Category: Romance

‘Love on the Main Stage’ – S.A. Domingo

Five music festivals . . . One unforgettable summer! A new clean teen romance from the author of Love, Secret Santa.

First things first, the main character in this would have to get an award for missing what is blindingly obvious to everyone reading (though seemingly no one else, so perhaps we shouldn’t be too harsh). That gripe aside, this was a sweet wish-fulfilment romance with a summer of festivals, wonderful sounding food, great family and friends…

Entertaining read, which will definitely put a smile on your face and have you chuckling at the antics of best friend Gemma.

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this prior to publication. A great summer pick-me-up that will go down a treat (the only thing that I’d love to see is recipes of some of those dishes!)

‘The Great Godden’ – Meg Rosoff

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for granting me access to this prior to publication, and I’m curious to see what people make of this.

The Great Godden is a story about a turning point in someone’s life, where they foresee something will happen but feel powerless to resist it even though it will cause discomfort.

What stood out to me after finishing this was the ambiguity of the book. I read this as if the narrator was female, but I don’t think we’re ever actually explicitly told this. It doesn’t make any difference as the book really focuses on the reactions to events. What we do know, though, is the narrator comes from one of those families that seems to be bursting with life, setting up experiences but perhaps overlooking the damage caused by their lifestyle.

Our time span is a summer, a summer where everything shifts. Every year the family have gone to their beach home and effectively lived wild. There’s a fondness and whimsical quality to the writing. We focus on this specific year as this is the year that their cast is joined by Kit and Hugo, the Godden brothers.

Our first sighting of Kit reveals the depths of adoration he seems to inspire in others. He toys with those around him, and our narrator is warned about him by Hugo but to no avail. We watch as one by one those present fall under Kit’s spell, unaware of the chaos he will wreak.

While I loved the idea and style of writing there was a detached quality to this that made it hard to really engage with the story or characters.

 

‘Growing Up for Beginners’ – Claire Calman

In some ways, a quite uncomfortable book to read, but as we dig deeper into the lives of the characters I was able to find some heartwarming moments. This is the kind of story that will resonate with some readers, but the focus on a variety of characters allowed us to focus on the myriad ways in which people can find themselves trapped in situations.

Our cast is large, and this is a little daunting at times. Certainly initially it took some time for the voices and experiences of each character to really develop. We have Eleanor, daughter of Conrad. She is married to Roger, the kind of man it’s all too easy to loathe and despise. We have Andrew, a man in his thirties who works with Conrad and who has recently been dumped by his girlfriend so he’s moved back in with his parents. Andrew develops a relationship with Olivia, the daughter of a neighbour. She has a vibrant mother, Cecilia, who has a secret love – but circumstances never quite made it a safe option to reveal her feelings.

These seemingly disparate stories are obviously linked and, as we read, the links start to become clearer. Each of these characters is searching for something and has some growing up to do. They help each other (albeit unwittingly) through these shifting times and as we learn more about each it becomes just that little more significant. Perhaps the resolution is somewhat cliched, but it would take someone quite churlish not to find it appealing.

Thanks to Netgalley for granting me access to this prior to publication.

 

‘The Gravity of Us’ – Phil Stamper

Cal dreams of being a reporter. He has his life planned out, so it throws him a little when his dad drops a rather major piece of news…he’s applied to NASA to be one of those involved in the planned travel to Mars. This means the whole family has to move from New York to Houston, where their every move will be reported on as Cal Sr prepares for his once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

This would be something of a shock to anybody, but for Cal – whose growing fanbase on social media is one of his passions – the threat of not being able to voice his opinions online is not one that goes down well. His mother is scared of moving across country and losing the link she has to her past. However, in the pursuit of such passion their needs are somewhat ignored – this never really gets touched on fully, and it seems like a glaring attempt to sweep some quite important things under the carpet in pursuit of ‘the story’.

I’ll admit to having only a glancing interest in the story of space travel, but the passion and enthusiasm shown for the subject here shone through and drew me in far more than I was expecting. I may never get as excited over ‘space dirt’ as some of the characters we see here did, but it’s clear to see the reverence such a program is held in and how much it means to many. Does it justify so many others having to shelve their dreams, or the costs involved? I’d find it hard to agree with.

