Buddy Read – World of Bai

Book Review: “The Unhoneymooners” By Christina Lauren

I read this book for a buddy read that I am hosting at the end of this month and to be honest I have a lot to talk about with this book! With that said you should come join in on this buddy read and join in on this conversation.

I apparently tried to read this book back in August and only read the first two chapters before my mood swapped from romance to thriller. So this book has been on my back burner for awhile and I am pretty upset that I hadn’t picked it up sooner. Keep reading to see my thoughts!

“I knew he was a book lover, but to be the same kind of book lover I am? It makes my insides melt.”
Direct Quote

About The Book

Author: Christina Lauren

Publisher: Gallery Books

Published Date: May 14th 2019

Page Count: 400 pages

Main Genres: Romance, Contemporary and Fiction

GoodReads Rating: 4.01

“I can appreciate my body in a bikini and still want to set fire to the patriarchy.”
Direct Quote

Synopsis

Olive is the complete polar opposite of her twin sister Ami. Olive is just unlucky in all aspects of life where as her sister who is getting married to a nearly perfect guy can now get married for practically nothing when she wins contest after contest to help her plan her dream wedding.

However, on the wedding day everyone comes down with food poisoning except for Olive and her arch nemesis Ethan, the grooms brother. This leaves the Honeymoon up for grabs and there is no way unemployed Olive is going to sit and mope in her lonely apartment while her enemy gets to enjoy an all paid trip to Hawaii.

The catch? They have to put all hatred aside to put on the perfect show of a happily newlywed couple so they don’t get caught committing fraud. Can these two put their hate aside to enjoy a once in a life time vacation or will they get caught in all their lies?

“You don’t get to choose the circumstances. That’s the point of luck: it happens when and where it happens.”
Direct Quote

Rating

“It’s so exhausting pretending to hate you.”
Direct Quote

Review

Once I started this book it was pretty hard to put it down! It took me three days to read this book. Now to some of you this might seem like a long time but for me I average one book a week, so to finish this in three days I know I must have enjoyed it!

It started off kind of slow, it picked up around page 80 or 90 and once I past that I was reading until I had no choice but to put it down. I think the writing was gorgeous! I loved each character individually and even though the trope feels over played I didn’t care. It was a book that just kept giving!

I know I stated I liked the characters individually but lets talk about Olive and Ethan as a couple. I hated them as a couple! I do not ship them, boot them off the island! Their relationship was soooooooo exhausting. Sorry for all the o’s back there but I need you to fully understand how I feel. Every chapter they were off and on and I just wanted to strangle them both! The arguments every other page felt pointless. I just wanted to fall in love with them but they made it so hard! Now with that said the few steamy scenes in there were really what made me root for them in the end.

Something I took away from this book is that it is important to find a partner who fully trusts you and understands your feelings. Don’t let anyone make you feel like your feelings are invalid! You are worthy of so much more!

Even though I hated Olive and Ethan as a couple I liked the story and the characters alone enough to give this a decent rating. This book also had a lot of humor that made up for the parts that had you screaming. Over all this was a pretty cute and fun book. definitely worth the read!

“It’s the strangest feeling to be proud simply because I’m taking care of me and mine. Is this what it’s like to grow up?”
Direct Quote

Come join us!

Don’t forget to come join my buddy read for this book! We have a few weeks left for you to catch up before we fully discuss the book! Just let me know to get you added!

QOTD: Do you have characters who you just hate as a couple?

Book Review: “Weather Girl” By Rachel Lynn Solomon

This book is actually one of the books I chose to read for my group buddy read this February. We aren’t having our group discussion until the last week of the month but I sped through this book! I am really excited to share my thoughts and deep dive into my burning questions with my reading group!

It is not too late to join in! If you like my review for this book let me know and we can get you added to our buddy read! I am so excited!

“There’s rainwater in these veins instead of blood.”
Direct quote from page 18.

About The Book

Author: Rachel Lynn Solomon

Published date: January 11th 2022

Publisher: Berkley

Page Count: 352

Main Genres: Romance and Contemporary

GoodReads Rating: 3.90

“The only things I kept from him were for his own good. Although lately, I’ve been wondering how happy I really was with him if I hid that much of myself.”
Direct quote from page 41.

Synopsis

Ari is working her dream job as the weather girl for the local news station and her boss happens to be her childhood hero, Torrance Hale. The only issue is that Torrance isn’t the best mentor, she is way too focused on making her ex husbands life difficult rather than to help Ari grow in her profession. The problem with this is that it creates a hostile work environment.

When a work Christmas party gets out of hand, Ari and her sports reporter co-worker Russell devise a plan to get their bosses back together and to bring happiness and structure back to the news station.

Now that Ari and Russell are working so closely together maybe more than just one relationship can blossom.

