You, with a View & Someone Just Like You

I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

You, with a View by Jessica Joyce
Narrator: Kyla Garcia
Published by Penguin Random House Audio on July 11, 2023
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Contemporary
Length: 10 hours 55 minutes
Pages: 384
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
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"Jessica Joyce is a new and forever fave!"—Ali Hazelwood, New York Times bestselling author of Love, Theoretically

One of Amazon's Best Romances of July!

Two high school enemies must reunite for a road trip inspired by their grandparents’ broken engagement in this electric debut romance.

Noelle Shepard is unemployed, living with her parents, and grieving the loss of her beloved grandmother when she discovers decades-old photos of Gram and a smitten man, tucked alongside a love letter. She creates a TikTok to search for the mystery man, which goes viral, and she’s shocked when his grandson responds—a man who happens to be her high school nemesis, Theo Spencer.

Noelle refuses to let Theo’s annoying accomplishments in adulthood—or his sexy smirk—stand in the way of meeting his grandfather and unlocking the secrets he knew about her gram as a young woman. When she learns that their plans to elope were thwarted, Noelle decides to take the honeymoon road trip they planned but never got to carry out. There’s a catch, though: Paul, Theo's grandfather, asks to come with her, and he insists that Theo join them.

It’ll be a miracle if they make it through the trip without Noelle throwing Theo out of the moving car—or the bed they end up sharing. As the miles tick by, the tension simmers hotter between them...until she discovers that Theo’s hiding a secret that could cause their tenuous relationship to end before it can restart.

This was fantastic! I decided to give this book a try after reading some really positive reviews and I am so glad that I did. I liked this group of characters right away and I couldn’t wait to go on this journey with Noelle. Once I started listening to this audiobook, I simply did not want to stop because I just had to know what would happen next.

Noelle has recently lost her grandmother and is still grieving the loss. When she finds some old love letters and photos in her grandmother’s items, she wants to know more and posts a video to TikTok. She is able to find her grandmother’s lost love who happens to be the grandfather of the boy she knew in high school. Theo and Noelle were not exactly friends in high school so it is a bit of a surprise when Noelle, Theo, and Theo’s grandfather decide to take the trip that her grandmother planned for the honeymoon that never happened.

Noelle and Theo had wonderful chemistry together. Both of them had a few issues to work through and it seemed like the trip was exactly what they needed. I loved watching this pair grow closer as they spent more time together. Theo’s grandfather, Paul, was an amazing addition to the story and I really liked how he was always there for not only Theo but also Noelle. I couldn’t wait to see this pair find their happily ever after together.

Kyla Garcia did an amazing job with the narration of this book. I believe that this was the first time that I have had the chance to listen to her narration and I was quite impressed. She has a very pleasant voice that I found easy to listen to for hours at a time. She was able to add just the right amount of emotion into her reading to fully bring this group of characters to life. I am certain that her performance only added to my enjoyment of this story.

I would highly recommend this book to others. I thought that this was an incredibly well-done romance featuring characters that were easy to love. I am super impressed that this is Jessica Joyce’s debut novel and cannot wait to read more of her work in the future.

I received a digital review copy of this audiobook from Penguin Random House Audio.

I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Someone Just Like You by Meredith Schorr
Published by Forever on July 25, 2023
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Contemporary
Pages: 352
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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Two childhood rivals are forced to work together to plan their parents’ anniversary party in “this pitch-perfect enemies-to-lovers rom-com.” (BookPage)

New Yorker Molly Blum knows everything about her lifelong nemesis, Jude Stark. With their families so close, they should have been best friends. Instead, she thinks he’s a too-charming slacker, and he thinks she’s allergic to fun. After years of one-upping each other’s pranks (chocolate-dipped cat treats are not as delicious as they appear), one high school joke went too far, and they stopped speaking completely. But now that they’re supposed to help plan a massive party for their parents—together—there’s no better time to resume their war.

And it is on. Only somewhere between all the sniping and harmless hijinks, a reluctant friendship develops, along with an unexpected spark of sexual tension. It might have to do with the fact that she’s been dating Jude-lookalikes and he’s been dating Molly doppelgangers. Or the fact that neither of them is nearly as horrible as they thought. All Molly and Jude know is that they’ve mastered the art of hating each other. Falling in love, on the other hand, is a whole new battlefield.

 

I enjoyed this one even though I had a bit of a rough start with this book. Jude and Molly have known each other for their whole lives and are sworn enemies. They are put together on an assignment by their older siblings and immediately start pranking each other. The pranks felt more mean than funny to me but they eventually started acting like adults which made the book much more enjoyable. I do think that these two were great together once they stopped playing games.

I liked Jude and Molly and thought that they had fantastic chemistry together. They knew each other so well but there were still a lot of things that they had to learn about one another. I thought the fact that they have each spent the past few years dating people that were just like the other. There were several situations where it was very obvious just how much they cared about each other. Once they worked through a few things, I knew that these two would be great together.

I would recommend this book to others. Jude and Molly were both flawed characters that were perfect for each other in the end. I would not hesitate to read more of this author’s work in the future.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Forever.

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