Romance – Page 3 – World of Bai

Book Review: “The Right Move” By Liz Tomforde

This is the Second book in the “Windy City” Series by Liz Tomforde. I loved the first book so much (See my Full Review Here) But I was a little hesitant to pick up the second. The first book was a hockey romance which is something I love but this one was a basketball romance which I honestly was not interested in. This made me not want to read the second book as I don’t understand the appeal of basketball. However, upon further review my first love was Troy Bolton the Basketball Star in High School Musical so apparently it was easy to slip back to that time of my life.

“His quiet love. It’s always the loudest.”
Liz Tomforde, The Right Move

My “Windy City” Series Reviews

Mile High – By Liz Tomforde

Caught Up – By Liz Tomforde

Play Along – Liz Tomforde

About The Book

Author: Liz Tomforde

Publisher: Golden Boy Publishing

Published Date: February 7th, 2023

Page count: 426 Pages

Main Genre: Romance

GoodReads Rating: 4.41

Format: E-Book

“At some point, I should probably tell her that my love language is whichever one she wants it to be so she can stop guessing. I’ll make sure that girl feels loved however she needs.”
Liz Tomforde, The Right Move

Synopsis

RYAN

She’s a distraction, that’s what she is.

I’m the newest Captain of the Devils, Chicago’s NBA team, and the last thing I needed this year was for Indy Ivers, my sister’s best friend, to move into my apartment. She’s messy, emotional, and way too tempting.

But when the team’s General Manager vocalizes his blatant disapproval of my promotion to Captain, referring to me as an unapproachable lone wolf with no work-life balance, I can’t think of a better way to convince him otherwise than pretending to date my outgoing roommate.

The only problem? Faking it feels far too natural.

Having a fake girlfriend wasn’t supposed to be messy but having Indy under my roof and in my bed is complicated, especially when she wants all the romantic parts of life that I could never give her.

INDY

I never imagined I’d be living with my best friend’s brother, NBA superstar Ryan Shay. Even more unbelievable? He needs me to act as his loving girlfriend who’s suddenly changed him into a friendly and approachable guy.

Because, well…he’s not. He’s controlling of his space and untrusting of others.

Our arrangement isn’t one-sided, though. I’m in a wedding coming up, one where every one of my childhood friends, including my ex-boyfriend, will be in attendance, and there’s no better date than my ex’s celebrity hero.

Blurred lines make it almost impossible to separate real from fake. Falling for my roommate was never part of the deal, especially when Ryan is quick to remind me that he doesn’t believe in love.

I’m a romantic and can’t help fantasizing that he’ll change, but soon enough, I find myself questioning if sharing a roof with my best friend’s brother was the right move after all

Synopsis From GoodReads

“This is practically a how-to manual on how to please a woman. How are more men not reading these?”
Liz Tomforde, The Right Move

Rating

“I know I don’t have your history, but I want your future.”
Liz Tomforde, The Right Move

Review

Possible Spoilers Ahead

Like I mentioned above, I was not excited to read a basketball romance but this book really surprised me! Maybe I don’t care too much about the sport as I was originally expected. A football romance might still be too much for me though…

This book follows Stevie’s best friend Indy who is down on her luck and needs a place to stay. Stevie’s brother Ryan now has an empty room so he reluctantly lets Indy stay with him while she saves up for her own place.

This was a really cute fake dating read. Ryan is very Type A and Indy is a walking hurricane, realistically these two would hate each other but with a little forced proximity romance was able to grow. They may have had to fake their relationship at first but it didn’t take long before their little crushes on one another overtook their fake dating. Essentially they were only lying to themselves.

The banter was amazing with these two! I was swooning practically every page, especially when they would talk about Indy’s romance books. Ryan is the walking/breathing book boyfriend that Indy had always dreamt of. Maybe this is why I really liked the book, I am a sucker for a man with book boyfriend potential!

My favorite part of this book is the list they made for one another to help them better themselves. Indy has issues being alone but being left by the man she thought she would marry really had her shook so Ryan was determined to help her learn how to be alone and think of herself for the first time in her life by creating her a list, top of the list was sleeping in her bed alone without a wall of pillows beside her acting as a makeshift person. I love that Ryan was so willing to help Indy even in the beginning when he wasn’t sure he wanted her in his space.

