Genre: Contemporary

Mini Book Reviews: The YA Romance Edition | The Love Interest by Helen Comerford & Slowcoach by Bethany Rutter

Posted July 29, 2024 by Emma in 2024 Books, Book Review, Romance, YA / 0 Comments

Mini Book Reviews: The YA Romance Edition | The Love Interest by Helen Comerford & Slowcoach by Bethany Rutter

Good morning my lovely bookworms. It’s even a while. End of term was brutal for me and I just needed some time for myself and reset I guess. But it’s the start of my summer holidays and I intend to return my blog and bookstagram and I have a lot of books to catch up on so over the next week or two you have will have see some mini-reviews starting off with 2 week YA Romance reads.

Me and romance reads, I know I very rarely read or review some but here we are. They are so different and so many key and positive messages. I would urge you to pick them up.

Mini Book Reviews: The YA Romance Edition | The Love Interest by Helen Comerford & Slowcoach by Bethany RutterThe Love Interest by Helen Comerford
Published by Bloomsbury YA on June 6, 2024
Genres: Fantasy, Love & Romance, Young Adult, Young Adult Fiction / Romance / Contemporary
Amazon | Waterstones
Goodreads

A swoony, speculative and entirely electric YA debut with a humorous and satirical take on the conventions of the superhero-verse, for fans of Michelle Quach's Not Here To Be Liked and the Marvel Universe.
Seventeen-year-old Jenna Ray has just been saved by the world's newest superhero, Blaze. And, in the eyes of the public, that means one thing: Jenna Ray has been cast as the Love Interest.
No. Not happening. Not if Jenna has anything to say about it (even if Blaze is actually quite sweet and cute).
But her plans to defy the HPA (the Heroics and Power Authority) and turn down this new role are thwarted when the Villains begin to take an interest in her and offer a life-changing proposition; become Blaze's Love Interest, while avoiding catching feelings for him, to uncover the HPA's secret plans and find her missing mum.
To make matters even more complicated, just as Jenna starts to embrace her new-found career, she discovers she might be more on the side of the superheroes than she ever imagined …

I love Marvel (and DC but mostly Marvel) so when I saw a YA superhero romance I was in. The book has the vibe of Marvel movies, mixed with The Boys. As much as the reader want to follow the same stereotypical superhero romance e.g the woman is in danger and needs to be saved and they fall in love, defeat bad evil and live happily ever after. We love those, I mean who doesn’t Lois Lane and Superman, Pepper Potts and Iron Man, Mary-Jane Watson and Spiderman. This book makes you think about the real world, the reality we are faced with mixed in with some dystopian, fantastical superhero element. Comerford really captures that you shouldn’t have to conform to society and what they dictate and Jenna Ray embodies this.

I rooted for Jenna Ray throughout the entire book and that she stuck to her own person regardless of the trials and tribulations she hasn’t to endure so called playing by the HPAs rules. Now it wouldn’t be a review if I didn’t mentioned Blaze, the famous hero himself. I felt a bit sorry for Blaze because he had to live up to a prophecy. That in itself is pressure, his so called love life and have a ‘Love interest’ determined the success of being a superhero. That twist in the storyline really lent a perspective of life itself. We are human and we see that all the time, so I really appreciated the human value not such a powerful character such as well, Blaze. Jenna Ray’s sister, father and her best friend were all an integral part of the book which made it an incredible cast of characters.

The Love Interest is a brilliant mix of romance, comedy, banter and satire to breaking down of the patriarchy that you won’t be able to put down. If you love Marvel/The Boys mixed with Holly Bourne – think Lottie from What’s a Girl Gotta Do then you’ll love this unique YA Romance.

Thank you to Bloomsbury YA for sending me a copy in exchange for a review. Check back later in the week as I interview Helen on her debut.

Mini Book Reviews: The YA Romance Edition | The Love Interest by Helen Comerford & Slowcoach by Bethany RutterSlowcoach: A feel-good teen summer romance by Bethany Rutter
Published by Hot Key Books on June 6, 2024
Genres: Contemporary, Love & Romance, Young Adult Fiction, Young Adult Fiction / Romance / Contemporary
Amazon | Waterstones
Goodreads

For sixteen-year-old Ruby, GCSEs are over and summer has just begun, so that means hanging out with her BFFs in the park on their roller skates and having fun. She didn't expect it to mean signing up to run in the Dawson Dash - a 5k race for sporty sixth-formers. Because Ruby is NOT sporty. But she really needs to prove wrong her mean brother and even meaner PE teacher about what a fat girl can do.

When Ruby starts to train, she doesn't expect that she would need help - nor that she would find it in the cute boy who has just moved in next door. As the two jog through the long summer evenings in south London's parks together, with Ollie only seeing her at her sweatiest and most vulnerable, the last thing she expected was that he might . . . like her. Or that she could allow herself to like him.

But nothing this summer is working out like she expected . . .

It was a long time ago when I first read No Big Deal, I loved it. I described in then as ‘She owns who she is and she isn’t afraid to show it off.’ That is the same for her latest YA, Slowcoach. She doesn’t lose the true characteristics of her books from her debut to now and I really admire that.

Our main character Ruby never stoped believing, she didn’t let her brother and her father get her down no matter what. Whilst she knew she would get her brother’s time, she did the Dawson Dash for herself. She’s not ashamed of being fat, eating her mum’s amazing cakes or falling for the boy next door, Ollie. She stayed true to herself and the people around saw everything about her but most of all, they saw the incredible beauty and passion and damn brilliant persona that shines bright. Her friends support and I loved Sasha and Liv so much.

