Tag: Christina Lauren

This Chick Read: Tangled Up In You (Meant to Be) by Christina Lauren

Ren grew up on a farm completely off the grid. Never had a cell phone, watched current TV shows, no social media, and doesn’t know how to live in the real world. She’s homeschooled and has earned scholarships to go away to college, something that her society hating parents are against but she perseveres and enters her freshman year at age 22. Fitz also attends Corona College and has relied on his charm and willingness to go the extra mile to gain himself privileges at school that may or may not have improved his grades. When she catches him in a compromising position at midnight in their classroom she bribes him to take her on his trip to Nashville.

The Meant To Be collection are stories written by different authors that take after a different fairy-tale. Tangled Up in You very loosely takes themes from Disney’s Tangled, which admittedly I’m not familiar with, however I am familiar with Rapunzel which I believe Tangled is based off. Confused? Yeah, me too. Despite the supposed fairy-tale theme, Tangled Up In You was a departure for this author duo. Part romance, part mystery, and definitely pg-13 rated this novel still had characteristics of other Christina Lauren books. Great dialog, fabulous and interesting characters, and an interesting hook.

I LOVED Ren. I would gobble up more books about Ren. She was such an interesting character and it was fun to explore this new world of college life and life in the outside world that she’s never inhabited and is now living. Fitz also grew on me. I really liked that despite Ren’s innocence, she saw right through his act and didn’t allow him to take advantage of her good nature. Once they got rolling on their road trip the two of them together were entertaining and well, I just fell in love with them as a couple.

There was a lot of heart in this story. So much that I teared up a couple of times and laughed softly in a few others. The only thing that holds me back from giving this a 5 rating is the three sentences they included at the end wrapping up their life in the future. I hated that! I’d rather have imagined my own life for them than to be given three sentences of a throwaway ending. If they go back and delete that paragraph it’s a five star read from me. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❣️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review and it was honest.

Click this link to purchase this book!* Tangled Up In You

Copyright 2024 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren

A few years ago Anna Green married Liam “West” Weston for access to the subsidized family housing at UCLA. When they split up two years later she thought the paperwork she’d signed were divorce papers. When West shows up on her doorstep almost five years later, it’s to inform her that they’re still married, and that he needs her to come with him to his sister’s wedding to be his wife in front of his family. Oh, and they needed to stay married until September so that he can receive his 100 million dollars inheritance. Anna is no longer the med student he new but a starving artist who is trying to sell her artwork in order to help pay for her fathers doctors bills. After he offers Anna money to maintain this charade for his family she packs her bags for a trip to Fiji and hopes she can convince his uber-wealthy family that they’re on their way to a happily ever after.

I think it would be really hard for me to dislike a Christina Lauren novel. I can always count on some fun dialogue and our two main characters chemistry to be off the charts. The Paradise Problem definitely hit those notes, so why did I feel a little dissatisfied? It could be that I don’t typically buy into the Billionaire romance genre, and this novel has elements of that but just skirts the edges. West could’ve been seen as “saving” Anna with his money, but in fact she ends up saving him. So I don’t think that’s it. Their relationship felt pretty equal. Maybe it was that his family was truly unlikable? Even his brother who was the person to introduce them to each other back when they first got married was a bit of a turd. His father was certainly no prince charming and his mother seemed to be the stereotype of a wealthy mother. I don’t know for certain, but call me surprised, this novel is probably the one I’ve liked the least in this author duo’s repertoire in a good long while.

Despite my feelings, above, it was a brief escape from reality, so in that manner it did what it was supposed to do. I just didn’t feel as entertained as I normally would by one of their stories. However, their writing skills were still superb and there were a couple of characters that I truly liked, including Anna. So not totally a throw away and one that I think more people will like than dislike. Such a recommendation, right?

❤️❤️❤️❣️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest!

Click this link to purchase this book!* The Paradise Problem

Copyright 2024 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chicks Audio Review: The Exception to the Rule (The Improbably Meet Cute Collection) by Christina Lauren

It starts with an email sent to the wrong person on Valentine’s Day and continues on through 10 years of Happy Valentine’s emails. T and C were very young when the first email was sent and set up ground rules; no names, places, or personal information that could tie them back to their real lives. This sweet short story written by one of my favorite romance author duo’s quickly sets the stage of strangers to friends to lovers through cute emails.

