Title: Four Christmases and a Secret
Author: Zara Stoneley
Publication Date: September 27, 2019
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Add to: Goodreads / Amazon
Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3 stars)

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

Except for Daisy Christmas means another of Uncle T’s dreaded Christmas parties, complete with Christmas jumper and flashing antlers. And Oliver Cartwright. Gorgeous Oliver Cartwright. Who she hates.

Every year Daisy has to face insufferable Ollie and hear all about how BRILLIANT he is. Whereas Daisy has no job, no man and no idea how to fix things.

This Christmas however Daisy is determined things will be different. There will be no snogging Ollie under the mistletoe like when they were teenagers. No, this year she’ll show Ollie that she’s a Responsible Adult too.

But as the champagne corks pop, and the tinsel sparkles, Uncle T has news of his own to share…and it could change Daisy's life forever…

This is my first Christmas-related read for the year and I'm off to a good start. Four Christmases and a Secret made me feel warm inside because 1) it's set during the holiday season; 2) it has the friends-to-lovers trope aka my favorite in romance even though it was quite the slow-burn; 3) Uncle Terence and his bookstore; 4) Christmas party in a bookshop - I mean, how amazing is that; and 5) Stanley.

There were still things that bugged me though was how Daisy's mom annoyed me at the beginning who kept insisting that her daughter should be dating/married and that kind of talk irks me. Some scenes between Daisy and Ollie were kind of confusing too when it comes to their relationship but oh well.

Overall, this was a quick read and quite slow at some point. Still, it was enjoyable than I thought.

---

Title: Call Me, Maybe
Author: Stephie Chapman
Publication Date: October09, 2019
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Add to: Goodreads / Amazon
Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3 stars)

What if you got a second chance with your first love?

What happens when you meet your teenage heart-throb – when you’re both all grown up?
When Cassie was fifteen, all she wanted was to marry Jesse Franklin, the bassist from her favourite band, Franko. Now she’s single, in her late twenties and wondering what happened to that teenage dream.

A chance encounter on Facebook soon leads to a transatlantic hook up, and soon, Jesse and Cassie are having a long-distance love affair spanning five thousand miles.

Cassie is on cloud nine – until she hears something that makes her think that Jesse might not be all that he seems. They say never meet your heroes – but what happens when you fall in love with them…?

Are Cassie and Jesse star crossed lovers, destined to be together? Or should Cassie have left her crush in the box marked 'teenage memories'?

I gotta say, this is one of those insta-love books but for some reason, I still went with it even though I'm not really a big fan of that kind of romance. Call Me, Maybe explored a long distance relationship and while many relationships do work despite the distance, this kinda put me off a bit. Like the two characters just met, he knew she was a fan, they talked a bit about their life and all, then suddenly they're fighting about who gets to adjust. I'll be honest if I say that both characters were a bit selfish on their part and handled some events poorly. What gave me a sense of relief though was that Cassie and Jesse were both aware of their faults.

Still, I did love the friendships especially between Cassie and Rachel even though there were moments where I was kind of "hmmm" about it. Out of all the sibling-relationship in this book between the Franklin brothers, Brandon and Jesse's was my favorite. But what else is my favorite? Jesse and Lainey's aka Brandon's wife aka Jesse's sister-in-law. She gives him advice and she's like a mother hen to Jesse. It was comforting to read when you know what happened between the family.

---