Category Archives: Romance

Review: Under the Neon Lights by Arriel Vinson

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Under the Neon Lights by Arriel Vinson

Under the Neon Lights
Arriel Vinson
G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Published June 3, 2025

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About Under the Neon Lights

In this sparkling and heartfelt debut YA novel in verse, a young Black girl discovers first love, self-worth, and the power of a good skate. Perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo and Joya Goffney.

Sixteen-year-old Jaelyn Coleman lives for Saturdays at WestSide Roll, the iconic neighborhood roller rink. On these magical nights, Jae can lose herself in the music of DJ Sunny, the smell of nachos from the concession, and the crowd of some of her favorite people—old heads, dance crews, and other regulars like herself. Here, Jae and other Black teens can fully be themselves.

One Saturday, as Jae skates away her worries, she crashes into the cutest boy she’s ever seen. Trey’s dimples, rich brown skin, and warm smile make it impossible for her to be mad at him though. Best of all, he can’t stop finding excuses to be around her. A nice change for once, in contrast with her best friend’s cold distance of late or her estranged father creeping back into her life.

Just as Jae thinks her summer might change for the better, devastating news hits: Westside Roll is shutting down. The gentrification rapidly taking over her predominantly Black Indianapolis neighborhood, filling it with luxury apartments and fancy boutiques, has come for her safe-haven. And this is just one trouble Jae can’t skate away from.

Debut author Arriel Vinson’s lyrical and contemplative story of young Black love and coming of age in Indianapolis ushers in an exciting new voice in YA literature.

My Review

The descriptions of the skating rink were so perfect. My memories of going skating and the sounds, smells, the stickiness in the air, all of that, came springing back to life in my head as I read this book. The descriptions of the music let you know what’s going on without ever slowing down the story. I felt like I was right there with Jae.

What’s really awesome, too, is that the story paints the picture of the skating rink as this hub for community. It’s a space where people gather and celebrate music, relationships, and the joy of roller skating. I loved every one of those scenes.

The story also makes space to explore the ways that relationships change. Sometimes things break, and we don’t know how to fix them. Sometimes people let us down. And sometimes people change. Figuring out when to fight or confront versus when to let things go is not easy, and Jae faces several complex choices in her relationships.

Jae also lives in a town that’s facing increasing gentrification. It’s no the theme of the story. This isn’t a book about mobilizing the community to stop what’s happening. It’s about figuring out how to be who you are in an ever-changing world, and how to hold onto the things that matter to you even when the world keeps changing. There are some great moments in which Jae calls out gentrification and acknowledges the harm it’s causing. So while it’s not a story that centers on saving the skating rink, it does address the impact of the closure on the community.

Conclusion

I was engaged from the first page to the last. The verse lines move quickly, drawing our attention to the perfect amount of detail and creating a rich emotional story. I cannot wait to see what the author writes next.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A few instances of strong profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Scenes show people falling while skating. References to racism and prejudice. Jae’s neighborhood faces increasing gentrification.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me
Mariko Tamaki
Illustrated by Rosemary Valero-O’Connell
First Second
Published May 7, 2019

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About Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me

Author Mariko Tamaki and illustrator Rosemary Valero-O’Connell bring to life a sweet and spirited tale of young love in Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me, a graphic novel that asks us to consider what happens when we ditch the toxic relationships we crave to embrace the healthy ones we need.

Laura Dean, the most popular girl in high school, was Frederica Riley’s dream girl: charming, confident, and SO cute. There’s just one problem: Laura Dean is maybe not the greatest girlfriend.

Reeling from her latest break up, Freddy’s best friend, Doodle, introduces her to the Seek-Her, a mysterious medium, who leaves Freddy some cryptic parting words: break up with her. But Laura Dean keeps coming back, and as their relationship spirals further out of her control, Freddy has to wonder if it’s really Laura Dean that’s the problem. Maybe it’s Freddy, who is rapidly losing her friends, including Doodle, who needs her now more than ever.

Fortunately for Freddy, there are new friends, and the insight of advice columnists like Anna Vice to help her through being a teenager in love.

My Review

I think I first heard about this book on the 100 Best YA Books of all Time list by Time Magazine. I’ve currently only read 49 out of the 100 books, but I’m trying to add a few to my reading list each year.

