Tag: Romance

The Song of Achilles – Madeline Miller (Review)

~ Dan ~ Leave a comment

I picked up this book partly on the recommendation of a friend and partly because I was oddly charmed by all the negative reviews. While overall, reviews of this book are fantastic, there is a constant thread of negative reviews from people who are both astounded and enraged at the very idea that Achilles might have been anything other than a 100% heterosexual all-American hero.

I struggle to picture these reviewers; who are these people with a deep knowledge of Greek mythology, storied pedigrees in literary analysis/classics/history, and no awareness whatsoever of not just any subtext but also the past few millennia of discourse? They are so very, very angry and I would love to meet one.

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Dangerous Curves – Larkin Rose (Review)

~ Dan ~ Leave a comment

Lacey is an ex-NASCAR photographer haunted by her memories of a fatal crash. Kip Sellars is a troubled NASCAR driver with a bad reputation and a death wish. The two have almost nothing in common except their mutual contempt, lust, and complimentary backstories (both involving witnessing the brutal death of a loved one in a racing accident).

When they are forced to work together to rehabilitate Sellars’ public image, Lacey and Sellars have no choice but to confront both their traumatic pasts and the undeniable attraction between them.

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The Wedding Party – Jasmine Guillory (Review)

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Despite hating each other, Maddie and Theo share a best friend. When she gets engaged and enlists them to the bridal party, Maddie and Theo are suddenly faced with having to see each other far more often.

This is further complicated by the knowledge that the last time they spent time together, it ended in an alcohol-fulled hook up that neither of them has stopped thinking about.

With the sexual tension rising, they agree to a secret enemies-with-benefits set-up that starts to build into something more…

By this point, it’s fairly clear that I’ve really enjoyed all of Guillory’s novels. The Wedding Party, however, is absolutely my favourite. I think it’s actually the first one I read before realising it was third in the series and swiftly reading all the others as well, but it’s also the one that’s stuck with me the most.

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The Proposal – Jasmine Guillory (Review)

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

When Nik Paterson goes to a Dodgers game with her boyfriend, the last thing she expects is for him to suddenly propose to her on the Jumbotron. Not least because he can’t even spell her name right…

Also at the game, Carlos Ibarra and his sister Angela witness her swift refusal, and quickly rescue her from the prying eyes of 45,000 baseball fans and the camera crew that just showed up.

After the video goes viral and Nik’s ex starts harrassing her, Carlos becomes a valued friend, confidant, and extremely fun rebound. Although both Carlos and Nik aren’t looking for anything serious, can either of them ignore that their feelings are getting stronger?

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The Wedding Date – Jasmine Guillory (Review)

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Alexa Monroe is on the way to meet her sister when she gets stuck in a hotel lift with a handsome stranger.

Drew Nichols is in town for the wedding of two of his best friends, one of whom just happens to be his ex. Dateless and dreading the party, Drew finds himself stuck in a lift with a beautiful woman who inexplicably agrees to be his fake girlfriend for the weekend.

Now, as I have stated in earlier reviews, I love a good fake relationship romance, and meeting in a lift is another classic rom-com trope. This joyful interpretation of these produces the resulting meet-cute with a great sense of humour, but doesn’t over do it, kicking off one of the best series of contemporary romances I’ve ever read.

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We Just Clicked – Anna Bell (Review)

~ Sophie ~ 2 Comments

Izzy Brown is an aspiring Instagram influencer who makes a deal with the devil, a.k.a. her coworker Luke, to fake a relationship to boost their profiles. Their plan works, but the longer it goes on, Izzy starts to wonder whether this fake life is worth it. When she reconnects with Aidan, a mysterious stranger who looked after her the day her brother died, Izzy’s dilemma comes to a head: does she want true love with Aidan or the picture-perfect life and perks of internet fame?

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Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist (2020) – Review

~ Sophie ~ 2 Comments

Zoey Clarke (Jane Levy), a recently promoted programmer at a San Francisco tech company, is stuck in an MRI machine listening to the technician’s terrible playlist when an earthquake hits, causing something strange to happen to her brain.

From this moment on, Zoey can hear what everyone is thinking – or rather, she starts to witness people’s innermost emotions playing out in huge song and dance numbers that only she can see.

Enlisting her neighbour Mo (Alex Newell), Zoey starts to use these ‘heart songs’ to better understand and communicate with the people around her, while also dealing with the deterioration of her father’s health (portrayed heartbreakingly beautifully by tv’s best dad, Sandy Cohen himself: the incomparable Peter Gallagher), pressure at work, and one of the nicest tv love triangles I have seen in a long time.

Joyful, musical, intelligent, funny, truly heart-breaking, this show is exactly what I needed to cheer me up in my lockdown funk and everyone should be watching it!

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