Paperback, 259 pages
Release Date: July 23, 2021
Published by: Self Pubbed
Read from: June 25- July 3, 2022
Ace + Sunshine, #1
Source: Bought
TW: Weird Ex behavior
For Readers Interested In: Romance, Black Romance, Adult, Contemporary Romance, Realistic Fiction, Dual POV, Friends to loversHarlow Shaw feels naïve for believing in happily ever afters but she craves a love that lights her up.
She thought she had it all with her boyfriend. Until his promising baseball career overshadows their relationship and he asks her a life changing question. It causes her to wonder if what they have is all she ever truly wanted.
Harlow is yearning for more than the curated life she is living.
A trip to Bali, a move to Seattle, and an alleged burned cup of coffee lead her to a friendship she didn’t know she needed and a love so deep she can feel it in her bones.
BETWEEN THE COVERS!
*This book is part of the new adult contemporary romance genre! It is more mature than YA. I have featured it in Between the Covers as a way to feature the few Adult and New Adult titles I am beginning to read!”
*MY THOUGHTS*
Y’all know how messy I am right? lmao Well this one starts with Harlow saying no to her boyfriend’s proposal. (Not a spoiler because it literally opens to that scene.) I read this first chapter on Kindle Unlimited and then I was like damn it, I need to own it. This is the type of messy that I like lol And sure enough, the rest of the book was just as good.
Harlow yearned to be with someone who loved her. But with her boyfriend’s budding baseball career, she always felt like she came second. Until she’d just had enough. She decided to end it and moved across the country to try to find herself. While there, not only did she find herself, but she also found way more than she expected.
Ok so first I wanted to talk about the writing style. In my opinion she could have done with a better editor. Like some of the scenes when they were on vacation and these beautiful fields, I would have loved a bit more description. I love to “see” things while I’m reading since I more than likely won’t ever be able to see those places. Especially the places she went lol So I would have loved a little more than just her saying that the coast was beautiful. Like tell me what was beautiful about it. And then I also think some of it could have been trimmed. It was a bit repetitive them being in the coffee shop and the tattoo shop all the time. But neither of these things were bad enough for me to really not love the book.
Now the characters, I loved them. I LOVED Ace. I know Harlow is supposed to be the star of the show, but this fictional man has made my list of book boyfriends. He’s built with tattoos and in my mind he’s dark skin lol And LORDT that mirror scene? I’m still thinking about it. (Speaking of which, are there any other DIVERSE romance books out there with a mirror scene? Trade or Self pubbed? Because Lordt lol) And all the things he did like taking care of her, and actually paying attention to what she might want on her birthday, and so many other things. I won’t be surprised if he ends up on many other people’s lists of Book Boyfriends. As for Harlow, I loved her character as well. She reminded me very much of me. I too take on so many things because I think someone is going to be mad at me if I don’t. I too stay in places I really shouldn’t be because I’m used to it. I related to her hardcore. I just wished I had figured out my life at the same time she had figured out hers lol And fun fact, Harlow is from the same place I’m from lol It’s weird because there’s only a small amount of books set where I’m originally from period, so having this be randomly set there was a nice surprise.)
The romance between the two was definitely authentic tho. They started as friends and then developed into more. And y’all know friends to lovers is my jam. Another reason I hopped on to this. Yes he was an ass, but he was just a playful one. That’s what mattered lol It was never on anything mean, it was just them being goofy, and I loved it. Now their banter was really laid back, but they were so cute. I loved it mostly because both of them dished it out to each other, they never once got mad at the other for their back and forth. The third act break-up was ok, but still annoying because y’all know I don’t like them lol This one was fairly short, and the make-up was top tier lmfao I almost woke up my kid laughing at that garage door scene.
I try not to take any book advice from TikTok, but when I saw some of my other bookish friends talking about the second book in this series, I decided to give it a shot. I told myself I would read the first chapter. I did and then I got hooked. It definitely made me realize why so many people were talking about it. I ended up buying the entire series smh lol I really hope she gets some more recognition, if nothing else for the awesome characters, the mirror scene, and the garage door lmao
Overall, I give this
