Review: Winter’s Orbit

Title: Winter’s Orbit

Author: Everina Maxwell

Genre: Science Fiction/Romance

Trigger Warnings: Forced marriage, sexual content, domestic abuse, emotional abuse, torture, unreality, injury, blood, violence, guns, romantic partner death (mentions), medical-like equipment used in interrogation/torture

Back Cover:

A famously disappointing minor royal and the Emperor’s least favorite grandchild, Prince Kiem is summoned before the Emperor and commanded to renew the empire’s bonds with its newest vassal planet. The prince must marry Count Jainan, the recent widower of another royal prince of the empire.

But Jainan suspects his late husband’s death was no accident. And Prince Kiem discovers Jainan is a suspect himself. But broken bonds between the Empire and its vassal planets leaves the entire empire vulnerable, so together they must prove that their union is strong while uncovering a possible conspiracy.

Their successful marriage will align conflicting worlds.

Their failure will be the end of the empire.

Review:

Sometimes you get in the mood to read something absolutely emotionally devastating. The kind of book that will tear out your heart and crush it and leave you sobbing and grateful to have read it. And if you ever get into that mood, have I got a book for you!

Winter’s Orbit will crush you in the best way. There were a few points where my chest physically hurt from the beautifully devastating feelings (or it could have been because my new medication was entirely fucking me over – but I choose to attribute it to the book). It’s an arranged-marriage mutual-pining romance between two scared and hurting and uncertain young royals against the backdrop of empire-ending scifi politics. It’s wonderful and it hurts so much.

I loved Kiem. He was kind as an integral part of his existence, oblivious to anything that didn’t fit his experience until explicitly told (at which point he felt bad for not noticing), and very much trying his best. He knew how to handle his own life as a prince, for the most part, but had absolutely zero idea of how to handle being married. He was sweet and self-deprecating and I loved him.

And, unusual for a book with dual narrators, I loved Jainan just as much. He was uncertain, terrified, and absolutely dedicated to duty even when it involved excessive and painful self-sacrifice, and he had no idea how to deal with a partner as genuinely kind as Kiem. I called the dynamic between him and his first partner immediately (considering I have personal experience with it, it seemed obvious to be, but I can see how often oblivious and never-thinks-bad-of-people Kiem would miss it), and I was very pleased to see how everything worked out in this second marriage. I adored Kiem because he was sweet and fun, but I adored Jainan because he was hurt and broken and I wanted to see him heal and be happy.

The world itself was well sketched. It was done well enough that there were a few nice moments of culture clash, and I really enjoyed how Kiem’s and Jainan’s two cultures used clothing indicators like jewelry (Kiem’s people) and scarf knots (Jainan’s people) to indicate gender, rather than anything inherent in the physical body. There were definitely interesting parts, and it was detailed enough to support the story, but it took a back seat to the romance.

In fact, everything took a back seat to the romance. That includes the plot, which includes desperate politics to get an important treaty signed before the deadline, murder and assassination, and a far-reaching conspiracy with plans to destroy the empire. It’s enough to make an entire book on its own, and yet it fades into the background behind the two protagonists and their pining, uncertain, tentative, adorably awkward relationship. And even though I usually prefer plot and roll my eyes at romance, I enjoyed it thoroughly.

I’m still not fully clear on what was really so difficult about getting the treaty signed in the first place, which made the foundation of everything that happens feel very flimsy. But it was a solid book and a stellar romance. The plot was good, the characters were great, the emotions were intense and devastating in the best possible way. On the whole, it’s very good.

Review: Timekeeper

Title: Timekeeper

Series: Timekeeper #1

Author: Tara Sim

Genre: Historical Fantasy/Romance

Trigger Warnings: Homophobia, death of parent (kinda), trauma, explosions, death, violence, panic attacks, blood, grief

Back Cover:

An alternate Victorian world controlled by clock towers, where a damaged clock can fracture time—and a destroyed one can stop it completely.

A prodigy mechanic who can repair not only clockwork but time itself, determined to rescue his father from a Stopped town.

A series of mysterious bombings that could jeopardize all of England.

A boy who would give anything to relive his past, and one who would give anything to live at all.

A romance that will shake the very foundations of time.

