Non spoiler:

Wow, this book was a rollercoaster of emotions! I knew very little going into this, except that it was a romance story set in summer and I figured it would be a light and fun book. This book was so much more than that. It follows hopeless romantic and author, January, who after her father’s death moves into his beach house. She meets neighbor Gus, who happens to be an author as well, although their writing styles are stark opposites. They end up striking a deal to write like one another, he will write a “happily ever after” romance, and she will write a darker, cult like story. This aspect of the book was so much because they agree to do “research” together as a part of this process, which basically meant they went on dates and spent time together.

In my opinion, the cover and name is a little misleading. Although there were fun, romantic and swoon worthy moments during the book, it is packed with depth. It deals with family secrets, lies, and heavy, traumatic issues from the past. I really related to January in the sense that she is one of those people who believe in happily ever after. As an avid romance reader, I love this. She had this idea of what that was in her head, but that soon changes for her and she struggles to find what that means to her again. Both her and Gus were going through a lot of internal struggles and I think they balanced another out nicely. I really enjoyed watching Gus and January help one another grow throughout the book. I highly recommend it. 5 stars!

We all know that feeling when we find a book we love and we can’t wait for it to turn into our new favorite movie! Sometimes it works, other times… not so much. As book readers it’s very easy to pick apart things that weren’t in the movies but there is nothing like those times when it works perfectly! When you actually get to see something inside your head suddenly on the big screen, there is something magical about that experience. Here are our top best and worst adaptations!

Hunger Games Series

The Hunger Games movies are one of the best adapted books ever, especially Catching Fire! While there are some minor changes to the series when they made the films, it’s not anything too major. Jennifer Lawerence and Josh Hutcherson were the perfect Katniss and Peeta. It’s important to note that author Suzanne Collins was heavily involved in the movies, hence a big part of why they are so amazing. The most satisfying feeling was sitting in the theater watching Catching Fire and literally seeing the book come to life completely. It was so accurate and faithful to the book. There were a little more changes in the other movies, but nothing that took away from the story Suzzane Collins told. We love going back and rewatching these movies!

Harry Potter Series

There’s nothing like rewatching Harry Potter and feeling the warm fuzzy feeling that comes with returning home to Hogwarts. This is another example where the author, JK Rowling, was heavily involved. Going back and rewatching the movies are just as magical as rereading the series. Obviously most of the books are huge, so there’s a lot of things that need to be fit into a two hour movie. The good thing with Harry Potter though, is the movies never took out or changed anything that was super major. There are a lot of things I wish were in the movies, but it’s understandable why they couldn’t put every little detail. They did a good job of keeping in all the important moments that book fans love, and balancing that with making an enjoyable film that everyone will love.

Twilight Series

Time to reminisce on the twilight years! This was such a fun time and we still love the series so much and thought the movies were actually very faithful. Recently, we started rereading Twilight and were actually pretty surprised how accurate the movie is. There are a few differences that we forgot about as well, but overall the movie was a great adaptation for book fans. We still remember sitting in the theater and freaking out when the Cullens came on our screen. What an amazing time. We’re currently rereading the whole series and are excited to relive it again as adults. It will be fun to go back and rewatch the movies as well since they are just as enjoyable!

The Fault in our Stars

The Fault in our Stars by John Greene is a classic young adult book that everyone should read. We actually had the opportunity to attend a private early screen in New York City for the movie and we were lucky enough to have John Greene come out at the end, along with the cast! This was so cool and an awesome experience. The movie did a great job of keeping it faithful to the story and characters, while keeping in all the strong emotions you get when reading. If you’ve never read or watched this one before, have tissues!

Perks of being a Wallflower

Perks of being a Wallflower is a heartfelt, and powerful book that we think every teen adolescence should experience. It’s a coming of age story about Charlie, who is a quiet kid who is a wallflower, he absorbs everything around him and isn’t exactly outgoing. He watches from the side and doesn’t exactly take risks, until he meets Sam and Patrick. It’s about friendship, love, music, and growing up. The movie did an amazing job of capturing all of this and the actors are perfect. Emma Watson, Logan Lerman and Ezra Miller are a few of the incredible actors that are a part of this film. We highly recommend reading or watching this emotional, heartfelt story!

Although it is more rare, popular book series can be made into successful adaptations. A lot of this is possible when there is a good team behind it that wants to keep it faithful to the books. The author being involved is always a plus as well. If you have never read or watched any of these before, we highly recommend reading the books and experiencing that first, then watch the movies. Have fun!

