Book – Page 5 – World of Bai

Book Review: “Mile High” By Liz Tomforde

This is a the first book in the Windy City Series which has taken Booktok by storm! I kept seeing this book all over my FYP for months! I told myself its probably over hyped and does not deserve my time… Man oh man was I wrong!
This book along with the next three in the series are all currently on Kindle Unlimited if you would like to give them a try!

“That maybe one day I will love this woman, and maybe somehow, she will find a way to love me.”
Liz Tomforde, Mile High

My “Windy City” Series Reviews

The Right Move – By Liz Tomforde

Caught Up – By Liz Tomforde

Play Along – Liz Tomforde

About The Book

Author: Liz Tomforde

Publisher: Golden Boy Publishing

Published Date: June 4th, 2024

Page Count: 488 Pages

Main Genres: Romance

GoodReads Rating: 4.09

Format: E Book

“Being vulnerable and authentic is scary, man. Terrifying. But to the people who matter to you, the ones you’ve shown your true self to, they love you unconditionally. Why not let others love you unconditionally too? At least give them a chance to.”
Liz Tomforde, Mile High

Synopsis

ZANDERS

Chicago hockey isn’t complete without me – everyone’s favourite player to hate. I know my role, and I play it well. In fact, I thoroughly enjoy spending the majority of my game time in the penalty box before leaving the arena with a new girl on my arm each night.

What I don’t like is the new flight attendant on our team’s private plane. She works for me, not the other way around. But I’ll be sure to remind her of that, and I can guarantee, by the end of the season, she’ll be begging to quit her job.

But every road trip blurs the lines, and I can’t quite figure out if I keep pushing that flight attendant call button in order to push her buttons, or if it’s more than that.

STEVIE

I’ve been a flight attendant for years. I thought I’d seen it all, but when my new job lands me onboard working for the most egotistical and self-righteous diva in the NHL, I start to second guess everything. Including the promise I made to myself of never hooking up with an athlete again . . . no matter how annoyingly tempting he may be.

Evan Zanders is unfiltered, unapologetic, and too attractive for his own good. He loves his image, but I hate everything about it.

Everything but him.

Synopsis From GoodReads

“There’s only so much oxygen on an airplane. I don’t want his ego to suffocate the rest of us. You know, safety and all that shit.”
Liz Tomforde, Mile High

Rating

“It hurts a whole lot less to be hated when you’re not being yourself than it does not to be loved for who you are,”
Liz Tomforde, Mile High

Review

**Small Spoilers Possible**

This book was wonderful right from the start! I have been really into hockey the past year so following a hockey player was right up my alley but the part that surprised me the most was how much I enjoyed following the point of view of a flight attendant. This was a really great dynamic that caused forced proximity and I just ate it all up!

Stevie is quite insecure about her body which I would say is a trigger warning to be aware of. A lot of the book focuses on her thoughts and perceptions of herself and what others are going to think about the way her body looks. I think the book handles this insecurity very well but regardless it was hard to read these parts at times. Her mother plays a huge part as to why she has these insecurities which makes me so sad! You should love your children despite of the way their bodies look.

Stevie may have some insecurities about her body but Zander loves every inch of it! The fact that he practically worships this woman despite of her insecurities really had me swooning for him! But Zanders is not free from his own troubles. His family life is also not so great coming from divorced parents which causes his own insecurities in relationships. He needs a woman who is going to pick him and stay with him but how can he trust that they won’t up and leave him much like his mother did in his formative years.

Both of our characters are struggling in their own ways and the way Liz Tomforde wrote these struggles really worked! I felt like I could feel every emotion as if I were the characters themselves. This is a very big reason why I fell in love with this book. The struggles they each have felt like things typical people would face which in turn makes the book relatable.

I really hope you guys give this book and series a try if you haven’t already!

“Stevie,” Zanders says. “You following me?”
Liz Tomforde, Mile High

QOTD: Do you plan on picking this series up? – or – if you have read it already what did you rate it?

“You don’t have to love your body every single day. That’s unrealistic to expect, but I’ll be here loving it for the days you can’t.”
Liz Tomforde, Mile High

Book Review: “The Grandest Game” By Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Inheritance Games series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes have been some of my favorite books this year. Wow, it’s crazy to think I have read all of those this year… this is unheard of from me.. Anyways, its just proof that her books are amazing! When I found out the first book in her break off series “The Grandest Game” was being released I was so stoked! I went and picked it up the week it came out. It may have taken me a few weeks to actually pick it up and read but I read this in two sittings leaving me to finish the book at 1 AM on a work night! Yet another unheard of thing for me, as I love my sleep!