I loved listening to this short story! Narrated by Marli Watson and Andrew Gibson who imbued T and C’s characters with life, humor, and well, life! I was hooked right from the beginning. If you have a short-ish commute you may get through this story in a day, it took me two and I enjoyed every minute. Sorry this review is short on details but I don’t want to give anything away. Enjoy! I did! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❣️

Click this link to purchase this book!* The Exception to the Rule

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*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chicks Audio Review: In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren

Maelyn Jones hates her life. She is in a dead end job, living with her parents, and just made a huge romantic error. The only thing going well is that she is in her happy place at the cabin in the woods where her family spends the holidays, along with her parents best friends and their kids. As the weekend implodes and Mae drives away she makes a wish that changes her life, or at least starts the weekend all over.

I thought this Groundhog Day-esque rom-com was wonderfully well done. Patti Murin’s narration was spot on and she did a great job voicing all of the different characters… and there were a lot of them! I listened to the book leading up to the holidays and it set the write note of family drama, holiday traditions, and love gone comically wrong. I laughed with Mae, and then fell along in love with her lifetime crush, Andrew. Everything does go horribly wrong but it’s fun to watch Mae try to turn what she knows will be a disaster into a positive.

I’ve read a couple of reviews that said they weren’t a fan of Andrew’s (our romantic hero) personality. I actually thought his calm demeanor was perfect for the somewhat chaotic mess that was Mae. He did remind me of some of the gentlemen from my southern California roots so I must like a more laid back fellow. Well, to read about anyway. LOL.

If you’re looking for a fun holiday rom-com and haven’t read this novel yet pick it up or better yet take a listen! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book!* In a Holidaze

Copyright 2024 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick’s Audio Review: The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren

Felicity “Fizzy” Chen is a bestselling romance author but she’s feeling dissatisfied with her life. When she’s asked to give a commencement speech she realizes that although she has felt desire, she’s never actually been in love. Connor Prince is a documentary filmmaker and father to an adorable little girl, doesn’t have time for romantic love. When his boss tells him that he needs to come up with a concept for a reality dating show he meets Fizzy and thinks it would be awesome to help her find her true love. She rejects his pitch, but thinks it would be fun to string him along with ridiculous demands. When he agrees to them, she agrees to film the show. Of course, it’s not the bachelors that she falls for, is it?

What a fun novel! Fizzy’s demands includes bachelors who fill romance novel archetypes; vampire, nerd, the one who got away, etc. These 8 bachelors made for great reading, but it was really Fizzy and Connor’s romance that created the heat in this book. Connor, with his British accent, dark good looks, and DILF/lumberjack/nerd qualities. Connor’s narrator was Jonathon Cole who nailed that British charm, and Fizzy’s crazy- kookiness was narrated by Cindy Kay who I must now look up, she was that talented. I loved the back and forth chapters so that we could get in each of our main characters brains. I really relied on that insight in those later chapters when the reality show plot was wrapping up.

Even though this is a stand alone novel, it’s really the second book to The Soulmate Equation. River Peña’s technology for finding your perfect match is used to see if the audience chooses Fizzy’s match, and he and Jess are important side characters as Fizzy’s best friend. Every romance novel needs a best friend who provides sage advice and Jess is that person (as is her daughter Juno!) to Fizzy. There is one particular scene when Fizzy is babysitting Juno and gets pinned down by her questions about Connor that I found particularly funny and gave Fizzy pause to think about her feelings. It was a clever scene that rang true. Kids say the darndest things, right?

This book was funny, emotional, sizzling hot, and dreamy. I just loved every bit of it and I know I’ll be reading it again soon. Right after I read The Soulmate Equation. That book was awesome too!

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book!* The True Love Experiment

Copyright 2023 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: The Honey-Don’t List by Christina Lauren

Carey Duncan met Melissa and Rusty Tripp when she was sixteen. She applied for a retail job in their store in her small town. When they were discovered by a home design network, Carey continued to work for Melissa as her assistant. She has helped them build their empire, but just as their launching a book tour, their marriage is on the rocks. James McCann was only recently hired by the Tripp’s as an Engineer on their show but has ended up being Rusty’s executive assistant. His career trajectory is reliant upon the Tripp’s making a success of their book and the second season of their new show. When it all starts to plummet, he and Carey team up to try to hold their bosses relationship together, while at the same time starting their own.

