What a month, I can't remember the last time I read this many books in a month so feeling very proud.
The Road Trip - Beth O'Leary
Blurb: Addie and her sister are about to embark on an epic road trip to a friend's wedding in the north of Scotland. The playlist is all planned and the snacks are packed.
But, not long after setting off, a car slams into the back of theirs. The driver is none other than Addie's ex, Dylan, who she's avoided since their traumatic break-up two years earlier.
Dylan and his best mate are heading to the wedding too, and they've totalled their car, so Addie has no choice but to offer them a ride. The car is soon jam-packed full of luggage and secrets, and with three hundred miles ahead of them, Dylan and Addie can't avoid confronting the very messy history of their relationship...
Will they make it to the wedding on time? And, more importantly... is this really the end of the road for Addie and Dylan?
Review:
I loved this book, it's quite long and I inhaled it so fast (helped that I was poorly so had extra time). The characters are quirky and believable. It was funny (a little silly in places) and a great light hearted read with deep, soul searching moments too. Beth O'Leary just has a way with words that make you not want to stop. I would highly recommend this.
Playing the Palace - Paul Rudnick
Blurb: THEIR LOVE STORY CAPTIVATED THE WORLD…THE CROWN PRINCE AND THAT GUY FROM NEW YORK
When a lonely American event planner starts dating the gay Prince of Wales, a royal uproar ensues: is it true love or the ultimate meme? Find out in this hilarious romantic comedy.
After having his heart trampled on by his cheating ex, Carter Ogden is afraid love just isn’t in the cards for him. He still holds out hope in a tiny corner of his heart, but even in his wildest dreams he never thought he’d meet the Crown Prince of England, much less do a lot more with him. Yes, growing up he’d fantasized about the handsome, openly gay Prince Edgar, but who hadn’t? When they meet by chance at an event Carter’s boss is organizing, Carter’s sure he imagined all that sizzling chemistry. Or was it mutual?
This unlikely but meant-to-be romance sets off media fireworks on both sides of the Atlantic. With everyone having an opinion on their relationship and the intense pressure of being constantly in the spotlight, Carter finds ferocious obstacles to his Happily Ever After, including the tenacious disapproval of the Queen of England. Carter and Prince Edgar fight for a happy ending to equal their glorious international beginning. It’s a match made on Valentine’s Day and in tabloid heaven.
Review: I read this as I'm trying to find comps for P2 (keep an eye out for a post on this later on). It's like Red, White and Royal Blue but bad. The book itself wasn't awful but god it was cheesy and completely unrealistic. They missed the mark on Brits completely let alone the Royal family and a lot of the characters where very stereotypical. Having said that, I did sort of enjoy it, with a few eye rolls in there. If you're looking for a LGBTQ+ love story with a Prince, I wouldn't recommend this one.
It Ends With Us - Colleen Hoover
Blurb: Sometimes it is the one who loves you who hurts you the most.
Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up — she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.
Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.
As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan — her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.
Review: This story broke my heart in some many ways. I went into it completely blind as I didn't know what it was about but had high expectations because it had been all over Bookstagram. It's the first Colleen Hoover book I've read and I will definitely be reading more. Her writing style is wonderful and pulls at all the heartstrings. I loved Lily, her strength, her selflessness, her innate want to see the good in everyone. I feel in love with Ryle just as she did and then Atlas, ah. What a book. If you haven't read it, please do.
t Can’t Get Out - Sophie Gonzales & Cale Dietrich
Blurb: One of the world's biggest boy bands. A secret love. What happens if the world finds out?
Eighteen-year-olds Ruben Montez and Zach Knight are two members of the boy-band Saturday, one of the biggest acts in America. Along with their bandmates, Angel Phan and Jon Braxton, the four are teen heartbreakers in front of the cameras and best friends backstage. But privately, cracks are starting to form: their once-easy rapport is straining under the pressures of fame, and Ruben confides in Zach that he's feeling smothered by management's pressure to stay in the closet.
On a whirlwind tour through Europe, with both an unrelenting schedule and minimal supervision, Ruben and Zach come to rely on each other more and more, and their already close friendship evolves into a romance. But when they decide they're ready to tell their fans and live freely, Zach and Ruben start to truly realize that they will never have the support of their management. How can they hold tight to each other when the whole world seems to want to come between them?