Ok, lets save some of my feelings for my actual review haha.

“Trying to write trick questions backfires if the person taking the test knows how to look for tricks.”
Jennifer Lynn Barnes, The Grandest Game

About The Book

Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Publisher: Little Brown Books

Published Date: July 30th, 2024

Page Count: 384 Pages

Main Genres: Mystery, YA

GoodReads Rating: 4.04

Format: Physical Book

“Some people can make mistakes, make amends, and move on. And some of us live with each and every mistake we make carved into us, into hollow places we don’t know how to fill.”
Jennifer Lynn Barnes , The Grandest Game

Synopsis

Seven tickets. An island of dreams. The chance of a lifetime.

Welcome to the Grandest Game, an annual competition run by billionaire Avery Grambs and the four infamous Hawthorne brothers, whose family fortune she inherited. Designed to give anyone a shot at fame and fortune, this year’s game requires one of seven golden tickets to enter. With millions on the line, those seven players will do whatever it takes to win.

Some of the players are in it for the money. Some for power. Some for reasons all their own. Every single one of them has secrets. Amidst it all is Grayson Hawthorne, tasked with a vital role in this year’s game. But as tensions rise and the mind-bending challenges push the players to their limits—physically, mentally, and emotionally—it soon becomes clear that not everyone is playing by the rules.

Synopsis From GoodReads

“Sometimes, in the games that matter most, the only way to really play is to live.”
Jennifer Lynn Barnes, The Grandest Game

Rating

Review

I don’t want to cause any spoilers so before I move on just know that I recommend reading “The Inheritance Games” Series in full before starting this break off series. As many of these characters are returning characters with a few newbies sprinkled in. I will do my best not to spoil anything in my review but this is you warning to only go on in this review if you are ok with very mild spoilers.

Ok now that the formalities are over, lets begin this review!

I loved nearly every part of this book! I am used to the Inheritance games swapping POV’s so I expected that of this book going into it. However, I was not ready for three POV’s one of which being a new character we briefly even knew existed. Because we weren’t following Avery or one of the Hawthorne boys this book started off a bit slow for me. It took time for me to get used to these newer characters and their stories so the begging of the book did drag a bit for me. But once we actually got into the book and The Grandest Game actually started I was hooked!

Each characters POV brought something new and exciting to the story. They each had their own reasons to win the games and even grew to understand one another’s reasons, starting out as enemies but ending, in some cases as friends. I say ending as if the story is over… Little did I know this book would end in a cliffhanger! This was only part one of the games…

With every twist and turn this book presented our characters were faced with new challenges that just kept the book moving! The chapters were short but always ended in a place that left you wanting to know more. This is a huge reason why I was able to read this book so fast! I had to know how all the puzzles were solved and where the drama would take us next.

I found myself trying to figure out the riddles before they could answer them which gave me like 6-10 (Short) chapters to find the answer. Did I ever solve one? No, I did not, not even close haha. But when they solved the riddles I was like “Oh wow, that makes so much sense!” Jennifer Lynn Barnes really knows how to write a mystery book, she has really taken her place as one of my all time favorite authors!

I hope you guys will give her books a try as they are totally worth it! This is coming from someone who doesn’t read YA much anymore because I feel like it reads too young. But her writing is so well done that sometimes I even forget it’s YA! Let me know if you have already read these books as I would love to chat with someone about these.

“I have spent my entire life being fine when I wasn’t. I know the price. I know what it’s like to bear that prince with every cell in your body. It isn’t worth it.”
Jennifer Lynn Barnes, The Grandest Game

QOTD: What is your favorite YA?

Book Review Battle: “The Last Mrs. Parish” By Liv Constantine Vs. “The Housemaid” By Freida McFadden

Welcome to my First ever Book Review Battle!

This idea came accidentally. I personally never wanted to read “The Housemaid” due to alleged Plagiarism allegations that I have heard from Booktok and Booktube, I had no clue what the original book was when I first picked these up, it was just happenstance that I read “The Housemaid” and then Immediately picked up “The Last Mrs. Parish”. Only a few chapters into “The Last Mrs. Parish” I realized I was basically reading the same book as the one I had just finished. I went to my favorite Booktuber @HaileyHughes and watched her Freida McFadden Taste test Video and she mentions the comparison. Let me just tell you that the comparison is a bit uncanny and I am here to tell you all my thoughts and opinions.

