once upon a read

Title: FIRE on Fire Author: Lukas Gaines Date Finished: May 23, 2026 Book Publication Date: July 21, 2026 Goodreads Links: [Book] [Review]

Star Rating: 2/5

[Thank you NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing this ARC to me in exchange for an honest review.]

Review:

I really, really wanted to enjoy this more than I did. The premise was just so promising, because I love seeing "opposite" personality characters, and these two were as opposite as you could get.

Coming from a medical student: there was this whole thing about people that are predominantly "left brain" thinkers, and "right brain" thinkers once upon a time. Left-brain thinkers were more creative, artistic, free, while right-brain thinkers were more rational, calculative, and rigid in their thinking

I've never really subscribed to that, and the reality is way more nuanced anyway, but these characters felt exactly like that. Asher is obsessed with his spreadsheets, money, calculations, and future planning, while Kael is creative, artistic, and more free-thinking. He's not concerned if he has money beyond wanting to pay his rent and have a roof over his head.

They meet at a retreat that Kael mistakes to be an art one, but is actually finance, aptly named FIRE. Fitting for them to be caught in a wildfire during that retreat!

I will preface by saying Asher has reasons for being so stringent about every cent. Especially with today's economy, it's really hard to not to worry financially, because it seems like no matter how much money you earn, there's always debt. (We're not earning proportionately to the way prices are shooting up, but that's a whole other discussion.) Point being, generational money troubles are something most people can relate to. However, at the beginning of this book, all that the obsession served to do was alienate me from him as a character. I warmed up a little to him as the book went on, but he looked down at Kael too much for me to get attached to the idea of them as a couple.

Speaking of them as a couple...I really wanted to enjoy them more than I actually did, but it was so hard to get into. I felt like I was spinning in circles, and even with the side characters, you don't get much development beyond that. It's hard to want to relate to either of them, because they're on such extremes of the fiscal thought-process spectrum, and never seem to find a middle ground.

Title: Trading Places Author: Emily Duvall Date Finished: July 12, 2023 Book Publication Date: September 26, 2023 Goodreads Links: [Book] [Review]

Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Thank you NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for providing this ARC to me in exchange for an honest review.]

Review:

Title: Partners in Crime Author: Alisha Rai Date Finished: June 20, 2022 Book Publication Date: October 18, 2022 Goodreads Links: [Book] [Review]

Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Thank you NetGalley, Alisha Rai and Avon Books for providing this book to me in exchange for an honest review!]

Review:

Before I say anything else, I need to say I <i>love</i> that cover. Animated covers are always amazing but seeing Mira and Naveen in one of the best scenes from the book just hits different (only second to the scene at the club, of course!).

Amira Patel has spent a long time running from her identity as Mira Chaudhary, becoming this 9-to-5 accountant who has her life together, and isn't embroiled in the constant high-stakes of her childhood. But when her aunt dies, leaving her a will that drags her back to her ex, Mira finds herself stuck in those same high-stakes.

Naveen Desai has had a rough couple of years, with the matchmaking service not working out on him, leaving his job, not speaking to his brother and turning away permanently from the bottle. But he's settled now, in his grandfather's little firm, dabbling in family law instead of the high-profile cases that he used to chase.

Mira is, when she shows up, very clearly Naveen's "the one who got away." You can tell off the bat that Mira is someone he's never forgotten no matter how many girls he's been matched up with in the time since them. But while Mira is more stoic about it, Naveen's world carefully implodes when he realizes that the girl he was well on his way to loving had been lying to him the whole time.

Naveen unwittingly gets wrapped up in Mira's family issues, and they're thrown together on a goose chase for a necklace that refuses to be found, and answers to questions Mira and Naveen have been asking themselves for years - Mira about her father and her family, and Naveen about Mira.

I love fast-paced action books so much, particularly ones that require amateur sleuthing and skills. In some scenes, it's clear that neither of them have any idea what they're doing in the world of gambling, cons and scams, but in others, at least one of them has <i>some</i> clue.

I love Mira's take-charge attitude, and I love that Naveen doesn't let her take it too far. He clearly recognizes when she's the one with the better chance, and gives it to her but when he senses Mira running or spiraling, he knows exactly how to bring her back on track.

Not only did this have the second-chance romance, but it also had a healthy dose of Indian matchmaking. Both Naveen and Mira are older than the protagonists I usually read about, and I think that lends to the depth of the secrets they uncover as they go. The references to South Asian culture were sparse, but very much present - you don't forget them, but you're overwhelmed by them either. By all other accounts, Mira and Naveen weren't props for desi culture, and I loved that.

