Here’s a quick breakdown of all the short stories:
A ton of themes and topics are discussed in this short story anthology such as fate versus free will, love and heartbreak, revenge, desire to escape, companionship, identity, loneliness and isolation, life and death, and family. Eternally Yours is best suited for teens and young adults who enjoy reading paranormal/ fantasy romance as well as those who enjoy reading short story anthologies like My True Love Gave to Me or Summer Days and Summer Nights by Stephanie Perkins et al. In my opinion, the ideal time to real this anthology would be in the autumn or around Halloween since all the stories include paranormal and/ or spooky elements.
Since I’m not a fan of horror, I appreciated that, whilst being paranormal and spooky, none of the short stories were scary or overly gory. I also thought that it was cool that more than half of the short stories in this anthology included an LGBTQ+ couple. Additionally, I liked how all the stories were quick reads (only around 30 pages each) and standalones (so you can skip any stories that aren’t of interest). On the other hand, since the stories were so short, I found that it was hard for me to really connect with the characters and get invested in the stories. Lastly, my favourite short stories included in this anthology were A Thousand More by Chloe Gong, If You Give an Asura a Cookie by Akshaya Ramon, and Bloody, Lovely by Casey McQuiston. Furthermore, I liked all the romance elements included in A Thousand More, I enjoyed the mystery aspects in If You Give an Asura a Cookie, and I loved the unique concept and heartwarming twist in Bloody, Lovely. Overall, this paranormal romance anthology is a quick YA read that's perfect for fall and Halloween!
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Even though Jamie and Bea are total opposites, their friends believe that they would make a perfect match and proceed to trick Jamie and Bea into going on a date. Once Jamie and Bea realize that they’ve been duped, they hatch a plan to get revenge on their meddling friends and finally put an end to their friends’ matchmaking ways…they’ll fake date, pretend to fall in love, and then have a horrible break-up. While pretending to be madly in love, Jamie and Bea inevitably grow closer and start to wonder if their friends’ matchmaking wasn’t so off-base after all. But things get complicated after Bea perceives trouble in her twin sister’s whirlwind romance with Jamie’s roommate. Two Wrongs Make a Right is a contemporary retelling of Much Ado About Nothing that invokes the matchmaking, fake dating, and opposites attract tropes. It is best suited for lovers of rom coms like the Bergman Brothers series by Chloe Liese, The Kiss Quotient trilogy by Helen Hoang, The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon, the All-Access books by Evie Mitchell, Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake by Mazey Eddings, and Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood. It is important to note a trigger warning: presence of emotionally abusive/ psychologically manipulative relationships. Two Wrongs Make a Right deals with themes like appearance versus reality, disability (autism), mental health (anxiety), communication, love and heartbreak, fear of change, loneliness and isolation, family drama, and fate versus free will. The moral of this story is that everyone deserves their own happily ever after.
I absolutely loved this book and think it’s going to remain one of my favourite romances of 2022. I adored Jamie and Bea’s slow burn romance; I enjoyed watching them become friends and then start to develop deeper feelings for each other whilst carrying out their fake dating revenge plan. Furthermore, I loved how Jamie and Bea were so considerate of each other’s feelings and ultimately helped each other to overcome old heartbreaks and insecurities. Even though the novel was a slow burn, I still found that there were lots of steamy and sweet moments throughout the novel (like a “fake” paint night date and a surprise trip to the tattoo parlour). I really connected to both main characters and found their various struggles to be very realistic and relatable (e.g., loneliness, fear of heartbreak or rejection, anxiety, sensory processing issues, etc.). Furthermore, I thought that Jamie was totally swoon-worthy! In addition to being a pediatrician, he speaks French, he is a proud cat owner, and he takes it upon himself to befriend Bea’s beloved pet “therapy hedgehog”. There really wasn’t much about this book that I disliked or would have changed…I would have loved to see Bea’s sisters’ happily ever afters but I’m glad that Liese left these storylines open for potential sequels/ companion novels! Overall, Two Wrongs Make a Right was a fun and sweet rom com with realistic anxiety and autism representation. It definitely exceeded my expectations and I highly recommend adding it to your TBR list immediately! Links:
Click HERE to view this article on "The Nerd Daily's" website! Click HERE to add Two Wrongs Make a Right to your Goodreads TBR! Click HERE to check out my Two Wrongs Make a Right Q&A with author Chloe Liese! Click HERE to read my review of Everything for You by Chloe Liese! Click HERE to read my review of The Mistletoe Motive by Chloe Liese! RJ is an unromantic divorce attorney but, when a video of her officiating an impromptu wedding goes viral, she becomes a highly sought-after wedding officiant in her spare time (much to the dismay of her law firm). After leaving his job as an event manager for a football team, Lear takes a job planning weddings (a lot of which happen to be weddings that RJ is officiating). Despite having a meet disaster and constantly butting heads, the more weddings RJ and Lear work together, the harder it becomes to deny their attraction to each other. Having both been burned in the past, the pair decide to become friends with benefits (or enemies with benefits, if you will). But the longer their arrangement goes on, the harder it is to not catch feelings.
Do You Take This Man is a contemporary rom com invoking the enemies to lovers, friends with benefits, and forced proximity tropes. This book would be ideal for fans of books like The Fastest Way to Fall by Denise Williams, The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang, Book Lovers by Emily Henry, Set On You by Amy Lea, and Thank You, Next by Andie J Christopher as well as fans of movies like The Wedding Planner. Some themes present in this book include love and heartbreak, friendship and companionship, death, marriage and divorce, parenthood, family, facing darkness, and overcoming fear. Some potential trigger warnings include off-page death of parent and absentee parent, recalled cheating and trauma surrounding infant paternity, and infant NICU stay. In my opinion, the moral of this story is that, even if you’re struggling or heartbroken, at a certain point, you need to try to live your life and find love again. Firstly, I found the concept of this book, a divorce attorney/ wedding officiant with a wedding planner, to be unique and I was happy that there were some unexpected twists in the plot. Also, having previously read and enjoyed The Fastest Way to Fall by Denise Williams, I was happily surprised that Britta and Wes (the main characters in The Fastest Way to Fall) made frequent appearances in Do You Take This Man. Given the fact that RJ is a wedding officiant and Lear is a wedding planner, I anticipated that there would be a fair number of weddings in this book, but there was even more weddings (and pre-wedding events) present in this book than I was expecting. On the one hand, if you enjoy weddings and are a fan of movies like The Wedding Planner, this book will be right up your alley! But, if weddings aren’t really your thing, the abundance of weddings, rehearsal dinners, and wedding planning in this book may be a turnoff. I personally found it hard to get into Do You Take This Man and I found the middle of this book to be quite repetitive (there seemed to be a constant cycle of weddings and secret hook-ups). Also, even though their relationship was steamy, RJ and Lear had a tendency of hooking-up after rehearsals in secluded areas of wedding venues, which I thought was rather cringy. Overall, I thought that Do You Take This Man was steamy, romantic, and unique. If you are a wedding enthusiast and are a fan of Williams’ other romance novels, then I highly recommend picking up a copy of Do You Take This Man! |
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February 2024
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