Tag Archives: romance

Keeping 13 – Chloe Walsh

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True to my word, after finishing Binding 13 I immediately went out to Indigo and purchased Keeping 13 which continues Johnny and Shannon’s story. I headed for the YA section, only to discover that the books were not there. Someone had moved them to the Romance section, which is absolutely where they should be, despite the ages of the main characters.

Keeping 13 is another brick of a book – 651 pages – but I knew what I had signed up for and I ripped through it in just a couple days. When we left our characters at the end of the first book, Shannon’s brother Joey was asking his mother to make a choice, a choice that she seems incapable of making. I won’t say much more about that here because…spoilers…but let’s just say that Keeping 13 starts extremely dramatically.

The main part of this story concerns Johnny and Shannon’s growing feelings for each other, Johnny’s recovery from an injury that happened before the start of the first book, but which hasn’t healed properly, the domestic abuse that is happening in Shannon’s house and which causes the return of the oldest Lynch sibling, Darren, and the requisite trash talk by Johnny’s BFF, Gibsie. Johnny’s ex-girlfriend Bella is also intent on making Shannon’s life miserable.

I read this because I genuinely cared about Johnny and Shannon and when I got to the end of the first book I had to keep going to find out what happened. Obviously at 600+ pages, there were some instances of repetition: a lot of instances where one character or another needs to be reassured (but for reasons that make obvious sense.) There was also a lot more sex in this one because as Johnny and Shannon grow closer and admit their feelings to each other, clearly they are driven by hormones and want to get nekkid. I actually appreciated how respectful Johnny was about Shannon’s innocence and even when he blabbed to Gibsie, I could sort of forgive him for his lack of discretion because he is, after all, still young. I loved Johnny’s parents a lot and I loved how I could hear the Irish lilt in the character’s voices.

There were some truly pulse-pounding moments in this book, too. I read one scene in particular with my heart in my throat. And, of course, lots of swoony moments as these two crazy kids try to figure out themselves, their lives, and their feelings for each other.

I was all in, but with the same caveats: a lot of swearing and a lot of sexist comments made about the girls in the book, still tropey (helpless, fragile girl saved by massive, hulking dreamboat), just way longer than it needed to be.

Now, there are more books in this Boys of Tommen series, but I won’t be carrying on. Nothing against the other characters (all of whom I have met in these first two books, I am guessing), but I feel like I would just be getting more of the same and I am pretty happy with what I got.

If there was a series, though, I would 100% watch it.

Talking at Night – Claire Daverley

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If I had read Claire Daverley’s debut Talking at Night a little bit earlier, it would have most certainly made my list of the top twenty books I read this year because I LOVED it! I am always talking about how straight-up romances just don’t float my boat, how I need a little pain with my pleasure. This book delivered and then some.

Rosie and Will meet at a bonfire when she is seventeen and he a little older. Although they go to the same school and share some friends, and Will tutors Rosie’s twin, Josh, in further maths (advanced A level math), these two don’t really know each other until Will suddenly finds himself telling Rosie things he’s never said to anyone.

Will and Rosie could not be more different. Will is “detached and standoffish, despite his popularity and a long list of girlfriends.” Rosie is “a virgin, and she is vanilla.” She also suffers from OCD and is far less outgoing than Josh. It is clear, though, that these two are drawn to each other in ways that neither of them quite understand.

When Rosie tries to pre-emptively end things (because things haven’t really even begun, although they both understand that there is something between them), Will tells her that he thinks about her “On my bike. And in the garage. And when I’m cooking, and running, and trying to sleep.” This is new territory for Will.

Watching these two navigate these feelings over the years – because the novel does span decades – is truly a thing of beauty. There are lots of obstacles preventing them from having the HEA that I wanted for them, but that’s the bit I like best. Where’s the story if they meet, fall in love and suddenly have everything they didn’t even know they wanted?

Will has demons and a past. Rosie has a complicated relationship with her mother and subverts her own desires to make others happy. Tragedy looms around the corner which further complicates things. Rosie goes off to university, but Will stays home in Norfolk. And through it all – Will and Rosie pine and hell yes! so did I.

I loved these two characters. I loved the secondary characters. I loved the unexpected bonds that are forged. I loved the way this book is written. I read it in two sittings, turning the last page way past my bedtime.

If I had my Top Twenty list to do over again, this one would definitely be in the Top 3! Although perhaps not objectively the best book ever…it hit all my sweet spots and so it’s 100% a winner in my book, and that’s the beautiful thing about reading – my opinion is the only one that counts.