Review:

I took this back cover copy off The StoryGraph. The one I read put much more emphasis on the steampunk/fantasy elements and the mystery of who’s setting the bombs and played it like the romance was going to be a side thing. If this is the back cover I’d read, this book wouldn’t have ended up on my To Read list, because even though I’ve discovered some romances are fine, it’s usually not what I gravitate towards. So I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t, because this was a perfectly enjoyable book.

Our protagonist is Danny, the youngest clock mechanic to pass the mechanic test. He loves his job repairing and maintaining the clocks that keep time running smoothly, and secretly hoping he can find a way to save his dad, who was a mechanic when something went wrong and the clock broke, trapping him in an area where time completely stopped. He also has lingering trauma from a bomb that tried to destroy another tower while he was working, and conflict with his mother who partially blames him for his father going to the clock tower that broke and trapped him. He wasn’t an incredibly compelling character, but he was likeable enough.

His love interest and the romance between the two was probably my favorite part of the story. Danny meets Colton in the clock tower in the town of Enfield, where he first mistakes him for the apprentice helping him for the day and only later discovers the truth: Colton is a clock spirit, the personification of the clock tower and the force that keeps time running. Colton doesn’t know much about love or the world outside of Enfield, but it was delightful watching his and Danny’s relationship grow.

The romance is not the main plot, though. There’s also Danny trying to rescue his father, protests and counter-protests about a new clock tower being built, a series of bombs targeting clock towers, and internal politics and rivalries in the clock mechanic’s union. None of these were particularly uninteresting, but I definitely cared about the romance the most.

This book does have some problems, mainly in the secondary character department. The reveal of the unexpected antagonist was supposed to feel like a big betrayal, but Danny’s relationship with that character was never built in the book – I was just told that he and this character were close instead of actually seeing it. The reveal that this character was behind so many bad things was definitely surprising, but lacked the emotional impact it wanted to have.

I’m also going to criticize the worldbuilding, but as someone who has read a fair bit of steampunk-type books. I found it limited and lackluster, a basic 1800s London with cars and clock towers that control time slapped on top. It didn’t detract from the story, but knowing what great steampunk/alternate history worldbuilding looks like, I found it uninspired. If those aren’t genres you typically read you probably won’t have an issue with it.

There was only one moment (that could have been cut without problem) that set a hook for book two. Without that one moment, this would have been a perfectly self-contained story with a satisfying ending. It very much felt like a case of “my agent sold this as a trilogy” than the story actually needing to continue. Personally I think there’s enough to explore in this world that a second book could be reasonably interesting, but I was also happy with the ending and I didn’t love this book enough to want to read the rest of the series. It is a perfectly enjoyable book – I just have no desire for more of it.

The Timekeeper series:

1. Timekeeper
2. Chainbreaker
3. Firestarter

Review: Soulless

Title: Soulless

Series: Parisol Protectorate #1

Author: Gail Carriger

Genre: Paranormal/Romance

Trigger Warnings: Body horror, blood, kidnapping, confinement/imprisonment, medical procedures, torture, heterosexual sexual content, racism/colorism, body shaming, death

Back Cover:

Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations.

First, she has no soul. Second, she’s a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette.

Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire–and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.

With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London’s high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?

Review:

I thought this was more steampunk than paranormal romance going in, since I read Gail Carriger’s Finishing School series set in the same world and it was very steampunk and very enjoyable. This book had very few steampunk elements and leaned much heavier on the paranormal aspects of the world and Alexia’s romance with Lord Maccon.

But, surprisingly, I didn’t hate it. I actually rather enjoyed it.

Despite a bunch of dark trigger warnings, the book overall was very lighthearted. Alexia is just a little too brown to be considered attractive and a little too outspoken to be considered marriageable, so she and her family have resigned her to spinsterhood. The only reason she keeps getting invited to society parties is because she’s an absolute nerd and can keep the intellectual gentlemen engaged in intellectual conversation while the high society types busy themselves with gossip and fashion and being pretty, things which Alexia doesn’t care about one bit. Personally, Alexia would rather join the supernatural police agency that Lord Maccon heads, but being a woman she isn’t allowed. That doesn’t stop her from doing her own investigative work. She is unflinchingly polite and proper even while doing far more poking around and getting into a fair bit more trouble than a proper lady should be in, and she was delightful.

