Top Ten Books With Love Titles

 

Look at me doing a Top Ten Tuesday post on a Tuesday! This week's theme is a Valentine's Day/love freebie, so I thought I would share some of my favourite books with love related titles. These books all include some variation of 'love' or 'heart' in the title, and are all books I really enjoyed and would recommend.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

1. Love, Life And The List by Kasie West 

2. How To Fall In Love by Cecelia Ahern

3. Did I Mention I Love You? by Estelle Maskame

4. Out Of Love by Hazel Hayes

5. Fierce Fragile Hearts by Sara Barnard

6. To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

7. Love And Other Words by Christina Lauren

8. Things We Know By Heart by Jessi Kirby

9. PS I Love You by Cecelia Ahern

10. The Statistical Probability Of Love At First Sight by Jennifer E Smith

What is your favourite book with a love related title?

Sophie :)

January 2021 Wrap Up

 How are we already wrapping up the first month of 2021? As is often the case at the beginning of a new year, I found my love of reading was rejuvenated in January and I just wanted to read all the books. However, I was still working full time and work, as always, has been crazy, so I didn't quite manage to read as many books as I would have liked. 

I read a total of 9 books in January, which is more than I read in any month of 2020. I read predominantly adult or new adult romance, with a couple of adult and YA contemporary fiction books thrown in, and one non-fiction. I didn't rate anything lower than 3 stars, which is always good, and even had a 5 star read.

The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary -

My first read of 2021 was one I had every intention of reading at the beginning of last year, but just never did. It was incredibly popular when it was first published, so I'm probably one of the last people to get to it. It follows Tiffy and Leon who share a flat, and a bed, but have never actually met, due to their opposite work schedules. The two develop a friendship through notes, which of course develops into a really adorable relationship. I loved these characters, their relationship and how it develops, and their friendships and family relationships. I enjoyed that there were some more serious topics dealt with in the story, including Tiffy's toxic past relationship and Leon's brother's imprisonment, which added another layer to the story. My only issue was the way Leon's chapters were written. I just didn't click with the unusual writing style, it kept pulling me out of the story. I have a full review for this book where you can find out my more in depth thoughts.

Rating: 4/5

Only When It's Us by Chloe Liese -

This is a new adult sports romance, featuring the best frenemies to lovers slow burn relationship. We follow Willa, a college soccer star who is struggling with a Professor not accommodating her athletic schedule. Instead, he encourages her to ask Ryder, a fellow student, for help. However, when he ignores her in class, Willa can't believe he could be so rude. Their banter-filled battle ensues from there, but when Willa discovers Ryder is actually deaf, their relationship dynamic changes. I really enjoyed this book. I loved how sassy Willa was, but also the fact she struggled to address certain situations due to her anxiety. That was an aspect I very strongly related to and I really saw myself in her. Ryder was a really great hero, he was so sweet, but snarky, and just adored Willa so much. I loved that we got a deaf main character, I can't speak to the representation but it was a very interesting aspect of the story. Basically, I just loved these characters and their relationship. I was let down by the fact a lot of the conflict could have been avoided with communication, which is something that gets on my nerves a bit in books. I did really like this book though, and can't wait to read more from this author.

Rating: 4/5

The Duke And I by Julia Quinn -

I picked this up after bingeing, and loving, the Bridgerton Netflix series. This was my first ever historical romance and will not be my last. For anyone that hasn't experienced the Bridgerton hype yet, The Duke and I follows Daphne, the middle child and oldest daughter in the Bridgerton family, who embarks on a fake courtship with The Duke Of Hastings, one of London's most eligible bachelor's and the best friend of her eldest brother. There is a lot of negativity surrounding this book, and a specific scene, which I will get to. That aside, I did enjoy this book. My feelings on the book and TV series are mixing together, as I read the book immediately after finishing the show, so I can't get into too much detail. I liked the characters, especially the Bridgerton family as a whole, and enjoyed the relationship between Daphne and Simon. This would have been a solid 4 star, maybe even 5 star read has it not been for that one scene. I won't go into detail in case anyone feels this is a 'spoiler' but there is a rape scene within this book. That scene in itself, though obviously not enjoyable, was not where I had an issue. My issue was the repercussions, or lack of, of what happened. I don't feel like it was dealt with well, or even really addressed, which was where my issues lie. I will still continue with this series and hopefully have a better experience going forward.

