gradual and real. I adored her and I adored her relationship with the leading man.
I would have loved a little more smut in this book, but I'm a raunchy skank so I always want more smut. What can you do?
Esther is a super-smart and kinda grumpy heroine. I absolutely loved that she struggles with being too blunt and cranky at work because she always has to clean up messes from other less-thorough workers. It's a really subtle look at females in a male-dominated profession.
Esther and her best friend also have a wonderfully real female friendship. It is filled with ups and down and mistakes and hurt feelings, but they are also so loyal to each other and always have each other's back. THIS is such a more honest portrait of female friendships than one usually gets in books.
And if you like a character to experience growth and change in a book then this is about as good as it gets. Esther is such a complex and smart character and you see her logic and her reasons for the way she behaves, even when you know she is making a mistake. And her evolution is gradual and real. I adored her and I adored her relationship with the leading man.
I would have loved a little more smut in this book, but I'm a raunchy skank so I always want more smut. What can you do?
Oh, my heart! ♥️ I am feeling ALL THE FEELINGS.
My 5yo daughter has Leukemia so I was interested in the premise of this romance in which the Hero (Andrew) has cancer and the heroine works in oncology as a pharmacist. I wasn't sure what to expect. Would it manage to be realistic without being a total downer to read? Would the author really capture cancer life accurately? What it be a good romance aside from my tie to cancer?
Yes. Yes. And YES. Gah! This book was so good.
First things first. As to the depiction of cancer treatment, this book did well. Andrew had pretty mild reactions to chemo, but one thing I've learned during my experience with cancer is that some people really tolerate chemo well and others don't. There's a vast range of side effects and there's no "normal". So even though his physical experience read as pretty mild to me, it really could be plausible.
The emotional effects of cancer were also well represented (although, again, they seemed a bit mild to me). The author did a great job of capturing the different emotional phases the patient goes through, including getting to a place where you can be snarky and crack jokes about the cancer (which totally happens).
Now, cancer aside. This book is so steamy and sweet and funny and engaging. You LOVE these characters. And it is completely miraculous how freaking HOT this book is, regardless of the fact that it's very PG in content. Just kissing and implied sex. But I legitimately did not feel cheated (and that's saying something because I am LIVING FOR THE SMUT).
Read. This. Book. It needs more hype because it really deserves it!
My 5yo daughter has Leukemia so I was interested in the premise of this romance in which the Hero (Andrew) has cancer and the heroine works in oncology as a pharmacist. I wasn't sure what to expect. Would it manage to be realistic without being a total downer to read? Would the author really capture cancer life accurately? What it be a good romance aside from my tie to cancer?
Yes. Yes. And YES. Gah! This book was so good.
First things first. As to the depiction of cancer treatment, this book did well. Andrew had pretty mild reactions to chemo, but one thing I've learned during my experience with cancer is that some people really tolerate chemo well and others don't. There's a vast range of side effects and there's no "normal". So even though his physical experience read as pretty mild to me, it really could be plausible.
The emotional effects of cancer were also well represented (although, again, they seemed a bit mild to me). The author did a great job of capturing the different emotional phases the patient goes through, including getting to a place where you can be snarky and crack jokes about the cancer (which totally happens).
Now, cancer aside. This book is so steamy and sweet and funny and engaging. You LOVE these characters. And it is completely miraculous how freaking HOT this book is, regardless of the fact that it's very PG in content. Just kissing and implied sex. But I legitimately did not feel cheated (and that's saying something because I am LIVING FOR THE SMUT).
Read. This. Book. It needs more hype because it really deserves it!
A ginger male lead? Yes.
A GRUMPY ginger male lead? Yes PLEASE.
I absolutely adore this odd couple. She is messy, free-spirited, junk-food, and sunshine! He is a clean freak, healthy-eater, control freak with a grumpy attitude. But, OH, these two!
One wonderful part of this book, for me, was the heroine (Mo) starts out to just be friends with the hero (August). She has no ulterior motive. She is not trying to get him into bed. She is just a sweet girl who wants all around her to be happy! Watching Mo loosen up this grumpy guy is pure fun!
I also loved that the conflict in this story is one the reader can see all sides of. There isn't a "good guy" and a "bad guy". And when these two finally come together it is Swoon-Face-5000! This book is sweet, steamy, and sexy.
I received an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.
A GRUMPY ginger male lead? Yes PLEASE.
I absolutely adore this odd couple. She is messy, free-spirited, junk-food, and sunshine! He is a clean freak, healthy-eater, control freak with a grumpy attitude. But, OH, these two!
One wonderful part of this book, for me, was the heroine (Mo) starts out to just be friends with the hero (August). She has no ulterior motive. She is not trying to get him into bed. She is just a sweet girl who wants all around her to be happy! Watching Mo loosen up this grumpy guy is pure fun!
I also loved that the conflict in this story is one the reader can see all sides of. There isn't a "good guy" and a "bad guy". And when these two finally come together it is Swoon-Face-5000! This book is sweet, steamy, and sexy.
I received an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.
I decided to read this book since it won a RITA Award. I wasn't disappointed! The writing is excellent. Technically, and story-wise, I have no complaints. The pacing was good. The character development, etc.
These two characters seemingly have nothing in common, but I just adore them together. This lead female was one of my favorites of all time. Smart, geeky, hard working, funny, practical, and real. Her feelings of "impostor syndrome" when she is thrust into the world of Los Angeles is perfectly written. It's not that she's a total low-class misfit who doesn't stand a chance, but her hesitancy and feelings of not quite fitting in are real and hit just the right note. And the lead male character is also similarly well written. A rich boy who straddles the line between being unknowingly spoiled and privileged, but also down to earth and completely un-snobbish. Their relationship is sweet and adorable.
As you know, I can sometimes be an "old curmudgeon" in my early 40's. I generally shy away from college-age romances. It's possible that's why I didn't really get into this story as much as I could have and therefore took one star away. The dynamic between the leads and their circle of friends just felt so....juvenile. See? Definitely curmudgeon-like.
These two characters seemingly have nothing in common, but I just adore them together. This lead female was one of my favorites of all time. Smart, geeky, hard working, funny, practical, and real. Her feelings of "impostor syndrome" when she is thrust into the world of Los Angeles is perfectly written. It's not that she's a total low-class misfit who doesn't stand a chance, but her hesitancy and feelings of not quite fitting in are real and hit just the right note. And the lead male character is also similarly well written. A rich boy who straddles the line between being unknowingly spoiled and privileged, but also down to earth and completely un-snobbish. Their relationship is sweet and adorable.
As you know, I can sometimes be an "old curmudgeon" in my early 40's. I generally shy away from college-age romances. It's possible that's why I didn't really get into this story as much as I could have and therefore took one star away. The dynamic between the leads and their circle of friends just felt so....juvenile. See? Definitely curmudgeon-like.