My 2021 Goodreads Reading Challenge: January - February

Evidence Of The Affair by Taylor Jenkins Reid

A desperate young woman in Southern California sits down to write a letter to a man she’s never met - a choice that will forever change both their lives. The correspondence between Carrie and David reveals, piece by piece, the painful details of a devastating affair between their spouses. Told entirely through the letters of two comforting strangers and those of two illicit lovers. With each commiserating scratch of the pen, they confess their fears and bare their souls. They share the bewilderment over how things went so wrong and come to wonder where to go from here.

This was just as well written and believable as TJR's longer prose. Telling this story solely through the use of letters was really interesting and a unique way to do so. As it was a short story, I finished this in one quick sitting and would have been happy to keep reading for many pages more. I liked how it was all wrapped up but left me wanting more. There were also some nice nods to other TJR characters throughout too. If you're a fan of TJR, I would definitely recommend seeking this short story out.

You And Me On Vacation by Emily Henry

12 SUMMERS AGO: Poppy and Alex meet. They hate each other, and are pretty confident they'll never speak again. 11 SUMMERS AGO: They're forced to share a ride home from college and by the end of it a friendship is formed. And a pact: every year, one vacation together. 10 SUMMERS AGO: Alex discovers his fear of flying on the way to Vancouver. Poppy holds his hand the whole way. 7 SUMMERS AGO: They get far too drunk and narrowly avoid getting matching tattoos in New Orleans. 2 SUMMERS AGO: It all goes wrong. THIS SUMMER: Poppy asks Alex to join her on one last trip. A trip that will determine the rest of their lives.

I absolutely adored this book! It simply had to be the first 5 star read of my Goodreads 2021 Reading Challenge. I loved seeing their friendship play out over the years and the amount of mutual pining for one another, banter, their lives and relationships meaning that things never quite lined up for them to be together and basically all of the This Summer/Palm Springs chapters were SO GOOD! Saying that, I loved basically every other chapter as well though, so much so that I devoured this book in just a few days. This was also the perfect recipe for current times, given that we can't travel, as this book took me all over the world from the comfort of my home.

Publication date: 8th July 2021

Beach Read by Emily Henry

A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.

After adoring You And Me On Vacation, Beach Read quickly went to the top of my To Be Read pile. Both January and Gus are such well formed characters and I loved how the enemies to lovers trope was handled in this. The banter, compassion and intimate scenes were SO GOOD! I also liked the whole idea of them competing whilst attempting to write something new to them. I was willing them to get together and loved their chemistry, even though they each thought that the other one hated the other. It isn't your typical 'beach read', like you might expect. There is depth, growth, characters dealing with grief and much more, all of which really added to storyline.

The Bride Test by Helen Hoang

Khai has no feelings. Well, not big, important emotions - like grief. And love. He thinks he's defective. His family knows better - that his autism means he just processes emotions differently. When he steadfastly refuses to consider a relationship, his mother takes matters into her own hands and returns to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride. Esme has always felt out of place as a mixed-race girl living in the slums of Ho Chi Minh City. As Esme's time in the United States dwindles, will Khai let his head catch up with his heart? Will he find the strength to let go, and let love in?

Having read and really enjoyed The Kiss Quotient last year (see my review here) I was keen to read the second in the series. I loved the fact that many of the characters returned but sadly, I didn't warm to Khai and Esme as much as I did Stella and Michael. Their relationship felt quite rushed, which I guess made sense given the time limit put on them from the beginning. I did, however, still adore the way in which Helen Hoang writes, even if the sexy scenes weren't quite as sexy this time around. I can't wait to read the third book which will focus on Quan, when it is available later this year. 

In Case You Missed It by Lindsey Kelk

When Ros steps off a plane after four years away she’s in need of a job, a flat and a phone that actually works. And, possibly, her old life back. Because everyone at home has moved on, her parents have reignited their sex life, she’s sleeping in a converted shed and she’s got a bad case of nostalgia for the way things were. Then her new phone begins to ping with messages from people she thought were deleted for good. Including one number she knows off by heart: her ex’s.

Had I not read the previous books, I would have probably rated this higher. But sadly the story was rather predictable, even if there was a lot to love about it. I'm a big fan of the way in which Lindsey Kelk writes and I enjoyed the British sense of humour and great one liners. The characters are well written, as are the friendships between Ros and her close circle of friends. But literally as soon as *SPOILER ALERT* John appears, you just know that she's going to end up with him. So much so that I certainly wasn't as interested or invested in her relationship with Patrick as I could have been. I do look forward to reading more from Lindsey Kelk in the future though.

The Woman In Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

This was meant to be the perfect trip. The Northern Lights. A luxury press launch on a boutique cruise ship. Except things don't go as planned. Woken in the night by screams, Lo rushes to her window to see a body thrown overboard from the next door cabin. But the records show that no-one ever checked into that cabin, and no passengers are missing from the boat. Exhausted and emotional, Lo has to face the fact that she may have made a mistake - either that, or she is now trapped on a boat with a murderer.

This is the third Ruth Ware book that I've read. And whilst I did read this within 48 hours, it was more out of habit than because it was unputdownable. I did love the way that everything on the boat was described. I could really picture and imagine myself there. But Lo isn't the most likeable person, even if I did eventually start rooting for her. It does start to get a bit unbelievable at parts but I did enjoy the 'STOP DIGGING' message in the mirror and little things like this. They kept me wanting to read more. Once Lo is 'imprisoned' below deck, I started to lose interest slightly. This section dragged a bit for me and it didn't really go anywhere for a while. But overall it was an enjoyable read.

Last Tang Standing by Lauren Ho

Like all good Chinese children, Andrea is doing her best to fulfil all her mother’s plans for her life: she’s on track to become partner at a top law firm in Singapore, she has a beautiful apartment in the right postcode and a perfect boyfriend who is practically made of husband material. Except that those plans are unravelling fast: there’s an unfairly attractive new lawyer out to steal her promotion, she has credit-card debt up to her eyeballs, her perfect boyfriend is now her perfect ex-boyfriend and the last single cousin in her family just got engaged, leaving her exposed to romantic meddling on all sides.

Billed as Crazy Rich Asians meets Bridget Jones Diary, I would have to agree with this comparison, especially in terms of it being laid out as a diary. And one in which Andrea doesn't hold back at all. I got even more than I expected in terms of relationships and dating, as well as the friendships and work life of Andrea. I would have liked an epilogue or 'however many months down the line' to let us know where Andrea and *SPOILER ALERT* Suresh are now, particularly as we have the build up to them getting together with very little pay off, apart from a few kisses. But I would very much be up for reading more from Lauren Ho in the future.