All Roads Lead to Rome by Sabrina Fedel | Book Review

Review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: All Roads Lead to Rome

Author: Sabrina Fedel

Format: ebook (kindle unlimited)

Pages: 336

Publication Date: 6/18/24

Categories: Young Adult, Romance, Fake Dating, Social Media, Italy, Contemporary

When the daughter of a diplomat fake dates a Scottish celebrity in Italy, she soon finds herself living her own Roman Holiday until the feelings get real and the paparazzi’s knives come out.

Introverted, slightly anxious Astoria “Story” Herriot knows everything about Rome—her mom’s an attorney here and the two of them are living la dolce vita… at least until Story’s off to college in the fall.

But when Story is in the wrong gelato shop at the right time, she’s swept up in a fake dating scheme with Scottish heartthrob, Luca Kinnaird, to protect his relationship with a pop princess. There’s something in it for her, too—Luca promises to help fund a scholarship in her dad’s memory. Soon she’s showing Luca the best cafés, sightseeing at the Mouth of Truth, and picnicking at the ruins of the Abbey of Santa Maria del Piano. Story’s travel guide skills are 10/10, but what she knows about being a celebrity—or having feelings for one? Zero.

Pretending to be Luca’s guide—then his girlfriend—gets the paparazzi’s attention . . . and what’s true and what’s fake gets blurry as their different worlds crash together. Sophisticated, hot, rich, and with the most charming accent ever, Luca is full of surprises. And maybe, too, is Story’s perfectly planned future.

It’s a fairy-tale romance in the Eternal City…will it have a fairy tale ending?

Content Warning: bullying, mentions of drug abuse, drug use

I borrowed this book because of the book cover! It’s so summery and vibrant and I was in the mood for a summer read since we are in the season for it. This did not disappoint!

Astoria “Story”, is a diplomat kid – meaning she has lived in many different cities around the world with her mom. She’s not the popular kid at her very small school. She has only two friends in the current city that they live in, Rome, Italy. But Story is fairly independent and keeps busy with volunteering and exploring this wonderful city. One day she gets caught in a situation and agrees to become a fake girlfriend for a famous person – but it’s a challenge to navigate the online world as she gets put into the spotlight. She’s hiding from paparazzi, or making opportunities with Luca to let them get the perfect shot and all because she wants to help him out and get something out of it for herself.

My favorite thing about this story was the setting of Rome, Italy and all the places and food we get introduced to. Story is fairly good at learning and speaking Italian so it was nice to have that in the book as well. The romance is a fake dating romance, kind of a slow burner, but I found it super sweet and it was cute seeing them become friends and then in the end into something more. I loved seeing Story make friends with Luca’s best friend and opening up her world more because for a good part of the beginning she is closed off to socializing. Personality wise, she keeps to herself, and isn’t into the party scene but I thought she did really good faking it and hanging out with Luca and his friends. There is a lot of growth for her throughout the book.

The only things that threw me off sometimes is Luca because he is Scottish and I am so unfamiliar with Scottish words. So the first few Scottish words the character says made me confused. But I loved when they visited Scotland and we get a chance to learn more about Luca because for most of the story he is just a very famous ladies man it seems. But there is much more to him!

My Final Thoughts:

This was such a fun and cute romance. I loved everything about this story from the fake dating, seeing Story and Luca grow from strangers, to friends to lovers. And having it set in Rome, Italy just makes it even better! If you are looking for a summer pool/beach read, definitely try this one out. I look forward to reading more from this author.

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Tilly in Technicolor by. Mazey Eddings | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Tilly in Technicolor

Author: Mazey Eddings

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 320

Publication Date: 8/15/23

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Categories: Contemporary, Young Adult, Romance, Coming of Age, Neurodiverse, LGBT+, Autism, ADHD

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Wednesday Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Tilly in Technicolor is Mazey Eddings’s sparkling YA debut about two neurodivergent teens who form a connection over the course of a summer.

Tilly Twomley is desperate for change. White-knuckling her way through high school with flawed executive functioning has left her burnt out and ready to start fresh. Working as an intern for her perfect older sister’s start up isn’t exactly how Tilly wants to spend her summer, but the required travel around Europe promises a much-needed change of scenery as she plans for her future. The problem is, Tilly has no idea what she wants.

Oliver Clark knows exactly what he wants. His autism has often made it hard for him to form relationships with others, but his love of color theory and design allows him to feel deeply connected to the world around him. Plus, he has everything he needs: a best friend that gets him, placement into a prestigious design program, and a summer internship to build his resume. Everything is going as planned. That is, of course, until he suffers through the most disastrous international flight of his life, all turmoil stemming from lively and exasperating Tilly. Oliver is forced to spend the summer with a girl that couldn’t be more his opposite—feeling things for her he can’t quite name—and starts to wonder if maybe he doesn’t have everything figured out after all.

As the duo’s neurodiverse connection grows, they learn that some of the best parts of life can’t be planned, and are forced to figure out what that means as their disastrously wonderful summer comes to an end.