This blog post may be one of a kind here but if I find other similar books I may do this again. Send any recommendations that you have!

Spoilers Ahead

About The Books

Publisher: Harper

Published Date: October 17th, 2017

Page Count: 400 Pages (Kindle)

Genre: Thriller

Format Read: E-Book

GoodReads Rating: 3.97

Publisher: Bookouture

Published Date: April 26th, 2022

Page Count: 338 Pages (Kindle)

Genre: Thriller

Format Read: E-Book

GoodReads Rating: 4.33

“The Last Mrs. Parish” Synopsis

Amber Patterson is fed up. She’s tired of being a nobody: a plain, invisible woman who blends into the background. She deserves more—a life of money and power like the one blond-haired, blue-eyed goddess Daphne Parrish takes for granted.

To everyone in the exclusive town of Bishops Harbor, Connecticut, Daphne—a socialite and philanthropist—and her real-estate mogul husband, Jackson, are a couple straight out of a fairy tale.

Amber’s envy could eat her alive . . . if she didn’t have a plan. Amber uses Daphne’s compassion and caring to insinuate herself into the family’s life—the first step in a meticulous scheme to undermine her. Before long, Amber is Daphne’s closest confidante, traveling to Europe with the Parrishes and their lovely young daughters, and growing closer to Jackson. But a skeleton from her past may undermine everything that Amber has worked towards, and if it is discovered, her well-laid plan may fall to pieces.

Synopsis From Goodreads

“The Housemaid” Synopsis

“Welcome to the family,” Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant, manicured hand. I smile politely, gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like. But I’ll soon learn that the Winchesters’ secrets are far more dangerous than my own…

Every day I clean the Winchesters’ beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor.

I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband.

I only try on one of Nina’s pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it’s like. But she soon finds out… and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late.

But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don’t know who I really am.

They don’t know what I’m capable of…

Synopsis From GoodReads

Disclaimer

I want to start my review of these two books by saying once again, These are my opinions and any talk about similarities/plagiarism is all alleged. I ask that you take what I say with a grain of salt and make your own opinions through your own research and reading.

Thank you

When reading the synopsis of both books I don’t feel like you see too many similarities. The biggest similarity is that a seemingly down on her luck girl makes acquaintances with a rich family and ultimately intertwines her life with theirs. At that point it sounds more like a similar trope. You may pick up “The Housemaid” because you really enjoyed “The Last Mrs. Parish” or vice versa hoping to read a book that has a similar vibe only to get 15% into the book and realize that something feels oddly familiar. By the time you make it 50% of the way through and you hit part two in both books you will realize they both flip to the wife’s perspective and she lays out her whole plot line that reveals the big twist!

The character motivations are almost Identical for each character. Why don’t we break them down one by one.

Amber (Main Character in “The Last Mrs. Parish”) is an ex convict who finds a new rich best friend and convinces her to get her a job within the husbands company so she can work with him directly and make him fall in love with her. Millie (Main Character in “The Housemaid”) is an ex convict who needs a job to stay afloat in her life, she ends up working for a rich family and just so happens to fall in love with the rich husband.

These characters are probably the most different out of the ones I will be discussing.

They both end up as the victims in these books but the big difference is how they ultimately found their way into this trap. Amber knew she wanted Jackson, she studied him and his family and basically targeted them all so she could be the wife of the rich CEO and live a lavish life that she felt she deserved. Whereas, Millie was just looking for a good job so she could afford to live somewhere that wasn’t her car and ended up being handpicked by her employer knowing that Millie would end up falling in love with her psychopathic husband and ultimately take her place as his victim.

I never felt bad for Amber but Millie on the other hand really deserved better! Amber is immediately coming off as the villain while Millie is just down on her luck and finds herself in a sticky situation.

Daphne (Wife in “The Last Mrs. Parish”) is A nice woman who marries the wrong guy and has to find a way out of her marriage to protect her and her children. She comes off as a really great friend who has a hidden agenda. Nina (wife in “The Housemaid”) is A seemingly horrible woman who in the end is actually a very nice lady who had to act horrible to save her and her child from her horrible husband.

