Genre: New Adult


Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Complex and Feel-Good: Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann

Posted by 9 Comments

I received this book for free from Swoon Reads in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Complex and Feel-Good: Let’s Talk About Love by Claire KannLet's Talk About Love by Claire Kann
Published by Swoon Reads on Jan 23rd, 2018
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance, YA
Source: Swoon Reads
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four-stars

Alice is secretly asexual, and that’s the least important thing about her.

She’s a college student, has a great job, amazing friends, and is fine being single—nope, that’s a lie. Alice wants rom com-grade romance: feels, cuddling, kissing, and swoons galore—as long as it doesn't lead to having sex.

After her last relationship ends with soul-crushing parting words from her ex, Alice swears off relationships for good. Stick a fork in her, she’s done. Everyone Alice tries to date is so sure love and sex have to go together, and there doesn’t seem to be any way to convince them otherwise.

But when Alice experiences instant attraction for the first time with her coworker Takumi, she doesn’t know what to do. If Alice tells him the truth, it can only end in heartache. But there’s something about Takumi that makes him worth the risk…

Let’s Talk About Love surprised me. I went in expecting good vibes and it still blew my expectations out of the water. It is NOT a perfect book, I am nitpicky and its hard for books to be perfect for me, but Let’s Talk About Love is damn well a fantastic read that is worth your time.

Do you love a feel-good romance that will sweep you off your feet? Do you love reading about friendships that have true-to-life complexity? Do you love some angst (the good kind)? Let’s Talk About Love is an ode to not just romantic love but all kinds of love, it explores the complexities of all kinds of relationships and it’s just a GOOD BOOK.

So why am I a nit picky bastard? Well because I am. And please note that even though I am a nit picky bastard, I still love this book and don’t think any of these things ruin it. For one, the book takes place in a library, which is super cute, but there are a lot of moments when a career in that field is dismissed as being easy and something to do if you cannot do anything else. In most cases this wouldn’t even be an issue, I wouldn’t care, except that I am super passionate about libraries and it sucked that that’s how characters felt about a career that is so vital and important in the age of information.

My other issue (which isn’t a non-issue like my previous one) was that we don’t really like anything about Takumi. He has complex feelings and emotions but sometimes, he felt like a cardboard cutout because he had no depth. He has a backstory involving a girlfriend but we never find out much else about him. He has nieces that make an appearance but at the same time, we never see him have a relationship with anyone else but Alice. I don’t think he is a cardboard cutout in the sense that he is a bland character, he is absolutely not. I just wish that more of his identity wasn’t inherently tied to Alice’s journey.

Alice on the other hand is a the furthest thing from a cardboard cutout. She is 19 years old and in college. Her parents want her to be a lawyer and she doesn’t really want that. She works on understanding the spectrum of her sexual identity and figuring out what labels work for her. She also struggles with the changing relationship between her and her two bffs (who are dating.) The way she is characterized in the novel is authentic and resembles the experience of someone in college. Her story feels real and she feels real.

The romance is crucial and important within the novel but in the context of how it defines Alice and her coming of age. Romance is unfortunately dismissed a lot in general but I think for many people, it can be an important aspect of a coming of age. And that is what it is in this book. It is swoony, angsty and so so sweet.

Lets Talk About Love is an important book for many reasons. For one, it is one of few books out there that has a qpoc main character and for another, its one of the few books out there with a bi-romantic, ace character. I hope that it won’t be one of the few books representing a vastly underrepresented group of people in the long run. In the meantime, IF YOU LOVE yourself a swoony romance and lots of other great relationships, read Let’s Talk About Love.

four-stars

4 Hot Espressos

Review: 738 Days by Stacey Kade

Posted by on 06/07/2016 • 4 Comments

It’s been so long since I’ve read a book that completely hooked me and wouldn’t let go. I am so glad that I picked this one up to read because it reminded me of how much I love getting absorbed in a book and nothing can stop me from putting it down. The characters were so complex and amazing, and the story was interesting to read. I needed to know what would happen next and how their relationship would progress. This book gave me all the feels and I had many tears of happiness, and of heartbreak. I felt like I really knew the characters and what was happening to them took a toll on my emotions.

I will start with Amanda Grace. My heart broke for her so much,…

Read All About It: The Stunning New Fairy Tale You Probably Never Heard Of!