Rating: 3/5

One To Watch by Kate Stayman-London -

I talk about this book in quite a lot of detail in my last post, in which I read some of my favourite Booktuber's favourite romances of 2020, so I'll not say too much here. This follows Bea, a plus size fashion blogger who is approached by the producer of Main Squeeze, a bachelorette style reality show, and asked to be the show's first plus size 'main squeeze'. I really enjoyed this initially. Despite a small issue I had in the beginning, I loved Bea as a main character. She is so real and this book focuses a lot on her struggles and fears, and we follow her journey as she begins to overcome them. I really enjoy fiction about reality TV, so found that aspect a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I ended up getting quite bored towards the end. I didn't care enough about the men to be bothered about who Bea ended up with and I found the ending a bit dull. I did have a few other issues, which I discuss in that post I mentioned previously, but this was an OK read.

Rating: 3/5

Holding Up The Universe by Jennifer Niven -

This was the only YA book I read in January, which seems so strange to me as someone who used to read almost exclusively YA. It is a YA contemporary following Libby, who is infamous for being 'America's Fattest Teen', and Jack, who can't recognise faces and is keeping that a secret from his family and friends. The two develop a friendship after Jack essentially bullies Libby quite horrifically and the two end up in group counselling together. I felt pretty much the same about this one as I did about the previous book I have read from Jennifer Niven. I liked some aspects of it and really disliked other aspects, so it ended up just being pretty average. I liked the friendship between the characters and how that develops despite the not so great way it starts. I didn't like the fatphobia and bullying that is really prevalent. It has some good messages but is generally quite forgettable.

Rating: 3/5

Inevitable Conclusions by Christina C Jones -

This is another one that I read as part of my reading booktuber's favourite romances of 2020 post, so again I wont go into too much detail. This is a friends to lovers second chance romance. It follows Kora and Tariq who have been best friends since childhood and remained friends after a previous attempt at a relationship that didn't work out. The pair have a friends with benefits arrangement but neither of them want to take things further and risk their friendship. This was such a sweet romance. It is clear to see how important this friendship is to both of them and why they are so scared to risk ruining it with a relationship. I loved seeing how much they cared for each other, and how they helped each other to deal with their traumatic pasts and difficult family lives. It was just beautiful to see the way that lovely friendship developed into something more. I also really enjoyed the relationships with other characters, in particular both main characters' relationships with Kora's teenage daughter. I can't wait to read more from Christina C Jones in the future.

Rating: 4/5

Dream A Little Dream by Giovanna Fletcher -

This is my third Giovanna Fletcher book and, unfortunately, my least favourite so far. It follows Sarah who has been having dreams involving a handsome man, but things get awkward when he makes an appearance in her real life. I love Giovanna as a person so it pains me to say I was disappointed by this book. It felt quite juvenile. Sarah, our main character, is still a part of the same friendship group as the ex-boyfriend who left her several years ago and is struggling with the fact she has to see him be so happy with the woman he left her for. The way she treated his girlfriend just felt very immature, although this was addressed later on in the book. I really loved Sarah's friend group and particularly her friendships with her best girl friends. The way they all support each other through the difficulties that arise throughout the story was really great. Everything else was just really average for me. I don't even have much to say about this - it was fine. 

Rating: 3/5

Sounds Like Me: My Life (So Far) In Song by Sara Bareilles -

This was my one non-fiction read of the month. It is a collection of essays written by Sara Bareilles about her life. They cover her childhood, discovering her love of music and songwriting and her journey throughout her career. I really like Sara Bareilles, mostly because I am a huge musical theatre fan and she is the person behind the music in one of the best musicals. I didn't really know much about her personal life before reading this so I was very surprised by how much I got from this book. This talks a lot about Sara's personal struggles, a lot of which are things I have struggled with on some level. Each of the essays are related to one of Sara's songs, which I really loved as it gave the songs an even greater meaning. My favourite part of this book was the section in which Sara reads letters to her younger self. As someone who has been, and still is, struggling with a lot of the same things she struggled with, it was as if she was talking directly to me. I really didn't expect this book to have such an impact on me, but I loved it so much and it was exactly what I needed to hear when I read it.

