"Everyone makes mistakes. I guess I didn't realize up until now that mistakes aren't the end of the world. I tend to hold back on new experiences, afraid I'll crash and burn, so what's the point? But all that leads to is me missing out on fun things. Exciting things. Embarrassing things. Maybe there's beauty in the process, in the mess."

GENRE: YA Romance RATING: 5/5 FORMAT: eBook

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Review: Jackie Khalilieh has done it again and my god, You Started it is an amazing read (I loved Everything comes back to you)! There's something abut reading YA that's healing when you're an adult and you remember all those years when you truly thought the world was all against you

I just love the way that Jackie writes her characters, the way we get to go through our emotions with them too. In here, we meet both Jamie, Axel, Ben and a few others. We follow Jamie's POV and we get to see her grow and go through life after a traumatic family experience AND a break up. Jamie also has anxiety/panic attacks and I thought this was represented well (coming from someone who had panic attacks at the same age as Jamie)

I think my favourite thing in here is how we connect with Jamie throughout the story. I felt all kind of emotions reading this, from sadness, happiness, and just this need to give Jamie a hug (but I wouldnt as she doesnt like them!). Also, it's this reminder that a lot of us go through this phase of fighting with our parents while growing up and struggle to understand our identity in the world. And then seeing Jamie learn about her Arab culture and embrace her identity once she meets Axel was a lovely journey too. All in all, it was lovely to see Jamie learn to take life one moment at a time and to let checklists and plans go. It took me 10 times longer to see that and so this book really hit home for me in many ways.

I think what I notice about Jackie Khalilieh's books is that she handles a lot of topics so well and it all blends together really well that you fly through the story and go through the whole ride with the main character too! Here's to more books by this author and I can't wait to read Something More (& the novella, All I wanted) soon

"The more we've travelled together, the more I've found myself emoting through him. He smiles, I feel joy, he frowns and my chest dips too. That's not just friendship. That's something deeper. I think I've known that for a while. But I've also seen how easily I ruin good things in my life."

GENRE: Romance RATING: 4.75/5 FORMAT: eBook ARC Tropes: Traveling (Euro Summer), Friends to Lovers, Only one bed, Slow Burn

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Overall Impression: This was high up on my anticipated list after reading Quarter Love Crisis and it did not disappoint. We get a wholesome story with the horrors and reality of dating plus a dive into Amorie and Noah as people in their own path and as they come together!

Review: This was such a fun read! I have read Jasmine Burke's book earlier this year (Quarter Love Crisis) and I LOVED it. I was super excited to dive into Around the World in 80 Dates and it did not disappoint. I literally binge read the book in a day!

This was truly such a journey, where we follow Amorie and go on a trip with her through her dates after she meets Noah. They both insist on being friends and so we see their dynamic and keep wondering: Is this the moment they tell each other that they are more than friends?! This takes us on a journey that let's us get to know the characters, who they are and what they think. We get to read Amorie's POV only and yet, we can see and learn so much about Noah from her. I truly loved reading about Amorie, getting to know her and seeing her grow.

We also get to see the reality of the dating world, with some of Amorie's horror story and a lot of right person, wrong timing concept (which ultimately always turns out to be the wrong person because wouldn't the right person come in the right time?). And I really loved how the topic of Grief is addressed here. It made me tear up a bit, the way we remember the ones we've lost and how it changes a lot of the choices we make is shown through both of our characters here.

ANDD I think what I enjoyed a lot was seeing how different and yet so similar the author's writing was compared to Quarter Love Crisis. In a way, both books have the author's voice and the same way of delivering the themes but there is a balance between the plot and character development that brings the story out differently. I can't wait to read more by Jasmine Burke and explore more of her writing.

I was provided a free advance reader copy and I’m sharing my honest thoughts.

"No medicine that would cure such devastating and hollowing pain. Cabanga was a yearning beyond comprehension, a hunger for something or someone so strong, your entire being transformed, and a cloud followed you."

GENRE: Contemp Romance RATING: 4/5 FORMAT: eBook Tropes: Age Gap, Single Mom, Forced Proximity, Vacation Fling (set in a carnival), He falls first

Overall Impression: This is a sweet, funny and quick read! I really liked how we get to explore the dynamic of two people who are hesitant to put themselves first and watch as they learn to be vulnerable together.

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Review: This was a funny and quick read! I really liked both our MCs (Trinidad and Orlando), plus reading the book from a dual POV was a fun journey. I've only gotten back into Contemp Romance last Autumn and so I havent read much of Age-Gap Romance and this is one of the few I've read recently.

There's a lot of emotional focus from both POV. With Trinidad's perspective, we get to see how she is a single mom and has to do everything because she isnt co-parenting with the twin's dad. I really enjoyed how we get to dive into the journey of seeing Trinidad realise she doesnt have to give up everything to be a mom. While with Orlando, we get to see him be a caretaker and we learn more about his story than his emotions. I think the way their POV aare written lines up well with the way they think and behave too. I also felt like the descriptions of the carnival and the setting was super fun. We get to go through Ofele, see them attend the carnival and enjoy it all.

Another favourite thing from this read is that we get to meet a lot of the side characters and we get to learn about them too. I feel like we got to know Orlando's family, especially his mom a lot too. Diving into what happened and reading about grief, mental health, Cabanga and how it affects the whole family was a wholesome addition here. We also get to see Trinidad with her kids and how they love her and the way she supports them both.

I will say though that I think what didnt work for me is the pacing. Throughout the book, it alternates between fast and slow paced rather than being consistent with this. This would sometimes snap me out of the story a little but about half way through the story, I did feel the pace started getting stronger and that this stopped being an issue.

I will definitely be picking more books by the author and would recommend this one to readers looking for exploration of age-gap, single parenting and caretaking in their MCs. I think the best way to describe this is two people finding themselves and learning to prioritise what they need and this theme was done beautifully in the book.