Another thing that might be a little underrated is that the author didn't make these protagonists to be the size-zero bombshells, or the rough-and-tough-eight-pack-bearing heroes either. Both Mira and Naveen are in their mid thirties, and I loved that they were shown to be sturdy without vanity muscles, if that makes any sense! Especially for Naveen, who's described to be strong and muscular - but that doesn't have to equal cut ridges in his abs, and it shows in the book!

There's not much I didn't like about this book, but one downside to fast-paced action can be that when the secrets start unfolding, they unfold <i>too</i> fast? At the end, I felt like there were too many unknown variables, too many people coming back in from places we thought they were permanently done with. It wrapped up very quick for the drawn out action that came before, and even though Mira's head was spinning with all the revelations, I don't think ours was supposed to spin just as fast!

The other thing that felt lackluster was the romance, ironically enough. We don't get too far into the romance save for a couple spicy scenes, but the second-chance of it all didn't shine through as much as I'd initially assumed. Part of me was wondering why they even got back together at the end, even though I knew it was coming!

This is my first book by Alisha Rai, even though the author's been on my list for years, and I'm probably going to binge the whole backlog as soon as I get time, but as for this book...the summary has it bang-on: Indian Matchmaking meets Date Night!

Title: Fake It Till You Bake It Author: Jamie Wesley Date Finished: June 19, 2022 Book Publication Date: June 20, 2022 Goodreads Links: [Book] [Review]

Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for providing this ARC to me in exchange for an honest review.]

Review:

Fake dating is one of those tropes that never feels old to me. It's intriguing to see a pair/group of people land up on faking a date as the best viable solution to their problem, especially when it's because the characters panic.

In the case of this book, fake anything can lead to a storm that obliterates everything in its path.

Jada Townsend-Matthews is a social media pariah. Everyone hates her for rejecting the fan favourite bachelor publicly, on a reality TV show, and she can't turn two steps without being recognized for it. San Diego seems like a good bet to lie low for a while, but as usual, she has no idea how wrong she is.

Baking and football are the two things Donovan Dell invests his energy in. He's no-nonsense, likes to have a plan for everything, and has a ten step idea of what his future is going to look like. Unfortunately, that future is put into jeopardy when his cupcake business starts to decline in sales and popularity, and further so when Jada crashes into his life.

She comes into Sugar Blitz as a critic of his cupcakes, but stays as the newest employee...and later, his very public, very fake girlfriend.

Jada's desperate to give some backing to the story she spun with the showrunners about why she, who was top contender for marrying the most sought-after bachelor, rejected him - she told them that she had someone at home.

When faced with her lies, she's more than a little desperate, and one impulsive move on her part sends her and Donovan on a whirlwind of fake dating that ends up benefitting both of them, but also ends up balancing each other out.

That was one of the things I loved most about these protagonists - they were very clearly opposites, but instead of feeling that they're out of each other's leagues, or that they don't even belong in the same circles, you end up seeing a balance struck between them. Jada draws Donovan out of his shell without shoving him alone into the unknown, and Donovan patiently centers her without suffocating her. And I love that you don't end up seeing them leaving the other in the dust - even when they're not obliged to be there, they are!

With the way the whole conflict and antagonist were hyped, I expected the resolution to give us a little more excitement. All the strings were wrapped up, but it felt a little rushed to me. Maybe it's the drama-chasing personality in me, but the ending felt flat to me.

Title: My Mechanical Romance Author: Alexene Farol Follmuth Date Finished: June 4, 2022 Goodreads Links: [Book] [Review]

Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Thank you NetGalley and Holiday House for providing this ARC to me in exchange for an honest review.]

Review:

Sign me up for more STEM based books like this!!

Bel is a new transfer student whose coming off a bad year, and is kind of looking for a place to belong. While all her classmates at this new school have high plans for college and their life, Bel finds herself blank when she thinks about her future — especially when she's asked directly about it.

Teo Luna was raised with very specific expectations as the son of a tech whiz, and those expectations as his father's son seem to have followed him into high school as well, where they're all waiting for Teo to be that stand-up guy, available for everything, a master of all trades, involved in every extracurricular under the sun.

Bel and Teo are thrown together when a teacher spots Bel's innate talent for design, and leads her straight to the robotics team that Teo captains. Bel doesn't have a lick of expectation of being accepted onto the team, but Teo spots her sketching out a better, near-flawless design for the audition problem, and he's sold.

