Tag Archives: romantic comedy

Review: We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This by Rachel Lynn Solomon

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We Can't Keep Meeting Like This by Rachel Lynn Solomon

We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This
Rachel Lynn Solomon
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published June 8, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This

Quinn Berkowitz and Tarek Mansour’s families have been in business together for years: Quinn’s parents are wedding planners, and Tarek’s own a catering company. At the end of last summer, Quinn confessed her crush on him in the form of a rambling email—and then he left for college without a response.

Quinn has been dreading seeing him again almost as much as she dreads another summer playing the harp for her parents’ weddings. When he shows up at the first wedding of the summer, looking cuter than ever after a year apart, they clash immediately. Tarek’s always loved the grand gestures in weddings—the flashier, the better—while Quinn can’t see them as anything but fake. Even as they can’t seem to have one civil conversation, Quinn’s thrown together with Tarek wedding after wedding, from performing a daring cake rescue to filling in for a missing bridesmaid and groomsman.

Quinn can’t deny her feelings for him are still there, especially after she learns the truth about his silence, opens up about her own fears, and begins learning the art of harp-making from an enigmatic teacher.

Maybe love isn’t the enemy after all—and maybe allowing herself to fall is the most honest thing Quinn’s ever done.

A wedding harpist disillusioned with love and a hopeless romantic cater-waiter flirt and fight their way through a summer of weddings in this effervescent romantic comedy from the acclaimed author of TODAY TONIGHT TOMORROW.

My Review

While I’m definitely not disillusioned about love, I felt like Quinn’s character really resonated with me. Her feelings about being trapped in the family business and being at a loss as to what her real passions are felt so real that sometimes I squirmed while reading (in a good way though). It was really fun reading a book about a romantic guy, too– I don’t see a lot of those, and I found Tareq absolutely charming.

I loved the way the story explored Quinn’s connection with music, though. I don’t know much about the harp, so I can’t speak to the technique, but I found the performances engrossing and believable. And the way Quinn’s journey with the harp guided her through other conflicts in her life was really cool. I loved that.

The romance was great, too– Quinn’s fears were relatable and the conflicts had me reading one more chapter long past my bedtime, and even peeking ahead a couple times. (What can I say, sometimes I just NEED to know what happens so I’m emotionally prepared.)

I think fans of Solomon’s other books will enjoy this one a lot, and readers looking for a summer romance with a bit of spice should definitely add this to their reading lists.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Quinn and her family are Jewish. Tareq and his family are Muslim.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Some references to sex and explicit sexual content between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Some references to Jewish and Muslim beliefs and traditions.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
Some scenes show teens drinking alcohol.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog. I received a free copy of WE CAN’T KEEP MEETING LIKE THIS in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Truth About Romantic Comedies by Sean McMurray

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The Truth About Romantic Comedies
Sean McMurray
Anaiah Press
January 15, 2019

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

About The Truth About Romantic Comedies

Sixteen-year-old Timothy Gephart’s life is a chronicle of loser-hood. Trapped by the decaying walls of his family’s trailer and saddled with the responsibility of caring for a grandmother stricken with a wicked combination of Alzheimer’s and cancer, Timothy isn’t exactly thriving in the teenage chapter of his life. To make matters worse, his girlfriend inexplicably dumps him through a text message. Heartbroken, Tim drives his grandmother to and from her radiation treatments as if the last page of his life has already been written. And then the enigmatic Rachel Wilson struts into the cancer center’s waiting room.

Self-proclaimed social scientist Rachel Wilson hasn’t reconciled herself to her mother’s cancer, but she’s doing her best to stay positive…and distracted. With his dry wit and easy acceptance of her bright blue hair, Timothy might be the answer to a prayer Rachel hasn’t had the strength to ask.

As a fast friendship blossoms into something more, Timothy and Rachel learn that Rachel’s father’s job will soon take her family to a new life across the country. Knowing that their time together is running out, Timothy and Rachel go all in on an experiment that will put every romantic comedy cliche to the test, to say nothing of the foundation on which their relationship was built. Happily-ever-after has never been so hard.

My Review

This is such a cute book! It took me a couple chapters to really get into Tim’s character, but I found it easy to like him once I did. He’s caring and sweet, funny and a little bit awkward. The romance develops in that classic, sweet way with bumps and unexpected reveals here and there keeping it interesting.

Only a couple small things stuck out to me as not working, and they’re all pretty minor. If a girl dyed her hair as often as Rachel did, I think it would all fall out. At one point I kind of expected that Tim would discover her hair was all wigs. Ha. But she’s quirky and fun, always a bit of a mystery to Tim, which again, made THE TRUTH ABOUT ROMANTIC COMEDIES a fun read.

Later in the story, Tim goes with Rachel to a youth convention and listens to a speaker talk about online bullying. I liked the message, but it’s kind of a pet peeve for me when a story includes a long sermon section. It feels like taking a time out from the novel for a PSA, which most of the time doesn’t work. It’s just the one scene, and it’s not that long, so it’s kind of a minor deal.

On the whole, THE TRUTH ABOUT ROMANTIC COMEDIES reminded me a little bit of ZAC & MIA, another contemporary romance with a pretty straight line narrator and quirky love interest. Plot-wise, it has a little of the John Green (think PAPER TOWNS or THE FAULT IN OUR STARS in terms of the list element) vibe to it in that Rachel and Tim have a list of things (romantic comedy clichés) to do together before their relationship ends.

I highly recommend THE TRUTH ABOUT ROMANTIC COMEDIES to anyone looking for a sweet, funny contemporary romance.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
I think all the major characters were white and straight.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. References to making out or kissing for longer periods of time. Rachel discusses not being ready to have sex.

Spiritual Content
Rachel is a Christian and goes to a Christian school, but she’s not preachy about her faith. Tim has pretty limited experience with and interest in Christianity. He’s pretty much just an observer on that front. At one point Tim goes with her to a youth conference and listens to a Christian speaker talk about his past as an online bully and how damaging/wrong the behavior was.

Violent Content
Tim briefly wonders if he should have fought another boy who’s interested in Rachel.

Drug Content
A grief stricken adult calls Tim for a ride home from a bar after becoming too drunk to drive.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links which cost you nothing, but help me buy more books.