This novel came out a couple of years ago and has say on my library wishlist ever since. I’m not sure why I pressed pause because it was such a great romance. OK, yeah, Melissa and Rusty’s relationship was definitely on the skids, but when James and Carey banded together the became each others support system and their own story was sweet and funny. This story was a perfect example of using two relationships to show the contrast in healthy vs unhealthy which skewed the reader to loving James and Carey event more. Boy those Tripp’s were a mess!

I really enjoyed learning about Carey’s disability and how it made her life challenging. Especially when trying to keep designing furniture and other ideas for the Tripp’s. He story especially tugged on your heartstrings. I’ll admit to using Google to learn a little more. One of my favorite moments was James suggestion of using his engineering skills to design her a tool to use to make it easier for her to use her tablet. So sweet! This was a couple that I really rooted for from the start.

There were a lot of hijinks in this novel, just as there are in many of Christina Lauren’s novels. I’m not really fond of watching a marriage implode but I think the contrast of watching a new relationship being built helped provide the positive feeling the reader was left with at the end of the story. Well done! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book!* The Honey Don’t List

Copyright 2022 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: Something Wilder by Christina Lauren

Daughter of a world famous treasure hunter and somewhat deadbeat dad, Lily Wilder makes a living off the legend that her father pursued throughout her childhood, guiding tourists on innocent treasure hunts for Butch Cassidy’s hidden treasure. When she meets her newest group of city slickers she is shocked to find her first love, Leo Grady. Her sweetheart who left her for a family emergency and dropped off the face of the earth. A week on the trail with her ex is not what she bargained for, but how much worse can it get? This story of lost love found again has quite a few hidden surprises and a whole lot of adventure.

Prior to her mother leaving, Lily loved the tales and riddles her father created, but after she left Lily’s resentment for those stories grew. She became more reserved staying loyal to those who were true to her. Ten years have gone by since Leo’s disappearance and despite her anger, this is a chance for her to find out what happened and get closure. Leo is gobsmacked when he sees Lily walking through the camp towards him, having no idea that she was heading their week of fun. He’s instantly struck by what attracted him to her and reminded of why he fell in love with her all those years ago. Their chemistry is off the charts and the reader is left dying to know why they were no longer together. The set-up to the two of them meeting was so well done and immediately grabbed the reader locking them into this adventurous love story.

Lily and Leo are not alone on this journey, and the cast of characters run from friendly to annoying but all of this adds to a story that about a third of the way in takes a right turn and takes off like a rocket jolting the readers heart and makes them unable to put this book down, at least it did for me. This trip goes completely awry and the fake treasure hunt takes center stage. Do these clues in her fathers journal actually lead to real treasure? It becomes a life or death hunt for Lily and Leo that draws them closer to each other and also to the possibility that their dream of being together can come true. Something Wilder is a cute play on words as Wilder is Lily’s last name, but it’s also a clue to the journey that the reader will take while reading this book. It starts off pretty steady but this reader was suprised as it shifted to a wild, rollicking, adventure. I eagerly flipped pages and settled in, this story took me on a wild ride and I loved it. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase!* Something Wilder

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*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

Jess is a single mother working multiple jobs as a data and statistics wizard. She works hard to make ends meet and is too focused on being Juno’s mom to bother letting someone new in her life. After all, what’s the point, they all leave anyway. When she hears about GeneticAlly which focuses on people’s genes in order to make the perfect match she totally gets it. However, she never has any intention of spitting into a cup to find her soulmate. Dr. River Peña is one of the genius’s behind GeneticAlly and when he and Jess end up being a 98% Diamond match he can’t help but see it through. After all, he believes in the science. As they get to know each other, they click on every level so it has to be true, doesn’t it?

I loved the concept behind The Soulmate Equation. I met my husband 21 years ago through an online dating service so I had total buy in. That was about all that was similar to my own experience as this fantasy dating app is a long way from answering a series of questions on the dating service I used. It was time for Jess to catch a break and have something go her way, her life up to that point had been full of struggle. For her match to be the hot guy that she has seen in her coffee shop for the past two years seemed to be kismet. That the dating concept used genetics to create the “perfect” match was perfect for a character who was a statistic whiz and made perfect sense that it was the scientist who invented the concept, and as I got to know our main couple I couldn’t help but feel they were meant to be.