Slow Dance – Rainbow Rowell

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Rainbow Rowell’s (Eleanor & Park) latest novel, Slow Dance tells the story of Cary and Shiloh, best friends since grade seven. The novel begins at the wedding of the third member of their little group, Mikey. Shiloh, now a divorced mom of two young children, is anxious and nervous about seeing Cary again; it’s been fourteen years since they’ve even talked to each other. And it would be one thing if their friendship had just drifted away, as friendships sometimes do. Things were slightly more complicated than that, though. so there are stakes inherent in this reunion.

Shiloh had been imagining this moment – the moment she’d see Cary again – for months, but even in her imagination, it wouldn’t mean as much to him as it did to her. Cary wouldn’t have been thinking about it all day. He wouldn’t have been wondering, worrying, that Shiloh might be here. He wouldn’t have bought a new dress, so to speak, just in case.

Slow Dance traces Shiloh and Cary’s relationship from its humble beginnings to the present day – including this reunion and its aftermath, but the story is not linear. We spend time with them (and Mikey) as they navigate high school, as Shiloh goes off to college and Cary to the navy. We learn their many quirks – Shiloh’s penchant for poking at Cary, the fact that whenever they go anywhere the three of them are always crammed into the front seat. Although Cary and Shiloh might not have admitted back in the day, Mikey knows that the two love each other and are just too chicken shit to admit it. So the slow dance of the title is just Shiloh and Cary slowly but surely – with all life’s obstacles and complications thrown into the mix – working their way back to each other.

Shiloh and Cary are both extremely quirky characters, but I actually really liked them both. Their insecurities prevent them from outing themselves to the other about their feelings. They are best friends, but they are also young when they realize that these romantic feelings probably aren’t going away. As a reader, you know exactly where these two are going to end up, but this is a book where the journey is more important than the destination.

I enjoyed the read.

Seven Summers – Paige Toon

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I am not sure why I keep setting myself up for romantic failure. I admit that I am a hopeless romantic, but my personal experiences have definitely skewed the way I look at romantic love. There’s a certain type of romance that hits just right for me. I am more The Paper Palace than This Summer Will Be Different.

In Paige Toon’s novel Seven Summers, Liv returns to her home in St. Agnes, Cornwall after finishing her degree in sculpting at Edinburgh College of Art, and a brief stint studying the masters in Florence.

Her parents are delighted to have her home, as is her older brother Michael, who has Down Syndrome. Liv has a plan. She is hoping to make enough money to move to London, but she hasn’t quite figured out how to tell her parents.

At a local bar, The Seaglass, she reunites with her best friends, Amy and Rach. Their high school friend Dan’s band is playing there, and Liv is immediately drawn to the new singer, Finn. Apparently, he was also a classmate, but “The Finn we went to school with as really shy. […] This Finn is next-level hot….”

Liv and Finn are drawn to each other as is the way of these things. The problem is that Finn doesn’t live in St. Agnes anymore; he relocated to Los Angeles to live with his father after the death of his mother. He is only home for the summer to visit with his younger half-brothers and help out Dan’s band. (He’s got his own musical aspirations State-side.) And, of course, Liv’s life is in flux, too. That’s not going to prevent them from developing feelings for each other. But as we all know, the course of true love never runs smoothly.

Seven Summers follows Liv and Finn over the course of, well, I’m sure you’ll have figured it out, seven summers. But those summers are in the past when the novel begins. Things are slightly different for Liv in the present. She’s still in St. Agnes, working at The Seaglass and managing some holiday properties, and that’s where she meets Tom, he of the broad shoulders and “a very, very solid facial structure” which I take to mean he is attractive. Liv develops feelings for Tom which are reciprocated.

So, the question is how does Liv get from Finn to Tom. Well, I’ll leave that for you to discover.

I did not want to hurl this book across the room when I was done, and so that’s a compliment to Toon. Yes, I found the characters young, but then again that’s not going to be a problem for the majority of readers. My biggest problem with this book was the “have your cake and eat it too” denouement. Some people will absolutely eat it up and there is nothing wrong with that, obviously. I guess I am just a little bit too old to believe in the romantic fantasy of happily-ever-after. I found it all to be a little over-the-top.

For those of you who like low-spice, characters who are nice to each other, and an all’s well that ends well conclusion – you could do far worse than Seven Summers.

