Posts By: Rashika

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Thoughtful and Adorable: The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez

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

Thoughtful and Adorable: The Friend Zone by Abby JimenezThe Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez
Published by Forever Romance on June 11th, 2019
Genres: Adult, Chick Lit, Romance
Source: Forever Romance
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three-half-stars

Kristen Petersen doesn't do drama, will fight to the death for her friends, and has no room in her life for guys who just don't get her. She's also keeping a big secret: facing a medically necessary procedure that will make it impossible for her to have children.

Planning her best friend's wedding is bittersweet for Kristen -- especially when she meets the best man, Josh Copeland. He's funny, sexy, never offended by her mile-wide streak of sarcasm, and always one chicken enchilada ahead of her hangry. Even her dog, Stuntman Mike, adores him. The only catch: Josh wants a big family someday. Kristen knows he'd be better off with someone else, but as their attraction grows, it's harder and harder to keep him at arm's length.

The Friend Zone will have you laughing one moment and grabbing for tissues the next as it tackles the realities of infertility and loss with wit, heart, and a lot of sass.

I am still recovering from this book as I write this review so excuse the rambling but oh my god??? Why did this book want to HURT ME LIKE THAT??? I am genuinely feeling a little nauseous lol.

The nausea has nothing to do with how the book was, just about certain events I won’t dive into. Rest assured, if you do read this book and have some serious feelings afterwards, please talk to me so we can all cry together. A HAPPY CRYING CIRCLE.

If you are not a fan of any kind of angst, you should probably skip this book because there is a lot of it. Sometimes it felt unavoidable, other times it was frustrating but honestly it wasn’t actually an issue for me. I went into this book expecting angst so I was prepared.

Josh and Kristen are extremely perfect for each other in every single way. Except that he wants a very very big family and she cannot have kids. In fact, he broke up with his ex because she didn’t want to have kids. So, while Josh falls slowly in love, Kristen works her hardest to resist the attraction she feels (1. Because she has a boyfriend and also 2. Because she doesn’t want to put Josh in an awkward position by telling her the truth about her condition).

For a book that tries so hard to defy gender norms, it is somehow also still entrenched in them? Especially when Josh cannot stop talking about how different Kristen is from the other girls because she drinks beer and is unafraid to speak her mind. Chill out, Josh.

So yeah, this book isn’t perfect but it still managed to get my attention from the get-go and somehow the pages just flew by?? Both Josh and Kristen are such well-rounded characters. I love that their friends are such a major part of their lives, I love that they are passionate about their jobs, I love that they work SO WELL TOGETHER. Even when they cannot figure out how to be together.

There are tons of amazing sounding romance books coming out this summer and the one thing that makes this one stand out is how health/infertility issues are discussed. They aren’t just shoved to the back of the close never to be mentioned again. They are very much part of Kristen’s life so they become part of Josh’s life. I also love that this book is as much about Josh and Kristen falling in love as it is Kirsten learning to feel like she is worth loving.

I am reluctant to rate this book because I do have issues with this one event that gutted me and felt completely unnecessary. Please not that there is a HEA for Josh and Kristen and the one event aside, The Friend Zone is an adorable, thoughtful romcom absolutely worth reading.

three-half-stars

3.5 Hot Espressos

Don’t Read on An Empty Stomach: Hungry Hearts edited by Elsie Chapman and Caroline Tung Richmond

Posted by on 06/07/2019 • 0 Comments

If you, like me, are a great lover of both food and books, this anthology will immediately appeal to you. There are a ton of anthologies published each year and sometimes it’s hard to keep track all of them but what makes this one worthy of being on your TBR is that it isn’t just a collection of stories. It’s a collection of stories that is intertwined. Main characters from individual stories make appearances in stories outside of their own, secondary character from individual stories will make appearances in stories outside of their own. It’s quite marvelous and I cannot imagine the amount of work the authors must have put in to make something as cohesive as this.