I loved both of these characters. Jess’s struggles to give her daughter the childhood she didn’t have, and as we got to know River we learned that he wasn’t always the handsome scientist he was today. He was actually quite the geek who excelled academically at a very young age. They both had their struggles and their connection was off the charts. It’s rare that I read a romance novel that gives me goose bumps anymore and this novel definitely did.

As with the other Christina Lauren novels I’ve read the dialog is fun and the romance sizzling. This was an easy book to read and get lost in. If you’re looking for that story that will take you away from your troubles The Soulmate Equation is the perfect match. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher for my honest review and it was honest!

Click this link to purchase!* The Soulmate Equation

Copyright 2021 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this novel through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren

Tate Jones and Sam Brandis meet and fall in love while on a two week vacation in London. He was her first lover and confidant and ultimately broke her heart. 14 years later Tate is an actress who shows up for a role of a lifetime and finds out the screenwriter is none other than Sam. This reconnection brings up all of her past hurts. Will they take advantage of this second chance?

OK, boy, this story was so much more than the brief synopsis above. Another huge plot point is the fact that Tate’s father is this huge actor and is cast in a supporting role in the movie. Tate has always wanted to have a better relationship with her father and her journey towards the discovery of who they both are is at times heartbreaking and is such a great sub plot to this novel! I really feel that without that additional conflict the story would have fallen a little flat. I’m always a sucker for daddy issues and boy, this daddy has issues!

I loved Sam right from the start and was just as heartbroken as Tate when their relationship couldn’t get past their first big conflict. However, it was Tate and her family/friends that held this story together. Her Nana and mom were awesome and her best friend Charlie was funny and ferocious.

I recently read Christina Lauren’s Unhoneymooners and that novel was hilarious and fun. This novel had more heart and depth. There was some humor from the cast of characters but there was a lot of emotional turmoil in Tate’s heart and it was that emotion that drew me in. I feel like this novel was different than their other books because of how adult the topics and the maturity of the characters. If you look for those heart tugging moments in the books you read then you need to pick this one up! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase!* Twice in a Blue Moon

Copyright 2019 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- (if you click the link and purchase the book I’ll receive a small stipend)

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This Chick Read: The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

Dressed in a horrible green bridesmaid dress, Olive Torres figures it’s par for the course. After all, her twin sister Ami has always been the lucky one, winning contests, getting favorable jobs, and now marrying her dream guy. When the entire wedding party and guests get food poisoning with the exception of Olive and Ethan-brother to the groom, the tables are turned and Olive’s luck starts to change. When she and Ethan are offered the chance to take a free honeymoon in the place of the bride and groom, she has some misgivings but accepts. She’s always found Ethan to be somewhat of a bore, but figures she can suck it up for this chance in a lifetime vacation.

The Unhoneymooners has got it all going on! Humor, attraction, great dialog, and my favorite trope of enemies to lovers, what’s not to like? The exchanges between Olive and Ethan are really clever and outright funny. Olive is kind of a beautiful mess, but that mess is mostly in her own head. Written mostly from her POV, we get to see how her adorableness contrasts with how she views herself. That dichotomy really made me root for Olive! Not only didn’t I view her the same way she viewed herself, but could see a little bit of her in me, in her insecurity and self consciousness. I think a lot of readers will identify with her character and that will make her HEA even more sweet to read.

Ethan was a little harder to grasp, but I think that was because we were seeing through Olive’s eyes, and those eyes were a bit clouded. Once they cleared a little, Ethan was as good as it gets. Handsome, charming, and not as full of himself as Olive first believed. What won me over though was how funny they were together. The dialog in this novel was what made it work. Christina Lauren’s self deprecating humor struck a chord and I really did laugh out loud quite a bit!

If you are looking for a fast, fun, vacation bound book then you must give The Unhoneymooners a try out. If your own vacation is lacking that sizzle and spark -this novel will fire you right up! Plus give you a good laugh as well. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❣️

I received an ARC of this novel through NetGalley for my honest review and I was honest!

Click this link to purchase!* The Unhoneymooners

Copyright 2019 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate

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