You Are Here – David Nicholls

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As I age, my desire to read straight-up frothy romances has waned. Sure, I used to love them: hot boy meets hot girl and sexy fun times ensue. But now? Boring. Give me the characters who have lived a life and are neurotic, flawed, cynical, searching, hopeful…human. Bonus if they’re past 30. (Extra points if they’re past 40.)

I love David Nicholls. His outstanding novel One Day introduces us to Emma and Dexter on the eve of their graduation from university, but then follows them for the next twenty years. (If you have not watched the incredible series on Netflix, I highly recommend it. It’s perfection.) Us follows Douglas and Connie, a couple whose marriage is disintegrating after twenty years, just as they are about to head off on a European vacation with their 17-year-old son. Sweet Sorrow is Charlie and Fran’s story. They meet at sixteen while participating in a production of Romeo and Juliet, but their story is told from a future vantage point complete with the requisite melancholy.

Nicholls’ most recent novel You Are Here is the story of 38-year-old copywriter, Marnie, and a high school geography teacher named Michael who is 42. Marnie is divorced and lives a relatively solitary life in London. She used to have an active social life, was “A nice addition to the group if not the core, well liked if never adored or idolised.” Now all her friends are married and having babies and Marnie feels like “perhaps this was natural, this falling away.” Nevertheless, Marnie does admit that she is lonely. Michael and his wife, Natasha, are separated and Michael resists all efforts to shake off the lethargy. Instead of staying in the house they shared, where she had “left enough of her possessions to keep it comfortable but he could never quite escape a feeling that something had gone missing”, Michael walks. A lot.

Although Michael and Marnie are unknown to each other at the beginning of the book, they do have one common friend, Cleo. When Michael turns down one too many invites because he will be walking, she insists that she’ll come, too and bring other people. Thus, Michael, Marnie, Cleo and company set off to hike from one side of England to the other (well, at least, that’s Michael’s intent; the rest are only going to walk for three days.)

Initially Cleo had thought to match Marnie up with Conrad, “perhaps the most handsome man” Marnie had ever seen. The woman she’d invited for Michael cancelled at the last minute and so you can see where this is going to go from miles away….and miles is just how long it’s going to take for Marnie and Michael to really see each other…to let their guards down and trust themselves and each other.

Trust me, it’s the journey not the destination that matters in this one. It’s filled with flirty banter, heartfelt revelations, and beautiful descriptions of the English countryside. This book will make you want to plan your own ramble and open yourself up to the possibility of love.

Another winner by one of my favourite authors.

This Summer Will Be Different – Carley Fortune

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I think at this point it is safe to say that I buy Carley Fortune’s books not because I like them but because I want to support a Canadian writer. This Summer Will Be Different is her latest book, but I had pretty much the same experience reading it as I did reading Every Summer After and Meet Me at the Lake. But, I also think that I am not the right reader for her books. I am too old to buy into the frothy type of romance she is selling.

In this book, Fortune has stepped away from Muskoka and landed in Prince Edward Island. And there’s the first problem, but we’ll get to that later. Lucy (who wears her hair in braids) has left her life in Toronto for a little break in PEI with her best friend, Bridget. Bridget is from PEI and can’t wait to show Lucy the island’s magical wonders. Except Bridget has missed her flight and Lucy has arrived solo. She ends up at Shack Malpeque and it is there that she meets Felix.

His eyes were the most dazzling shade of iceberg blue, striking against his deep tan. A cleft parted the center of his chin. His face hadn’t seen a razor in at least two days, and it was a study in contrasts. Strong jaw. Soft pink lips, the bottom fuller than the top. The bright eyes trimmed in black lashes.

We’re very much in Romance 101 territory and it’s only page 5.

Felix and Lucy experience a connection – as is the way of these things – and before you can say Anne of Green Gables these two crazy kids (Lucy is 24 and Felix, 23) are have mind-blowing sex. Things get complicated because Lucy doesn’t realize that Felix is actually Wolf, Bridget’s younger brother. (How she manages to have a bestie whose younger brother is called Wolf, a name she isn’t curious enough to ask about…I dunno, but there you have it – the meet cute.)

Over the course of five years, Lucy and Felix keep this ‘relationship’ a secret for slightly silly reasons because it would seem that they have undeniable feelings for one another. The novel toggles back and forth from this first meeting to subsequent visits to PEI where Felix and Lucy both keep their distance from each other (because Bridget can’t find out for reasons that make zero sense) and also have hot sex (which is made less hot by the amount of times Lucy asks for “more”).

