Dial A for Aunties is one of those entertaining popcorn genre-straddling stories. It’s a mash-up of comedy and romance with a dash of crime, and a whoDial A for Aunties is one of those entertaining popcorn genre-straddling stories. It’s a mash-up of comedy and romance with a dash of crime, and a whole gallon of suspend your disbelief. If you ever saw and loved Weekend at Bernie’s then you have an idea of what kind of crazy to expect here.
The aunties are the meddling with love kind and the romance the low-key leaving you ready for more in future books kind. I found the story a bit slow to get going but once it finds its feet, it takes off flying.
Around half-way Jesse Sutanto throws caution to the wind and really embraces the madness and that’s when things get really hilarious, as events go from bad to worse, building into this crescendo of chaos that would have made the aforementioned movie proud.
Fun ride of a story. I’d say it’s about a 3.5 but I enjoyed the pure ridiculousness of the whole premise so I’m rounding to a 4. ( I also loved Weekend at Bernie’s)...more
This was the perfect travel/flight material as it’s light and doesn’t need too much attention to keep up with the plot.
It’s typical rom-com kind of fThis was the perfect travel/flight material as it’s light and doesn’t need too much attention to keep up with the plot.
It’s typical rom-com kind of fare, and you won’t find a lot new here. It borrows elements from some of the popular content (I’ll use movies) you can think of like How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days or 13 going on 30, with the scheming/article or wanting to be a part of the biggest magazine- to Crazy Rich Asians and its high-rolling lifestyle (unfortunately, this part could have been anyone, anywhere, we don’t get to experience as much of Singapore as I would have liked).
Though we may all know the inspirations, it doesn’t keep it from being any less entertaining and a fun brain-break from the day....more
Bridesmaid Jane is the one who gets to babysit Jay’s brother until the wedding, keeping the bad boy out of trouble. Though his years in the Canadian ABridesmaid Jane is the one who gets to babysit Jay’s brother until the wedding, keeping the bad boy out of trouble. Though his years in the Canadian Armed Forces have tamed him and taught him a lot about himself, he can’t seem to keep from acting out at Jane as she has such a prickly disposition.
Pretty standard romance. I liked Jane and Cam and that the prickly don’t like you but am attracted anyway, didn’t go on forever moving into the easy and enjoyable feel of them killing time together fairly quickly. Also, that Jane isn’t high and mighty about the rumours surrounding Cam and judged him on what she sees of his personality and not what she’s heard. That was refreshing. The break apart moment felt a little orchestrated but it was thankfully short-lived.
I read this over the holidays and needed something light and fluffy which this mostly was. It did touch on a few themes like ptsd and alcoholism, survivor guilt etc.. On the whole though the story has some sweet, aww moments and an appropriately sappy ending.
3.5
Other notes:
- I’m pretty sure I went to this wedding last summer.
Somehow in my vast sea of romance reading (which 90% I haven’t even bothered to add to GR’s) this book ended up being my first in the biker club sub-gSomehow in my vast sea of romance reading (which 90% I haven’t even bothered to add to GR’s) this book ended up being my first in the biker club sub-genre. I have no idea why I haven’t read any of them sooner but I am definitely going to have to rectify that if this is what I've been missing.
So, this was a great story with some really lovable characters and some wonderful friendships! I’ve always enjoyed the side friendship stories in romance novels, not only do I think they’re great for showing what kind of characters the main love interests are but it’s also a nice balance against the hot and heavy attraction story lines.
Bethany (love this name- would have been my daughter’s name if I hadn’t of fallen in love with a different one) returns home to Kensington for a visit and while trying to avoid her ex-boyfriend Logan (whom she has avoided for a decade) manages to get into some trouble that her best friend Dean, stirs up. This of course, gets her on the need someone to make sure you don’t get hurt list, and thanks to her dad, cue Logan, for protection and all the pent-up feelings that Beth is trying to avoid.