The difference with these characters is the way they initially present themselves. Nina comes off crazy but really it is all an act to get Millie to take her place as Andrews Wife/victim. Whereas, Daphne is a sweet woman who realizes she’s being used by Amber so why not get something out of it and help Amber and Jackson get together so she can finally be rid of her abusive husband. Ultimately these woman had the same motive just different ways to accomplish their plans.

Jackson (Husband in “The Last Mrs. Parish”) is A Seemingly perfect husband and father who owns his own company and turns out to be a psychopath. Andrew (Husband in “The Housemaid”) is A Seemingly perfect husband and father who owns his own company and turns out to be a psychopath.

These are the most identical characters between the two books.

The biggest difference in these characters is that Andrew literally locks his wife, and later on Millie, in the attic and forces them to do punishments in order to be let out. Whereas, Jackson mostly just emotionally abuses the women and occasionally will hold a gun to their head. So yes, there is a slight difference in the escalation these men take throughout the book but the root of the problem is having a perfect wife/life and if the women don’t live up to these expectations then they will be punished. Both men in these books had their wives committed to a mental health institution for supposedly causing harm to their children when truthfully they are both good mothers.

I ended up rating both of these books exactly the same, 2.5 Stars, because they both fell short in my opinion. I do think “The Housemaid” had a better plot twist but in my opinion the writing felt very repetitive and I was quite bored with the book till the 50% mark came along and the plot twist was revealed. With “The Last Mrs. Parish” I thought the writing was great and I was interested in the first 50% of the book but the plot twist didn’t quite live up to “The Housemaid” which ultimately dropped my rating significantly. This leads me to believe that if I had read “The Last Mrs. Parish” before I had read “The Housemaid” I probably would have rated it higher which is unfortunate because it was written first and was ripped off by “The Housemaid” in my honest opinion.

I advise you to read these and make your own opinions as you may not agree with me and that is ok. Everything mentioned here in my article is based on my own opinion and all plagiarism suspicions are alleged but I will not be swayed from this and will not be reading any more Frieda McFadden books no matter how great people tell me they are.

Thank you for reading this, I appreciate you!

Book Review: “Bridgerton: The Duke & I” By Julia Quinn

I am not a historical reader at all but all the hype over the TV show got me really excited over the idea of reading historical romances. I ended up finishing the first two books while I was on vacation and spoiler alert, I loved them! This honestly surprised me haha.

“Men are sheep. Where one goes, the rest will soon follow.
-Lady Whistledown”
― Julia Quinn, The Duke and I

About The Book

Author: Julia Quinn

Publisher: Avon Books

Published Date: January 5th, 2000

Page Count: 384 Pages

Genres: Historical Romance, Historical Fiction

GoodReads Rating: 3.8

Format: Physical

“And if you say that’s because you lot barged into her home like a herd of mentally deficient sheep, I’m disowning all three of you.”
― Julia Quinn, The Duke and I

Synopsis

In the ballrooms and drawing rooms of Regency London, rules abound. From their earliest days, children of aristocrats learn how to address an earl and curtsey before a prince—while other dictates of the ton are unspoken yet universally understood. A proper duke should be imperious and aloof. A young, marriageable lady should be amiable… but not too amiable.

Daphne Bridgerton has always failed at the latter. The fourth of eight siblings in her close-knit family, she has formed friendships with the most eligible young men in London. Everyone likes Daphne for her kindness and wit. But no one truly desires her. She is simply too deuced honest for that, too unwilling to play the romantic games that captivate gentlemen.

Amiability is not a characteristic shared by Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings. Recently returned to England from abroad, he intends to shun both marriage and society—just as his callous father shunned Simon throughout his painful childhood. Yet an encounter with his best friend’s sister offers another option. If Daphne agrees to a fake courtship, Simon can deter the mamas who parade their daughters before him. Daphne, meanwhile, will see her prospects and her reputation soar.

The plan works like a charm—at first. But amid the glittering, gossipy, cut-throat world of London’s elite, there is only one certainty: love ignores every rule…

Synopsis From GoodReads

Book Rating

Season One TV Rating

Review

First thing I want to talk about is that this book has a trigger warning near the end of the book that I was not ready for. It was a rape scene that truly took me by surprise and left me feeling uneasy, I wish that I would have looked up any possible triggers before reading it as this book probably could have been 5 stars if I knew to expect that trigger. Take care of your self when reading books and look up triggers before you pick one up.

