Tag: romance read

Review: Burnout Summer by Jenna Ramirez

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Burnout Summer with Topo Chico and a planner

Alexis:

Happy pub day! Okay, so I’m actually a day late, but close enough!

Burnout Summer follows Camille during her, you guessed it, burnout summer.

The thing I really enjoyed about this book was how Ramirez explores the years following college. She digs in deep in her exploration of life after graduation and how corporate life in the US changes you and your relationships.

I also enjoyed learning more about Camille’s identity as a half Jewish and half Mexican woman and how she relates to Danny for being half Jewish and half Catholic.

Danny’s character is also a breath of fresh air. He isn’t brooding. He’s kind, funny, charismatic and I found him to be very refreshing.

Camille also struggles with credit card debt and student loan debt, and I really appreciated Ramirez’s realistic depiction of it.

My biggest criticism is that I honestly struggled to see why Danny loved Camille. And while that sounds harsh, what I mean is we were told that they were best friends and they always knew each other the best, but I never fully understood his relationship with Camille on page. I often felt like Camille used him as a punching bag and was constantly crying at him but then got a free pass because she was burnt out.

There was also a spicy scene that just gave me the ick, but I won’t go into details about that here.

Overall, there was still a lot that resonated with me, but I wish the romance aspect was just a little stronger, and that I was as compelled by Camille’s character as I was by Danny’s.

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐.5

Thanks so much to Netgalley and St. Martin’s for the ARC in exchange for a review!

Review: Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams

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Alexis' hand holds her Kindle over a marble table with a black notebook with a honeybee and an embroidery with a cat and yellow flowers

Alexis:

This past month has been a little crazy, so I haven’t written a review in a while!

I picked up an ARC that I’ve been trying to read for a while, but it wasn’t doing it for me. But then my hold of Practice Makes Perfect became available on Libby, so I started reading it, instead.

I read When In Rome by Sarah Adams recently and loved it. I’m generally picky with rom-coms, but it was so cute and fluffy, with baking and Audrey Hepburn references. Plus, I really liked the characters and Adams’ writing style.

Practice Makes Perfect is set in the same small town, Rome, Kentucky, and follows Annie, (Noah’s sister from the first book), who owns a flower shop. I haven’t read a rom-com with a main character like her in a while: a bookish introvert. I really connected with her character and appreciated her. 

As much as I loved the first book, this one just had so much chemistry and tension between Annie and Will, her love interest. Adams did a great job with making them well-rounded, and dual POVs always helps. I also love books that are set in the same town with the same cast of characters (like this one!). It really makes the story and setting feel more grounded, and you also really get to know the characters well. 

Overall, if you want a well-written and cute rom-com with flowers and an adventurous bodyguard love interest who has tattoos, then you’ll like this one!

VERDICT: 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

Review: The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo

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Alexis:

I liked the first half of The Light We Lost—not the prologue, but I’m not really a fan of prologues unless they give important historical/background information.

The book is written in first person in the eyes of the main character, Lucy. Throughout the book, she addresses a “you,” which refers to her first love, Gabe. Each chapter ends with Lucy posing a question, or a series of questions, to Gabe. At first, I liked this formatting, but it got repetitive and old fast.

The beginning of the book focuses on their relationship, which lasts just over a year. Their relationship is a classic first love relationship. Lucy and Gabe are infatuated with each other, and their relationship mostly focuses on their physical chemistry. They share their hopes and dreams with each other while living in New York City.

Then they break up. I liked reading about Lucy’s grief and seeing how she deals with her loss. Lucy moves on; Lucy meets another guy. Yet Gabe is ever-present, whether in the back or the front of her mind. Even five, ten years down the road, all Lucy can think about is Gabe, and this begins to feel repetitive and, frankly, annoying.

I kept yelling (metaphorically, of course), “Lucy, you are a grown, married woman! Get a grip and stop only thinking about yourself!”

And, ultimately, this is what I have a problem with in the second half of the book. The characters become self-absorbed and predictable. I simply didn’t care about them anymore. The plot rambles, and most of it deals with Lucy’s feelings of insecurity in her relationship and her life.

Of course. That was my first thought about the ending: of course that’s how it would end. I might have been on board if Lucy finally changed at the end, if she grew up and accepted what wasn’t meant to be, but she didn’t.

VERDICT: 3 out of 5 books