And despite the skinny model on the cover of the book, it is stressed many times on page that Alexia is actually pretty chubby.

There is also a marvelous cast of supporting characters: Alexia’s best friend, who has absolutely atrocious taste in hats; a flamingly gay vampire gentleman who prides himself on knowing everything; Lord Maccon’s werewolf pack beta, who despite being a werewolf is also a professor and a huge nerd; and more. I especially enjoyed every minute the gay vampire gentleman was on the page.

The romance part is also quite enjoyable. There’s a lot of sexual tension between Alexia and Lord Maccon (often resolving to very risky heavy petting), but it takes them both a while to realize they’re into each other romantically too. There’s miscommunication drama, mainly stemming from the fact that Lord Maccon has no idea how to romance a woman who isn’t also a werewolf. And there’s the delightful contrast of Lord Maccon, who is a passable gentleman but isn’t always up on the finer details of politeness, and Alexia, who is perfectly aware of the finer details of politeness and decorum but simply does not care.

This book does fall into the common tropes of fashion of Victorian-set books written by modern writers – mainly, women’s fashion of the times (especially corsets and voluminous skirts) being restrictive to common activities. Many historical sewing youtubers have also posted rants about this very thing, and at least regarding corsets I can say from experience, that if you put them on properly and know how to wear them they won’t impede you a bit (and as a sufferer of back pain, I’ve found properly-fitted corsets to be actually helpful and supportive). That is, overall, a minor quibble, though.

Great characters both protagonist and supporting, a fascinating world, a solid plot, and an actually enjoyable romance combine to make this book a remarkably entertaining romp through a vaguely-steampunk supernatural-filled Victorian London. I’m definitely going to read book two, which I’m sure if nothing else will be entertaining.

The Parisol Protectorate series:

1. Soulless
2. Changeless
3. Blameless
4. Heartless
5. Timeless

Review: The Blue Castle

Title: The Blue Castle

Author: L.M. Montgomery

Genre: Classic/Romance

Trigger Warnings: Emotional abuse, death, death of children (mentions), serious/fatal illness

Back Cover:

An unforgettable story of courage and romance. Will Valancy Stirling ever escape her strict family and find true love?

Valancy Stirling is 29, unmarried, and has never been in love. Living with her overbearing mother and meddlesome aunt, she finds her only consolation in the “forbidden” books of John Foster and her daydreams of the Blue Castle–a place where all her dreams come true and she can be who she truly wants to be. After getting shocking news from the doctor, she rebels against her family and discovers a surprising new world, full of love and adventures far beyond her most secret dreams.

Review:

It’s a tragedy that the Anne of Green Gables series is L.M. Montgomery’s most popular work, because The Blue Castle is objectively better.

Okay, maybe not objectively, but I never could get into the Anne books and I adored this one.

Valancy Stirling has spent her life stifled by her controlling mother, her overbearing extended family, and being homely and unmarriageable, which make her a social pariah. When the doctor tells her she has only a year, and quite likely less, to live, she realizes she’s going to die without having ever really lived. And she realizes that she won’t be around to face the consequences, so she might as well do what she wants.

And so she starts doing what she wants and not doing what she doesn’t want, starting with spending time alone when she isn’t sleeping (yes, her mother/family were that controlling). The scene where she starts displaying her newfound independence over lunch with her extended family is an absolute delight. Valancy has never been allowed to do anything that hasn’t gone through a rigorous approval process from the entire extended family, so she has plenty of wonderful ways to rebel, from wearing her hair how she wants to reading during the day to taking care of an old friend with a terminal illness.

And it is fantastic. Every single moment I’ve ever had of wanting to tell my relatives to mind their own business and let me live my own life got to live vicariously through Valancy. Even though the story is haunted by her impending death, it is a sweet and optimistic story of Valancy finding happiness and falling in love for the first time in her life. And, as one would expect from this kind of story, it has a happy ending.

Is it trite and fairly predictable? Yes. I guessed most of the twists while reading, but I’m sure I could have guessed the one that I didn’t anticipate if I’d thought about it. Someone who didn’t like it could call it “predictable” and they’d be right. But it was light, and fun, and cute, and overall just so entertaining. It’s not at all a serious read, but it is delightful just the same.

