by: Tessa Bailey

5 Stars

Wow. So it was not what I expected from this book. Based on the title, I expected a cute little romance book, but boy, it was so much more!

 This was my first Tessa Bailey book, and now I want to buy them all. I never expected to give this 5 stars either, but this book was just full of surprises!

So to start, Brendan is an absolute catch. He is so super sweet, and I love the grumpy guy act he has going on and how he’s only sweet to his girl kind of vibes. I loved his character. He is amazing and gives these real-world men high standards to live up to.

 As for Piper, she’s super cute and spirited. I loved seeing her journey and reading about her finding her purpose. I love stories that I can relate to. I think everyone can relate to this in a way. Piper finding what feels like home to her and figuring out what makes her happy and satisfied was so touching to read. It makes me think of my life and finding those things as well, finding that purpose in my life. I loved reading about her.

 I found myself smiling so often and laughing when reading. So many moments just caught me off guard. I find it pretty rare that I laugh out loud at books, while this had me laughing and smiling. I was specifically in love with their relationship and how they worked through their problems.

Overall I loved this book. I cannot wait for Hook, Line and Sinker! (Fox and Hannah) I’m ingrained in this book, how their story unfolds. It’s not even out yet!!

 Five Stars.

Kayla

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by Christina Lauren

5 Stars

The Unhoneymooners By Christina Lauren has to be one of my absolute favourite books I’ve read this far. Olive braces herself to get through 24 hours of wedding hell before she can return to her comfortable, unlucky life. But when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning from eating shellfish that has gone bad, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. And it only gets better from there. Luck plays a constant role in this book. Olive truly is convinced that her life has been defined by a series of unfortunate events, all due to her ruthless bad luck. The best thing about this book is that it’s a fun, quick summer read. The not-so-good is the angst. I thought this book made me feel like I was there and made me laugh at times, and I recommend it to anyone who loves rom-com with a passion.

Kayla

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by Nichola Sparks

The romance/domestic, The Rescue, written by Nicholas Sparks, was a very addictive and fascinating novel. It tells the story of a young single mother, Denise Holton, who has a four-year-old son, Kyle. As a young mother, she faces lots of challenges, especially in the town she lives in, she has no family and no close friends nearby. Although having several shifts as a waitress, she gets enough money for the both of them to survive. Having no one nearby, Denise feels very lonely sometimes, although she does have her son, but there’s one problem. Kyle can’t talk, he can, but only a few words. She spends most of her time teaching him how to speak, and sometimes it’s very hard for the both of them. Denise stresses a lot, especially when it comes to Kyle. On a short trip, thunderstorms happen to come, as Denise is driving, which happens to frighten Kyle. But Denise tries her best to get to their destination, but she was a little too late. Their car goes down and Denise loses her consciousness, once she’s awake she’s faced with a volunteered fireman, Taylor McAden. Kyle is missing, he is nowhere to be found, as a mother you would be very stressed, but Taylor tries his best to calm her down and calls 911 to get her to the hospital. Taylor calls the whole team for a rescue to find her son, they try their best, and the whole town even comes down to help find Kyle. Eventually, they find Kyle and slowly but surely throughout the story Taylor and Denise become really good friends and slowly more than friends. But something stops Taylor from their relationship, and Denise is struggling to find out what happened or what she did wrong. A lot happens in this novel, but as I mentioned before, this story is very addicting, and you honestly won’t be able to put it down. Overall, I rate this book a 5/5 stars!  

Hoda D.

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by Anna Birch

Do you like enemies to lovers, sapphic romance, sapphic enemies to lovers, amazing writing, and the “we love each other online and know each other in real life without knowing each other’s identities” trope?

Well, if so, I sincerely recommend I Kissed Alice by Anna Birch.