I liked a lot of things about this book. For one thing, each character had a well-defined emotional feel to them. It’s definitely one of those graphic novels in which the sum is greater than its parts, because there is something about the combination of spare text and the characters’ expressions or position within the panels that makes each one feel like a real person. Laura Dean? Yeah, I know some people who act like her. I feel like I’d recognize her on the street. And Freddy? I wanted to hug her. Doodle, too. I loved how much of the story happened in the expressions on the characters’ faces, too. I felt like whole conversations happened just in Doodle’s expressions in particular.

The story takes us on a roller coaster ride through Freddy and Laura’s relationship. At one point, Doodle takes Freddy to see a psychic, and I love how the woman sums up the problem in their relationship, comparing it to being caught in the middle of a square dance step (the two met while square dancing at school). Having been caught in a toxic relationship before, I thought that was a powerful metaphor for the way that it feels. The lack of closure and how you can’t get your feet under you because you got dropped mid-step. That made perfect sense to me. It also signaled to Freddy that she needed to take ownership of her feelings and the relationship narrative rather than feeling one step behind, following Laura’s lead.

Conclusion

All in all, I think Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me is really well done. Freddy’s emails to the advice columnist frame things nicely and show her grappling with questions for which she doesn’t have answers. I think anyone who’s survived a toxic relationship will find some things that resonate with them in this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A few F-bombs and other swearing used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. References to sex. One character has an abortion. (Off-scene.)

Spiritual Content
Freddy and a friend go to see a psychic who gives Freddy advice on how to stop feeling miserable.

Violent Content
Freddy kisses someone without consent after seeing Laura with someone else.

Drug Content
Freddy gets drunk at a dance after spotting Laura making out with someone else. She throws up on the counter at a bakery and feels super embarrassed about it afterward.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. All opinions are my own.

Review: When Love Gives You Lemons by Steven Salvatore

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , , , , ,

When Love Gives You Lemons
Steven Salvatore
Bloomsbury
Published May 13, 2025

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About When Love Gives You Lemons

In this exuberant YA romance from the critically acclaimed author of And They Lived…, a budding social media influencer sets out to win back his first love at a family wedding in an Italian lemon grove.

Ever since he was a kid, Fielder Lemon’s large, opinionated Italian-American family has lived next to Ricky DeLuca and his large, opinionated Italian-American family. For almost as long, Fielder has known that he wants to marry Ricky one day. And he thought Ricky felt the same way-until Ricky breaks up with Fielder, saying he needs to figure out who he is on his own.

One year later, Fielder is asked to be one of the best men in his cousin’s destination wedding on the Amalfi Coast in Italy, but there’s a twist: his cousin is marrying Ricky’s sister. Fielder hasn’t talked to or seen Ricky once during the last entire, terrible year, but he hasn’t given up on his first love quite yet-and isn’t a wedding in an Italian lemon grove the perfect setting to rekindle their relationship? Except Ricky might have already moved on.

Now, Fielder has less than a week to win back Ricky’s heart while also trying not to ruin his cousin’s wedding. But if there’s one thing Fielder knows, it’s that when life gives you lemons, take a bite!

My Review

I feel like this is going to be a tough review for me. I have loved every book by Steven Salvatore more than their last, so I went into this one with sky-high expectations.

Which proved tricky because I really struggled to like Fielder’s character in those early chapters. He’s really focused on his social media. Clearly he’s missing signals from his boyfriend. He doesn’t seem like a great listener. I wanted to be totally on board with his quest to get his ex back, but I found myself having real questions about whether restarting the relationship would be what was best for Ricky, his ex.

I stuck with the book because it had so many other things that I was enjoying. References to My Best Friend’s Wedding? I’m SO here for it! Big Italian family does wedding in Italy?? YES PLEASE! So I definitely had things I was enjoying. I just really wanted to like Fielder more than I did at the beginning.

However!

Whew. Okay. Does Salvatore know what they’re doing? Yes. Yes, they do! Because wow, the story hit that half-way mark, and Fielder all of a sudden starts to see himself and his life in a different light. His passion to help someone else ignites. It’s like, all these pieces click into place. And in that moment, when Fielder is in the lemon grove, finally understanding how he wants to use his social media account and what he willdo to learn and grow himself, I became the biggest Fielder fan.

