Here are some good books that I would really recommend checking out before Valentine’s Day or even beyond. Happy Valentine’s Day and happy reading!
As Valentine’s Day approaches I’ve been reading more and more romance books. I normally read a lot, but now it’s been more than ever. There was one week where I was basically reading a book per day. As you can imagine, I’ve read a lot of books, and as I read I get insanely invested in the book. From screaming at the characters, to full on sobbing, to throwing my book across a room. I even assign songs that I like to books. As I said, I have read a lot of romance books, but I have some very clear favorites. Books that I could recite lines from memory, that look like they’ve been through a war zone, that I read anytime something stressful is happening. My comfort books you could say. Here are some of my favorite books that I would recommend leading up to Valentine’s Day.
Those Summer Nights by Laura Silverman
Those Summer Nights is about Hanna, a very passionate soccer player until she got a horrible knee injury that she wouldn’t be able to come back from. Before she got injured she dreamed of playing in the Olympics, like her grandmother. Soccer was all she knew and loved. Almost immediately after she got injured, her grandmother died. Hanna doesn’t know what to do, and when her life starts to go off course, her parents send her to a boarding school to help her. She returns home for the summer and she hopes forever, but she has to complete a list. The list includes getting rid of any drugs or alcohol, performing one good deed a day, repairing mismatched friendships, and finding a passion that brings joy. Hanna starts working at Bonanza, the local entertainment multiplex with a mini golf course, bowling alley, and arcade. Her brother works there, along with her ex-best friend, Brie. On the positive side, she starts talking to Patrick, another Bonanza employee. There’s also, Ethen, her brother’s best friend, who somehow became much hotter in her year away. Hanna has to manage friendship, love, grief, and passion over one summer. Who knows what happens on those summer nights.
I really enjoyed Those Summer Nights. Laura Silverman really captures the feelings that consume Hanna and how that impacts her actions. It was also really interesting to read about Hanna’s struggle to find something that she was passionate about to fill the void that soccer left. And even though the romance tropes were a little predictable, they were written in a really nice way where it didn’t seem as overused.
Last Chance Books by Kelsey Rodkey
Last Chance Books is about Madeline Moore, who works at her family owned bookstore, Books and Moore. Madeline had her life set out for her, to become the manager of Books and Moore, and then eventually the owner. This changed when a chain bookstore, Prologue, opened up across the street. With Books and Moore running out of money, her aunt informs them that they will be closing at the end of the summer. Madeline will do anything in her power to keep Books and Moore open. When she decides that Prologue is the thing making Books and Moore go out of business, she starts a “war” against Prologue, and their annoying employee, Jasper. Over the summer Madeline navigates her feelings about Books and Moore closing, her brother, her mostly absent mother who has returned for the summer, and her complicated feelings for Jasper.
As a book lover I really enjoyed the setting and concept of Last Chance Books. I thought it was really interesting to have a book take place in a bookstore and the book addresses how smaller independent bookstores are being shut down by larger chain stores or online shopping. Overall, this was a pretty good book, not my favorite ever, but I did enjoy the plot and setting.
Happily Ever Afters and One True Loves by Elise Brynt
I know it’s kind of cheating putting two books in one but these two books are both so amazing I had to put them both.
Happily Ever Afters is about a high school senior named Tessa. Tessa is an extremely creative writer, and has enjoyed writing for a really long time. She has written “happily ever afters” for girls who look like her. As the book describes Tessa, “She’s earnest. I’m talking Taylor Swift before she discovered snakes earnest.” So when her family moves to Long Beach, California, she applies and gets accepted to a prestigious art school, Chrysalis, where she will be able to write alongside the best of the best. But, when she arrives at the school, she gets extreme writer’s block. She and her long time best friend, Caroline, come up with a plan, Tessa will fall in love in real life, so she can have inspiration for her stories. Tessa sees Nico, a boy in her creative writing class, straight out of one of her stories, and decides he is the one. Tessa carries out a numbered plan with steps including kissing in the rain, getting trapped in an elevator, and much more. Her list leads her to love, but maybe not with the guy she envisioned.
