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Romance

The Happy Ever After Playlist

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The Happy Every After Playlist by Abby Jimenez
Who it’s for: Adults
Format: eBook

After two years of grieving for her fiancé, Sloan finds a lost dog that steals her heart.  Sloan tries to contact Tucker’s owner with no luck, so she is hopeful that she will get to keep him.  Unfortunately, just when she thinks Tucker is hers to keep, his owner, Jason, contacts her and he definitely wants his dog back.  Jason is on a music tour in Australia and so the two decide that Sloan will keep Tucker until his return.  A long distance romance starts to develop between them.

When Jason returns, they quickly develop a relationship.  However, is Sloan ready to give her heart to another after losing her fiancé?  With Jason’s music career taking off, will they be able to stick together while he is on tour?

This was a fun, flirty romance with lots of heart.  A great escape during quarantine.  This is a standalone romance, but you may want to read about Sloan’s friend, Kristen, first in, The Friend Zone. 

Find the eBook of The Happy Ever After Playlist on Overdrive/Libby and The Friend Zone on Overdrive/Libby.

The Hating Game

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The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
Who it’s for: Adults
Format: eBook, Digital Audiobook

Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman work as assistants to the C0-CEOs at the recently merged Bexley and Gammon Publishing House. Lucy and Joshua keep the office running. The only problem is that Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman hate one another. The two assistants may be the most competent employees at B and G Publishing, but they are also the two most likely to be sent to HR. With all the games they play to bring one another down, neither is expecting to be brought down by love. The Hating Game is a smart and steamy enemies-to-lovers romance that will have readers laughing and swooning until the very end.

You can find the Hating Game by Sally Thorne on Hoopla and on Overdrive/Libby.

Get a Life, Chloe Brown

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Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
Format: Book
Who it’s for:  Adults

Chloe Brown lives with chronic pain, an invisible disease that people don’t understand.  After almost getting hit by a car, she decides she needs to cross some things off her bucket list and live her best life.  She starts by moving out of her parents’ house and into an apartment.  She soon finds that she can cross a few other things off her list by getting to know her new neighbor and handyman, Red.

Red is tattooed, drives a motorcycle and is too handsome for his own good.  Chloe enjoys spying on him while he paints in his apartment.  This crosses off “do something bad” from her bucket list.  Soon Chloe and Red become friends and he begins helping her rebel a little.  She learns that there is a lot more to this bad boy than she imagined.  And, he learns to understand what it is like to be in pain constantly.

This was a cute romance that was surprisingly meaningful.  Chloe and Red are both living with their own issues and find a way to overcome them and in the process find romance.  If you enjoy reading authors Helen Hoang, Katherine Center and Christina Lauren, you will like this author too!

Find it in the catalog

Red, White & Royal Blue

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Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
Format: Book, eBook, Audiobook
Who it’s for: Adults

Alex hates Henry. Henry is pompous, stuffy, and obviously has no sense of humor. But when a small argument causes an international incident, Alex and Henry are forced to play nice. For these young men are not your typical 20-somethings. Alex is the son of the first female president of the United States and Henry is the younger grandson of the Queen of England and 3rd in line for the throne. Therefore, despite their obvious disdain for one another, Alex and Henry must strike up a fake friendship for the good of national relations. But as they spend time together at public events where the ever-present press can snap photos of their fake friendship, it soon becomes clear that Henry and Alex do not hate one another. Instead, it’s very possible they are falling in love. How are the FSOTUS (first son of the United States) and a British royal supposed to make this work? With humor, feeling and a bit of shenanigan, Casey McQuiston gives readers a truly beautiful love story and a delightful romance with an HEA (happily ever after).
Find it in the catalog.

From Twinkle, With Love

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Recommended Book
From Twinkle, With Love by  Sandhya Menon
Publication Date: May 22, 2018
Format: Book or ebook
Who it’s for: Teens

“In this delightful romantic comedy from the New York Times bestselling author of When Dimple Met Rishi, told through the letters Twinkle writes to her favorite female filmmakers, From Twinkle, with Love navigates big truths about friendship, family, and the unexpected places love can find you.

Aspiring filmmaker and wallflower Twinkle Mehra has stories she wants to tell and universes she wants to explore, if only the world would listen. So when fellow film geek Sahil Roy approaches her to direct a movie for the upcoming Summer Festival, Twinkle is all over it. The chance to publicly showcase her voice as a director? Dream come true. The fact that it gets her closer to her longtime crush, Neil Roy-a.k.a. Sahil’s twin brother? Dream come true x 2.

When mystery man N begins emailing her, Twinkle is sure it’s Neil, finally ready to begin their happily-ever-after. The only slightly inconvenient problem is that, in the course of movie-making, she’s fallen madly in love with the irresistibly adorkable Sahil.

Twinkle soon realizes that resistance is futile: The romance she’s got is not the one she’s scripted. But will it be enough?” – Publisher’s blurb

This took a bit for me to get into. It was soooooooo High School. The crush, the BFF drama, the awkwardness, the ‘Woe is me’ angst, etc. So very HS, so stereotypical; it made me cringe, laugh, and smh. I would have stopped reading it by like chapter two, if not for Books for the Beast (a YA reader’s advisory conference in Maryland) and the fact her first book got so much praise. I powered through.

It was very amusing with a couple of lil life lessons to boot. If this was a Disney Channel movie, I could have made it through without cringing so much or smh at the mistakes they made. I still would have lol at the awkward moments. Despite all those things it was a great read.

The Indian culture that was in the book was completely natural and did not feel forced. It was just a part of Twinkle’s life, her story. The gay friends felt forced, like an afterthought. I liked the text messages and emails. They made it feel epistolary. The supposed diary entries where Twinkle is writing to directors never really felt like letters. They did not really feel like a diary entries, either. Only at the beginning of the diary entry and when she closed the “letter” did it ever feel like she was writing a letter to somebody.  It felt more like just a first POV novel.

I was considering reading her debut novel but when I was talking about From Twinkle, With Love with a coworker, she said this plot sounds almost identical to When Dimple Met Rishi. Now if they made movies from her novels on Disney Channel, I would watch them all and enjoy. If I was in middle/high school and liked romance novels, I would read all her novels as well. Def geared for upper middle school and High School girls.

Read a High School Rom-Com starring a cute Indian Girl!

 

The Chocolate Touch

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The Chocolate Touch
By Laura Florand
Who it’s For: Adults

Dominique Richard is not to be messed with. He is one of the most inventive chocolatiers in all of Paris, and has worked his way up from the very bottom. He has a reputation for being a fierce fighter outside of the kitchen. Dom has very little patience for most Parisians and even less for tourists. They obviously know nothing about chocolate, and would probably be happier with something overly sweet and unimaginative. So when a beautiful American woman comes again and again to his shop, sampling the most experimental delights from Dominique’s selection, he can’t help but be intrigued. Who is this woman? Why is she drawn to his shop and why is he drawn to her? 

Absolutely lovely writing, a beautiful love story, and gorgeous descriptions of delectable chocolate delights make this book a wonderful treat. You will almost make you feel like you can taste the delicious creations that Dom dreams up in his kitchen. Though only almost, so this book is best read with your chocolate of choice within arms reach.
Find it in the catalog.