In real life, Iliana and Rhodes hate each other a lot — 2 physical altercat

ions a lot — and their hatred for each other only increases when they find out they’ll be competing for the same scholarship to an elite art school. Online, however, I-Kissed-Alice and Curious-in-Cheshire are madly in love and planning to meet up at the competition. When the worlds collide, they have to figure out whether they can like each other in person as much as they like each other online.

Review: This is SO underrated. This book had wonderful writing and a super cute romance. The enemies to lovers part was also wonderfully done and the tension — the yearning — oh my. My heart… it couldn’t handle it. If you’re not convinced by that, here is a quote guaranteed to make you want to read this book: “She closes the distance between us in a handful of long, sweeping strides — one moment she’s standing at the doorway and the next, her breath ruffles my hair. I flinch. She doesn’t hit me, though: she simply lifts my chin so I have no other choice but to look her in the eyes. Her skin against mine, even in this small way, stands my arm hair on end. Everything in her burning: her eyes, her face, her spirit.”

WOW. The tension, the writing- beautiful *chef’s kiss*. I rated this book 4 / 5 stars and I definitely recommend it!
 Make sure to check the trigger warnings!

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by Sophie Kinsella

4.5 Stars

Sophie Kinsella is a must-read author in my opinion. I’ve read several of her books; they are witty, funny, heartwarming and never disappoint. Can you keep a secret? definitely takes the cake as my favourite Kinsella novel. It had me giggling right from the very first page, and the more I got invested in the storyline, the more I found myself smiling and rapidly turning the pages! 

Can you keep a secret? follows the story of a young woman named Emma Corrigan, a girl with a big heart and a few little secrets… She has secrets from her boyfriend, her mother and secrets that she wouldn’t share with anyone. Or so she thought. Emma ends up spilling all her secrets to a handsome stranger on a plane. Knowing her luck, Emma should’ve kept it all to herself. After the flight, she realizes everything she told the handsome stranger and starts to have some regrets… however, she isn’t too worried… they will never see one another again, right? Wrong! Come Monday morning, Emma’s office is buzzing about the arrival of the company’s CEO Jack Harper… who also turns out to be the handsome stranger from the plane! 

I think that any YA reader will enjoy this novel. It is a charming and funny story! The characters are thought through and very relatable. It is a nice light read that keeps you hooked and interested until the last page. I definitely recommend this Kinsella book, whether or not you have read one of her novels before!

Emma O.

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by Emma Lord

4 Stars

You Have a Match by Emma Lord

Abby Day comes from a pretty normal family where nothing out of the ordinary ever happens. When Abby decides to sign up for a DNA service with her two best friends, she doesn’t expect to find out anything particularly interesting. She is shocked when she discovers she has a sister living less than twenty minutes away from her. Her sister is Savannah Tully. An Instagram star with perfect hair and a seemingly perfect life. Savannah reaches out to Abby, and they decide to meet up at summer camp to get to know each other without telling their parents. When Abby discovers her best friend turned crush, Leo, is working at the camp, things get way more complicated.

She struggles to balance her growing feelings for Leo, bonding with Savannah and all the other trouble she gets into around camp. As Savannah and Abby uncover secrets about Savannah’s adoption, they start to become closer and work to find the truth about what happened all those years ago. They learn lessons of family, friendship and honesty as they try to navigate a summer that they’ll never forget. I was so excited to read this, and I wasn’t disappointed. I loved the dynamic between Abby and Savannah as they got to know each other. All the characters were so different, creating someone for each reader to relate to. I didn’t expect there to be as many twists and turns as there were, but surprisingly, I enjoyed all the suspense. Many different storylines were going on that all connected, creating a very enjoyable and satisfying ending.

Hailey B.

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Again again

by E. Lockhart

After experiencing a romantic upheaval and a near fatal family accident, Adelaide Buchwald finds herself in a whirlwind of summer adventures.

Again Again by E. Lockhart

Adelaide prepares herself for a summer of possibilities, however, nothing can prepare her for falling in and out of love. While navigating her new found love, Adelaide will confront the secrets she has kept, her perceptions of love and the human mind.