What follows thereafter is a tough but much needed confrontation for Beth, and her feelings, interspersed with some incredibly tense action and a showdown with a grudge holding asshole- I have to admit this kind of stuff is really my favorite part of these type of romances and more why I read them than even the 'romance' part, and if there is anything this author excelled at it was writing downright tense as hell confrontations that made me worry for the characters. I am a fan.
Beth and Logan were a great pair and I enjoyed both characters and felt like they really had some past and he was worthy of her, and vice versa. I loved how caring and attentive Logan could be towards Beth and others he cared for, while not losing that you really don’t want to mess with him persona. And Beth was all those things you want in a lead, caring and tough enough to have grown up in a biker environment while also feeling like a lady we could all relate to. Also, the surrounding family and friends, were a lot of fun and added a close-knit feel to the club and I am excited to see any follow-up stories that might spring out of these characters- especially Mackenzie.
*So, the Tldr- Strong characters and writing, combined with a promising world that is easily opened up for follow-up stories with supporting characters that I really want to see explored made this an awesome debut! Can’t wait to see more from this author.
*Thank you to the author for the opportunity to read an ARC of this story.
Sweet Christmas romance. Didn't knock my socks off but there was nothing wrong with the writing either. Sweet Christmas romance. Didn't knock my socks off but there was nothing wrong with the writing either. ...more
I love Courtney Milan for her fresh approaches on old tropes. In this we get the familiar rich/poor trope, but it’s wrapped in an exploration of the I love Courtney Milan for her fresh approaches on old tropes. In this we get the familiar rich/poor trope, but it’s wrapped in an exploration of the difficulties of cross-culture relationships. Something you'd think would be easier to find than it is, but people really do hate change. ;)
I also love Milan for her smart ladies (at least in the few I’ve read so far) and very relatable characters and that she has some of the story from the guy’s side and we get in his head-space as well. That's no different in this book.
I found that while I did love most of the story and I appreciated that time was spent working on each characters issues with family, etc.. I also wished for a little more Blake and Tina time before things roller-coastered into their tidy ending.
All in all, it was a good starting point to this new series and I will come back for Maria’s story.
Full of color and food, and clothing and the bustle of a large family and friends, this was kind of how I would expect an Indian wedding and its prep Full of color and food, and clothing and the bustle of a large family and friends, this was kind of how I would expect an Indian wedding and its preparation would be, but you know with more singing... because I am relying on movies for my information. ;) The author is fabulous at making the space feel full and loud, colorful, and fun! A wonderful ability, that not many authors can do. I really enjoyed that aspect of this story.
But the romance side of the story, I had a harder time buying.
Ria has made her career into a success but it’s a life that is paralyzed with the fear of mental illness and becoming like her mother, pushing her loved ones away and losing love because of her choices. This contrasted strongly against the backdrop of a wedding full of happiness, and of people who are unafraid to live. This was so well done it could have been in itself enough of a story, with her realization of how constrained she’s let her life become and the journey back, without the add-on troubles of everything else.
It was a good start but Ria and Vikram became just like every other romance couple, and the tropes followed along. Mothers interfering, secrets, slandering, the piled on roadblocks of their second chance at love, started feeling excessive and began to lessen the import of their relationship.
It does make this hard to rate, because it had some excellent moments, enough that I would check out other stories from the author, and it was nice to have a little peek at Indian culture. But it did lean into the ‘too many hurdles zone’, dragging out the ending more than required so that everything could be tied up into a neat little bow. 3.5 for this one. ...more
This book was sort of like going to the fair and OD’ing on cotton candy and those little fried donuts. Silly, eye rolling, fun, but afterwards you wo This book was sort of like going to the fair and OD’ing on cotton candy and those little fried donuts. Silly, eye rolling, fun, but afterwards you wonder why you enjoyed it so much, when it was excessive and a little bit bad....more
This is the second book in this series. Like the first one, this is a quick light read.
It seemed like there was a lot of jumping around in this boo This is the second book in this series. Like the first one, this is a quick light read.
