Lauren

LaurenWhere was this book when I was a teen?! This is such an adorable YA read and I didn’t want to put it down! The plot was perfectly timed and it had such an excellent flow. There wasn’t one time when I felt it moved too fast or too slow. Sloane and Liam are such perfect characters and I loved that everything felt like it was about 17-year olds and it wasn’t aged up or down. Everything felt very age appropriate and the characters weren’t too mature or immature. I loved the teen-show to reality-show twist and I loved that I didn’t expect the ending! Very enjoyable, quick read that is so lighthearted and leaves you smiling! 5⭐️, 0.5🌶

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LaurenThis is a cute, clean romance. It is an enjoyable best-friend’s-brother romance in a small town. I enjoyed the storytelling and plot and really loved the ensemble. Overall, I think the relationship was portrayed as being too perfect and the main characters just had flawless (in a forced way) communication and chemistry. I enjoyed their story, but I knew how it was going to go way before the author got there. So much foreshadowing took place that I was just waiting for when the author would reveal the plot twist as opposed to what the plot twist was. Overall, a nice read, but as the book constantly says “curses” for just being too forced. 3.75⭐️, 0.5🌶

LaurenI adore this book! Georgie is just the perfect main character. I love that she doesn’t necessarily have a career plan and that she is very much about being happy in a moment. I think her parents being total and complete hippies, but still incredibly supportive is such a sweet touch. It contrasts quite well with Levi’s family. Levi is so quiet, but I loved the book is written into perspective so we get to see inside of his head too. The beginning was a little slow, but the writing is phenomenal, and I smiled the entire way through this book. Just everything about it was sweet and engaging and such a feel good read. I love how the author was inclusive of non-heterosexual relationships and different types of romantic relationships. They also supported different gender identities without making the usage of different pronouns a big deal. Overall, this is a really heartwarming rain. How does enjoyable from start to finish. 4.75⭐️, 2🌶

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LaurenThis book is such a delightful romantic comedy! I felt like I could see it playing out as a movie in my head throughout the book. The narrators were fantastic and when the female narrator used her Myers voice…damn (in a very good way). This was funny, well paced (except for a bit of the ending) and just so well rounded. It’s a must read or a must listen! 4.75⭐️, 2.5🌶

LaurenI really, really liked the idea of this book, however, it just fell flat for me. I love that Gigi is a bookstore owner and loves Romance rates. I think her friend group sounds amazing and supportive and who wouldn’t want friends like that? If I had friends like that? I would’ve wanted them to call me out on being obsessed with an audiobook narrator. Gigi’s obsession with Zane is creepy and over the top for an adult woman. The fact that her friends set her up on a tour bus to go see him is supportive in a bad way. I thought the descriptions of England were well done, but at times things were too descriptive. I didn’t need to know that a side character tied a jacket around her waist and because of details like that it just got too long and a little boring. I adored the side characters and think I liked them even better than Gigi. I think their stories were well done and I enjoyed how we learned more about them. I find it highly unrealistic that everyone in a tour bus becomes friends, but I can chalk that up to being a romcom. It was easy to tell the direction that this book was going in, and none of the twists were exactly surprising. Overall, I wasn’t a fan of Gigi and the pointless details so I wasn’t a massive fan of this book. 3⭐️, 1🌶

LaurenThis book is a very enjoyable read. The plot is excellent and the writing is very well done. The steamy scenes are incredibly cheesy and overdone, but that isn’t surprising in a romance book. The cast of characters is really well done and I love how the author makes the reader feel like they know everyone. The middle got quite long and the ending felt rushed so the balance could’ve been a bit better. It was about 50-100 pages too long overall. The characters are really so very enjoyable and I can’t wait to get back to Knockemout in the next book! 4⭐️, 3🌶

LaurenThis book has the absolute best banter! There’s so many books out there that label the women as being “quirky” and “unique” but Izzy/Accidentally Amy actually is. She’s unapologetic in her weirdness, and I honestly never knew what she was going to say next. The nicknames between her and Blake were funny and their text conversations had me smiling the entire time I listen to them. While Blake did feel very traditional as a male main character, Izzy always had the best ideas and brought out the best in him. This is honestly such a feel good romance that is unique enough, but light hearted and fun at the same time. 4⭐️, 2🌶

LaurenI think this book was a good follow up to It Starts With Us, but I didn’t find it necessary. There was a lot of letter writing and journal entries, and I liked how they were used as flashbacks to the past. This book certainly made me love Atlas more, and I enjoyed learning his backstory. Josh and Theo were probably my favorite additions to the story. overall, the book was sweet, but it read a lot more like a never ending epilogue then an independent book. 4⭐️, 1.5🌶

LaurenI really have mixed feelings about this book. It is written beautifully and the characters really come alive and there is an excellent plot. However, it is very morally grey in my option. Ally is fiercely independent, which is excellent, however, when Dominic becomes infatuated with her, she constantly is on the receiving end of his good deeds. I don’t think Dom is bad overall, but this feels manipulative nonetheless. Since it is written in dual perspective, Dom’s POV creeps me out even more with how obsessed he is. Sure, Ally mostly likes him back and certainly teases him, but the power dynamic Dom fights so hard to not be a part of… he kinda becomes a less creepy version of it. As someone who had to deal with sexual harassment in the workplace even after multiple “no”s, this is just too much for me to find romantic. 3.25⭐️, 4🌶, ⚠️

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LaurenI read a novella by CoHo and hated it, but after reading this book, I finally get the love for CoHo. This books covers such a complex topic of domestic abuse and I love that it shows it isn’t so black and white. This book explores the shades of grey so well and it takes the reader on Lily’s two journeys of love. This book has such depth, both of characters and of the topic. Lily is truly the star of the story as she has to make choices beyond what a 15-year-old and a 25-year-old should have to make. Ryle and Atlas are both so terribly complex men and this book tells such an interesting journey of how their lives intertwine with Lily’s. The book was so aptly named as well and the title made so much sense on its own. I know there is a sequel, but I honestly think this works as a standalone too. 5⭐️, 2🌶, ⚠️