One True Loves is the sequel to Happily Ever Afters, but it focuses on Tessa’s best friend, Lenore. Lenore also attends Chrysalis, but unlike Tessa, she’s never been able to focus on one thing. Lenore has jumped around many different arts, and doesn’t know what she wants to do with the rest of her life. She tells her parents that she’s going to change her major at NYU in the fall, but she doesn’t know what she will change it to. They tell her that she needs to figure it out before the end of their week-long cruise they will be taking in the Mediterranean. Lenore heads into the cruise without high expectations. She has no idea what she should major in, and after another failed love, she doesn’t think romance will happen for her. Then on the cruise, she meets Alex, the exact opposite of Lenore. He plans to become a doctor, like his mom, and is very rigid and not creative. For the first day they are committed to hating each other, but then they give up and become friends, and Alex promises to help Lenore find a major before the end of the cruise. As they become friends and start spending more and more of their time together, they both realize their feelings for each other and start dating. But, the cruise is ending quickly, and love has never worked out for Lenore in the past, will it now?
These two are some of my favorite books ever. I have read Happily Ever Afters way too many times, my copy looks like it survived the great war. I haven’t read One True Loves as much, only because I don’t own it. I personally like One True Loves a little better, because I think it is a bit more interesting, and I relate to Lenore a lot. She is someone who has a lot of outward confidence, but has a lot more doubt within herself that she doesn’t feel like she is able to share with the people in her life. One of my favorite quotes from the book is after Alex asks Lenore if she is the life of the party or if she hangs on the wall. “I open my mouth to respond, but then press my lips together. My friends, the people at school, the boys I’ve dated- I know how they would answer this question. Loud, sassy Lenore is definitely the life of the party. But is that really how I am if I have to make the conscious choice to do that? If, after I’ve been that Lenore all day, I have to go home and recover because my brain feels scrambled and my face feels prickly? It’s definitely a part of me, but it’s not all I am. It’s not my natural state.” Lenore’s struggle with her future is also something that many people can relate to. One True Loves also addresses issues such as Black Excellence and pressure from parents and the effect that can have on your mental health. Happily Ever Afters addresses anxiety and panic attacks.
Happily Ever Afters and One True Loves are both incredible. You don’t have to read one of them to read the other, but I would definitely recommend reading both. Both Tessa and Lenore have very different perspectives, and it’s really interesting to see how they both present to other people and then how they actually feel and think.
A Heavy Dose of Allison Tandy by Jeff Bishop
A Heavy Dose of Allison Tandy is about Cam who tears his ACL playing basketball. He starts taking a new medication and starts seeing his ex-girlfriend, Allison Tandy. But, Allison has been in a coma for months after she had a terrible accident. So we don’t know if he is hallucinating. Cam is determined to get over Ally and she promises to help him get over her. Cam tries to find dates and sort through his remaining feelings for Ally and his rehab. As the summer goes on Cam comes to terms with his feelings and what the future holds for him.
A Heavy Dose of Allison Tandy was a really interesting book for me. I haven’t really read many books with a guy as the narrator and I really enjoyed it. The book was also really good at displaying all the emotions felt by Cam and Ally. I thought all the characters were really well written and well developed and I enjoyed reading their stories. It was a really good book, and I really loved it.
Not Here to Be Liked by Michelle Quach
Not Here to Be Liked is a feminist romance book. Eliza Quinn runs for editor of the school newspaper, the Willoughby Bugle. She ran against Len DiMartile, a much less qualified candidate. He ends up winning the race and out of frustration, Eliza writes an angry essay claiming Len won the election because of sexism and misogyny. Somehow, her essay gets published on the Bugle page. This sets up a debate in the school about feminism. Eliza starts working with her friends, Winona and Serena, to start a school wide movement, including a walk out. Meanwhile, the principal tells Eliza and Len that they need to work on all their Bugle work together. As they spend more of their time together, they start to realize their feelings for eachother, but everything going on has to keep them apart.
As someone who is part of the school newspaper (obviously) I really enjoyed reading about Eliza’s role in the Bugle and what it meant to her. The relationship between Eliza and Len was super interesting and really fun to read about. I also really enjoyed how the book took on feminism issues as well as Asian and child of immigrant topics. I really loved this book.
Here are some really good books that I would really recommend checking out before Valentine’s Day or even beyond. Happy Valentine’s Day and happy reading!
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