Rating: 5/5

Dear Ava by Ilsa Madden-Mills -

Again, I read this as part of my reading booktuber's favourites romances of 2020 post. It is a high school NA romance involving a girl, Ava, who is sexually assaulted at a party by one of the 'Sharks', the most popular people at her prestigious school. Upon returning to the school a year later, Ava is paired up with the head of the 'Sharks', Knox, for a class project. She also finds a letter from a secret admirer in her locker. There is a lot of background plot in this book, but the main story is a 'enemies' to lovers romance between Ava and Knox. I say 'enemies' as the enemies aspect was just not there for me. They 'hate' each other for all of about ten seconds before realising they both like each other. I liked the two of them together, I really enjoyed their banter and the fact they could be vulnerable and be themselves around each other. Everything else seemed very background. The secret admirer aspect, that seemed from the synopsis to be the main plot, was hardly touched on at all. This was another one that I got a bit bored of towards the end and really didn't like how many epilogues we had. I really thought I would love this but it ended up being a bit disappointing.

Rating: 3/5

I thought it might be good to check in on my goals in my wrap ups to stop me from forgetting about them until the end of the year. You can see what my 2021 goals are here.

So:

I am currently 5 books ahead on my Goodreads challenge, which makes me happy. 

I did read January's buzzword with Dream A Little Dream.

I completed 5 of the Year Of Smut prompts.

I read 3 books from my physical TBR, which is the most I have read in a while.

I read my minimum of one book by an author of colour with Inevitable Conclusions. I'm disappointed I didn't read more than that.

I tried a reading something new with The Duke And I, which was my first historical romance.

I kind of participated in a readathon as I read The Duke And I during the Historical Romance Readathon.

I'm so glad I'm doing okay with my goals so far, although we are still only in the first month of the year. January was a pretty good reading month, both in quality and quantity. I'm hoping for an even better reading month in February.

What was the best book you read in January? 

Sophie :)

Reading Booktube's Favourite Romances Of 2020

 I discovered in 2020 that I didn't really know exactly what I loved in my romance, as I am relatively new to the genre, and so was finding my romance reads to be a bit hit or miss. One of my unofficial goals of 2021 is to try and find out a bit more about what I love in romance, and I have been figuring out a few different ways to do that. I decided the best place to start would be to try out other people's favourites. I picked out three of my favourite booktubers and chose one book from each of their favourite romance books of 2020 to try out.

One To Watch by Kate Stayman-London - Favourite of Heather from Bookables

This is one that has been on my radar since it's release but I have heard a lot of mixed things about it. Some of those I follow, like Heather, absolutely loved it, while others, including people I have taken recommendations from for these books, had to DNF. I love fiction that deals with reality TV, so I am definitely intrigued by the synopsis, as this follows a woman who is asked to be the first plus size contestant on a Bachelorette style TV show. 

Heather is someone I have watched for years and have taken a lot of recommendations from in that time. We do enjoy a lot of the same books, but also have very differing opinions on others. It will be interesting to see which way this one goes.

My Thoughts: This had so much potential! As I said, it follows Bea,  a plus size fashion blogger who is approached by the producer of Main Squeeze, a bachelorette style reality show, and asked to be the show's first plus size 'Main Squeeze'. Despite her reservations, and the fact she is still trying to get over a recent heartbreak, she agrees, and we follow her journey on the show. It is told in chat conversations, interview transcripts, tweets and news articles, alongside regular prose, which made it a fun reading experience as I love that kind of thing. 

I really enjoyed Bea as a main character, for the most part. She was a very real character with very real and relatable struggles and fears. A lot of the negative reviews I have seen for this book are from people who felt this book did not portray a body positive main character, as you are lead to believe from the synopsis. Bea loves her body, but she is very aware of how society perceives her and her size. She has struggle and insecurities, just like every person, and I loved reading her journey with those throughout this book. Bea overcomes a lot of her self-doubt and I found that added a whole other layer to her character. She was just a great main character to follow. What I didn't like about her, however, was the fact she knowing slept with an engaged man and the fact he was engaged to someone else was just brushed under the rug and she felt no guilt.