Again again is an offbeat and unconventional romance story that is moving and thought provoking. A lyrical and thoughtful summer read!

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36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You

Vicki Grant

36 Questions that Changed My Mind About You is a romantic comedy style book. With a failed meet-cute of Betty and Bob who meet through a psychology study. They are both there for different reasons, one to find love or at least something like it and the other who has no idea what he’s in for, he just needs the money from the study. Opposites attract in this strange and cute story. It goes through the main character Betty/Hildy’s point of view for most of the novel and her journey to the university and to this study of human connections.  

 

It’s about finding yourself, and has a lot of truth and honesty, even when the characters are trying their hardest to keep their true selves a secret and separate from the other, who is a virtual stranger. They may even know more about each other than their friends do. First impressions aren’t always as they seem, not everyone shows you who they really are upon first meeting, but maybe that can change, once you get to know someone, even a stranger.   

 

The story was overall light and a quick read, however I found the character development a little lacking especially in main character Betty/Hildy. However, Bob/Paul was a unique character different from most books, especially surprising for this genre. It was an enjoyable read but somethings I found a little unrealistic, and I felt the ending was a little abrupt. Also, the story was slightly repetitive at times, but that may have been the nature of the book and the repetitive vibe the psychology study gave. I would still recommend this book to readers who enjoy romantic comedies and meet-cutes. –Zoe P.   

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The Elite

Kiera Cass

The Elite is the sequel to Kiera Cass’s daring novel, The Selection. The Elite has been chosen, and the selection is now down to only six girls, with Lady America Singer being Prince Maxon’s obvious favourite. But it doesn’t seem that way with everyone else. The King and Queen have different opinions, and they don’t approve of such strong-willed behaviour. What’s even more difficult for America is now that she’s started to fall for Maxon, she has to see Aspen on guard every day. Does she still have feelings for Aspen? America is faced with new challenges, each that are preparing her and the elite to become stronger and better queens. But America doesn’t feel she has what it take and is worthy enough to be fit for the position. As distance grows between America and Maxon, she gets closer to Aspen, and the question arises, does she really want to be here, is this how she wants to spend her life?! America’s connect with her family is now stronger, even with her mom. With attacks, by both north and south, rebels becoming more and more frequent around the castle, the safety of everyone is put into question. Find out what disturbing secrets the walls of the kingdom is hiding.

The Elite is a fabulous book by Kiera Cass, this story is not your classic fairytale. Shocking surprises that aren’t always pleasant fill every chapter. Suspense, love, friendship, action, family, and drama this book has it all. Join America on her quest of love and find out mysterious truths along the way. -Ananya M.

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The Selection

Kiera Cass

Every girl in the kingdom would give anything to marry the charming Prince Maxon, except for America Singer. The kingdom is ruled by a caste system, and her family is only three from the bottom, she’s a five. They know they don’t have it the worst, but they have seen some pretty bad days, terrible pay, seasonal work, and periods of time where they have to go hungry, but she is still happy. When the selection roles around America is reluctant to enter, even if there is there is barely any chance that she would be drawn as one of the 35 girls that would live in the palace and fight for the hand of Prince Maxon in marriage. The reason she can’t go is because of her loving boyfriend, Aspen, a six. After constant pressure from her family and boyfriend she enters the selection, and miraculously she is drawn as one of the selected. Now it’s up to America to prevent her being chosen as the princess so she can come back and marry her boyfriend. That’s not all that easy when the Prince at hand is as charming as Prince Maxon.

Fall in love with the selection series and America Singer as you follow her story from a shabby little treehouse to the steps of the palace itself. Kiera Cass does an amazing job portraying the story and helps you form a real connection with most of the characters. I had some trouble forming a connection with the character of Aspen as he seemed a little distant, however it was not enough for me to give it any fewer stars or to change my opinion about the book. Overall a thoroughly enjoyed the book at definitely recommend it to others. -Ananya M.

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