Review: Red, White and Royal Blue

Title: Red, White and Royal Blue

Author: Casey McQuiston

Genre: Romance

Trigger Warnings: Homophobia, homosexual sex (explicit), invasion of privacy, attempted rape (mention)

Back Cover:

What happens when America’s First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales?

When his mother became President, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius–his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There’s only one problem: Alex has a beef with the actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex-Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse.

Heads of family, state, and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: staging a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instragramable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations and begs the question: Can love save the world after all? Where do we find the courage, and the power, to be the people we are meant to be? And how can we learn to let our true colors shine through? Casey McQuiston’s Red, White & Royal Blue proves: true love isn’t always diplomatic.

Review:

Things I generally don’t like in books:

1. The romance genre
2. Politics

Things that are in this book:

1. It’s a romance
2. Politics

Things that I really, really enjoyed:

1. This book

This was another recommendation from my mother-in-law, and I’ll admit I was skeptical. I’m not a romance fan, I’m not into rom-coms at all, and it’s the rare book where I’m not bored by any politics involved. So I was gobsmacked by how much I loved this book.

It’s just absolutely adorable. In this fictional world, the next president after Barack Obama is Ellen Claremont, a Texas Democrat, and Prince Henry is the grandson of the current British queen, Queen Mary. I think I tolerated the politics in this book because it’s either a distraction so Alex doesn’t have to think about feelings or an impediment to him and Henry being together as opposed to actually being a big part of the plot.

The main plot is an enemies-to-lovers romance, except it isn’t really enemies-to-lovers because the only thing Alex really hated about Henry was that he wasn’t kissing him right that instant, even though he didn’t know it yet. I can see how someone might find Alex’s complete inability to figure out that he’s into Henry unrealistic, but as a Known Bisexual who took nearly a decade to realize thinking about scissoring with same-sex friends were not in fact Straight Thoughts, I found it incredibly realistic and absolutely hilarious. My Kindle copy of this book has no less than 10 notes to the effect of, “Alex, you are so obviously not straight.”

This is just a feel-good read all the way around. The stakes are higher than what I assume an average rom-com would have just because Alex and Henry both have such high profiles, but it has a happy ending and it’s cute and fluffy and full of mutual pining and nothing too dark. The main antagonist is politics for the most part – the pressure to keep up appearances so Alex doesn’t screw up his mom’s reelection campaign and Henry doesn’t “hurt the British royal image.” But they’re so in love (and so horny, there are a bunch of sex scenes and I actually enjoyed them) that they’re determined to make it work even if they have to give up everything in the process.

I did not expect to like this much at all, let alone like it as much as I did. It’s adorable and sweet and cute and overall a really good story. (Plus the author is nonbinary, and I love seeing other nonbinary people succeed!) I absolutely see why my mother-in-law liked it so much, and I absolutely agree.

Review: Bearly a Lady

Title: Bearly a Lady

Author: Cassandra Khaw

Genre: Paranormal/Romance

Trigger Warnings: Fatphobia, blood and injury (mention), mild body horror

Back Cover

Zelda McCartney (almost) has it all: a badass superhero name, an awesome vampire roommate, and her dream job at a glossy fashion magazine (plus the clothes to prove it). The only issue in Zelda’s almost-perfect life? The uncontrollable need to transform into a werebear once a month. Just when Zelda thinks things are finally turning around and she lands a hot date with Jake, her high school crush and alpha werewolf of Kensington, life gets complicated. Zelda receives an unusual work assignment from her fashionable boss: play bodyguard for devilishly charming fae nobleman Benedict (incidentally, her boss’s nephew) for two weeks. Will Zelda be able to resist his charms long enough to get together with Jake? And will she want to? Because true love might have been waiting around the corner the whole time in the form of Janine, Zelda’s long-time crush and colleague. What’s a werebear to do?

Review

Despite the paranormal elements of this book, it is, at its heart, chick lit. I am not usually a fan of chick lit, but I picked it up because 1. Fat and fasionable protagonist, and 2. Fat protagonist is bisexual.

Zelda is fat, works at Vogue, and also turns into a bear once a month. I love that she owns her fatness and the only problem she has with being fat is that other people look down on her for it and the world is not built for fat people. And I love that she doesn’t let people give her crap for it. This book focuses on romantic adventures and misadventures, so a lot of it is Zelda being flustered, confused, and putting her foot in her mouth a little bit, but she’s still pretty awesome. (And honestly, I would love to see her be more badass in a different kind of story.)