Overall, this book really had me hooked from the beginning and I was truly shocked at how much I loved it! I truly am a sucker for all the characters in this world and I can’t wait to read the rest!

“How else would you get to live a thousand lives in the span of only one? The beauty of fiction is that it makes you feel things on a visceral level. You can cry with those characters, laugh with them. It teaches you to look at another’s perspective, to have empathy. In nonfiction, you simply learn about something instead of feeling it.”
Liz Tomforde, The Right Move

QOTD: What Sports do you like to read about in your Sport Romances?

“Sometimes the quietest love is the loudest.”
Liz Tomforde, The Right Move

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: “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

Book Review: “Dungeons and Drama” By Kristy Boyce

This book was Mostly just a cover buy, I normally don’t love the look of covers that have people on them even if it is a cartoon drawing but the bright pink and over all esthetic of this cover really pulls you in. My boyfriend also really loves DND and I really love musicals so this just felt like the perfect book for me to pick up.

“I decided having something fake with you was better than having nothing at all. I would have faked it forever rather than give you up.”
Kristy Boyce, Dungeons and Drama

About The Book

Author: Kristy Boyce

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Published Date: January 9th, 2024

Page Count: 304 Pages

Main Genres: Romance, YA, Contemporary

GoodReads Rating: 4.23

Format: Physical Book

Synopsis

Musical lover Riley has big aspirations to become a director on Broadway. Crucial to this plan is to bring back her high school’s spring musical, but when Riley takes her mom’s car without permission, she’s grounded and stuck with the worst punishment: spending her after-school hours working at her dad’s game shop.

Riley can’t waste her time working when she has a musical to save, so she convinces Nathan—a nerdy teen employee—to cover her shifts and, in exchange, she’ll flirt with him to make his gamer-girl crush jealous.

But Riley didn’t realize that meant joining Nathan’s Dungeons & Dragons game…or that role playing would be so fun. Soon, Riley starts to think that flirting with Nathan doesn’t require as much acting as she would’ve thought…

Synopsis From GoodReads

Rating

Review

As a reminder mild spoilers may be ahead.

Despite this being a cover buy, I did actually read this for a potential buddy read in February and I was shocked at how quickly I actually flew through this one.

I will be the first to admit that the first 50-75 pages of this book were beyond boring and I was close to DNF’ing the book before I hit that mark. Once I did hit 50 ish to 75 ish pages I read it in one sitting! So it does pick up pace I promise.

I don’t know what it is but the main girl characters in books lately have all just been a tad bit annoying to me. I am not sure if this is a me problem or if authors just like writing annoying female leads. Riley is quite head strong and she will do anything she can to make the musical happen for her school which is great but honestly I cared more about the dungeons and dragons story line more than the musical aspect of this book. I love that she picked a bard as her DND character as it does fit her really well, and again this is a me problem, but I really hated that she was actually singing broadway songs during the campaign. Again, I know this is who she is and there is honestly nothing wrong with it but I personally could never and in my mind the songs had nothing to do with the game or the situation she was needing them for so in my mind it was just cringey and showboaty.

Kind of along the same lines as above, Riley literally is the whole reason this school musical happens which is great, girl bossing. But it just felt so unrealistic, the teacher literally said you will have to do this on your own, like excuse me? I have never been in theater so I am truly not an expert on the topic and I did come from a school that was number one in state drama comps so my school was seriously into their theater shows and theres no way that the student body could have pulled this off, maybe it is different in a smaller school but again It all feels too perfect in my eyes.

Now, let’s talk about the romance. I love a good fake dating trope and I really loved Nate! I knew as soon as Nate walked into the scene I would have no issues with him. Sure he is pining for another girl but you can quickly tell he has more interest in Riley than anyone else but he is just too awkward to come out and say that. I do think our characters had chemistry with each other and I am pleased with the way the book ended things. I felt like our third act conflict was a tad annoying but I also think that about most conflicts in romance books.

I know this maybe sounds like a negative review but honestly I am just being nit-picky. After all I devoured this book in one sitting because I was truly invested in this fake dating even if everyone knew they were fake dating but Sophia. I love a good jealousy plot after all.

If you have this book on your radar I do suggest giving it a chance. It’s a super light and quick read that you can knock off your list, so why not?

QOTD: How do you feel about YA books?