Romance – Page 4 – World of Bai

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?

Book Review: “Flawless” By Elsie Silver

At this point in the year I have read 17 books and it is only the beginning of March! I truly hope this streak continues, but with that said I am quite behind on reviews as I haven’t posted any since January. Will I catch up on all of them? Probably not but now I have some back up reviews to fall onto if needed.

I honestly had no desire to pick this book/series up. Sure I have heard quite a few good things about it but I haven’t really been feeling romance books as of late. However, I met a new friend and she wanted to read something together and this was one that we could agree on and to say I devoured it would be an understatement.

“You were out there this whole time, and now I know you exist, and I can never go back. Wouldn’t want to if I could.”
Elsie Silver, Flawless

About The Book

Author: Elsie Silver

Publisher: Bloom Books

Published Date: June 24th, 2022

Page Count: 400

Main Genres: Sports Romance, contemporary

GoodReads Rating: 4.01

Format: Physical Book

“I’m tired of doing what I should and ignoring what I want. And what I want is you. Inside me. All around me. I want you with me. And I want to be the only one.”
Elsie Silver, Flawless

Synopsis

The rules were simple. Keep my hands off his daughter and stay out of trouble.

But now I’m stuck with her. There’s only one bed. And well, rules are made to be broken.

I’m the face of professional bull riding—the golden boy. Or at least I was, until it all blew up in my face. Now my agent says I have to clean up my image, so I’m stuck with his ball-busting daughter for the rest of the season as my “full-time supervision.”

But I don’t need a goddamn babysitter, especially one with skin-tight jeans, a sexy smirk, and a mouth she can’t stop running.

A mouth I can’t stop thinking about.

Because Summer isn’t just another conquest. She sees the man behind the mask, and she doesn’t run—she pulls me closer, even when she shouldn’t.

She says this means nothing.

I say this means everything.

She says there are boundaries we shouldn’t cross. That my reputation can’t take any more hits—and neither can her damaged heart.

I say I’m going to steal it anyway.

Synopsis From GoodReads

Rating

3.75

Review

As me and my friend were wandering Barns and Noble we realized quickly that we seem to have different tastes in books which there is nothing wrong with. But she leans more towards fantasy and far away from thrillers. Where I am a thriller girly and have only recently tried dipping my toe into fantasy. The safest option for us to buddy read was a romance. While debating what book to pick we had at least 5 people come up to us and recommend this series. So this is for all five of you who said we wouldn’t regret picking this up. (P.S.) While I write this my friend hasn’t even started the book… OOPS…

Do I regret reading this book? No, absolutely not. Did I adore it just as much as everyone else? Well… That’s also a no, but based on the Average GoodReads rating I fell just below the average person in enjoyment, that is not too bad in my opinion.

When I first read the back of the book and found out this was about a Bull Rider I wasn’t all that interested. Look I am from a small country town but the rodeo was not a scene I particularly enjoyed. But for this being about Bull Riding we really didn’t read too much about that particular aspect, Sure we read a few quick paragraphs about his rides but once the comps were over it dove more into small town country life so it really wasn’t in my face as much as I thought it would be which pleasantly surprised me.

I read this book in practically one sitting meaning I read 75% in one day which is extremely quick for me! This is a super fluffy quick read that doesn’t take much, if any, brain power. I would rate the spice at like a 2/5, so there wasn’t too much spice compared to other books I have read but my oh my the pining was so good! The first spicey scene wasn’t till at least half way so we really got to get to know the characters and see them fall for each other which really helped this books rating on my side of things.

I do think these characters made a good couple. I really like that we start of with an uptight main character and get to watch her slowly let go of the “reins” Haha see what I did there? The character development was probably one of my favorite parts of this book.

The biggest issue I had with this book is that we had quite a few side characters but didn’t get a lot of information on them and this is of course because they get their own books later down the line and Elsie can’t spoil anything for their stories. In a way this made me excited to pick up the other books but also left me with burning questions that made it hard to to care about their characters and the roles they play in the main characters lives. I just felt a lack of connection to some of these side characters that hindered this book in its own way. I have heard the series only gets better as you go and I can now understand why.

Do I recommend this book? Sure, if you are interested then go for it but if you are on the edge then I would say you can skip it.

Will I continue this series? Well the second is already in my amazon shopping cart so yeah I will probably continue but only because I am into hockey romances at the moment and “Powerless” is just that!

“If this were my last moment alive, how would I want it to be?”
Elsie Silver, Flawless

QOTD: What Romance Series are you obsessed with?

Book Review: “Ruthless Vows” By Rebecca Ross

Divine Rivals was up for the running for my top books of 2023 so I was beyond excited to start the second and final book in this series. We read Divine Rivals as my book club pick for November so we decided to read Ruthless Vows as Buddy read and me and my friends had a blast discussing this.

This is a second and final book in a duology so there may be spoilers ahead, proceed with caution if you haven’t read Divine Rivals.