Posted by on 12/08/2015 • 8 Comments

Calling all Fantasy fans! I have the lovely Shayne Leighton here today to talk to us about her upcoming book, Of Light and Darkness, along with a chance to win! First, let’s see what this book is all about:

Guest post by Shayne Leighton

The Stunning New Fairy Tale You Probably Never Heard Of…

I’m a published author. By Amazon standards, I’m even considered a bestselling author. But recently, after re-reading my debut novel, I decided something was missing. After five years of working with a small press, publishing three full-length novels and one novella, I was still left feeling like I owed my characters something more. I’d poured my blood, sweat, and tears into a story that was simply sitting on a virtual shelf…collecting…

Interview with Colleen Hoover + Giveaway!

Interview with Colleen Hoover + Giveaway!

Posted by on 03/18/2015 • 12 Comments

I’ve got the wonderful Colleen Hoover, NA rockstar, on the blog today for a short interview about her newest book, Confess! First let’s take a peek at this pretty for those who hadn’t heard of it yet:

Interview with Colleen Hoover Hi Colleen! Thanks so much for dropping by my little space on the web! Hopeless was the first New Adult book I ever read and I absolutely loved it! But today let’s talk about your newest release – Confess! 🙂

Let’s start with giving us a brief description of Confess using only 2 sentences.

Boy meets girl. Crap, I’m out of sentences.

What was the whole confessions part like – the book mentions they’re actual confessions you received – did you get some that will…

Top 10 List with Chelsea M. Cameron + Giveaway!

Top 10 List with Chelsea M. Cameron + Giveaway!

Posted by on 11/17/2014 • 19 Comments

I’ve got the lovely Chelsea Cameron on the blog today for her upcoming book’s blog tour. Read on for fun top 10 list along with a giveaway! 🙂 And in case you hadn’t heard of For Now yet, have a look at what it’s all about:

Top 10 List with Chelsea M. Cameron

Top Ten Reasons Javier and Hazel Belong Together

1) He drives her crazy: “You’re disgusting,” I say, narrowing my eyes. “And I’m busy. Go find someone else to annoy with your presence.”

2) Chemistry, baby: We sit down and everything shifts. It feels so… domestic. Not like we’re married or anything, but almost like we’re a couple having dinner together like we do every night. “So how was your day, dear?” Javi says, as…

Review: The Wicked We Have Done by Sarah Harian

Review: The Wicked We Have Done by Sarah Harian

Posted by on 04/02/2014 • 24 Comments

A funny, recurring conversation I always have with my friends is about the stark contrast between books I like and movies I like.  See, I love me a good action movie. Give me Jason Statham, Mark Wahlberg or a nice gory horror film any day of the week. But when it comes to reading, I want the “chick-flicks” I want heartbreak, I want emotion, I want to be left so emotionally wrecked that I can’t even see through my tears.  The Wicked We Have done brought everything that I like in movies so perfectly to a book that it surprisingly worked incredibly well for me!

What struck me right off the bat with this one was how original it was. First of all there is the fact that it is…

Review & Dream Cast: Deeper by Robin York

Review & Dream Cast: Deeper by Robin York

Posted by on 01/31/2014 • 13 Comments

A slow budding romance, loads of chemistry, and highly character driven; Deeper has a lot to offer. Revenge porn is something that happens all too often, and unfortunately continues to be legal in most States. Finding those sex pictures of herself after a break-up was only the beginning of a very long, very dark chapter in Caroline’s life. Not only is she plagued with the knowledge of everyone having seen her during such an intimate act, she’s ashamed, haunted by the voices of the men who call her vile names, describe the repulsive things they’d do to her in comments, making her wary of anyone that looks her way. This is not something that ever goes away.

Deeper is not a fast paced read. It’s a slow character-oriented story that…

Ruined Dream Cast by Jus Accardo + Giveaway!

Ruined Dream Cast by Jus Accardo + Giveaway!

Posted by on 01/15/2014 • 32 Comments

I’ve got the lovely Jus Accardo joining us on the blog today for a guest post and then you can enter for a chance to win! Have you checked out this book yet? Here’s what you’re missing:

Dream Cast, by Jus Accardo Like a lot of authors, I feel like it helps to have visual stimulation when creating my characters. Sometimes it helps to have physical features to help put descriptions onto the page. It can help with expressions and scene description, and makes the pictures in my head flow just a little bit smoother. A lot of work goes into this portion of writing a book. It took me long hours of grueling research to find the perfect Jax. Really. It was horrific and I in…