The side characters were interesting, but since this is a novella, they didn’t get fleshed out a lot. Zora the vampire roommate was pretty cool and I would have loved to get more of her. Benedict the fae was an interesting character, especially with the glamour element, and Jake and Janine the love interests were okay, but their time on page was mostly in Zelda’s thoughts as opposed to them actually being there.

This book was enjoyable, but it’s just not my genre. Chick lit and romcom kind of stuff just isn’t my jam. The characters would be cool and I would love the heck out of them in a different plot, but even though I enjoyed it, I didn’t really connect with the romance angle. If you enjoy chick lit, you’ll probably love the heck out of it.

Epistolary, the cutest short story you will ever read

I have just discovered “Epistolary” by Sacha Lamb, which is a rather uninteresting title hiding the cutest story I have ever encountered. Leo, a trans Jewish kid, makes extra money rescuing stuffed animals from thrift shops and reselling them online with stories about them being haunted. Another trans Jewish kid finds their lost stuffed frog listed for sale on Leo’s site and wants it back. And so begins the story that’s told mostly through email and text exchanges tied together with some narration from Leo.

It’s a little bit enemies to lovers (although more accurately rivals to mutual-crush-but-too-shy-to-actually-admit-we’re-dating), both of these kids are so sweet with their own distinct (and adorable) personalities, Leo has an amazing voice, and it’s awkward but in the cutest possible way (no cringe at all). I just can’t get over how sweet and cute and adorable this story is.

Here is the link, go read it now!

Review: Colorblind

Title: Colorblind

Author: Siera Maley

Genre: Romance

Trigger Warnings: Discussion of death/dying/morbidity, blood (mention), car crashes (mention), near-drowning, f/f sex (implied), fatphobia

Back Cover:

Harper has a secret … and it’s not that she likes girls. She has a rare and special gift: she can see how old other people will be when they pass away. Nothing she does changes this number, and that becomes especially clear when her mother dies in a car crash. With only one other person in the world who knows about and shares her gift, Harper is determined to keep her distance from everyone. Then she falls for Chloe … whose number is 16.

That means that Chloe doesn’t have twelve months to live. She doesn’t even have six.

She is going to be dead by the end of the summer, unless Harper can find a way to stop it.

Review:

Considering Harper’s supernatural gift, this is probably technically a paranormal book, but it has such a contemporary romance feel that I think that’s a more accurate genre. Which makes it kind of funny that I enjoyed it, because I’m not normally a huge fan of romance.

The heart of this book is emotions, and it does emotions really, really well. This is one of the few books where I’ve read the narrator’s feelings and said, “Yeah, that’s exactly what that feels like.” Harper was a little too withdrawn and pessimistic to be someone I would connect with in real life, but her emotions came across so vividly on the page that I couldn’t help but like her – and feel for/with her.

Chloe is exactly the kind of person I would like (and probably fall for just like Harper). She’s outgoing, bright, optimistic, funny, warm, and friendly – the opposite of Harper but still such a wonderful, sweet character. It makes it all the more tragic that you know she’s going to die young.

And you never forget that fact. Harper doesn’t forget, so you don’t forget, and even though all the sweet romantic bits there’s still that underlying current of tension that Chloe is going to die before the end of the summer. There isn’t much of a plot besides their growing romance, but that tension keeps it from getting boring. Every word asks the question, “Will Harper be able to save Chloe?”

I want to be able to say “It has a happy ending” or “It has a sad ending” but that’s a spoiler, considering the whole tension of the book is the question of if Chloe will survive. But in case you’re one of those people who will decide to read this or not based on whether or not the love interest dies, here’s the spoiler: (she survives)

I was surprised that I actually enjoyed this book as much as I did, considering how much it felt like a contemporary romance. But the tension was well-done, the romance was cute, and the emotions were very, very real. And even though it wasn’t really my thing, I thought it was good anyway.

Review: Always Human

Title: Always Human

Author: Ari

Genre: Science Fiction/Romance

Trigger warnings: Dieting/diet talk

Summary:

This is a story about nanobots, genetic engineering, and two girls falling in love. No matter how technology changes us, we’ll always be human.

