Recent Reads #27: Five Star Reads

I have been reading a tonne again this month, I can't be stopped it seems. And I have been reading some incredible books and I can't wait to share the details with you today. I have a little bit of everything to share today but of course, there is a romance theme - do you expect anything else from me at this point?
Recent Reads #27: Five Star Reads
The Dare - Elle Kennedy

"College was supposed to be my chance to get over my ugly-duckling complex and spread my wings. Instead, I wound up in a sorority full of mean girls. I already have a hard time fitting in, so when my Kappa Chi sisters issue the challenge, I can’t say no.
The dare: seduce the hottest new hockey player in the junior class.
Conor Edwards is a regular at Greek Row parties…and in Greek Row sorority beds. He’s the one you fall for before you learn that guys like him don’t give girls like me a second glance. Except Mr. Popular throws me for a loop—rather than laughing in my face, he does me a solid by letting me take him upstairs to pretend we’re getting busy. 
Even crazier, now he wants to keep pretending. Turns out Conor loves games, and he thinks it’s fun to pull the wool over my frenemies’ eyes. 
But resisting his easy charm and surfer-boy hotness is darn near impossible. Though I’m realizing there’s much more to Conor’s story than his fan club can see.
And the longer this silly ruse goes on, the greater the danger of it all blowing up in my face"

Elle Kennedy's college romances are some of my favourites. The Off Campus series is incredible if you have never read it and The Dare is one of the books from the spin off series. I don't know why I took so long to get around to reading this because I could not put it down. The romance was fantastic but it also covers some important topics for late teens and early twenties that would be impactful. These books are so entertaining that I will never stop reading them. This one isn't predictable either. 

Always Never Yours - Emily Wibberly & Austin Siegemund-Broka 

"Shouldn't a girl get to star in her own love story?

Seventeen-year-old Megan Harper is about due for her next sweeping romance. It's inevitable—each of her relationships starts with the perfect guy and ends with him falling in love . . . with someone else. But instead of feeling sorry for herself, Megan focuses on pursuing her next fling, directing theater, and fulfilling her dream college's acting requirement in the smallest role possible.

So when she’s cast as Juliet (yes, that Juliet) in her high school’s production, it’s a complete nightmare. Megan’s not an actress, and she’s used to being upstaged—both in and out of the theater. In fact, with her mom off in Texas and her dad remarried and on to baby #2 with his new wife, Megan worries that, just like her exes, her family is moving on without her.

Then she meets Owen Okita, an aspiring playwright inspired by Rosaline from Shakespeare's R+J. A character who, like Megan, knows a thing or two about short-lived relationships. Megan agrees to help Owen with his play in exchange for help catching the eye of a sexy stagehand/potential new boyfriend. Yet Megan finds herself growing closer to Owen, and wonders if he could be the Romeo she never expected."

I don't read a lot of YA but when I do, I always find fantastic books. This was my first book from the author duo and it won't be my last. For this being YA, it is surprisingly steamy and sex is discussed a lot so it is actually realistic for the age of the characters in the book. Always Never Yours is so delightful and so much fun. Can't recommend it enough if you like young adult books. 

Don't Kiss the Bride - Carian Cole 

"I guess you could say I was a damsel in distress, and he was my knight in shining armor.But more accurately, I was a girl with a lot of bad luck, and he was a guy with a lot of muscles and tattoos.Jude “Lucky” Lucketti wasn’t just a sexy, brooding construction worker. He was my own personal hero who seemed to be in all the right places at the right times. Like when my car broke down and I needed a ride home, and when I face planted on the sidewalk right in front of him and had to be taken to the emergency roomThose weren’t exactly my best moments, but they were his. 

We became friends, and it didn’t matter that he was sixteen years older than me. We had a lot in common—like our love of old rock music and vintage fast cars, and our aversion to relationships.
When he approached me with a crazy idea to help me out, I couldn’t say no.
The arrangement was supposed to be temporary. A marriage on paper and nothing else.
It should’ve been easy, but it wasn’t.
Because here I am, eighteen years-old, still in high school, and married to a man I was never supposed to fall in love with.
We had just one rule—no kissing the bride.
But we broke that rule, and it sealed our fate forever."

This romance isn't going to be for everyone as there is a big age gap but I love an age gap romance. If you liked books like Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas, you will love this book! It's a slow burn and you see their relationship go from strangers to friends to more and I couldn't get enough of it or put the book down. I have read quite a few books from this author so far and this one is my favourite. 

<3

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