There’s nothing better than laying on the beach or relaxing by the pool with a book in your hand. Listening to the sound of the waves as you flip the page with your toes in the sand. Even if you’re not at the beach, it’s always a fun time to read a hot steamy romance in the comforts of the air conditioner. We love to escape into a new world for a little while, especially when things get hard. Here’s five of our favorite summer romance reads that we think you will enjoy!

The Unhoneymooners by: Christina Lauren

Photo credit: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42201431-the-unhoneymooners?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=4xZySUuYHQ&rank=1

This is one of our all time favorite enemies to lovers books. After food poisoning ruins her twin sister’s wedding, Olivia is forced to embark on her island honeymoon with the best man, Ethan, who also happens to be her enemy. They decide to put their differences aside because it’s an all expense paid vacation, all they need to do is pretend they’re newlyweds. How hard could it be to avoid each other and do their own thing? What happens when pretending to be married is why the vacation ends up being so much fun? Obviously these two fall in love and it’s just as hilarious and fun as it sounds!

Beach Read by Emily Henry

Photo Credit: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52867387-beach-read

Beach Read is a recent release and a little deceiving at first because after reading the synopsis and seeing the cover, readers figure it would be a light, fluffy summer read. It ends up being the opposite and deals with family betrayal, tragic pasts, and lies. It follows the main character January, a hopeless romantic author, who moves into her father’s old beach house and ends up meeting neighbor and fellow author, Gus. The two are polar opposites and strike up a challenge to write a book that the other would write. Gus needs to come up with a “happily ever after” romance and January needs to write a more dark, horror genre book. It’s interesting reading how complex they both were as characters and how much they grew throughout the book.

Well Met by Jen Deluca

Photo credit: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43189874-well-met?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=I61orDlTUE&rank=1

Well Met was one of our favorite books we read last year, it’s so much fun! It follows Emily, who moves to a small town to help her sister out post car accident. Her teenage niece ends up getting her involved in volunteering for the annual Renaissance Fair where she meets stuck up, irritating Simon. This faire is important to him as it’s his family’s legacy and he takes it very seriously. The two bump heads a lot backstage, however when the faire is going on they constantly flirt while in character and soon their characters end up faking their relationship which makes their outside real relationship a bit confusing in the best way. Simon also plays a pirate who Jen Deluca mirrored off of Captain Hook from Once Upon A Time, which just makes him that much more irresistible, pirate smolder and all!  Another fun tidbit about this story is the appreciation towards Shakespeare and books. While Emily is a tavern wench at the faire, she works at a bookstore and readers get to watch her slowly rebuild her life which makes her extremely relatable. This book is charming, funny, adorable, and so much more!

On the Island by Tracy Graves

Photo Credit: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15505346-on-the-island?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=evyuNp7gBO&rank=1

On the Island is kind of the black sheep on this list because it isn’t your typical boy meets girl romance. The book deals with a significant age gap romance, which can be tricky to write. However, Graves wrote it wonderfully. Thirty year old teacher Anna is offered a job tutoring high schooler TJ during the summer at his tropical vacation home. She agrees to travel there with her student and meet the family, but when the plane crashes they find themselves stranded with only each other to rely on to survive. They learn how to live on this island together and as time passes, TJ also is becoming a man. Prior to the crash, he is in recovery from cancer, meaning even though he is young, he has a much more mature outlook on life than most people his age. Their relationship begins to grow and one of the really interesting things about this is the question of: What happens when the normal rules built in from society are stripped away and these two need to rely on each other for survival because they are all each other has? Its intense, and readers truly watch these two people fall in love even in the most extreme circumstances.

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

Photo Credit: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36199084-the-kiss-quotient?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=6wP81t0gdD&rank=1

This is a heartwarming story about a woman who is on the spectrum, her entire world revolves around math, numbers and that’s her way of finding logic. She’s extremely successful in her job and because of that, her dating life is pretty lacking. Love and romance is one thing that she has no experience in or even understands so her solution is to hire an escort to help her learn the mechanisms of kissing and all the physical things that come with being in a relationship. This is how we meet Michael who teaches her all about foreplay and as the story progresses, these two fall in love and the feelings that develop throughout this book makes it so special. Michael is such GOALS and the consent shown throughout this book is so important. He’s patient, caring, and absolutely perfect for Stella. It will melt your heart watching these two fall in love. Highly recommend picking this one up!

Be sure to let us know if you pick up any of these romance novels and what some of your recommendations are!