Review: Together, Apart

Review: Together, Apart by Multiple Authors

A collection of original contemporary love stories set during life in lockdown by some of today's most popular YA authors.

Erin Craig "delivers" on a story about a new girl in town and the cute pizza delivery boy, Auriane Desombre captures our hearts with teens communicating through window signs, and Bill Konigsberg takes us along on daily walks with every step bringing us closer to love. There's flirting and romance from Rachael Lippincott, a tale of a determined girl with a mask-making business from Erin Hahn, and a music-inspired love connection from Sajni Patel. Brittney Morris turns enemies to lovers with the help of a balcony herb garden, Jennifer Yen writes an unconventional romance that starts outside a hospital, and Natasha Preston's teens discover each other--and their love story--in a storybook oak tree.

Romantic, realistic, sweet and uplifting, TOGETHER, APART is a collection of finding love in unexpected places during an unprecedented time . . . each with the one thing we all want: a guaranteed happy ending.

-summary and cover via Goodreads

Mini Review: This was a great short story collection! I think there is a story for everyone in this book. My favorite was Masked by Erin Hahn (As a girl who has always preferred Danny Kaye to Bing Crosby, it was nice to read a story where the main character agreed! Also, the romance was super cute.) A close runner up was Jennifer Yen's story, Love With A Side Of Fortune! If you're looking for a good short story collection, I would definitely recommend this YA book!

I received an e-ARC of this book from the publisher.

Review: Rent a Boyfriend

 Review: Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before meets The Farewell in this incisive romantic comedy about a college student who hires a fake boyfriend to appease her traditional Taiwanese parents, to disastrous results, from the acclaimed author of American Panda.

Chloe Wang is nervous to introduce her parents to her boyfriend, because the truth is, she hasn’t met him yet either. She hired him from Rent for Your ’Rents, a company specializing in providing fake boyfriends trained to impress even the most traditional Asian parents.

Drew Chan’s passion is art, but after his parents cut him off for dropping out of college to pursue his dreams, he became a Rent for Your ’Rents employee to keep a roof over his head. Luckily, learning protocols like “Type C parents prefer quiet, kind, zero-PDA gestures” comes naturally to him.

When Chloe rents Drew, the mission is simple: convince her parents fake Drew is worthy of their approval so they’ll stop pressuring her to accept a proposal from Hongbo, the wealthiest (and slimiest) young bachelor in their tight-knit Asian American community.

But when Chloe starts to fall for the real Drew—who, unlike his fake persona, is definitely not ’rent-worthy—her carefully curated life begins to unravel. Can she figure out what she wants before she loses everything?

-summary and cover via Goodreads

Mini Review: The fake dating trope is my favorite, so as soon as I read the summary for this book, I knew I had to read it! I'm happy I did! I really enjoyed this book! Chloe and Drew were so cute together, and I loved reading about them. There were moments that made me laugh, and also a lot of heartfelt moments. I really liked the ending. If you're looking for a good YA, I definitely recommend reading this book!

I received an e-ARC of this book from the publisher.