From there onward, I just couldn’t get enough of this story. It makes room for complexity and nuance, but it delivers those big romantic moments, too. It was great celebrating the whole adventure with those families.

This book unapologetically centers young gay men, and I’m so happy to celebrate that. We need it.

Ultimately, I am really glad I read this book. I loved the references to My Best Friend’s Wedding. Those quotes and chapter titles referencing the movie were fabulous. If you’re looking for a messy summer rom com with big Italian families, don’t miss this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some instances of strong profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to sex. Kissing. One scene leads into a sex scene with a vague description.

Spiritual Content
References to prayer.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
References to underage drinking (happened off-scene).

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: You and Me on Repeat by Mary Shyne

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You and Me on Repeat
Mary Shyne
Henry Holt & Co
Published May 13, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About You and Me on Repeat

In this swoony and hilarious debut rom-com graphic novel, two former friends are trapped in a time loop together, repeating their high school graduation day over and over and over—for fans of Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me, Pumpkinheads, and Groundhog Day.

Chris O’Brien has a genius plan: If he can share the perfect first kiss with his crush, Andy, then of course he’ll break free from the time loop that has him repeating graduation day over and over…and over.

Alicia Ochoa thinks Chris’s plan is doomed. Valedictorian and a total nerd, she knows it’ll take more than a kiss to escape the loop they’re trapped in together. Besides, Chris may be a hopeless romantic, but Alicia doesn’t think he has a real shot with Andy.

Once close friends, Alicia and Chris have history—lots of it. As they got older, the pair fell out after Chris ditched her for the “cool kids” and left her in the dust. But when you’re looping side by side, you never know if friendship might rekindle or what new feelings could spark along the way.

My Review

This story starts out in the middle, backtracks to the beginning, and then moves forward toward the ending. While it was a little confusing in the first few pages, it helps introduce a lot of elements, like Chris and Andy’s relationship, the time loop, the estrangement between Alicia and Chris, etc.

At first, some of the elements seem disparate. For example, Chris and the other kids on the swim team are mourning the loss of their swim coach, who died in a car accident. Alicia behaves oddly about something that later, once Chris puts the pieces together, makes a lot more sense.

I like the way that the story connects all these dots together. I also thought some of the things Alicia and Chris do during the phase in which they’ve given up on getting out of the time loop were pretty silly.

The time loop also gives Chris a chance to experience parts of Alicia’s life that she would probably have kept hidden otherwise, like her relationships with her siblings. Being so close to Alicia’s family gives Chris an opportunity to confront privilege that he didn’t realize he had. It also helps shed light on why the friendship between them ended and what their moms argued about.

Ultimately, I think this is a perfect book to kick off summer with. Read this while enjoying a bowl of ice cream or lounging by the pool. The story is a lot of fun, and it offers some thoughtful moments as well.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
Multiple characters are stuck in a time loop and repeat the same day over and over.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. References to pranks and hijinks, such as stealing something, knowing that the timeline will reset and the items will return to where they belong the next day.

Drug Content
Teens drink alcohol and get drunk at a graduation party.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Love at Second Sight by F. T. Lukens

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , , ,

Love at Second Sight
F. T. Lukens
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published April 29, 2025

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About Love at Second Sight

When a teen has an unexpected vision about a future murder, he must juggle newfound interest from the supernatural community with trying to prevent the murder from happening in this new romantic fantasy from New York Times bestselling author F.T. Lukens.

Tired of being known as the artsy oddball, fifteen-year-old Cam Reynolds hopes to fly under the radar when he changes high schools as a sophomore. It shouldn’t be too hard, considering he’s a human going to school with kids who have super-cool paranormal powers, like his best friend and witch, Al, and longtime werewolf crush, Miguel.

Then Cam has a psychic glimpse of the future in front of most of the student body, seeing a gruesomely murdered teen girl from the point of view of the killer. When Cam comes to, he knows two things: someone he goes to school with is a future murderer and his life is about to change. No longer a mere human but a clairvoyant, one of the rarest of supernatural beings, Cam finds himself at the center of attention for the first time.

As the most powerful supernatural factions in the city court Cam and his gift, he’ll have to work with his friends, both old and new, to figure out who he can trust. Because the clock is ticking, and Cam and his friends must identify the girl in the vision, find her potential killer, and prevent the murder from happening. Or the next murder Cam sees might be his own.