“Their souls weren’t mirrors but complements, constellations that burned side by side.”
Rebecca Ross, Ruthless Vows

About The Book

Author: Rebecca Ross

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Published Date: December 26th, 2023

Page Count: 432 Pages

Main Genres: Fantasy, Romance

GoodReads Rating: 4.31

Format: Physical Book

“For anyone who sought a different realm through a wardrobe door, Who wrote a letter and is still waiting for a reply, Or who dreams of stories and bleeds words.”
Rebecca Ross, Ruthless Vows

Synopsis

Two weeks have passed since Iris Winnow returned home bruised and heartbroken from the front, but the war is far from over. Roman is missing, and the city of Oath continues to dwell in a state of disbelief and ignorance. When Iris and Attie are given another chance to report on Dacre’s movements, they both take the opportunity and head westward once more despite the danger, knowing it’s only a matter of time before the conflict reaches a city that’s unprepared and fracturing beneath the chancellor’s reign.

Since waking below in Dacre’s realm, Roman cannot remember his past. But given the reassurance that his memories will return in time, Roman begins to write articles for Dacre, uncertain of his place in the greater scheme of the war. When a strange letter arrives by wardrobe door, Roman is first suspicious, then intrigued. As he strikes up a correspondence with his mysterious pen pal, Roman will soon have to make a decision: to stand with Dacre or betray the god who healed him. And as the days grow darker, inevitably drawing Roman and Iris closer together…the two of them will risk their very hearts and futures to change the tides of the war.

Synopsis From Goodreads

Rating

Review

Before you start reading this review I highly recommend reading my Divine Rivals Review. I also want to point out that their will be spoilers in this review so read at your own risk.

This book picked off only two weeks after the ending events of Divine Rivals so we really don’t miss anything and just jump right on in. I really appreciated this as I was worried we would have a time jump and would be going back and fourth on timelines but this was really straight forward and we quickly got into the action.

I really think this book could have been broken into two books. We receive so much information and have so many big things happen in the first half that at that half way point I was just mentally exhausted to the point where I took a few days off of reading to hype myself back up. I am not saying this as a bad thing though. Yes we had a ton of info thrown at us but it was all much needed information, I really don’t think Rebecca could have taken anything out to lighten it up a bit and I don’t know that I would want that in the first place. I just think we could have had two books because of the total amount of events and information and stretched this series out a bit longer because I need more of these characters! Another plus for it being so action packed was that it really did make reading this book fly by! It was truly unput downable (If you don’t count my mental exhaustion break lol).

I absolutely love that we got to see them write more letters back and fourth to each other. I was a bit worried this wouldn’t happen but looking back that feels like a silly thing to worry about seeing how the letters are such a huge factor into their relationship. Speaking of their relationship I have some thoughts… I want, no actually, I need more! By the end of the first book we had just barely fell in love with them before they tragically got ripped apart and in this one we did see their relationship grow but the epilogue left me wanting to know about their lives after. I really want to see them through to the end.

Can we talk about the way I literally was screaming when he found her in that wardrobe! The moment he remembered her and then had to immediately send her away and then watch her get shot at! My Heart! I was just rooting for them the whole time and truly did not want to see anything go wrong for these two, and man oh man did they find themselves in some incredibly sticky situations! This book kept me on my toes!

I will always recommend this series to people, especially those who are newer to fantasy just like me.

“Write me a story where there is no ending, Kitt. Write to me and fill my empty spaces.”
Rebecca Ross, Ruthless Vows

QOTD: What was the first Fantasy Series you ever read all the way through?

Book Review: “A Cat Cafe Christmas” By Codi Gary

This was the last Book I read in 2023 and it was such a perfect romance to end the year on. I am lucky to have friends who know my reading tastes so well that they can provider spot on recommendations, thanks @bees.book.buzz for convincing me to pick this one up during the holidays.

Donation Links

This book talked about how difficult it can be for some of these animal non-profits to make money, In light of that I am going to link the cat cafe’s websites I have recently been too along with their donation tabs if you feel so inclined to donate to one of these amazing places.

Tinkers Cat Cafe (SLC Utah)

Neko Cat Cafe (Seattle WA)

This was Kewpert Mayonnaise, he stole my heart! I was so sad I couldn’t adopt him!

About The Book

Author: Codi Gary

Publisher: Forever Books

Published Date: October 4th, 2022

Page Count: 375 Pages

Main Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Fiction

GoodReads Rating: 3.75

Format: Physical Book

Synopsis

Veterinarian and animal lover Kara Ingalls needs a Christmas miracle. Opening the Meow and Furrever Cat Café to find loving homes for adorable, adoptable cats was a dream come true—but with more cats than customers, it’s quickly turning into a nightmare. If Kara can’t figure out some way to get the café out of the red, it won’t last past the holidays.

Marketing guru Ben Reese may be annoyingly smart and frustratingly bossy, but when he hatches a plan to put the café in the “green” by Christmas, Kara realizes that she’d be a fool to turn down his help. And so what if he turns out to be an excellent problem solver and nerdy-hot—he can’t even handle fostering one little kitten. She needs to keep their relationship professional and focus on saving the cafe.