The story itself was a lot of fun. We follow Bea throughout her time on the show, getting to know the guys fighting for her attention, going on fun dates. While her time on the show wasn't all fun, there is a lot of blatant fatphobia so be aware of that, it was mostly enjoyable to read about. I do wish we had gotten to know the men a little bit more as they were all quite similar to me and I struggled to work out who to root for. In the end, I just didn't really care who she ended up with. Everything started going downhill in the later part of the book and the ending was just a bit meh.

My only other issue with this book was the way the diversity of characters was written. On paper, this book had a very diverse cast of characters. However, they were thrown in almost as if to check off boxes, as though race, sexuality or gender identity of characters were just added in as an afterthought to make the book a bit more diverse. It just didn't come off as genuine to me.

Overall though, this book was a pretty good read. As I said, I enjoyed Bea as a main character and the discussions around body positivity and how society views plus size individuals. I enjoyed the reality TV storyline. However, I got bored towards the end and didn't care who she ended up with. It was an average read.

Rating: ★★★

Inevitable Conclusions by Christina C Jones - Favourite of Jessica from PeaceLoveBooksxo

I had never even heard of this book until Jessica mentioned it in her favourites video, which is why I knew this is the one I wanted to choose from her. This is a friends to lovers, second chance romance with, it seems, some secrets and dramas in their past. I have also been following Jessica for years, her channel is the first romance channel I ever found and has been one of my top places to get recommendations from since I started watching her videos. I'm not really sure how our tastes align, so it will be interesting to see if one of her favourites is also going to be one of mine.

My Thoughts: This book follows Kora, a single mother of a teenage daughter, and her best friend since childhood, Tariq. When the book begins, they have a friends with benefits arrangement going on and you get thrown right into that from the first chapter. This books starts STEAMY, which caught me off guard a bit, and that steam level stays throughout. This was my introduction to Christina C Jones, and boy can she write a steamy scene.

This was a really adorable friends to lovers romance and I especially loved the fact that they were so close, despite having tried to have a relationship when they were younger that didn't work out. With friends to lovers, I often find it hard to believe when the reason a couple have for not being together is not wanting to risk their friendship. However, in this book you could see just how important their friendship was to the both of them, and how much they would be risking by getting together. I also really loved the fact we had older characters to those you usually see in romance, both in their late thirties, which made for a more mature feel to the book without any childish drama. 

As well as the relationship between the main characters, I loved all the other relationships in the book. Both Kora and Tariq's relationships with Kora's daughter were so great to read about, particularly how fatherly and protective Tariq is. We also get some really healthy and supportive friendships within this book as well, which I loved. 

Both main characters are dealing with, and supporting each other through, traumatic pasts and difficult family circumstances. Trigger warnings for sexual assault and attempted suicide, there may be others but those are the things that stick out in my memory. 

There were a couple of things that stopped me from completely loving this book. The first was the kind of cheating. They make a point of stating that their friends with benefits arrangement only happens when they are not in relationships, but the two do sleep together while Tariq is seeing someone, which I wasn't really on board with. The other issue was that it is a bit forgettable. Just a week after reading it I am struggling to remember what happened. That doesn't make it bad in any way, I'm just disappointed that I can't fully remember why I enjoyed it so much at the time.

Rating: ★★★★

Dear Ava by Ilsa Madden-Mills - Favourite of Chandler from Chandler Ainsley

This is a book I have seen a lot around the book community in 2020. A lot of people have read and loved this book in the past year, so I have high hopes. Not only was this on Chandler's favourites list, Jessica from PeaceLoveBooksxo also gave it an honourable mention on her list. Chandler is someone I discovered in 2020 and really enjoy her videos. She reads such a variety of books and I don't think our tastes are all that similar, but I am really intrigued by this book.

My Thoughts: This is a New Adult high school enemies to lovers romance, following Ava, who is sexually assaulted at a party by one of the popular guys in the school, though she doesn't know which one, and is now returning to school a year later. Upon her return to school, she finds a note from a secret admirer in her locker, and then is forced to pair up with the most popular guy in the school, Knox, who she hates, on a class project. 