We are reminded of the location at every opportunity. Like every time someone is buttering toast, it’s with Cows Creamery Churned Butter. And apparently all people eat in PEI is oysters. (I myself have never eaten oysters in PEI, but I am one of those weirdo Maritimers who doesn’t like seafood.) Yes, there is the requisite trip to Green Gables, and the necessary mention of red dirt and ocean vistas etc etc.

The problem isn’t the book per se because I have a feeling that a) I am not the intended audience and b) every single 20-something will be planning a trip to PEI this summer to meet their own version of Felix. For me, all these people were just meh. Bridget is keeping a huge secret days before her wedding and the reveal is anticlimactic. You know Felix and Lucy are going to get their happily-ever-after. At this point in my life, I guess I am looking for characters who have logged a few more miles than these physically perfect twenty-somethings have. So, I really shouldn’t be poo-pooing a book for which I am certainly not the intended audience.

If frothy, sun-kissed, sweet (with a little spice) fiction is your jam, put this in your beach bag and hit the sand. You’ll probably love it.

You’d Be Mine – Erin Hahn

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Eighteen-year-old Clay Coolidge is country music’s biggest star. He’s also country music’s biggest asshole. Annie Mathers’ parents were country music royalty and she’s pretty talented in her own right. When Clay gets himself into another mess, his record label insists that he convince Annie and her band (cousin Kacey and best friend Jason) to join Clay on his tour. The record label wants Annie bad and they figure Clay is their best chance to get her. Not 100% sure why.

Anyway, that’s the set up of Erin Hahn’s YA (or is it New Adult – nah, not spicy enough for that) novel You’d Be Mine. Annie knows who Clay is, of course. There’s not a teenage girl in America who doesn’t know who he is and Annie herself had seen him in concert when she was fifteen and his “honey accent and swooping hair” had left its mark not just on her but “on every teenage girl in the audience.”

In real life, though, Clay is a bit of a jerk. Not always, of course because we’re supposed to root for these two crazy kids to get together. The thing is, they both have tragic backstories: Clay lost his older brother and grandfather and he hasn’t really had the time or inclination to process the loss and Annie’s parents have left her with a legacy she hasn’t quite figured out how to live with. She asks Clay

“Did you know the Late Night duet with my mom was the most-viewed episode of all time? I was six. I thought Willie Nelson was my grandpa until I was ten. I knew the words to “Coal Miner’s Daughter” before I learned my alphabet. My freaking birth announcement was on the cover of People magazine’s country music issue.”

These two talented young adults are damaged, for sure. They also have crazy chemistry which their fans see and they can’t really ignore, try as they might. Clay does things to Annie’s “lady parts” that are hard for her to ignore even though she has zero real experience in this department. I know, eh? Likewise, Clay is smitten with Annie’s undeniable talent and kindness and beauty.

They’re a match made in heaven, but first they have to navigate the troubled waters of their pasts and figure out how to be happy in their own skins. Sounds like a great country song.

The Do-Over – Lynn Painter

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High school junior Emilie Hornby runs her life like a CEO. Her outfits are planned. Her days are planned. Her relationship with Josh is planned to the point that she decides exactly when and how she will first tell him that she loves him: Valentine’s Day. She concedes that VD is a commercialized, Hallmark holiday, but she also believes in true love. 

But Emilie’s perfect Valentine’s Day scenario doesn’t go quite as planned. First of all, on the way to school she gets into a fender bender with her Chemistry lab partner Nick Stark, who doesn’t seem to know who she is. Then, when she gets to school, she and Josh don’t seem able to connect. When she does track him down, she discovers his sitting in the front seat of his car with the beautiful Macy. At home, she gets more bad news from her father. The whole day is a disaster. And even stranger, when she wakes up the next morning, it’s Valentine’s Day all over again. And the day after that it was another “been here, done that.”

Lynn Painter’s YA romance The Do-Over is a frothy confection of a novel and although I tend to like my romances more tart than sweet, I couldn’t help but fall in love with Emilie as she tries to find a way out of the time loop she seems stuck in.

Emilie has got her life buttoned down, and maybe that’s because some aspects of her life are complicated. But things go seriously off the rails when she and Nick (who is totally my kind of love-interest) start spending more time with each other and the results are swoon-worthy.

A YA romance worth your time.