Review:

I found this on a list of webcomics on Tumblr, with nothing more about it than “scifi and very gay.” I started reading it because I got bored at work. And then I couldn’t stop.

The short description up there doesn’t tell you a lot about the story. The story is set in a futuristic world where people can live in space, virtual reality is a major thing, and everybody uses “mods” to change their bodies – including appearance, resistance to sickness, and even getting rid of cancer. It starts when Sunati, a recent college graduate and virtual reality engineer meets Austen, a college student with Egan’s Syndrome, an immune disorder that means her body rejects all mods.

And it’s adorable. The romance moves pretty quickly, but even though it’s very romance-oriented, it’s less about the romance and more about the characters.

First, there’s Sunati. She’s a recent college graduate and current virtual reality engineer with dreams of going into space (ideally to Mars), and she tries really, really hard to make everyone around her happy (or at least not be inconvenienced), which I could really relate to. A large part of the story towards the end is her learning that it’s okay to do things for herself sometimes.

Then there’s Austen. She’s in college for genetics – she hopes to cure Egan’s Syndrome so she and other people with the disease can use mods like everybody else – but school is really stressing her out a lot. She also diets (which gets addressed in a very healthy way) and spends a lot of time exercising and studying so she can keep up with people who use mods to help them with those things.

Though both girls have their own individual issues that they deal with, but the bulk of the story is them navigating their relationship, learning to communicate and take the other’s feelings into consideration while still being true to themselves, and building a strong and healthy relationship. It’s emotional and adorable.

It’s also set in an amazing scifi world that I really want to talk about, but also it’s just fun to learn about it as you go. The world itself is beautiful (the art is amazing) and the details – virtual reality games and conversations, lenses like contacts that provide a data interface, the classic visual-displays-hovering-in-front-of-your-face … it’s just great.

And have I mentioned it’s adorable? It’s one of the cutest romances I’ve read in a long time. (And I don’t usually like romance.)

Also, look at this artwork! It’s so cute and happy and gorgeous.

I’m not usually into romance, but this one is great. You can read it online for free here!!!

Review: The Melody of You and Me

Image from LGBTQ Reads

Title: The Melody of You and Me

Series: Lillac Town #1

Author: M. Hollis

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Trigger Warnings: Explicit lesbian sex

Back Cover:

After dropping out of university and breaking up with her girlfriend of three years, Chris Morrison’s life is now a mind-numbing mess. She doubts that working at the small neighborhood bookstore is going to change that. The rest of her time is spent mostly playing guitar and ignoring the many messages her mother keeps sending her about going back to college.

But one day, an adorable and charming new bookseller waltzes her way into Chris’s life. Josie Navarro is sweet, flirty, and she always has a new book in her hands. The two girls start a fast friendship that, for Chris, holds the promise of something more. But is she reading too much into this or is it possible that Josie feels the same way?

Review:

I picked this book up for two reasons: It was gay and it was free. And I read it because I had it as a PDF that I could put on my phone and read when I didn’t have a wifi connection.

Overall, I found it pretty unspectacular – but then again, contemporary romance is decidedly not my genre.

You have Chris, a music-loving college dropout who actually seems perfectly happy not going to college and just working at the local bookstore, except she’s getting very annoyed at her mother pushing her to go back to school. Then there’s Josie, a Filipino (or half-Filipino, I can’t remember) ballet dancer new to town who is cute, flirty, and energetic. This novella is so short, there’s not a lot of room for character development, although Chris gets a little.

The plot was short and sweet. Chris is trying to figure out what to do with her life and trying to start/navigate/not mess up a potential romance with Josie. There’s really not a whole lot else.

There was a lot of undeniable romantic – and sexual – tension between Chris and Josie. And there are sex scenes – several of them. Personally, they weirded me out, but I’m not sure if that’s because they were poorly written or because I’m just weird about sex scenes in books. Possibly both. So beware if sex bothers you.

I’m keeping this review short because I don’t honestly have a lot to say. It wasn’t bad, but I wasn’t a huge fan. But then again, that’s likely just me because this is absolutely not my genre. A fan of contemporary romance (or really just romance in general) will probably like this a lot more than I did.

The Lillac Town series:

1. The Melody of You and Me
2. The Paths We Choose