Content Warning: challenging relationship between mother/daughter

I was gifted this arc to read by the publisher and honestly I’m so happy they brought this book to my attention! Here is what I thought:

+ Tilly has ADHD and Oliver is Autistic, and the two of them together is chaos and peace at the same time. Their romance is the sweetest thing ever especially because they got off on the wrong foot. There is so much miscommunication between them but Tilly is a ray of colors and Oliver is obsessed with colors which make them the perfect match. I just really fell in love with the two of them.

+ I like how Tilly is lost but even though she’s scared at times, she’s also still not afraid to live and try. Oliver has his moments but he has an amazing support system with his two moms, his twin sisters and a best friend. Tilly has a family who aren’t as close, who’s ADHD diagnoses has come between her and her mom. There is so much pressure from Tilly’s family and not enough understanding and support that I felt for Tilly. I loved how Tilly expressed and explained herself and how brave she was each time even though it scared her to say or do something. I was absolutely rooting for her. And I love Oliver who despite having this whirlwind of a girl come into his life, he cannot help but fall for her. It’s a wonderful coming of age book and they travel throughout Europe which is a fun aspect of the book also.

+ I love that this story was in the POV’s of both Tilly and Oliver. We see how the both of them experience things differently and the way they also understand each other when it comes to hyperfocus or sensory overload in certain situations. Tilly’s voice is so strong and it was wonderful to see her use that voice through a blog. This story is so eye opening and beautiful.

~ Tilly’s relationship with her mother was not a positive one but I’m glad it showed the struggles of someone who is neurodivergent and some of the challenging relationships they have with people in their own families. It turns out okay in the end, but Tilly went through a lot emotionally just to make her mom listen and see her. It made me emotional when they finally got in a good talk about everything.

Why you should read it:

this is a heartfelt coming of age story
there is traveling through Europe
I love Tilly and Oliver and they are now added to my favorite couples list

Why you might not want to read it:

there is a sexual situation but it’s sweet and fades to black anyway, also some curse words here and there

My Thoughts:

I didn’t know what to expect with this book but I read it so quick and fell in love with Tilly and Oliver. Tilly is a wonderful character who has ADHD but wants to really try and make her parents proud but most of all, be happy with herself, her life and her choices. I loved watching her grow on this whirlwind European trip. I adored the romance between Tilly and Oliver, it made my heart melt and overall this story just made me smile. This would be a great book for teens and young adults. I loved it!

Book Links:

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Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts by. Kristyn J. Miller | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts

Author: Kristyn J. Miller

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 352

Publication Date: 5/16/23

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

Categories: Contemporary, Romance, Podcast

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to St. Martin’s Griffin for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Love breaks all the rules.

Margo Anderson is sworn off commitment. Alongside her best friend, Jo, she runs a viral podcast featuring rules for hooking up without catching feelings. So when Jo surprises her by deciding to get married and taking up a sponsor’s offer to host an all-expenses-paid wedding trip on Catalina Island, they have the whole internet to answer to.

In a scramble for content to appease their disappointed listeners, Margo cooks up a social experiment: Break all her own dating rules, just to prove that it’s a bad idea. And she’s found the best man for the job in the groom’s best friend and her old high school nemesis, Declan Walsh. He may be easier on the eyes than Margo remembered, but he’s sure to be as smug and annoying as he was before—there is no chance Margo will ever catch feelings for him . . . until she does.

The more time they spend together through cake tastings and wedding party activities, the more Margo can’t ignore their obvious spark, and she may actually be enjoying getting to know Declan. But can she let go of the rules to let him in?

Content Warning:

What happens when two women who have a podcast about how to be single and happy and then one woman defects and gets married? Well they definitely can’t continue making a podcast about staying single! So it’s definitely a problem between Go and Jo. They have to figure out how to move forward with their podcast, but it’s hard letting go – especially for Margo.

This rom-com has a little bit of everything that makes it a fun read. A wedding party travels to Catalina Island for two weeks, there’s an enemies to lovers kind of romance between Margo and her old classmate Declan (who happens to be the best man – she’s the maid of honor of course) and being stuck on an island for two weeks – well…anything can happen. And something does happen between Margo and Declan but it’s ruined by one person withholding information from the other. I thought the parts where they bickered was fun and they even got some steamy scenes. The two are opposites where Declan is more on the quiet side and doesn’t know his way around social media as compared to Margo who’s job requires she be on social media all the time.

Speaking of the job – Go and Jo are podcasters but we get mostly Margo’s perspective of the show because Jo is basically all but out of the duo. Jo fell in love and she’s getting married. Where does this leave Margo? A little bit floundering and trying to figure stuff out. I’d assume Margo and their group of friends are Millenials because they mention high rent prices and having to move back home to get their feet under them again.

I think the friend group/wedding party didn’t add much to the story. I would have like to get more out of them just to liven things up a bit. I also wanted a little bit more from Declan’s character but I guess that’s just how his personality is.

Overall, this is a good light-hearted romance and it would be a perfect book for summer time.