Things You Save in a Fire – Katherine Center

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Cassie Hanwell, the 26-year-old protagonist of Katherine Center’s novel Things You Save in a Fire is the only female firefighter at her Texas firehouse. She’s a fierce and dedicated firefighter, and when the novel opens, she is about to receive the valor award. Her career, it seems, is on an upward trajectory…until the night of the awards ceremony when the person presenting her the award turns out to be Heath Thompson and

…his beefy, self-satisfied face, his pompous grin, his self-serving posture, and then, finally, the recognition in his eyes…Let’s just say it altered my emotional landscape. In a flash, my insides shifted from cold shock to burning rage.

Cassie’s life pivots at that point. Not only is her upward mobility with the department derailed, but around the same time she gets a phone call from her estranged mother asking Cassie if she would be willing to move to Massachusetts to provide some support while she deals with a medical issue. Rock. Meet hard place.

Cassie takes a transfer to a small fire station in Lillian, where the captain thinks that “women in the fire service will be the downfall of human civilization” and where she meets the rookie, another newbie who comes from a long line of firefighters. The rookie poses another threat to Cassie because as soon as she sees him for the first time, Cassie’s first thought is “Oh no.” She has guarded her heart from all potential threats since she was sixteen and then this man lifts his “stunning, heartbreakingly appealing face.”

There’s lots to like about Things You Save in a Fire. Cassie is an appealing character and the rookie (Owen) is, as romantic leads often are, perfect. There’s some other stuff in here, too, about forgiveness and family and opening yourself up to love in all its forms. Not really my cup of tea, overall, but I am sure it would be appealing to lots of readers.

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty – Akwaeke Emezi

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Akwaeke Emezi’s novel You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty is not the book I thought it was going to be. What did I think it was going to be? Hmmm. Good question. Given the accolades (NYT Notable Book, NCAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work) and positive reviews, I thought I was going to get a relatively serious story about overcoming grief…with a side of romance. What I got was a straight-up romance novel ripped from the Erotica 101 handbook. And there’s nothing wrong with that, if that’s your thing…but it’s not really the sort of book I am interested in reading anymore. That’s on me, not on Emezi.

Twenty-nine year old Brooklyn-based visual artist Feyi Adekola is still grieving the tragic death of her husband, Jonah. It’s not something she likes to talk about; it was “an easy secret for Feyi to keep,” but she’s been stuck in this endless cycle of grief for the last five years. Her BFF Joy thinks it’s time she got back out there, and that’s how she meets Milan and then his friend, Nasir.

There’s an immediate connection between between Feyi and Nasir, and Feyi “felt like she was in the path of something, but she wasn’t sure what.” Still, she’s reluctant to move too quickly, and Nasir suggests that they be friends first, which suits her fine. A few weeks into the relationship, Nasir invites Feyi to fly to his family home in the Caribbean. Through his connections, he’s secured her a spot in a gallery show and besides, his father and sister live there and she could get to know them. It isn’t until they are on the plane that Nasir reveals that his father is Alim Blake, a celebrity chef with two Michelin stars.

As soon as Feyi sees Alim she feels, “a twinge of attraction unfurling in her stomach.” She can barely meet his eyes, let alone be in the same room with him. She and Nasir are not sleeping together, and it’s clear once she meets Alim that they never will.

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty leans into familiar romance conventions. Releasing breaths characters didn’t know they were holding and men commenting on how tight the women are – that sort of thing. There was one scene that actually made me burst out laughing. Feyi apparently didn’t know what julienning meant and…this is where my 24-year-old son said “No, tell me he didn’t stand behind her and put his hands over hers to guide them!” He’s definitely not a romance reader, but he saw that one coming a mile away. So, yeah, this book is filled with the requisite romance writing quirks. Beautiful people in a beautiful setting eventually having beautiful, mind-blowing sex.

Perhaps I am cynical about romance now, but I am not sure that’s it. Alim and Feyi have a connection because Alim is also widowed, although his wife died 20 years ago. And sure, they talk about their loss and the impact it’s had on their lives, but mostly this is a book about Feyi wondering whether this thing she feels is real. Nasir soon becomes a bit player in the story because the heart wants what it wants.

I guess I like my romances to be a little less ripped from the Romance 101 playbook. More The Paper Palace than well….most of the spicy romance book on BookTok these days. That said, I suspect that loads of people will love this book. It wasn’t my cup of romantic tea, but I doubt I’m the book’s intended audience.