There were a lot of things I liked about this book. I liked Ava as a main character. She has had a really rough childhood and is now essentially an orphan looking after her younger brother, and is at this prestigious school on a scholarship. Despite the horrific treatment she gets at school, both from being the 'charity case' and for having reported her sexual assault, she returns to the school in order to give her brother the best chance. She is incredibly brave, but also takes no shit. I enjoyed the banter between her and Knox, though they didn't quite have the enemies to lovers relationship I was looking for. They were really good together and I loved how they could both be themselves around each other. I also really loved the way Knox stood up for Ava whenever anyone spoke badly about her in relation to her sexual assault. He was one of the few people who always believed her. The family aspect of the book was one of my favourite parts. Both Ava and Knox have such close relationships with their brother's and would do anything for them. 

As for things I didn't like, there were a few of them too. As I said already, it wasn't really an enemies to lovers relationship. They were never really enemies and that aspect was a bit disappointing to me. I didn't see the point in the secret admirer storyline, which seemed so prevalent from the synopsis. It seemed like an afterthought and was only really brought up on the few occasions it would help explain a plot hole. It just seemed really unnecessary, especially as the identity wasn't much of a secret. In fact, nothing about this story was surprising. It was so clear where this book was going from the first few chapters and it meant I got kind of bored. I also really didn't like all of the epilogues. I will put up with one epilogue, any more than that are just not needed.

Overall, while I loved the main characters and enjoyed their relationship, everything else about this book was a bit disappointing. I was sure this one would be my favourite of the three but it didn't quite live up to my expectations. That being said, it wasn't a bad book and I did enjoy it for the most part.

Trigger warnings for sexual assault, suicide, suicidal thoughts, drug use and addiction, bullying, assault, I'm worried that I'm missing things but that's all I can remember. 

Rating: ★★★

I'm quite disappointed that I ended up with two books that were just average, since that's what I was trying to avoid. I guess I can't love everything. I did find a new author I am definitely reading more from in Christina C Jones, and may try out some more from the other two authors at some point. Hopefully the more of these experiments I do, the more new favourites I will find.

What was your favourite romance book of 2020? If  you've read any of these three books, what were your thoughts?    

Sophie :)

The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary Review

 

The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary

First Published: 2019

Publisher: Quercus/Macmillan Audio

Format: Hardcover/Audio

Narrator: Carrie Hope Fletcher & Kwaku Fortune

Source: Bought/Audible

Genre: Romance

Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads

This was pretty much everyone’s favourite romance of 2019 so it has taken me far too long to get around to reading it. It follows Tiffy and Leon, two complete strangers who share a bed but have never met. They share a flat but never at the same time; Tiffy gets nights and weekends in the flat while Leon, who works night shifts, gets it during the day. Despite never meeting, the two develop a friendship through notes, and, of course, feelings develop. 

This ended up being more than I expected it to be. I was intrigued by the synopsis and how the romance would develop despite the pair not meeting. What I didn’t expect was the more serious side stories. Tiffy has recently come out of a pretty toxic relationship and Leon is dealing with his brother being wrongly imprisoned. Those aspects added so much to the story and I loved how the difficulties in their lives and issues they are trying to overcome brought them together. I also really enjoyed the development of the relationship through notes. I love an epistolary romance and this had aspects of that. I think is much harder to develop a relationship with convincing chemistry through notes and without the characters actually meeting, but I was completely convinced by the chemistry between these two characters before they ever met. 

The friendships in this book are really great. Tiffy’s friend group are a great example of supportive friends who will drop everything to be there when she needs them. They had such a mix of personalities as well and each one was really well developed. Their interactions made me laugh so many times and I found them to be the perfect comic relief in some of the more serious times. Leon’s brother was also really great and I was so impressed by how well his character was developed when all we got to see of him was through phone calls and letters. 

My one issue with this book was the way Leon’s chapters were written. I listened to this on audiobook and read the physical copy and found those chapters difficult to read and follow in both formats. I found it to be very jumpy and almost threw me around a bit while I was reading. I didn’t like the way the dialogue was written either. It just took me out of the story quite a bit. 

Overall, this was a really sweet romance with some interesting added layers. I was impressed by how much I found myself rooting for these characters and seeing their chemistry before they met, and then they were even better together once they were with each other in person. I loved them as a couple and how Leon was so respectful of Tiffy’s past and the struggles she was going through. I loved the little side stories like Leon’s search for his patient’s long lost love and Tiffy’s crocheting superstar author. This was just the perfect balance of fun, adorable romance and more serious, hard-hitting topics.

Have you read The Flatshare? I would love to know your thoughts.

Sophie :)