A substantial part of our story focuses on the romance between Cal and Leon Tucker, son of one of the other astronauts. Things got set in motion ridiculously quickly, but the developing relationship between them was only a part of the focus. Watching how they worked together to figure out how to support their loved ones actually worked pretty well.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this prior to publication.

 

‘Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know’ – Samira Ahmed

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this prior to publication, and introducing me to a story that reeled me in slowly.

The title stems from a phrase used to describe the poet, Lord Byron. I wasn’t sure how this phrase could possibly link to the story, but it eventually became clear.

Our narrator is Khayyam, a seventeen year old American student who is fascinated by Art History but who is smarting from her most recent essay being discredited. While on holiday in Paris with her parents, Khayyam meets Alexandre Dumas (yes, really) – a descendant of the writer. They get talking, and before we know it a strange kind of hunt for missing treasure begins.

Both are convinced that Dumas had links with the painter Delacroix, and think that the link has something to do with a mysterious raven-haired beauty mentioned in works by Dumas and Byron, and featuring in paintings by Delacroix. Alongside this story in the present – which, in itself, would have been intriguing – we have the story of Leila, a young woman in the 1800s who has been the favourite of the Pasha, but who cannot bear him children.

It takes a while for the links between the characters and their stories to become clear. The hunt itself took something of a backseat for me as I was captivated by the attitudes to women and how history has, often, overlooked so many stories simply because of the gender of the person telling the story.

This was definitely a story that appeals on a number of levels. Yes, there are some amazing coincidences in this hunt, but the exploration of identity and the passion coming through for the subject was evident.

‘Again, but Better’ – Christine Riccio

Again, but Better seems to have very mixed reviews, and though it won’t go down as one of my favourite reads I enjoyed many elements of it. I had no awareness of the author prior to reading this, and I can’t decide whether or not that was a good thing – but certainly meant I was able to take the story at face value.

The story itself is straightforward. Hard-working student, Shane, hasn’t really felt comfortable in her chosen studies. Her parents want her to go into medicine as it’s a safe choice. She’s always worked hard to try and fulfil their hopes for her, but evidently doesn’t really enjoy it. Her passion is reading and she dreams of being a writer. So it comes as little surprise when she finds a way to organise a semester studying abroad – in London, on a creative writing course.

We watch Shane arrive in London and settle into her new life. She ends up with new flat mates that she finds great fun, and loves the freedom she has to travel to new cities and experience things she’s only read about. She finds herself with more than a little crush on one of her flat mates, Pilot. Unfortunately, though it seems they’ll get on and sparks are there, Pilot has a girlfriend. There’s some late night conversations and an almost-kiss…but before we know it they are leaving to return home and there’s a definite sense of what might have been.

It was at this point that things became less convincing. Shifting to six years later for part two, we see Shane has returned home and is about to further her career in medicine. She still dislikes it, realises she doesn’t particularly like her boyfriend who has recently proposed…and feels there’s still some unresolved issues with regard to the boy she crushed on all those years ago.

Unlike many people who might put that down to timing and move on, Shane finds her ex-friend/crush and decides to tell him how she feels. Before we know it, thanks to what we’re meant to believe is a fairy godmother-type character who pops up regularly at key moments in Shane’s life, the pair of them have travelled back in time. They get the chance to redo their time in London, but better.

The second part was, in many ways, more credible than the first in spite of the time-travel premise. It would have been all too easy for the romance to be the driving force here, but this was just a part of the story. Pilot and Shane, inevitably, balk at sharing their feelings on this matter, then decide to take the plunge…but even this time it doesn’t quite go to plan. Shane has a bit of a wake-up call (and I think this had potential) and realises she, ultimately, has to be happy with her decisions before she can expect to be happy with anyone else. This didn’t get pushed as it could have done, and we still get the happy ending. That doesn’t make it bad, but it was safe. I also found myself increasingly irritated by the never-ending stream of references to books, films and music that we are expected to see as helping present this character. She was more engaging when we actually dealt with her, and not the construct she seemed desperate to present to others.

 

‘Beach Read’ – Emily Henry

Beach Read has so many of the elements I’d expect of a light summer read, but there’s a glimpse of darkness within that actually makes this so much more engaging than you might expect it to be.

Our main character, January, has always felt like someone who believes in love and its power to transform us. She writes romance and has always looked for her happy ending. But when we see her things aren’t going quite to plan. She is struggling to write, she is grieving her father and yet trying to reconcile herself to the discovery that her father had a secret second life.