But if Ben and Kara can set aside their differences—and find homes for all the cats by Christmas—they might discover that, by risking their hearts, they’ll have their own purr-fect holiday . . . together.

Synopsis From GoodReads

Rating

Review

I really haven’t been reading a lot of romance books this year, they just haven’t really been doing it for me like they used too. So I didn’t think this would really interest me all that much especially a holiday romance as I don’t have a great track record with them. But this book was seriously so cute that I couldn’t put it down! I mean how could you go wrong with a book about a cat cafe?! I am a huge sucker for cat cafe’s, in fact me and Noah go to the local one a few times a year and even stopped by one while we were vacationing in Seattle!

This book talked a lot about mental health and the every day struggles people go through especially when having anxiety and panic attacks. I truly loved this representation! The way all the characters handled certain situations just made my heart melt.

The one thing that I truly loved about this book was how little spice was in it. I know this might seem weird to some people but I really just loved reading about the characters emotional connections and watching them grow closer together without physical intimacy being shoved down your throat. In my opinion this was a very cozy romance read and that was exactly what I went in expecting.

Something fun I loved about this book was that each chapter started with one of the adoptable cats names and their cute little bio. Because this was a Christmas read a bunch of the cats names were Christmas themed but they were at least very unique and that made the book just that much better. I highly recommend everyone to read this one!

QOTD: Have you ever been to a cat cafe?

Book Review: “Icebreaker” By Hannah Grace

Icebreaker was honestly a book I wasn’t all that interested in reading. I haven’t been in a romance mood lately let alone a spicy read. I also am not a sports romance girly in general so this book was flying under my radar for multiple reasons. However, I was sent this off of my wish list a few months ago and it was just screaming at me saying “I will give you all the winter vibes!” So I plucked it off of my shelf and gave it a try, here are all my thoughts, the good and the bad.

“You’re my favorite,” I whisper, leaning in to kiss her flushed cheek. “Even if I had crab hands?” “Even if you had crab hands, Anastasia.”
Hannah Grace, Icebreaker

About The Book

Author: Hannah Grace

Publisher: Atria

Published Date: February 7th, 2023

Page Count: 448 Pages

Main Genres: Romance

GoodReads Rating: 3.98

Format: Physical Book

“Of course, I know you really well, Anastasia. You’re my favorite subject.”
Hannah Grace, Icebreaker

Synopsis

Anastasia Allen has worked her entire life for a shot at Team USA. It looks like everything is going according to plan when she gets a full scholarship to the University of California, Maple Hills and lands a place on their competitive figure skating team.

Nothing will stand in her way, not even the captain of the hockey team, Nate Hawkins.

Nate’s focus as team captain is on keeping his team on the ice. Which is tricky when a facilities mishap means they are forced to share a rink with the figure skating team—including Anastasia, who clearly can’t stand him.

But when Anastasia’s skating partner faces an uncertain future, she may have to look to Nate to take her shot.

Sparks fly, but Anastasia isn’t worried…because she could never like a hockey player, right?

Synopsis from GoodReads

Rating

Review

This book took awhile for me to get into. I honestly just struggled with the main character a lot so I had no desire to pick it up and read it. I am not sure what is in the air but I apparently have only been interested in reading books that have an unlikeable main character and it is starting to get on my last nerve. So now you might be asking “Why did you finish it if you couldn’t stand the main character?” That is a great question, I am still asking myself that very thing.

I would say the main reason I kept reading was because I knew a romance was going to be a quick read, especially one that had as much smut in it as this book. Secondly, I liked almost all of the side characters so they made up for it. i really liked that we got Nathans POV every other chapter, that was what really interested me and kept me going. I just really wanted Nathan to be happy even if it was with Stass.

Reading the back of this book you expect a lot of skating and playing hockey, well that was one part of the book I actually missed! There was way more sex scenes than skating scenes! The back of the book makes it sound like Nathan and Stass would be skating together for the whole book but that only lasted maybe 50 pages…100 if we are lucky but again it is barely mentioned, to the point where I forgot what this book was really about.

One thing That I want to really Highlight is the mental health rep in this book. There is one chapter in this book where Stass is having a therapy session and to be honest I almost Cried! This made her character feel more real and I really connected with that. Then we have Nathan who is constantly reminding her to take care of her wellbeing and pushing ever so slightly on her habits to help her create healthier ones and he does it in such a gentle way, my heart was swooning for this man!

Before reading this book I highly recommend looking up trigger warnings. Some of the ones I want to specifically point out because they have a huge presence is Eating Disorders, Body image, Controlling Friendships and Time OCD. Please make sure you take care of yourself when reading any book!

“Don’t give me that shit. I’ve seen what you have on your smutty bookshelf.”
Hannah Grace, Icebreaker

QOTD: Is there a trigger warning in a book that you refuse to read?

AOTD: Animals dying or any animal cruelty for me. I am known to DNF a book even 80% of the way done if I feel like an animal will die.