They get off to a rough start, obviously.

To Bel, Teo is nothing but a rich, stuck-up boy who doesn't know how to take criticism and feedback, and just wants everyone to agree to everything he says. To Teo, Bel is infuriating because she's standoffish, and doesn't play as a team — and she's a threat to his life plan because he'd never counted on someone like her in his life.

They're both right and wrong, obviously.

The best part of this book was undoubtedly that these kids were allowed to be kids, and make stupid decisions, and get in trouble with their parents. Bel and Teo come from very different backgrounds but a lot of the flaws they have are similar, and they manage to strike a balance between themselves.

Bel's relationship with her family was a cornerstone of this, and while I do wish there had been a little bit more resolution on that front, it wasn't necessary for the purpose of the story so I don't think the book was lacking anything. Teo came off as someone who comes from privilege, and a lot of his flaws came from the fact that his privilege is rooted with his dad's expectations of him. I like that the author didn't shy away from those two co-existing statements.

I loved watching Bel and Teo's relationship develop through the book, through their common ground, and while I don't understand a lick of whatever was explained here besides the basic physics, I love that both of them got a change to feed off and balance each other's goals and help support each other — even if they hit a few major roadblocks along the way!

I also think that because these are high schoolers, some of the plot choices make sense. They are inevitably going to mess up in ways that are embarrassing because at that age, you don't know what you're doing, so you do stupid things, learn a lesson and then hopefully not do it again.

It wouldn't be a true review of this book if I didn't talk about the very real element of women in STEM that the author put in there. We have side characters who, in my opinion, are representative of the two extremes of approaching the misogyny — Neelam, who will push harder to try to get a spot to the point of bitterness, and Lora, who might just defer to the norm in a bid for honey instead of vinegar.

As a STEM major myself (particularly a woman of color!), I've been through the exact dilemma that Bel and the other girls were going through. Never being seen, always watching it be "a boy's world," watching teachers shower praise and accolades on the male students and never anyone else, etc etc. These are things that were familiar to me in high school and college, and are still familiar now, and I loved that we could get the representation for that. Because when I was in school, no one ever talked about it. You were expected to keep your head down, because if praise didn't turn your way, wrath and blame certainly did.

This book isn't as serious as that, but it's just as serious as you'd expect a book about 17 and 18 year old high schoolers to be. They're learning lessons as the book goes on, while falling in love with each other, and I think that was done fantastically.

Honestly, I just love the way the characters were crafted. I swung back and forth on a lot of them before realizing that was the point! They're finding things out about themselves, and somewhere, it dragged up all my stuff from high school, too, about being the overachieving student trying to score a spot to go to medical school.

(Also let's be real, I love seeing nerds being celebrated because I, too, am a nerd.)

Title: Hook, Line, and Sinker Author: Tessa Bailey Date Finished: March 5, 2022 Book Publication Date: March 1, 2022 Goodreads Links: [Book] [Review]

Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyage for providing this ARC to me in exchange for an honest review.]

Review:

Tessa Bailey, find me a third Bellinger sister. I need more of Westport.

God, I loved this book so much.

We met Hannah in the previous book, and we know that she sees the world in music — but we didn't get to see as much of Fox Thornton, and how he begins to see the world through Hannah's eyes. I have been waiting for them since he left that album for her, and now that I've gotten into his head, I refuse to leave.

Hannah shows up to Westport crushing on the director of the movie she assists on, but she finds that the more days she spends with Fox in something dangerously close to domestic bliss, the less she finds herself looking at anyone else. She's also on her own mission to move away from playing supporting side cast to starring as the lead in her own life, and part of that includes seizing whatever opportunities she wants.

Fox has been upkeeping a reputation that's been following him since he was a child — comments about his father's revolving door of women, seeing his father smelling like a perfume factory as women came in and out of his doors, people around town saying that he's going to be a heartbreaker, his mother inadvertently confirming the belief by giving him condom money, a "bad" reputation that's followed him even to the point where his best friend constantly warns him away from Hannah, sly comments from all his crew about getting laid, and just being treated like a side piece his whole life.

Safe to say, all of that takes a toll.

His reputation helps him protect himself, but it also means he refuses to move forward with his life because he doesn't think anyone would trust him with anything. When Hannah comes to live with him, Fox begins to worry about the ways his reputation can touch her — something that wasn't as pertinent when they were only talking through text messages.