Upon arriving at his second hideaway home, January is nervous about what she’ll find. Nothing could prepare her for the discovery that her new neighbour is an old college acquaintance, Gus.

Like January Gus is a writer. But we quickly see that, like January, things in his life aren’t quite going to plan.

What follows is quite obvious – they slowly form a new bond, breaking down the barriers each had in place and eventually starting a relationship each has secretly harboured dreams of since they first met.

The interaction between these two was great fun. Seeing two such different outlooks and the little bet to each write a book in the style of the other gave it an interesting twist. Not everything runs smoothly, but it always feels like we’ll end up where we hope.

A huge thank you to NetGalley for granting me access to this prior to publication. I loved it!

‘The Bromance Book Club’ – Lyssa Kay Adams

The Bromance Book Club was not what I expected at all. Fun, yes, but it also gave some interesting thoughts about relationships and how we interact.

The focus of our story is baseball player, Gavin, who is experiencing difficulty with his relationship. Having learned that ever since they had children his wife has been faking things, their relationship is in trouble. Thankfully, this is a feel good romance so we guess things aren’t as bad as they seem, and the characters just need a bit of a steer.

In this book the steer comes from a most unlikely place…the fellow teammates who all have weathered their own storms, and who have decided the way to sort things out is to look to romance novels.

A rather unusual idea, and there are some weirdly amusing moments. The excerpts from what becomes the guide to how to fix his marriage are cheesy, but it’s quite entertaining to see how these ideas are transferred to the modern times.

At its heart this book was really exploring attitudes to romance and relationships. It showed how honesty and trust are earned, and can help you through some pretty awful moments.

I found this good fun, perfect escapism, and have bought book two just to see whether it’s as good.

 

‘Date Me, Bryson Keller’ – Kevin van Whye

I can’t begin to imagine what it must be like to have to think so much about your sexuality, or to be so cautious about your thoughts/feelings. Whatever your views, however, nobody should be forced to come out unless they choose to. Some of the actions in this made me unbelievably cross, and I hate the fact that this will be something people even have to consider.

I’ve read a couple of views criticising this novel for being so similar to some other stories. I can’t comment on that, but I can certainly say how much I enjoyed this story.

Our main character, whose point of view we’re predominantly focused on, is Kai. He knows he’s gay, but hasn’t said anything to either his friends or family. He seems fairly happy in himself, but we learn he’s desperate to head to college so he can be himself. Kai is a character on the periphery of his high school experience, but he finds himself in a rather unusual situation.

This situation involves the school golden boy, Bryson Keller, who’s got himself caught up in what could be a pretty crass scenario. Whoever asks him out on a date each Monday he has to accept, and date them for the week. For reasons I’m still not totally sure about – but it stems from a chance detention and a drama task – Kai ends up asking Bryson on a date. And he agrees.

We follow Kai and Bryson through their somewhat unexpected week. They keep it quiet, and at points I feared this might be because Bryson was going to do something awful. That wasn’t the case, though, and this quickly becomes a tale of two boys finding a mutual love. Almost insufferably cute, it would take a fairly hard-hearted person not to warm to these two.

There’s hints that this will not be plain sailing. I know some might have a worse experience, but when it matters people are generally seen to do the right thing. Kai’s little sister was wise beyond her years and the kind of cheer squad anyone would be proud to have. Plenty to like in this, and I’m grateful to NetGalley for allowing me to read this prior to publication.

 

‘Swipe Right’ – Stephie Chapman

Thank you to NetGalley, Hera books and Stephanie Chapman for giving me that warm fuzzy feeling where you don’t dare hope for that ending…but really really want that ending.

Our two main characters are Ollie and Fran. Both go for an interview. It’s clear, from the off, that these two have a spark. But will it ever be more? When they both end up working in the company we do wonder. Everyone around them seems to think they make a great couple – but each has a partner.

For seemingly ages Fran and Ollie walk the line of friends who quite fancy each other. It’s all very When Harry Met Sally without the annoying leads, a lot more alcohol and no fake-orgasm scene.

There’s a warmth between the two characters that seems very genuine. They open up to each other in a way that you can’t help but envy…but nothing happens.

Hang fire. Don’t get disheartened. Sometimes you just need to wait for the right time to put everything in place. Of course, it might not happen – but that really would have been a miserable read.