Hungry Hearts is set in the mystical Hungry Hearts Row. A…

Mini Reviews: Adult Contemporary Romance Edition

Posted by on 05/19/2019 • 2 Comments

Why so many mini reviews, you ask? I’ve had a lot on my plate this month as well as way more review copies than anticipated so I thought this was a good way for me to stay on track.

The Bride Test (The Kiss Quotient #2) Helen Hoang

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Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, he feels irritation when people move his things or contentment when ledgers balance down to the penny, but not big, important emotions—like grief. And love. He thinks he’s defective. His family knows better—that his autism means he just processes emotions differently. When he steadfastly avoids relationships, his mother takes matters into her own hands and returns to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride.

As a mixed-race girl living in…

Mini Reviews: YA Contemporary Romance edition

Posted by on 05/10/2019 • 0 Comments

 

With the Fire on High Elizabeth Acevedo

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From the New York Times bestselling author of the National Book Award longlist title The Poet X comes a dazzling novel in prose about a girl with talent, pride, and a drive to feed the soul that keeps her fire burning bright.

Ever since she got pregnant freshman year, Emoni Santiago’s life has been about making the tough decisions—doing what has to be done for her daughter and her abuela. The one place she can let all that go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness.

Even though she dreams of working as a chef after she graduates, Emoni knows that it’s not…

Relevant, Funny and Swoony: A Prince on Paper by Alyssa Cole

Posted by on 04/30/2019 • 1 Comment

Idk how its possible but each book in this series has been as good as or better than the previous one and I am just truly in awe of Cole’s talent. I’ve been reading romance for a while now and I truly feel that Cole is changing the landscape of romance literature. Not only is A Prince on Paper unbelievably swoony and adorable, it also takes on really big and relevant things. It isn’t afraid to dissect racism and call out colonialism, we see fake news and propaganda make an appearance and we also see our MC deal with emotional and mental abuse from a parent.

When Nya’s father is arrested and sent to prison for attempting to poison Naledi, she can finally start living her life. She runs…

24 Romance Novels I Am Anticipating in 2019

Posted by on 04/24/2019 • 3 Comments

2019 might truly be the year of romance novels because there are SO MANY GOOD ones coming out, I can barely keep track. I thought I’d share some of my most anticipated romance books of the year because they all deserve love.

1. A Prince on Paper by Alyssa Cole

Okay, so this might be cheating because I just started A Prince on Paper last night BUT ITS SO GOOD AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

2. The Bride Test by Helen Hoang 

After falling in love with The Kiss Quotient last year, it is hardly a surprise I am anticipating Hoang’s sophomore novel.

3. Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Is it possible to already love a book before you’ve read it??? IDK BUT I…

Soft but Important: Love from A to Z by S.K. Ali

Posted by on 04/19/2019 • 3 Comments

I am almost 22 and can safely say I am not the intended audience for YA novels these days but, reading Love From A To Z made me feel like a teen again and soothed my soul in a way a contemporary novel hasn’t in a while. I was transported back to 2010 when I read Does My Head Look Big in This and felt seen by the MC who was struggling with her identity in a world that hated her.

Zayneb is not a nice girl. She is angry. She is angry at the injustice in the world and she is angry at the injustice she experiences every day in her classroom. She is tired of always feeling like she needs to be ashamed of who she is….

Not Bennett’s Best: Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett

Posted by on 04/16/2019 • 0 Comments

I didn’t think I’d ever read a Jenn Bennett book I didn’t love but… unfortunately… Serious Moonlight just didn’t do it for me. It isn’t that it isn’t enjoyable but over the past five years, I’ve come to expect a lot from a Jenn Bennett book and Serious Moonlight just didn’t live up to those expectations for me.

I think, a big part of the problem was that I didn’t love the characters as much and therefore wasn’t as invested in their relationship. While Birdie’s personality and trust issues make sense given her extremely sheltered upbringing, it really started getting on my nerves when we were almost 400 pages in and still dealing with her trust issues. I also thought it was super weird that Birdie didn’t have a single…