My Romance-a-thon Wrap Up

Caila K
Jul 8, 2020
6 min read

Hello, everyone! I am so behind on my blog posts! I have been reading like crazy, but I haven't really been in the mood for writing. I'm trying to push through that because I love looking back at my thoughts on the books I've read.

Back in June, my husband and I participated in Romance-a-thon. I was really shocked that he participated with me, but he has been very experimental with his reading, so I guess I shouldn't have been that surprised. I was so excited to recommend him some of my favorite romances, that I kind of abandoned my own TBR. In the end I ended up reading some 'okay' books. I wouldn't say I've found a new favorite, but I was able to read a lot of new to me romance authors!

As with most read-a-thons their are prompts, so here are the prompts, and the books I read for those prompts.

Buddy Read and Book with 5 Words in the Title:

If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane- 3.5 Stars

I honestly had no idea what I was getting into when I read this book. I didn't really read the description, and I hadn't really heard anyone talking about it. I got the audiobook off of Scribd, which I'm glad I did, because I really enjoyed it. The book takes place in England, so it was nice to hear the intended accents of the characters.

Overall, I liked this book pretty well. It's not something that will stick with me for a long time. It didn't do anything new, and none of the characters were swoon worthy, or memorable. I did however really like the fake dating aspect. I haven't read a book with that trope before, at least I don't think I have, and I really liked it. I thought the break up and then the information after the break up was shocking. I don't know why, but I was blown away at how crazy it was. In all honesty, it's not that crazy, and my husband was not fazed by it, but when he read it. I was like "Oh my goodness, how could this happen? This is a nightmare! Oh my goodness!!" I was a bit much. I think this book is good for what it is, a slow burn fake dating romance, but like I said, nothing new, nothing memorable. It made me smile though!

New to You Author

Rebel by Beverly Jenkins- 4 stars

I have been looking for a Beverly Jenkins book for such a long time. I found it super randomly in my local used book store, and when I tell you I squealed, I mean it! This book follows a teacher in the post civil war time period, who moves south to help educate newly freed slaves, and their children. Even though slavery is now illegal, a lot of people are not happy about it, and teaching because very difficult for our heroine. She is saved by a very cute, very strong man after running for her life from a couple of soldiers, and soon forms a bond with him, and his family! I loved so much about this book! I loved that the main character is a teacher, and that I got to read about someone who loves teaching like I do. I loved learning more about this time period. I loved the hero, he is one of my favorite hero's of the year! I love the family dynamic! The only thing that I didn't love was how sparse the romance is in this book. I've since discovered after reading this book, that her books focus more on the history, rather than the romance. The romance was great in here, the main character is virginal, and new to all things intimate, and I loved every scene of them together, I just wanted more!! I highly recommend you check out this book! I can't wait to read more from her!

Published in 2020

Can I Come Over? by Whitney G- 3 stars

This was a short novella about a girl who writes erotic romance. She meets a guy online who inspires her, and who she can joke around with. They have an agreement that they will never meet, but obviously, they will. This is a forbidden, age gap romance. I haven't read many steamy novella's, I think I've read like 2 Jessa Kane books, that I can't even remember the names of, so I don't have a lot to compare this to. I have read an age gap romance before Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas, and I liked that one way better. It's not a great comparison, because obviously BG has a lot more time to develop the characters and the relationship, but even so, I prefer that type of age gap romance. This book felt rushed, and forgettable. Its good for what it is, I guess, but I don't feel qualified to speak too much on it.

Book with an Illustrated Cover

The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory- 2.5 stars

Yikes. I didn't like this book. Once again, I was so excited when I saw this at my local used book store. I've seen this cover a lot over the last couple of years, and I had high hopes. It starts off pretty well. A girl is proposed to by her boyfriend of like 5 months in a very public way, and she says 'no.' She is saved from further public embarrassment by a nice handsome guy, and his sister. The book goes on from there, and they have a really plain and unoriginal romance. The only thing I really liked about this book was how diverse the characters were. The main character is black, the hero is latino, one of the best friends is Asian, and the other best friend is black and a lesbian. The conflict in this book is really unbelievable, and the resolution was predictable and flat. I think overall, this book is not for me, and I don't really have any interest in reading more from this author. I haven't heard great things about her other books. Not for me.

Favorite Trope (marriage of convenience)

Bound by Honor by Cora Reilly

This is my first mafia romance, and I am not disappointed. The book started a little rocky, I wasn't sure if I was going to be into it, because the main character is like 15 when the book starts, but 95% of the book is when she is 18, and that's when any mature content starts. I haven't read a lot of this trope before, but every time I do, I LOVE it!! This book is not some fine work of literature, but I found it addicting. I love the characters, I love the mafia aspects, I love how alpha the hero is, and I love their romance. We have another virginal heroine, so if you don't like that, then you might not like this book, because a huge part of this book is her discovering that 'side' of herself. Their is a lot of reluctance in this story, but in my opinion their is no consent issues. I'm excited to read more in this series, and more mafia romances in general.

Those are all of the books that I read for romance-a-thon. I'm really glad that I got a chance to read some new tropes, and new authors, even if I didn't love all of them. If I had to pick a favorite for the week, it would definitely be Rebel by Beverly Jenkins. Just because I think it's interesting I am going to leave what my husband read for each prompt, as well as his star ratings. Maybe one day I will ask him to be a guest writer on here, he reads more sci/fi than I do, but like I said, he is experimenting this year.

Book with an Illustrated Cover: The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang- 4 stars
New to You Author: Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon (no rating, but he really liked it)
Book published in 2020/Buddy read/ Book with 5 Words in the Title: If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane- 3 stars
Favorite Trope(Forbidden Romance): Puck Me Secretly by Odette Stone (no rate, but once again, he really liked it)