I really loved Daphne and Simon, I felt like the fake dating in the book played out really well and had me rooting for them from the start. Where as season one of the TV show I actually didn’t care for the couple at all, I didn’t really feel them falling in love in the show and I think that was based on some of the changes they made for the adaptation. I also think its super hard to really grow a connection with characters in only 8 Episodes. Lets start a petition to bring back longer TV Seasons!

Now this isn’t me saying I didn’t like the first season of the TV show but I really have to think of them as separate things as I liked the book and I liked the show but I don’t like them when I compare them against one another. I feel like the TV show really helped expand on the other characters in the book rather than only focusing on the lead couple which I truly enjoyed. The book just left the side characters with hardly any story and I guess that’s because each sibling gets their own book but I would have loved to hear more from Eloise and the Featheringtons in the first book.

I really enjoyed the overall character arch’s for these main characters. Daphne wants to be loved and have a big family while Simon doesn’t want any of that all out of spite for his father. At first neither could give one another what they wanted but overtime as their love grew you could see their walls come crumbling down and overall help one another in their struggles. This is why I loved the book, Julia really made you feel their love and desire for one another and showed that if you love someone your entire life can change.

Lastly, I love Lady Whistledown! I think having this Mysterious Author is such a fun bit of gossip to keep you on your toes. I love that the books keep her identity a secret. I was not expecting the show to tell us so early on who Lady Whistledown was and that kind of upset me if I am being honest with you but this opinion may change as I continue with the books.

I do recommend reading the books before watching the TV show as I would with any other adaptation but at the same time it may leave you feeling conflicted as both are good in their own ways.

“There were rules among friends, commandments, really, and the most important one was Thou Shalt Not Lust After Thy Friend’s Sister.”
― Julia Quinn, The Duke and I

QOTD: Who is your Favorite Bridgerton Character?

Book Review: “Part of Your World” By Abby Jimenez

I have had this book on my physical TBR since it came out in 2022. I have heard a lot of great things about this book but I just felt that it had to be over hyped but man oh man was I wrong! I really wish I would have read this book sooner.

“Grace costs you nothing”
Abby Jimenez, Part of Your World

About The Book

Author: Abby Jimenez

Publisher: Forever Publishing

Published Date: April 19th, 2022

Page count: 400 Pages

Main Genres: Romance

GoodReads Rating: 4.3

Format: Audio

“When you don’t care, everything’s on your terms. They can take it or leave it. It doesn’t matter to you, so ask for whatever the hell you want.”
Abby Jimenez, Part of Your World

Synopsis

After a wild bet, gourmet grilled-cheese sandwich, and cuddle with a baby goat, Alexis Montgomery has had her world turned upside down. The cause: Daniel Grant, a ridiculously hot carpenter who’s ten years younger than her and as casual as they come—the complete opposite of sophisticated city-girl Alexis. And yet their chemistry is undeniable.

While her ultra-wealthy parents want her to carry on the family legacy of world-renowned surgeons, Alexis doesn’t need glory or fame. She’s fine with being a “mere” ER doctor. And every minute she spends with Daniel and the tight-knit town where he lives, she’s discovering just what’s really important. Yet letting their relationship become anything more than a short-term fling would mean turning her back on her family and giving up the opportunity to help thousands of people.

Bringing Daniel into her world is impossible, and yet she can’t just give up the joy she’s found with him either. With so many differences between them, how can Alexis possibly choose between her world and his?

Synopsis from GoodReads

Rating

Review

I am so happy that I listened to this book via Audio. The narration was done by both a female and male voice for the different chapter POV’s. The narrators were probably what made this five stars if I am honest with you. Which is funny because I rarely give audio books 5 stars let alone review them because I struggle to pay attention but again the narrators really pulled me into the book and in the end I was glued.

I really loved both of our main characters. They kept saying how their lives don’t fit together and how the relationship could never work because of it. Yes, they have very different lives but the basic foundation of their lives are very similar which made it easy to see them together. Surprisingly the one thing that I struggled with at the start was just how perfect the male lead was, this man could never do anything wrong but I was oddly ok with this as the book went on.

A lot of the issues that came up in the book felt like they had pretty obvious answers but still took the whole book for them to be resolved. I think this was my one issue with the book but at the same time it was pretty easy to look past and get over. This is mostly because the things holding our main character back in the grand scheme of things had some difficult repercussions.

