books to read if you're single on valentine's day
+ my initial thoughts on this month's book, a fourth wing playlist, & recent bookish news
“But these days, I’m happily single by choice. (There’s also a chance that I’m single because I’m an unlovable porcupine and got tired of the constant rejection…”
Hi all!!!
So far, I’ve read 15 books this year: 10 of those have been thrillers, 3 were romance, 1 was an autobiography, and the most recent was horror (I know, random).
What I thought would be a short obsession ended up turning into a month-long sprint of thrillers to the point of me forgetting what it felt like to read a romance book. In thrillers, there are twists and turns throughout, and I often never predict them right. I was obsessed with the unknown and the idea that you can’t trust any characters in them. On the contrary, romance books are the most predictable things in the world. We all know the timeline of a classic rom-com. While some hate romance stories for this exact reason, it was one of the reasons I tended to gravitate to the genre.
You always knew what to expect. And that information was comforting. So we’re back, baby.
Enter: Beg, Borrow, or Steal by Sarah Adams. (our feb book club pick if you’re new here <3)
Damn I love romance. I’m saying it now: if you like banter, THIS is the book you need to be reading. Put down whatever else you’re reading, go to the bookstore and buy this book. I read most of these first few chapters on a recent flight to Las Vegas, and I was grinning like a fool the entire way. Anyway’s let’s get into things:
🛑 SPOILERS AHEAD 🛑
— if you haven’t finished up to chapter 9 in ‘beg, steal, or borrow,’ scroll down to the next pug for the rest of the newsletter!!
unfiltered thoughts on chapters 1-9
— my initial impressions
I love it
I’m confused
As we all know, Beg, Borrow, or Steal is the third book in Sarah Adams's interconnected series. When in Rome, book 1 follows Amelia and Noah, and Practice Makes Perfect, book 2 follows Annie and Will.
This isn’t my first time reading a series out of order. In fact, I tend to do it more often than not depending on the ratings, tropes and my motivation. The only downside is that you miss the backstory of who side characters are and what they mean to the main character. In this book's first couple of chapters, I feel like I was missing some minuscule details on who everybody was. There were a lot of characters to keep track of, but I eventually got the hang of it.
Despite my own mild confusion, the first line of this book was an indication that I was going to love it. I know I’ve talked about this before, but I wholeheartedly believe that the first line in a book is a strong indicator of how the book will develop. Similar to What the Wife Knew, this book started with “I…”. I don’t know what it is, but having an immediate look into their inter monologue clicks in my brain every time. I hate when a book starts with a lengthy description of the scene, or even worse, in the third person.
“I don’t care who you are, when you live in a town the size of your thumb, if you don’t like the way your hair turns out at the salon, you stuff it deep down and never acknowledge it.” — ch. 1
I like her immediately.
— is rivals to lovers believable?
Let’s be honest with ourselves here: A lot of the “enemies” to lovers books out there are not written as believable enemies. While fantasy books can have threats of killing each other - which helps to convince the enemy aspect a bit more - the average romance book can’t get away with death threats. That said, introducing rivals to lovers was a brilliant move/alternative in romances.
In the synopsis of this book, Jack and Emily are described as “nemeses.”
As the story goes, Emily and Jack got off on the wrong foot—literally. On the first day of class, Emily, already late from a flat tire, was rushing to English class when Jack, distracted by his phone, ran straight into her. The result? A coffee explosion all over Emily’s shirt. Jack, ever the charmer, tried to spin it into a meet-cute, even offering to take her for coffee to make up for it. But Emily, fresh off a brutal breakup and mortified by her stained shirt, wasn’t having it. To make matters worse, they were headed to the same class—where they both lunged for the last open seat. Their whispered argument over who deserved it escalated into a full-blown disruption, earning them a scolding from the professor. Jack, with his signature grin, smoothed things over with a joke. The professor laughed, told Jack to take the seat, and sent Emily to the back of the room. Safe to say, she wasn’t feeling the charm then and hasn’t since.
