Rent a Boyfriend

 

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?  - excerpt from Goodreads.

Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao  is not only a sweet YA romance book, it is more than that as it talks about cultures, family values and also breaking out from expectations. I quite loved this book as it highlights how the typical Chinese beliefs on marriage and love. Chloe struggles with letting her parents to know the truth and her resentments of their choices made for her. She started as trying her best to avoid their judgements and decisions by hiring a fake boyfriend to bring him for the holidays. This is quite common as in big family gatherings of festivities, the elderly be it a relative or your parents' friends will always ask "When are you getting married?" if you have a boyfriend. If you are single they will ask "Why are you single?" and then comment on the things that they think makes you single. They really think they know you or they have the wisdom to judge these things, I definitely have experienced these many questions and I always answer politely but inside me I'm pretty hurt and upset.

I could easily resonate with this book because I understand how parents have expectations and they think they know best. Although my situation is entirely different but the concerns from my parents are similar. They want what's best for you but they never asked what is it that makes us happy. They try to give you the best they can but also at a cost that we didn't ask for and if they asked us we would gladly share that burden with them. This is a barrier that is quite hard to be broken and it lives strongly in a Chinese upbringing.  

The characters are definitely real and have justifiable reasons for their actions and feelings. I love how they can grow and confront their fear. I also love how the small steps Chloe took are able to also help her parents grow as well. Having the whole family grow together and come out stronger is a plus point for anyone. The interactions and conversations in this book was great and much needed to hopefully help readers understand their backgrounds better. I love how the point of views were alternated between Chloe and Drew. Another plus point is the author putting in effort of giving each chapter a title as it serves as a sneak peak as what's to come., although I never could have guess what's next.

Generally, the timeline of the book is paced quite well, it doesn't feel rushed. Even though there are time gaps here and there but you get the gist of a normal day happened for them. Ultimately the use of mandarin words gave this book so much character and life because those words carry culture, acceptance of heritage and knowledge that where ever in the world you are, however you grew up, the commonality of language is our similarity and also a type of bond we all can understand together. This is a great book and I truly wished those who read this that aren't Chinese will understand us a little bit better. I am definitely looking forward to more books by this author as to how she can continue to share our culture to the world.

Prince Charming

Meet Daisy Winters. She's an offbeat sixteen-year-old Floridian with mermaid-red hair, a part time job at a bootleg Walmart, and a perfect older sister who's nearly engaged to the Crown Prince of Scotland. Daisy has no desire to live in the spotlight, but relentless tabloid attention forces her join Ellie at the relative seclusion of the castle across the pond.

While the dashing young Miles has been appointed to teach Daisy the ropes of being regal, the prince's roguish younger brother kicks up scandal wherever he goes, and tries his best to take Daisy along for the ride. The crown--and the intriguing Miles--might be trying to make Daisy into a lady . . . but Daisy may just rewrite the royal rulebook to suit herself. - excerpt from Goodreads

Prince Charming by Rachel Hawkins which was previously titled Royals is a fun summer adventure that happened unexpectedly to a sixteen year old. This was definitely a sweet and fun read as the book is only 296 pages long. I love the characters because you'll get to learn their struggles and experience their growth. How Daisy feels is justifiable as the younger sister and it was such an eye opener for me as the eldest in the family. As for the male character, although the point of view is not his own but you can analyse his behaviour and understand where he comes from. They are not your typical teenagers given the circumstances of their lives, especially for Daisy who is suddenly thrown into the limelight albeit wanting to be unnoticed because of her sister's status. As for the supporting characters, all of them are unique and always bringing out a different side of the heroine and the love interest. I certainly enjoyed Daisy's reaction to those characters.

The plot is simple but unpredictable because who really knows how royal lives are suppose to be, hence making it exciting to read about Daisy's adventure in Scotland. There is nothing overly dramatic about their day to day activities but the author manages to hold on to your attention with tiny surprises here and there. Rachel Hawkins excels in writing stories that are quick page turners that are delightful. Although you might feel that some timeline happened too quickly and you wished there was more to it but spending time writing on side characters might be too draggy and the attention of readers will be gone. By reviewing more I fear that it will be spoilers, so get ready to laugh, swoon a bit and dream a little to the charms of a royal life. I recommend this as a quick summer read, you can definitely finish it in one sitting.

Meet Cute

Kailyn Flowers was always calm and controlled - until she ended up sprawled all over Daxton Hughes, the former actor she totally crushed on as a teenager. In seconds, she became a mortifying fangirl and oddly enough, he didn't run away. Instead, their meet cute led to something she never expected: a friendship. Of course, she never expected him to betray her, either.

Eight years later, Dax needs Kailyn's help. Years of anger towards him haven't exactly left Kailyn inclined to oblige, but she also isn't heartless enough to turn him down. She vows to be friendly, but soon their 'friendly' meetings turn into flirty dinner dates, and Kailyn can feel their chemistry is as explosive as ever. But how can she possibly let down her guard again to a guy who has heartbreak written all over him?  - excerpt from Goodreads.

Meet Cute by Helena Hunting is the type of story that can easily turn into a k-drama or a rom-com movie. It's funny, cute and definitely pulls a little at your heart strings. The first thing that caught my attention to purchase this book is without a doubt the cover design but few pages in, it's their personalities that attracted me. The characters starts of being vague without any backstory at first and it slowly unfolds for you to discover who they are. They have really strong personalities yet still have room to grow.  The chemistry between the lead male and female has a lot of tension, push and pull that is very entertaining to read about. The side characters itself gives a good push for them and you can tell that they influence them greatly. I love the banter between Kailyn and Daxton, it is often hilarious and you cannot stop rooting for something to happen between them. It's the type of tension where you'll go please kiss each other already!!! Every interaction between them is the highlight of the book, the parts that keeps turning the pages. When they are on their own thoughts, it can often be graphic and funny.