It seemed like there was a lot of jumping around in this book and lot of setting up for future books. I can understand that, but the books are short and I don’t want to spend much of the story of the current couple, establishing how messed up the rest of the relatives are when they have their own books to do that.
Anyway quick and light is about all I can say about this one. ...more
This was somewhere between I liked and it was ok. It started good. A fun story about Lila who secretly writes steamy romance novels. Throw in a class This was somewhere between I liked and it was ok. It started good. A fun story about Lila who secretly writes steamy romance novels. Throw in a class reunion, snooty movie star, and a secret crush, and it sounds like a lot of fun. Which it was but then it got dragged down a bit.
I could have done with less of the excerpts from the steamy novel, it felt like filler. And less of all the side couple get-togethers. Why not let some of them to have their own books?
The biggest thing for me though, was the revenge plot against the snooty movie star- which normally it's fun to see those characters get their comeuppance, but this got to where Melinda's villainy was a bit over the top. And the revenge against her was a bit too close to the line of mean-spirited enough to make the other characters a little less likable.
Other than those few things, the writing was good and the author had a nice balance of humor interspersed in the story which not everyone can pull off. I will probably check out other things by her in the future, to see how she's grown as an author.
This was a really quick little read. A free get-you-interested-in-the-author book from amazon/kobo- can't remember which.
I've always liked those pretThis was a really quick little read. A free get-you-interested-in-the-author book from amazon/kobo- can't remember which.
I've always liked those pretend to date storylines, where they end up falling in love, so I was all over this. It was pretty good but it was short, and not too in-depth. If you like those little Harlequins you'd probably like this well enough. It's about that speed of story. ...more
This could have been great. The writing was good, but the book suffers from too much of everything- past personal baggage, traumatized children, ptsd,This could have been great. The writing was good, but the book suffers from too much of everything- past personal baggage, traumatized children, ptsd, feuds, meddling ladies, over-the-top bitchy competitive women, animals, and kids- it's a noisy book.
If the book had stuck to just a few of these things, it would have been a sweet Christmas read. It's a Christmas setting and supposed to be sappy, heart-warming silliness. But the combination of so much...plot, just made it frustrating....more
This was a quick light read. Pretty straight forward romance and the characters were likeable enough. Though the beginning is confusing trying to keepThis was a quick light read. Pretty straight forward romance and the characters were likeable enough. Though the beginning is confusing trying to keep the who's who straight.
This was free on Kobo as an introduction to the series-which I was more interested in a later book and will probably pick it up too.
I enjoyed this book. It was just what I needed-something light and fun.
I've never read P&P so I can't say much about that, but I love the prickly/shy I enjoyed this book. It was just what I needed-something light and fun.
I've never read P&P so I can't say much about that, but I love the prickly/shy character trope. If I have Austen to thank for that, then I should probably mainline all her books.
I liked Lizzy. She has a sharp tongue and big heart. I really enjoyed reading about her work. It's a hard line to balance on when you're writing about something that you know a lot about(according to Author notes) and are passionate about. But imo there was just enough about her work to be really interesting, without losing focus on the story.
I really loved Darcy(I couldn't help but picture Colin Firth... lol I did see parts of the mini-series ages ago). I'm a sucker for a shy man, I guess.
I did think that emotions kind of switched gears pretty quickly from hate to love, but dragging it out any longer to make it more realistic would have slowed the story it to a crawl. So I can forgive the u-turn to keep the story moving along.
And a final note- I must cuss a lot because I didn't notice any of the language that a few people mentioned in their reviews. ;) ...more
Finally finished. I love most of Christina Dodd's writing. Her books are usually fun, easy to get into stories with great characters and this one was Finally finished. I love most of Christina Dodd's writing. Her books are usually fun, easy to get into stories with great characters and this one was no different in that way. But it kind of fell apart for me toward the last half. I think a combination of Pepper, not disclosing her secrets to Dan sooner and their teenage connection was so brief and long ago, I had hard time picturing him holding a torch for so long....more
Jennifer (bunnyreads)
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