Can’t Escape Love
Alyssa Cole
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Regina Hobbs is nerdy by nature, businesswoman by nurture. She’s finally taking her pop culture-centered media enterprise, Girls with Glasses, to the next level, but the stress is forcing her to face a familiar supervillain: insomnia. The only thing that helps her sleep when things get this bad is the deep, soothing voice of puzzle-obsessed live streamer Gustave Nguyen. The problem? His archive has been deleted.
Gus has been tasked with creating an escape room themed around a romance anime…except he knows nothing about romance or anime. Then mega-nerd and anime expert Reggie comes calling, and they make a trade: his voice for her knowledge. But when their online friendship has IRL chemistry, will they be able to escape love?
I don’t care if you haven’t read the other books in this series but if you loved Geekerella you need to stop everything you’re doing and read Can’t Escape Love. It’s not a full-length novel but omg, the geeks falling in love + second chance romance vibes made my heart incredibly happy.
Reggie and Gus talked to each other on a livestream every night for three months and while they both came to mean a lot to each other, they eventually lost touch. When a serious bout of insomnia starts affecting Reggie’s ability to run her company, she has her sister Portia dig up the contact info of the man she met years ago and whose voice could soothe her like nothing else.
When Gus and Reggie finally reunite, and find themselves living within walking distance of each other, sparks fly and their friendship quickly turns into something more. Because this is a novella and there isn’t as much space to develop their story, it felt a smidgen like insta-love, but I still truly shipped these characters because they were such a great fit for one another. Gus is direct and unafraid to go after what he wants. Reggie is slightly more afraid of the emotional stuff but never afraid to ask for what she needs and set people straight. TOGETHER, THEY ARE A BUNCH OF ADORABLE NERDS.
ANYWAY, Can’t Escape Love is such a wonderful addition to this series and I am incredibly happy Portia’s sister also got a HEA.
Bridal Boot Camp
Meg Cabot
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Looking for a tropical escape?
Welcome to Little Bridge, one of the smallest—and most beautiful—islands in the Florida Keys, home to sandy white beaches, salt-rimmed margaritas, stunning sunsets, and some of the quirkiest—but also kindest and most resourceful—people you’ll ever meet.
Physical trainer Roberta “Rob” James moved to Little Bridge hoping she’d found paradise, but things haven’t turned out quite as she’d hoped. The closest Rob has come to her “happily ever after” is happy hour at the Mermaid Café with her buddy Bree, the bartender slash waitress who’s got romance problems of her own.
But Rob’s situation suddenly changes when sheriff’s deputy Ryan Martinez accidentally enrolls in her bridal boot camp class. Turning mush into metal in time for the big day is Rob’s passion (because even the happiest bride could use a little toning).
But what happens when a guy who’s all mush meets a girl who’s all metal?
They discover they have a lot to learn . . . about each other, themselves, and the island paradise they’ve come to call home.
I love Meg Cabot and will read anything she writes but I am honestly not sure if Bridal Boot Camp is worth the read. It’s not that it is a terrible novella, it’s just that unless you are super invested in reading everything that Cabot writes, Bridal Boot Camp is probably not how you should spend your precious reading time. The only real benefit of reading this novella is that it serves as a quick intro to the town Cabot’s new series will be set in.
The thing with novellas is that sometimes, because of their length, there is no real time to get to truly know the characters and be invested in their lives. I did not particularly care for either Rob and Ryan and felt like their romance went from 0 to 100 in a matter of seconds.
So yeah, I didn’t particularly enjoy Bridal Boot Camp but the glimpse into this town made me even more excited to read No Judgements this fall!
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