Falling for a Different Type of Relationship

The Never After series by Emily McIntire is one of the most interesting series that I have read before. Her concept with these, are that the main character falls in love with the villain. For example, the first book in the series is Hooked, where Wendy falls in love with Captain Hook. Now, these stories don't take place in the same setting or plot as the movie. Emily McIntire changes the narrative to be a more mafia style, dark romance that really changes how the story ends. 

Most recently, Emily McIntire wrote Hexed, in which Prince Eric falls in love with Ursula. This book ended up being one of my favorites in the series as I enjoyed the relationship between Venesa (Ursula) and Enzo (Eric). 

Venesa Andersen has never been good. She wasn’t good enough for her parents, and she isn’t good enough for the gangster uncle who took her in after they died. But she’s cunning. Beautiful. Dutiful to her uncle’s demands. And she doesn’t have time for a moral compass, anyway. When her runaway cousin returns to their coastal southern town, she brings a man with her…and Venesa soon realizes he’s the only one who’s ever seen her for her.

There’s just one problem: she can never have him.

Enzo “Loverboy” Marino is a wealthy businessman by day and prince of the underworld by night. Underboss to a notorious mafia man, he answers to no one except his father, the strongest don in the Northeast. When he’s tasked with marriage, Enzo doesn’t think twice.

Until he meets his fiancée’s cousin.

When plans unravel and temptation sings its siren song, they’ll both have to choose what’s more important: duty to their families, or a forbidden love that was never supposed to be.

This series is particularly fun because you can see each piece of the original story take its place. Such as characters, words, monumental moments and symbols. When it clicks as to what Emily McIntire has hidden each thing as, you feel very proud of yourself. 

In this book Bastian references Sebastian, we still get the famous "but daddy, I love him" quote and Enzo gives Venesa a seashell necklace. Just like the one Ursula has in the movie. Overall, although it is a very smutty book, the plot is still to die for and I found myself not being able to get enough.

Ali Hazelwood’s STEMinist Novellas That Melted My Heart

Ever since I read Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood, I have been in love with her books. In this case, Loathe To Love You was no different. This book was made up of three separate stories that were all connected together. It was fun to read about each character and their relationships with one another as they faced a problem within their life.

Loathe to Love You is a collection of three connected STEMinist novellas by Ali Hazelwood, featuring three female friends who find love with their rivals through forced proximity scenarios like cohabitation, being stuck in an elevator or stranded in the Arctic. The stories follow Mara, a lawyer and environmental engineer, Sadie, a civil engineer and Hannah, a NASA aerospace engineer, as their initial friction evolves into romance within each story. The collection also includes a bonus chapter where the friends meet up, tying all their storylines together.  

Although I just gave an overall description of the collection, here is a more detailed version for each book.

Under One Roof

An environmental engineer discovers that scientists should never cohabitate when she finds herself stuck with the roommate from hell, a detestable big-oil lawyer who will not leave the thermostat alone.

Stuck with You

A civil engineer and her nemesis take their rivalry and love, to the next level when they get stuck in a New York elevator.

Below Zero

A NASA aerospace engineer's frozen heart melts as she lies injured and stranded at a remote Arctic research station and the only person willing to undertake the dangerous rescue mission is her longtime rival.

Each one of these novellas was just as cute as the next! Out of all three, Below Zero was for sure my favorite. The relationship between Hannah and Ian was very intriguing to follow as it never was super steady. But, spoiler alert, Ian did the absolute most that he could to make sure that Hannah would be saved, even if it was not his project.

If that does not scream Prince Charming I do not know what does. Ian is the type of boyfriend that in every story I fall in love with first. Although he and Hannah had their rough patches, he was able to fix it all by saving her life.

Was It Really The Summer I Turned Pretty?

This year's hit TV show has been The Summer I Turned Pretty. Everywhere I turned, people were either talking about it, posting about it or recommending it. I decided that before I watch show for the first time, I would read the books to compare. So far I have been impressed with the series and understand why it has become so popular. I've been watching the series as well and have seen that there are a lot of differences so far!

Some summers are just destined to be pretty. Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer, they have been her brother figures, her crushes and everything in between. But one summer, one wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

Now, one of the biggest questions fans always seem to debate is if each viewer/reader is team Conrad or Jeremiah. Honestly, if you were to ask me right now which team I’m on, I’d have to say neither. They both have had their moments where I like them, but they have often had rougher moments with Belly that make me change my mind.

I will say that I was not super in love with the book either, since it tends to skip a lot between the present and the past. It becomes very confusing as to when the section of the book is taking place. The TV Series has been really good and I find a lot easier to follow than the book. I have noticed plenty of differences such as Laurel finding her own love in the show. Some of the events of the book 

Overall, I have truly enjoyed reading this series, especially now that I am older because I feel like I can really relate with Belly. I am the middle cousin so all of my older cousins clicked well because there was a 3 year gap between me and the youngest of the oldest. The same thing applied to my younger cousins so I felt stuck in the middle with no where to go. I would try to fit in and impress my cousins to find where I belonged with my family, but just like Belly, I often made a large mistake that outcasted me even more.

I cannot wait to continue this roller coaster of a series and see what else lies ahead for Belly and who ultimately ends as her forever person.

The Twisted Tale of A Familiar Story

As a Disney girl from heart, this series has really taken hold of me! I love seeing how each story could have ended differently and this one was just as good as the rest. Growing up, Mulan was definitely a role model to me because of how she defied the norms to save her father and China. Reading how her story changed and her falling in love again with Shang was part of what made me enjoy this book so much.

What if Mulan had to travel to the Underworld? When Captain Shang is mortally wounded by Shan Yu in battle, Mulan must travel to the Underworld, Diyu, in order to save him from certain death. But King Yama, the ruler of Diyu, is not willing to give Shang up easily. With the help of Shang’s great lion guardian ShiShi, Mulan must traverse Diyu to find Shang’s spirit, face harrowing obstacles and leave by sunrise, or become King Yama’s prisoner forever. Moreover, Mulan is still disguised as the soldier called Ping, wrestling with the decision to reveal her true identity to her closest friend. Will Mulan be able to save Shang before it’s too late? Will he ever be able to trust her again? Or will she lose him and be lost in the Underworld forever?

As much as I truly enjoyed visiting a new side to Mulan, this book was not my favorite in the series. It felt really wrong for Shang to die so easily and for him to not want to return to finish the battle for China. There were some new characters that I did not enjoy so much either, as they continued to pop up and just drag the book on even more.

That said, the book still had plenty of moments of adventure, cultural mythology and that familiar spark between Mulan and Shang. I enjoyed the exploration of Diyu and the way the author wove Chinese culture into the tale. It gave the store a darker, more mature edge than the original Disney version, making this book even more fun for me now as a young adult.

Overall, this book was still a cute read and I will continue to finish the what if series of classic Disney tales. The next one is The Little Mermaid so I am beyond excited to delve into this story. The plot is, "what if Ariel never defeated Ursula?" Ursula was super creepy as a kid so I cannot wait to see how else she can be more villainous.