Her books tackle important body positivity in the most raw, relatable and honest with a dash of light hearted humour. Through in a love interest that you will adore and you will have life-affirming reaction to the book. Following Bethany on Instagram and seeing her personal journey with running, I was really inspired by her book Slowcoach and how real and how life’s journey has also impacted her writing.

I met Bethany as part of her book tour at my school and it was a real pleasure to host her. She is inspiring and it was amazing to chat to her about her book and being a writer. If you want the perfect, quick summer read that has meaning and cute romance, then Bethany Rutter is author you need to read.

Thank you to Hot Key YA for sending me a copy in exchange for a review.

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Blog Tour: Book Review | The Things We Leave Behind by Clare Furniss.

Posted March 14, 2024 by Emma in Bookish Post / 0 Comments
Blog Tour: Book Review | The Things We Leave Behind by Clare Furniss.

Hello lovely readers, I’m so excited to be kicking off the blog tour on publication day for The Things We Leave Behind. Happy Release Day Clare. So without further ado here is my review for this moving and important YA novel that everyone needs to read. Wow what an powerful and impactful novel. It’s been such a long time since I’ve read a Clare Furniss book, it was How to Not to Disappear which was really moving. The Things We Left Behind I think is her personal best and my favourite as well. It’s modern day London, when a leader […]

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Book Review | Sing if You Can’t Dance by Alexia Casale

Posted March 11, 2024 by Emma in 2024 Books, Book Review, Bookish Post, UKYA, YA / 0 Comments
Book Review | Sing if You Can’t Dance by Alexia Casale

Good morning lovely readers. I’m so excited to be reviewing this book. I wished I read this one sooner and it’s such beautiful, unique and captivating contemporary romance YA book. I couldn’t put this book down. I read it in 2 days which is super good for me but I was on half-term which helped. I picked this book up as I was part of the Discovery Tour for Empathy Lab UK which I was really honoured to be part of. It’s something as a librarian that is close to my heart and something that I promote every year in […]

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Book Review | Little Bang by Kelly McCaughrain

Book Review | Little Bang by Kelly McCaughrain

Hello my lovely readers. I am about to review the first book to make me cry of 2024 and my second 5 star read. I had a glorious glowing book hangover not in a bad way and it took me a while to really process it. 05/01/2023 – Only 17 pages in and already the main characters Sid and Mel, remind me a bit of 10 Things I Hate About You. Especially Sid specifically I think. I’m just getting that vibe and I love it. 10/01/2024 – Well what a book. I’m still crying… that was not what I expected […]

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Blog Tour | Book Review – Straight Expectations by Calum McSwiggan

Blog Tour | Book Review – Straight Expectations by Calum McSwiggan

Happy Sunday my bookish friends, today I’m really excited for my stop on the Ultimate Blog Tour with The Write Reads for debut novel, Straight Expectations. My first book of May and what a brilliant start to the month. Before I head into my review here is a little bit more about the book. Another book I didn’t really know what to expect. Opening the first few pages on my kindle and I knew I was going to love it. It instantly it gave me Boy Queen by George Lester and Heartstopper vibes. Max is loud and proud at school, […]

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Book Review | Influential by Amara Sage

Posted April 6, 2023 by Emma in 2023 Books, Book Review, Bookish Post, YA / 1 Comment
Book Review | Influential by Amara Sage

Hello my fellow readers, long time no post. Before I head on to my review of this brilliant book I just wanted to update you on my MIA from the blog. The last two months I’ve been unwell, one thing after another, flu and such and it’s taken me a while to bounce back to normal. To get back to reading, to blogging to really get my energy back. I think I suffered from massive burn out at work, But I’m typing this with the sea in front of me whilst I’m on holiday, relaxing and just feeling refreshed I […]

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Book Review | Something Certain, Maybe by Sara Barnard

Book Review | Something Certain, Maybe by Sara Barnard

Hello my lovely bookworms. Happy Monday and hope you had a lovely weekend. Today I’m bringing you a book review *shock horror*. I know – I mean it’s been a while once again. But I’ve read a lot of books this summer so far which I’m loving and I need to catch up on review desperately. Today’s review is my most recent finished book, Something Certain, Maybe by Sara Barnard. With under half way to go on the book, I picked it up before bed and I finished it at 2 am. So here is a little more about the […]

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Blog Tour – Interview | Something Certain, Maybe by Sara Barnard

Blog Tour – Interview | Something Certain, Maybe by Sara Barnard

Happy Friday my lovely bookworms. I am currently travelling home from holiday. But today I’m really excited to be ending the blog tour for Something Certain, Maybe by Sara Barnard. This is also my current read for the train ride. It’s been so long since I read a book by Sara and I’d forgotten how much I loved her writing. I would say if you are a fan of Holly Bourne, like I am, as you all know then I would definitely recommend Sara’s books. My favourite of hers is A Quiet Kind of Thunder. Something Certain, Maybe is a […]

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Book Review – With this Kiss by Carrie Hope Fletcher

Posted April 20, 2022 by Emma in Bookish Post / 0 Comments
Book Review – With this Kiss by Carrie Hope Fletcher

It’s been a while since I wrote a review so I might be a bit rusty so bear with me. Tonight I’m exciting to be part of (a day late) to the social blog tour of Wish this Kiss by Carrie Hope Fletcher. I was so absorbed in finishing the book that I wanted to do the review justice especially after being absent for so long on my blog. So I am going to head straight into my thoughts. But here is a little bit more on Carrie’s newest release. My Thoughts CAWPILE – 7.14 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ My first Carrie […]

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