MINI REVIEWS #1 - THE ENCHANTED HACIENDA, THE LOVE WAGER AND EVERY SUMMER AFTER

 

I haven't done many reviews on here lately and I am trying to change that so I will be starting off with some mini reviews of a few books that I've read recently. Only one of these was a five star read but I have quite a bit to say on all of them. 

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The Enchanted Hacienda by J.C. Cervantes

★★★★ 

When Harlow Estrada is abruptly fired from her dream job and her boyfriend proves to be a jerk, her world turns upside down. She flees New York City to the one place she can always call home-the enchanted Hacienda Estrada. The Estrada family farm in Mexico houses an abundance of charmed flowers cultivated by Harlow's mother, sisters, aunt and cousins. By harnessing the magic in these flowers, they can heal hearts, erase memories, interpret dreams-but not Harlow. So when her mother and aunt give her a special task involving the family's magic, she panics. How can she rise to the occasion when she is magicless? But maybe it's not magic she's missing, but belief in herself. When she finally embraces her unique gifts and opens her heart to a handsome stranger, she discovers she's far more powerful than she imagined. (Summary from Goodreads)

This was such a cute romance novel that I choose to describe as Emily Henry meets Disney's Encanto. The Enchanted Hacienda was a book that was not on my radar until I saw a book creator talk about it online and it seemed like such a fun and cozy romance book that also had family and magic at the forefront. Parts of this novel are set in parts of America but a lot of it is set on a farm in Mexico where Harlow Estrada's family grow magical flowers and in doing so they create bouquets and potions that have lots of different abilities such as to erase memories, and bond people together. 

I had such a good time reading this book from the beginning to the main character, Harlow, and her love interest, Ben's meet cute in a coffee shop. The bond between Ben and Harlow was so strong and all their moments were so cute and memorable. The book also has a strong family theme where each of the Estrada women, have magic, except for Harlow who never manifested any magic. Harlow has often felt like the odd one out in her family but after she leaves NYC because of a breakup, everything changes. I honestly am so happy I was able to read this as it was such a comforting read. I hope the author writes more from this world in the future!

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The Love Wager by Lynn Painter

★★★★★

Hallie Piper is turning over a new leaf. After belly-crawling out of a hotel room (hello, rock bottom), she decides it's time to become a full-on adult. She gets a new apartment, a new haircut, and a new wardrobe, but when she logs into the dating app that she has determined will find her new love, she sees none other than Jack, the guy whose room she'd snuck out of. Through the app, and after the joint agreement that they are absolutely not interested in each other, Jack and Hallie become partners in their respective searches for The One. They text each other about their dates, often scheduling them at the same restaurant so that if things don't go well, the two of them can get tacos afterward. Spoiler: They get a lot of tacos together. Discouraged by the lack of prospects, Jack and Hallie make a wager to see who can find true love first, but when they agree to be fake dates for a weekend wedding, all bets are off. As they pretend to be a couple, lines become blurred and they each struggle to remember why the other was a bad idea to begin with. (Summary from Goodreads)

Lynn Painter has cemented herself as a favorite author with this book, although I've only read one other book by her. Hallie has become one of my favorite romance protagonists because she just felt so relatable. After a one night stand she decides that she has to turn her life around and does exactly that. In addition to moving out to her own apartment, getting a new haircut and wardrobe, she also signs up for a dating app determined to find love. However one of the first people she sees on the app is Jack, the guy who she had a one night stand with. They decide to work together to each find The One. 

This has such a good friends to lovers plot with both Jack and Hallie having great personalities and having a lot of chemistry. They bickered a lot but it was very clear that they had a lot of respect for each other. There's also fake dating at a wedding and what more could you want? I had such a fun time reading this one and I will continue to read from Lynn Painter in the future. 

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Every Summer After by Carley Fortune

★★

They say you can never go home again, and for Persephone Fraser, ever since she made the biggest mistake of her life a decade ago, that has felt too true. Instead of glittering summers on the lakeshore of her childhood, she spends them in a stylish apartment in the city, going out with friends, and keeping everyone a safe distance from her heart. Until she receives the call that sends her racing back to Barry's Bay and into the orbit of Sam Florek, the man she never thought she'd have to live without. For six summer, through hazy afternoons on the water and warm summer nights working in his family's restaurant and curling up together with books-medical textbooks for him and work-in-progress horror short stories for her-Percy and Sam had been inseparable. Eventually that friendship turned into something breathtakingly more, before it fell spectacularly apart. When Percy returns to the lake for Sam's mother's funeral, their connection is as undeniable as it had always been. But until Percy can confront the decisions she made and the years she's spent punishing herself for them, they'll never know whether their love might be bigger than the biggest mistakes of their past. (Summary from Goodreads)

Every Summer After is such a beloved romance book by the online book community which is why I was extremely nervous to read it and form my own opinions. Unfortunately for me, I was right to be nervous. The concept is such a good one and second chance romance books are usually a huge hit with me but this one was so messy and not in a good way. This book is told in two timelines: one when Persephone is thirteen and her parents buy a lake house which is where she meets brothers Sam and Charlie and they become friends. This timeline follows Persephone through the summers of her childhood and teen years as she and Sam develop a very close friendship which eventually turns into a romance. However, there is something that ruins their relationship and now they haven't spoken for twelve years. In the second timeline, it's twelve years later where Charlie calls Percy with the news that their mother has died and Percy returns to the lake town for the funeral and to see Sam again. 

Some of my issues with this novel are that it just reads a lot younger than your average romance novel and so many of the characters felt very immature and two-dimensional (which is okay for the young timeline but not so much for the current one). A lot of it is also focused on sex rather than actual talking through feelings which felt very unrealistic and messy. The main character, Percy also was an extremely unlikeable main character and I found myself rushing to finish the book and not in a good way. Also, the big twist was a trope that I hate (which is on me and not the book's fault) and everything seemed to wrap up in a tight little bow within a very short amount of pages. Overall, I was expecting a lot more from this book and I am very disappointed that I didn't like it.