This book was so much better that I had originally thought it would be and I am very grateful for this. I needed a cute and light romance read to keep me company while Noah was in New York.

“Love follows you. It goes where you go. It doesn’t know about social divides or distance or common sense. It doesn’t even stop when the person you love dies. It does what it wants.”
Abby Jimenez, Part of Your World

QOTD: Who is your Auto-buy Romance Author?

“It’s amazing how someone can touch you, even if you only know them for a moment in time. How they can change you, alter you indelibly.”
Abby Jimenez, Part of Your World

Book Review: “Funny Story” By Emily Henry

This book has been one of my most anticipated reads of 2024 right behind Casey McQuiston’s upcoming Novel “The Pairing” which comes out this August. Both authors are auto buy authors for me. None of their romance books have ever let me down with the lowest rating for both authors being a 4.5.

I have also been in a huge slump this year. I have read 25 books which is amazing but nothing has been a 5 star read which has been honestly pretty sad and hasn’t really gotten me excited to read. I made a blog post last week about my Five Star Predictions with Funny Story being number one on that list. Let me tell you this book did not disappoint!

“I was never the one just having fun. I was the one anticipating consequences.”
― Emily Henry, Funny Story

About The Book

Author: Emily Henry

Publisher: Berkley

Published Date: April 23rd, 2024

Page Count: 400 Pages

Main Genres: Romance, Contemporary

GoodReads Rating: 4.44

Synopsis

Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it…right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.

Which is how Daphne begins her new story: Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.

Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?

But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex…right?

Synopsis from GoodReads

Rating

“It’s easy to be loved by the ones who’ve never seen you fuck up. The ones you’ve never had to apologize to, and who still think all your ‘quirks’ are charming.”
― Emily Henry, Funny Story

Review

I like to go into my books basically blind. Meaning i don’t know much if anything about the synopsis of a book before I dive in. Could this be self sabotage? I suppose it leads to that sometimes, But most of the time I find that a book holds my interest more if I don’t already know the direction it will be going in. I state this because I had no clue this is a fake dating book until my boyfriend read the synopsis and just started laughing. It is a running joke in my house that I am just attracted to fake dating tropes as almost every romance book I blindly purchase ends up being fake dating.

For the first time in awhile I actually didn’t find any of the main characters annoying which was a huge shock to me! I have just been finding a lot of main characters in romance books very unlikeable and unrelatable which makes it really hard to finish the book. In fact, this book was more relatable than I thought it would be.

I really enjoyed the serious conversations directed towards dysfunctional families and the healing that comes after. A lot of the main characters faults came from their childhood traumas that they endured and that felt really refreshing. Especially because they could both relate to one another and give advice and reassurance when needed. But at the same time they both experienced different challenges growing up so they may not have always had the best advice but it was nice to know that they had someone to lean on.

This book really hit all the big relationship groups family, friends, lovers and it was written very well! Especially the friendship subplot. It really focused on how hard it can be to make friends as an adult but even just in life in general. One key take away with this is not to judge a book by its cover. She did just that with her friend in the book and it overall took them a year to connect even though they worked at the same place. It is a nice reminder that everyone is going through their own things and just starting a deeper conversation can truly open up a whole new side of a person you may have not had the chance to see until you have actually tried making that connection.

The best part about this book was the slow burn! I was so positive things would escalate quickly between the main characters but every time they got close it would immediately cool down, it kept me hooked into the story for sure!

Typically in books I don’t like the third act conflict as they feel redundant and just overall ridiculous and end up making the book lose its five star rating. With this book I had no issues with the third act conflict and I was shocked! I actually kind of agreed with the issue at hand and I think it was handled really well! In fact it is one of the reasons her friendship ends up working out in the end.

Overall I am so happy with this book! Emily Henry pulled me out of a horrible slump and I am not surprised. I highly recommend reading at least one of her books, if not this one, maybe try “Book Lovers”.

“Trust people’s actions, not their words. Don’t love anyone who isn’t ready to love you back. Let go of the people who don’t hold on to you. Don’t wait on anyone who’s in no rush to get to you.”
Emily Henry, Funny Story

QOTD: Should I rank Emily Henry’s Books? This may require a re-read but I am not opposed.

“You can’t force a person to show up, but you can learn a lesson when they don’t”
Emily Henry, Funny Story