“That’s the thing about depression. You can know it’s there, know it’s part of you, but you can go ages without seeing it. It lives with you, an invisible roommate, up until the time you start sinking, and then it sprawls itself across your couch and kicks its feet up on your coffee table and uses up all the hot water. Never pays its half of the rent, either.”
Direct quote from page 287

Rating

“It’s still scary as fuck though.” “Putting your heart out there and not knowing whether the other person will be careful with it.”
Direct quote from page 295

Review

This book was recently released just less than a month ago and it caught my eye on the day it released! I knew I would read this and love it!

I picked this book up and it only took like three sittings to finish. I started it right before my vacation and ended it the day I got back, and no I didn’t read a page while I was in Disneyland… I had no time!

This book lived up to my expectations fully and really entertained me. It was really well written and it was a super cute read. Also it had some decent steamy scenes!

Ari was honestly such a cute character! I loved her little hobbies and how true and honest she is with herself. I really need to purchase some of her jewelry! As for Russell, I loved that he was a realistic father with the dad bod and all. When you read romances things feel way exaggerated with the characters but these two felt like real life people that I could picture.

The author wrote this in such a respectful way when talking about depression. As someone who struggles with anxiety and depression I felt like this book was speaking to me. I fund some of the quotes very relatable which was a nice touch. When I read the blurb before the book the author talked about how she wanted to write this in a respectful way and even added the suicide hotlines in the book if anyone who was struggling needed to talk to someone. I appreciate how honest this book got and how it showed that being open about your depression with the most important people in your life can bring you comfort and peace.

Over all the story was really amazing but I also felt it was slow at sometimes and that is the real reason I am giving this four stars.

If you or anyone you love is struggling with depression please reach out to someone. You are never alone! I am always someone you can come to on a rough day. If you are having suicidal thoughts please reach out to the number listed below. Please know that you matter and someone cares about you. Sending all my love and virtual hugs!

National Suicide Prevention Line: 800-273-8255

QOTD: Would you rather read a book with a male lead who has all the muscles and fancy job or one with a dad bod and a normal life? Does it matter?

Buddy Read

If you would like to join the buddy read this is the schedule if you would like to read at this pace or if you are a fast reader and finish before that is perfectly fine! Here is all the information. Come join us!

Buddy Read

Valentine’s Buddy Read with Bai.books (AKA Me)

Love is in the air!

I have decided for the month of February and maybe the months to follow I would like to host a buddy read! This month is based on romance reads due to the Valentine’s day Holiday. I was originally only going to pick one book for this because hosting two chats can be intimidating. However, I decided to host two this month because I have been dying to read both of these books!

The Books

“The Unhoneymooners” By Christina Lauren

Olive is always unlucky: in her career, in love, in…well, everything. Her identical twin sister Ami, on the other hand, is probably the luckiest person in the world. Her meet-cute with her fiancé is something out of a romantic comedy (gag) and she’s managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a series of Internet contests (double gag). Worst of all, she’s forcing Olive to spend the day with her sworn enemy, Ethan, who just happens to be the best man.

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 bad shellfish, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. And now there’s an all-expenses-paid honeymoon in Hawaii up for grabs.

Putting their mutual hatred aside for the sake of a free vacation, Olive and Ethan head for paradise, determined to avoid each other at all costs. But when Olive runs into her future boss, the little white lie she tells him is suddenly at risk to become a whole lot bigger. She and Ethan now have to pretend to be loving newlyweds, and her luck seems worse than ever. But the weird thing is that she doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, she feels kind of… lucky.

4.01 Average rating on GoodReads

“Weather Girl” By Rachel Lynn Solomon

Ari Abrams has always been fascinated by the weather, and she loves almost everything about her job as a TV meteorologist. Her boss, legendary Seattle weatherwoman Torrance Hale, is too distracted by her tempestuous relationship with her ex-husband, the station’s news director, to give Ari the mentorship she wants. Ari, who runs on sunshine and optimism, is at her wits’ end. The only person who seems to understand how she feels is sweet but reserved sports reporter Russell Barringer.

In the aftermath of a disastrous holiday party, Ari and Russell decide to team up to solve their bosses’ relationship issues. Between secret gifts and double dates, they start nudging their bosses back together. But their well-meaning meddling backfires when the real chemistry builds between Ari and Russell.

Working closely with Russell means allowing him to get to know parts of herself that Ari keeps hidden from everyone. Will he be able to embrace her dark clouds as well as her clear skies?

3.97 Average rating on GoodReads

Reading Schedules

If you are wanting to join in on one or even both of these buddy reads please head over to my Instagram and comment on my buddy read post! I will then get you added to the chats for that particular book.

The group chats will be held on a designated night that we all vote upon in the group chat. We will then be able to discuss the book and talk about reading schedules. As I get the updated information I will update this blog post.

I am so excited to be hosting these buddy reads and I hope you are all excited to join!