Are these two actually rivals? Yes.
Is there more to it? Also, yes. These two have damn good banter, but chemistry and unresolved feelings also come with it. Case in point: Emily finding out that Jackson is no longer engaged to Zoe and is a single man. Second case in point: When Jackson says his life was upside and unsettled until Emily was back in his life.
Of course, these are inner monologues, leading both characters to believe they still belong in this rivalry. So what happens next?
Jack sits in Emily’s favourite chair at the coffee shop
Emily convinces the town to give Jack the cold shoulder
Jack knocks over an entire display and buys the store’s silence
Emily finds out.
Once again, they outwardly continue this rivalry while internally denying their feelings, and I am eating it up.
“Because I don’t want to be attracted to Emily. I don’t want to find her absurdly beautiful. And I don’t want to know why during my months in Nebraska after Zoe and I split, I kept finding myself wondering what Emily was doing at random moments in the day.” — ch. 7
My favourite scene so far?… When Jack tells Emily that the entire reason for not wearing glasses was because his ex-fiancee thought he looked dorky in them. The rivalry gets paused for a quick second when Emily responds with how a partner should never let you feel insecure about wearing glasses <3
She follows up by telling him he looks “…fine.” Smooth.
— the death of emily’s parents
As I mentioned in last week’s newsletter, I wanted to choose a romance novel with some depth to it. While I didn’t think I’d be crying 25% into this book, here we are. The sister's parents died when they were younger, and Annie, being the youngest, doesn’t remember much about them. When she asks Emily for a memory of them, in classic older daughter fashion, she makes a light-hearted joke about them bickering about flower seeds. She goes on to explain how they accidentally planted conflicting seeds, but it was okay because the parents themselves were incompatible and yet still in love.
“And when she found me watching, she told me to find someone someday who will hug me when I’m sad and then help me look on the bright side of things when all I can see is the dark.” — ch. 9
Still on the plane at this point and had tears silently dropping down my face. After reading the trigger warnings page, I knew Sarah Adams would handle delicate topics with care, and this entire scene proved true.
— jack’s motorcycle
Jack shouldn’t have pretended to be someone else.
Emily overreacted a bit (but I get it, lol)
✅ NO SPOILERS AHEAD ✅
Bookish Book News
Rebel Witch by Kristin Ciccarell releases NEXT Tuesday, February 18! Her tour dates are below :)
Side note: I received an ARC a few months ago and devoured this book in a day. It might be better than Heartless Hunter. Just saying…
The Usual Family by Helen Kay Dimon (Darby Kane) releases March 11! This is a cozy mystery romance. She also just announced that it’s available on NetGalley (only in the US)!
On Midnight Shores by Julie Olivia will be released April 14th!
Ashley Poston released a breakdown of where she will be at Atlanta’s Love Y’all Book Fest:
Calling all Fourth Wing fans…
A few week ago we dropped an ambient playlist for Fourth Wing and I am happy to report we launched a second video for Iron Flame <3 I hope you love it as much as I do!
Books to read on Valentine’s Day
Beg, Borrow, or Steal by Sarah Adams… duh.
In all seriousness, this book does feel like a warm hug and could be a perfect book to read tomorrow. However, if you think love is overrated, I might have something for you. This past week I was in Phoenix, AZ soaking up the sunshine and reading. That’s it.
Between those busy days (lol) I stumbled across Changing Hands Bookstore! It was so cozy inside with perfectly curated book selections, including this gem:
So if you’re not in the romance mood tomorrow, try one of these out and report back (although I might need to pick one of them up anyways)
— What are your Valentine’s/Galantine’s Day plans? Drop your answer in the comments <3
Happy reading xx
- morgann
My Valentines plan is to get dinner and a movie with my handsome partner 💖 I hope everyone has an amazing Valentine’s Day!! 💗
My Valentine plans is to read and sleep
Thanks for the book recommendation