Hannah sees him.

To put it very simply, Hannah sees straight through the curated image to the man underneath, and that's what makes this friends-to-lovers so delicious. She refuses to let him think of himself as nothing more than a means to a very pleasurable end, refuses to let him push her away with the force of his sex appeal and refuses to move forward with him until he sees that. And I loved the way the author weaved this romantic subplot into her own journey to become the "leading lady."

It was refreshing to see a man so insecure. Fox broke my heart at so many points because I just wanted this man to see himself for who he actually is, rather than the man he pretends to be. I enjoyed the way that the author made it to be that it's not having frequent sex that's bad, it's hiding behind it as a way to cope - like nowhere did I get the impression that Fox was being shamed for enjoying sex, and that's a delicate balance to have.

The only thing I wish we'd gotten more of, and this only shaves off maybe a half star? if even that? for me, and that is watching everyone else apologize to Fox for the comments — particularly Brendan, given how strongly the man comes on about how he absolutely should stay away from Hannah at all costs, being his best friend.

Title: Meet Me In The Margins Author: Melissa Ferguson Date Finished: February 10, 2022 Book Publication Date: February 15, 2022 Goodreads Links: [Book] [Review]

Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Thank you Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for providing this book to me in exchange for an honest review!]

Review:

I think we all dream of having a secret room inside of an ARC room. I think I was sold on just that.

Melissa Ferguson is a new author to me, even though they've been recommended multiple, multiple times by other fans of this genre. When I got the opportunity for an ARC of this premise, I jumped straight for it!

Savannah works at a publishing office that regards romance to be a lower genre. Pennington Publishers' CEO loathes the idea of any commercial fiction, and romance is the lowest bar - which is not conducive to Savannah's secret manuscript.

She's been working on her manuscript for years, and is editing it in a meeting to meet the new boss when, in a true bought of clumsiness, all the papers go flying, the last of the bunch ending up in one Will Pennington's hands.

Her new boss, and the CEO's son.

He doesn't say anything, but Savannah's immediately put on edge, dumping all the discarded pages in her secret room before rushing off to attend an event. The catch? When she comes back, they're all neatly stacked again - with notes written in the margins that are definitely not hers.

While Savannah works with her mysterious editor, she also grows closer to Will on the side, and the conflict that forms between these two facets of Savannah's life - and with herself as she deals with an overbearing sister, a douchebag ex, and parents who never seem to see her for her - cultivates the plot into something relatable to everyone.

The premise of this book is as unique as it is endearing, with a rom-com type meet-cute that has a new twist to it. Honestly, I just wish that I could have a secret editor who gives feedback eerily similar to some of the top fiction publishing agencies. The aspect I enjoyed the most about this book was that off the bat, you knew who the mystery editor was. It was watching Savannah try to figure it out that was interesting.

I love the little notes passed between the editor and Savannah, because some of them were so adorable and knowing of each other despite never having seen each other through anything but a page. I also really loved the way Savannah does grow into her skin and puts steel in her backbone as the story progresses.  

However, the conflict fell flat for me. I am not sure if the author even intended there to be a big conflict, but I didn't realize that we had reached the apex of the narrative peak until well into the resolution, just by virtue of how similar Savannah's turmoil at the end looked to the turmoil at the beginning. Some of the scenes also felt rather unnecessary, with no links to the plot, or any clear purpose as a filler scene, so that left me a little blank.

Title: Bound By Firelight Author: Dana Swift Date Finished: January 12, 2022 Book Publication Date: January 18, 2022 Goodreads Links: [Book] [Review]

Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Thank you Delacorte Press and NetGalley for providing this book to me in exchange for an honest review!]

Review:

3.5 stars!

South Asian fantasy is probably going to be the death of me. Just look at this cover!

Most fantasy novels I’ve read have always had roots in other parts of the world — from spells cast in Latin, to made up languages — but not many that have taken the richness of South Asian culture, and formed a high fantasy universe around it. They are definitely coming up in popularity though, and I’m all the more excited for it! (Have I mentioned the cover, yet?)

As a South Asian reader, I was hesitant to pick these books up because it is not an OwnVoices novel. However, Dana Swift's respect for South Asian culture shines through these novels. Although not wholly accurate (and this may be because Wickery is not South Asia, only inspired by it), none of it felt to me like it was judgement against South Asian culture, which made me feel better about reading this.

(Rest under the cut)