books I voluntarily read ✎ᝰ.

Never Thought I'd End Up Here

Ann Liang

<p> </p> <b>From the author of the instant <i>New York Times</i>bestseller <i>I Hope This Doesn't Find You</i>, <i>Never Thought I'd End Up Here</i>is another hilarious and romantic romcom from Ann Liang, this time following a former model determined to get revenge on the boy who ruined her life.</b> <p>Leah Zhang has spent her whole life in LA - it's all she's ever known. That is until her parents grow tired of her broken Mandarin and zero regard for etiquette, and send her on an intensive two-week travel program across China.</p> <p>There's a competition running throughout the program where the winning duo will receive a glowing letter of recommendation to the college of their dreams. Leah is forced to partner up with her former classmate and least favourite person ever: cynical, sarcastic Cyrus, who's somehow only gotten more annoyingly handsome.</p> <p>But the deeper they wander into China's provinces, the deeper Leah finds herself falling in love - with the boy she thought she despised, the home she never thought she'd call her own, and the parts of herself she thought were already lost.</p> <ul> <li>From the author of This Time It's Realand I Hope This Doesn't Find You comes another swoony, enemies-to-lovers rom com</li> <li>For fans of Jenny Han and Crazy Rich Asians</li> <li>Perfect for BookTok, Never Thought I'd End Up Hereexplores the power of choosing your own path and embracing your authentic self</li> </ul> <p> </p> <b>Praise for This Time It's Real:</b> <p>"Eliza is an enchanting, hilarious, and vulnerable heroine...an irresistible tale by Liang." - <b>Publishers Weekly, starred review</b></p> <p>"A sweet and emotional love story." - <b>Booklist, starred review</b></p>

If You Could See the Sun

Ann Liang · 2022

I Am Not Jessica Chen

Ann Liang · 2025

Just for the Summer

Abby Jimenez · 2024

Better Than the Movies

Lynn Painter · 2022

<b>A <i>USA TODAY</i> and <i>New York Times</i> bestseller</b><br> <br><b>Perfect for fans of Kasie West and Jenn Bennett, this “sweet and funny” (Kerry Winfrey, author of <i>Waiting for Tom Hanks</i>) teen rom-com follows a hopelessly romantic teen girl and her cute yet obnoxious neighbor as they scheme to get her noticed by her untouchable crush.</b><br><br>Perpetual daydreamer Liz Buxbaum gave her heart to Michael a long time ago. But her cool, aloof forever crush never really saw her before he moved away. Now that he’s back in town, Liz will do whatever it takes to get on his radar—and maybe snag him as a prom date—even befriend Wes Bennet.<br> <br>The annoyingly attractive next-door neighbor might seem like a prime candidate for romantic comedy fantasies, but Wes has only been a pain in Liz’s butt since they were kids. Pranks involving frogs and decapitated lawn gnomes do not a potential boyfriend make. Yet, somehow, Wes and Michael are hitting it off, which means Wes is Liz’s in.<br> <br>But as Liz and Wes scheme to get Liz noticed by Michael so she can have her magical prom moment, she’s shocked to discover that she likes being around Wes. And as they continue to grow closer, she must reexamine everything she thought she knew about love—and rethink her own ideas of what Happily Ever After should look like.

Beach Read

Emily Henry · 2020

<b><b>FROM THE #1 <i>NEW YORK TIMES</i> BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF <i>FUNNY STORY</i>!<br><br>A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.<br><br>As featured in <i>The New York Times Book Review</i> ∙ <i>Entertainment Weekly</i> ∙ <i>Oprah Magazine</i> ∙ Betches ∙ Shondaland ∙ Good Morning America ∙ <i>The New York Post</i> ∙ <i>Good Housekeeping</i> ∙ CNN ∙ and more!</b></b><br><br>Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast. <br><br>They’re polar opposites. <br><br>In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they're living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer's block.<br><br>Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.

Let’s Pretend I’m Okay

Jasmine Little

Picking Daisies on Sundays

Liana Cincotti · 2023

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder

Holly Jackson · 2021

<b>THE MUST-READ MULTIMILLION BESTSELLING MYSTERY SERIES<b>—</b>NOW ON NETFLIX! This is the story about an investigation turned obsession, full of twists and turns and with an ending you'll never expect. </b><br><br>Everyone in Fairview knows the story. <br><br>Pretty and popular high school senior Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who then killed himself. It was all anyone could talk about. And five years later, Pip sees how the tragedy still haunts her town.<br><br>But she can't shake the feeling that there was more to what happened that day. She knew Sal when she was a child, and he was always so kind to her. How could he possibly have been a killer?<br><br>Now a senior herself, Pip decides to reexamine the closed case for her final project, at first just to cast doubt on the original investigation. But soon she discovers a trail of dark secrets that might actually prove Sal innocent . . . and the line between past and present begins to blur. Someone in Fairview doesn't want Pip digging around for answers, and now her own life might be in danger.<br><br><br><b>And don't miss the sequel, </b><i><b>Good Girl, Bad Blood!</b> </i><br><br><b>"The perfect nail-biting mystery." —Natasha Preston, #1 <i>New York Times </i>bestselling author</b>

Yellowface: A Novel

R. F. Kuang · 2023