I thought that it would be fun to start a new series where I do a little run through, ranking kind of post about some of my recent reads and group them by genres. Today, I thought I’d start off the series with contemporary romance as the genre in spotlight. I’m well aware that “Ice Planet Barbarians” isn’t exactly contemporary. It’s definitely a sci-fi romance but I don’t read enough of that genre so I’m grouping it in with this “Roundup” group.
And as always, these are just my opinions and take note that some of these books have been added to my comfort reads list but still are ranked low because it’s a ranking kind of post. I’ll be ranking these books from least liked to most liked just for suspense reasons lol. No fun for you to find the treasure of the lot without a little scrolling.
I’ll be ranking these books not strictly by the quality of the writing or the technicality of the plot but also on how much I enjoyed reading the book. For me, reading is as much about the experience of reading as as it is about the individual book.
Without further ado, let’s get into the ranking!
The book’s in today’s round up include:
- Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon
- The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata
- Electric Idol by Katee Robert
- From Lukov With Love by Mariana Zapata
- How to Love Your Neighbor by Sophie Sullivan
- Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey
Ranked #6 – How to Love Your Neighbor by Sophie Sullivan
The first book in this round up is “How to Love Your Neighbor”. This book has such an interesting premise. And honestly, I think that it can be considered an easy Summer read since I believe the setting takes place next to the beach. This book follows the son of a rich business magnate and a newly graduated interior designer who go head to head over a property they both want. The reason why this book is ranked towards the bottom is because I didn’t really mesh with the romance. I didn’t feel much tension or chemistry between the two. I also thought that there was going to be a lot more HGTV type of scenes but we only got a couple. The book just started off really strong and I thought that it was going to go somewhere that I’d really like but it kind of ended up feeling a bit insta-lovey. I also didn’t mesh well with the writing style of this book. It’s a nice easy read to get you over a reading slump, which is exactly what it did for me, but sadly, this book was a bit of a let down.
Ranked #5 – Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon
Wow. Just wow. I do have a full review for this book which you can check out here.
I never would have thought that “Ice Planet Barbarians” would rank above a contemporary romance but here we are I guess. The writing in this book was really bad in the beginning and I think that’s because I couldn’t handle this one side character in the plot. As soon as she was out of the picture, I was well into the romance between our female main character and male alien main character. It was steamy and uh, interesting, and also cute. I love how he was so protective over her and how she was all, “I can handle myself you blue giant, back off”. Again, never thought I’d be typing that last sentence, but here we are. Alien romance.
Ranked #4 – Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey
This one is this far down the list for one reason and one reason only. The nicknames. The guy main character’s name is Fox. And she called him Peacock. You’re calling a guy named Fox… Peacock. I don’t know why this bothers me as much as it does, but it does. I also think that is a bit of a let down because I went in expecting one thing and got another. This book follows the younger sister of the female main character in the first book of this series, “It Happened One Summer” as she navigates winning over her crush while also rooming with her very hot best friend. I went into this book thinking that it’s going to be a true friends to lovers romance but honestly, I’d argue that it isn’t. Yes they are friends and yes they do fall in love, but there was always this attraction between the both of them. I think that “People We Meet on Vacation” by Emily Henry is more of an authentic friends to lovers romance.
Ranked #3 – From Lukov With Love by Mariana Zapata
This was my first Mariana Zapata and it’s one that I’ve got to reread. I don’t want to say I was disappointed by it but I thought that there was going to be a lot more romance in this book than there was. I know people have said that she’s the slow burn queen of romance but I think there’s a difference between slow burn and a book that has a romance but isn’t really a romance book. I think that “From Lukov with Love” was a book about ice skating and a woman fighting for what she deserves with a side of romance. I didn’t feel the chemistry between the two love interests till the very end and I think it’s because it’s a lot more subtle than I’m used to, which again is on me and not the book. I immediately read “The Wall of Winnipeg and Me” after finishing “From Lukov With Love” and fell in love with it, which is what made me realize that I need to give “From Lukov With Love”.
Ranked #2 – The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata
I LOVED this book. It was honestly so hard to decide whether this book is ranked #1 or “Electric Idol” is. This is a huge book that features a marriage of convenience between a star football player (American/not soccer) and his assistant. I loved reading about the guy mc in this book which is funny because he talks a lot less than Lukov. I think that Mariana’s writing really peaked in this book because so much of what happens in this book to develop the relationship between the two characters is done so subtly that she has to rely a ton on her writing to bring forth the guy’s side of the connection since he prefers to keep his mouth shut. I love the friendship in this book as well as how the two characters come together. I think that this book is definitely more romance forward than “From Lukov with Love” which I personally enjoyed. I have to say though, I feel like I need to dock Mariana Zapata books down a bit because I’m just not into some of her steamy scenes which again, is a personal preference.
Ranked #1 – Electric Idol by Katee Robert
This book took me by surprise. You can check out my full review for this book here.
I’m not going to lie, I was surprised by how much I liked this book. First of all, I don’t know where the author plans to take this series because I really, really, hope that she decides to write a book on Perseus and his new wife because… wow I loved their cameo in “Electric Idol”. I really loved the chemistry between Eros and Psyche. These two characters felt more believable and authentic to their true mythological characters than those featured in her first book. Eros actually came off as an amoral character who liked to leave people in fear and complete awareness of the danger he posed to those who got near. This book had so many good tropes that I ate it up. It was such a fast read. This book had the “I have to kill you but whoops I think I like you” trope, the closed proximity trope, and the damaged boy trope. I also absolutely loved the girl mc in this book. She’s a plus sized bad ass and as a person who’s not a bad ass, but just plus sized and petite, I’ve never felt more seen in some of the dialogue in this book. It felt very authentic and I don’t now if the author is plus sized or if she has friends or did research on this topic, but I personally think that she nailed it.
Have you read any of these books? If so, how would you rank them?