Tag romantic comedy

A bright red cover shows illustrations of two people laying with their heads next to each other, up and down. One has long dark hair and a striped shirt, and the other has short ginger hair and a blue shirt.

Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly

Kristen B. Leave a comment
A bright red cover shows illustrations of two people laying with their heads next to each other, up and down. One has long dark hair and a striped shirt, and the other has short ginger hair and a blue shirt.

by Kristen B.

Small confession: I love baking competition shows. Is it in a tent? Does it involve quirky hosts and obnoxious quantities of sugar? I’m in! I was laid up one summer, and The Great British Baking Show had just made it to Netflix. I was totally hooked, up to and including the holiday, junior, and professional versions. In case you’re wondering (though I know you’re not), I’m entirely on Team Sue & Mel and miss them again every new season.

Earlier this year, I was in something of a reading funk so I went surfing through our “Recently Purchased” lists, which is always a good way to find a new title or two. Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly caught my eye with its bright colors and funny title. Click for more info: this romance takes place during a cooking contest. Click to request it: Yes, please!

It’s adorable, funny, sexy, thoughtful, and altogether lovely. Recently divorced, Dahlia wants nothing more than to start over. Her ex-husband has remarried and is expecting a child. Her career is nonexistent, but she’s a great cook, a decent baker, and could really, really use the prize money. Dahlia has a nagging internal voice that’s not particularly self-supportive, but she showers acceptance and happiness on everyone around her. Tripping with a platter full of fish tacos on live television is only one episode that comes to define her – and you can’t help but root for her. London’s a little more confident, assured, and prickly – or so it seems. They are nonbinary and trans, and they took a big step by announcing their pronouns to the world on the show. These two literally, honest-to-goodness crash into each other on set, and the story never looks back.

It’s a romance, folks, and it hits all the expected beats perfectly. We have montages of exploring L.A. and talking about their dreams, inevitable misunderstandings, and steamy make-up scenes. London’s family, loving but problematic, allows their coming out as queer and trans to happen organically within the story. It never seems condescending or overly explanatory. Dahlia’s issues are, in some ways, more relatable, being all about meeting expectations and her fear of disappointing. Honestly, Dahlia made me cry – but I’m a softie for a happy ending. The cooking competition provides the secondary characters and the drama: after all, someone has to go home and someone has to win. If you’re looking for a fun, summer romp, you should click to request it!

Kristen B. is a devoted bookworm lucky enough to work as the graphic designer for HCLS. She likes to read, stitch, dance, and watch baseball in season (but not all at the same time).

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Two young men walking past each other, one holding a moving box and one with duffle bag over his shoulder. A city skyline fills the background.

What If It’s Us by Becky Abertalli and Adam Silvera

monaerivers Leave a comment
Two complementary covers, featuring young men wearing jeans and short sleeve shirts. They are passing by each other in the first and sitting at a cafe table in the second. There's a city skyline in the background of both.

By Monae R.

Coming back from the holidays is always hard. Getting back into the routine of waking up, getting your morning coffee, heading to work, and dragging through the day. This is fairly universal. I have to say, though, this routine becomes a lot easier if you have just read a good book you cannot wait to tell everyone about.

Becky Albertali and Adam Silvera work together well on What If It’s Us. I am extremely passionate about this particular series. With only two books, I was on the edge of my seat deep into the romance and relatable topics. The characters are lovable, and the writing is fantastic. To make it all just that much sweeter, the icing on the cake, the Libby audiobook readers are absolutely fantastic and exactly how I imagined the characters sounding like. They do the story a huge justice and bring the characters to life in a way that took me even deeper into the story.

What If It’s Us is a romantic comedy for young adult readers told from the perspective of both main characters, who are fully experiencing the age when teenagers are angsty and looking for companionship. The characters come from different worlds and their chance encounter has them floating on the idea of fate and love at first sight. The story follows Ben and Arthur through the life trials of dates, long distance, and college in the heart of New York City.

It’s not everyday that a chance encounter leads to more, and sometimes fighting for it is the best decision. Follow these two teens and their friends and family through the trials of life. Their story continues in Here’s to Us where Arthur and Ben have gone through a lot of changes in the past two or so years. The 16 year olds are now 19 and have new perspectives on life, work, relationships, and where they want their lives to go. Follow them as they navigate adulthood and the struggles that come with being in New York together again.

Both authors have several other books. Becky Albertali is a previous psychologist famously known for her 2015 debut novel, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, which was adapted into the 2018 film Love, Simon and inspired the spin-off television series Love, Victor. Adam Silvera is known for his bestselling novels They Both Die at the End, More Happy Than Not, and History Is All You Left Me.

Monae is a Children’s Instructor and Research Specialist at HCLS East Columbia Branch.