My Review

This is the third novel by F. T. Lukens I’ve read. I went into this book with them as a favorite author, and that distinction remains. This is probably not the kind of story that I would normally pick up– paranormal isn’t my usual go-to, but for an author I really enjoy (also looking at you, Kalynn Bayron), I’ll give vampires or werewolves a chance.

So one of the really fascinating things in this book is the cultural feelings surrounding people with supernatural abilities in the story world. For example, Cam’s parents are super against any involvement with or participation in the supernatural. They’ve long been against Cam hanging out with his best friend because they’re a witch.

Incidentally, Cam’s parents don’t bat an eye at him being gay or his best friend being nonbinary, so the story world is very queernormative. Instead, some characters fixate on whether someone is a human with no supernatural abilities versus someone with abilities.

Whether someone has an ability isn’t a choice. Cam’s gift manifests in a moment of distress and remains undeniable throughout the rest of the book. Yet his parents act as though erasing this part of his identity would be better for him and for them. It’s a pretty powerful metaphor, and it’s used well.

The characters, especially Cam, are engaging and easy to root for. I think Lukens has always written standalone novels, but I found myself really hoping this one would be the start of a series. I would absolutely return to this story world for more hijinks and investigations with Cam’s crew at the helm.

If you like a good murder mystery, especially one with a clever social commentary woven in, you won’t want to miss Love at Second Sight.

Content Notes for Love at Second Sight

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have supernatural/paranormal abilities. Some characters are werewolves, sprites, witches, or fae. Cam sees visions of the future. Another character sees and can interact with ghosts.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Cam sees visions of a girl who has been attacked and is close to dying. Boys get into a fight in a hallway at school. References to a car accident and near car accident.

Some characters react hatefully toward people with paranormal gifts or identities.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Lady Knight by Amalie Howard

Book Review and Content, Historical, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,

Lady Knight ( The Diamonds #2)
Amalie Howard
Publisher
Published April 1, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Lady Knight

The daughter of a duke defies the rules of London high society with the help of the resident rake—who just so happens to be her brother’s best friend—in this fun teen historical romance from the USA Today bestselling author of Queen Bee.

“A ridiculously romantic, womanist, hilarious, and hugely entertaining romance that had me smiling and swooning from start to finish.” —Elizabeth Everett, USA Today bestselling author of the Damsels of Discovery series

Lady Zenobia “Zia” Osborn, a duke’s daughter, is frustrated that her entire life has been predetermined. What good is skill or intelligence if one is forced to suffocate it because of one’s sex? She’d much rather make her mark on the world than bat her eyelashes for the ton.

Zia only comes alive in the Lady Knights, a clandestine social club for rebellious girls. In it, she is free to compose music, fence, read controversial literature, and save orphans from destitution by any means necessary. Aside from her closest confidantes, no one knows about Zia’s indecorous other life. . . .

Until Mr. Rafi Nasser, a rogue with secrets of his own, finds out. Shocked yet intrigued by his best friend’s younger sister, he agrees to keep Zia’s secret—if only to help her avoid utter scandal.

My Review

This book has a really fun concept. It’s an inclusive cast in a historical setting, which is a lot of fun. The story centers around a group of girls who are looking for their voice and ways to make a difference in their community. The girls are all in a class at a special school for women in which the instructor introduces them to texts by women about female empowerment. Each chapter begins with a quote from English writer and philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft, which I enjoyed. The quotes often relate directly to issues the girls face in the chapter that follows.

The whole story is told from Zia’s perspective. I loved her enthusiasm and impulsiveness. I think we tend to expect a certain kind of heroine from historical fiction, especially novels written in a more historical voice, and I love that Howard challenged those preconceptions by writing an impulsive heroine who feels as young as she is.

Though the romance stays more in the realm of sweet than spicy, it’s super flirty and fun. There’s a good balance between the romantic elements and the plotline about Zia’s quest to save the school and orphanage.

I think readers who enjoy light historical romance will love getting swept away in Lady Knight.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. A band of women in disguise robs wealthy men. One scene shows a dangerous horse race.

Men accuse women of being hysterical, a dangerous allegation that can result in someone being institutionalized.

In class, Zia and her friends discuss elements of the book Frankenstein, including a character’s murder.

Drug Content
References to drinking alcohol. Reference to someone being drunk.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.