Review: Another comp read and although it doesn't work as a comp for P2, I loved this book. It's more YA but I don't have an issue with that. I liked the duel perspective and the whole narrative. The only thing I would say is towards the end, the writing style tended to break the 4th wall and I didn't love it. But if you've looking for an YA LGBTQ+ story about boybands with lovable characters this is for you.
Chasing Daisy - Paige Toon
Blurb: If you fall too fast, you just might crash...Daisy has been dumped, unceremoniously jilted. Not by any ordinary guy, no...Daisy has a secret in her past that she won't even tell her best friend, Holly. She's given up on men - and on her own family. But life still has to be lived and where better to recover than as far away from home as possible. Grabbing a chance to see the world, Daisy packs her bags and joins the team catering to the world's highest-paid, supercharged racing drivers on the Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit. From Brazil to Italy, from Melbourne to Monte Carlo, life passes in a dizzying whirlwind. But nothing - and no one - can stop Daisy from falling again...this time for a man who is prepared to risk his life, and his heart, for the sake of speed, danger and ultimate success.
Review: Another comp but for different reasons, I've read this one before and as a fan of F1, it was just...eurgh. I do like the love triangle aspect of it but it's just a little too far fetched (I won't say why because spoilers...). As a Formula One and romance fan, it just left a little to be desired and I appreciate she wrote it for the masses but it felt a bit like she was telling me how to suck eggs. I love Paige Toon but this is not her best.
The Distant Shores - Santa Montefiore
Blurb: The Distant Shores tells the story of a family torn apart, and the woman who will bring them back together.
Margot Hart travels to Ireland to write a biography of the famous Deverill family. She knows she must speak to the current Lord Deverill – JP – if she is to uncover the secrets of the past. A notorious recluse, JP won’t be an easy man to crack. But Margot is determined – and she is not a woman who is easily put off.
What she never expected was to form a close bond with JP and be drawn into his family disputes. Shouldering the blame for running up debts that forced him to sell the family castle, JP is isolated and vulnerable. With help from his handsome son Colm, it seems as though Margot might be the only one who can restore JP’s fortunes.
Will the family ever succeed in healing rifts that have been centuries in the making?
Review: I surprisingly enjoyed this. I find Santa Montefiore a little hit and miss sometimes (didn't enjoy Here and Now) and this being part of the Deverill series, of which I hadn't read any, I didn't have high expectations. I wouldn't say it was romance though, that was very much a sub plot but it was interesting and I liked the setting. If you like family drama, history and the supernatural, this might be for you.
An Unexpected Kind of Love - Hayden Stone
Blurb: Bookstore owner Aubrey Barnes likes his quiet, orderly London life, thank you very much. His shop may be struggling, his only employee is a menace, and his plumbing is one creaky pipe away from disaster, but he can handle it. Maybe. He cannot, however, handle the film company that’s thrown his Soho street into chaos. And he definitely can’t handle the charismatic American actor Blake Sinclair.
Which is why he’s extremely reluctant to lease out his shop as a set for Blake's film, but it’s his one opportunity to save his business. Now he can’t get away from the distractingly hot actor. Then Aubrey finds himself alone with Blake in a trailer…and what happens next turns London’s heat wave into an inferno that leaves him breathless.
Aubrey is not cut out for the high-profile life of celebrity dating—especially an American actor who’s not even out yet. Good thing their tryst is absolutely not going anywhere. But expecting nothing can be complicated…especially when it starts to mean everything.
Review: Another potential comp that didn't pan out BUT what a cute little love story. Aubrey was awkwardly charming and unassuming and Blake was a down to earth, over confident actor. They were sweet together and despite being a little predictable it was exactly what I would expect it to be. If you like cute LGBTQ+ love stories in cosy London, this is for you.
From Lukov With Love - Mariana Zapata
Blurb: If someone were to ask Jasmine Santos to describe the last few years of her life with a single word, it would definitely be a four-letter one.
After seventeen years—and countless broken bones and broken promises—she knows her window to compete in figure skating is coming to a close.
But when the offer of a lifetime comes in from an arrogant idiot she’s spent the last decade dreaming about pushing in the way of a moving bus, Jasmine might have to reconsider everything.
Including Ivan Lukov.
Review: Okay, so I did like this a lot. It was a very sweet romance and the characters totally made this book. However, it was slow...and I mean sssslllloooowwww. There was a lot of saying the same stuff in different ways a lot of the time and it just took forever to get through any kind of action. But, I did really like it. If you enjoyed the Netflix TV series about figure skating (Spinning Out) it might seem very familiar and you will enjoy this too.
S x
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