I've been reading... The Switch, The Wright Brother, and The Wrong Prince Charming

 Some bookish thoughts on a trio of contemporary/contemporary romance reads!

The Switch by Beth O'Leary

Eileen is sick of being 79.

Leena's tired of life in her twenties.

Maybe it's time they swapped places...

When overachiever Leena Cotton is ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, she escapes to her grandmother Eileen's house for some overdue rest. Eileen is newly single and about to turn eighty. She'd like a second chance at love, but her tiny Yorkshire village doesn't offer many eligible gentlemen.

Once Leena learns of Eileen's romantic predicament, she proposes a solution: a two-month swap. Eileen can live in London and look for love. Meanwhile, Leena will look after everything in rural Yorkshire. But with gossiping neighbours and difficult family dynamics to navigate up north, and trendy London flatmates and online dating to contend with in the city, stepping into one another's shoes proves more difficult than either of them expected.

Leena learns that a long-distance relationship isn't as romantic as she hoped it would be, and then there is the annoyingly perfect - and distractingly handsome - school teacher, who keeps showing up to outdo her efforts to impress the local villagers. Back in London, Eileen is a huge hit with her new neighbours, but is her perfect match nearer home than she first thought?

This book brought nothing but pure joy from beginning to end! I seriously loved it, it was so precious! It was heartfelt, effortlessly hilarious, and had a cast of wonderful characters that will stay with me for a long time... Especially Eileen, Leena's 79 year old grandma who absolutely rocks!

The book captures rural village life beautifully, along side the hussle and bussle of London. The author tackles unconventional friendships, complicated family dynamics and major life events with care and wit resulting in me cackling like a crazy person every other chapter while simultaneously poking me in the feels, repeatedly.

The Switch has what I'd class as background romance but it isn't really a romance book... It's a book about relationships in all the forms they come. A book about finding yourself, being true to yourself and the bonds you have with other people. (But it does come with a lovely happy ever after, so don't fear!)

I listened to The Switch on audiobook and I don't think I could read it any other way now... The narrators (one for Eileen, one for Leena) did a knockout job of bringing Leena and Eileen to life, not to mention the other characters, and I highly recommend taking it in in this format for an extra helping of wonderful from this wonderfully special book.

Narrators: Alison Steadman and Daisy Edgar-Jones

Duration: 10hrs 12min

The Wright Brother by KA Linde

I'd dated his brother.

He didn’t remember and I wish I could forget.

I may have sworn off the Wright family a long time ago. But when I returned home, Jensen Wright crashed into my life with the confidence of a billionaire CEO and the sex appeal of a god. Even I couldn’t resist our charged chemistry, or the way he fit into my life like a missing puzzle piece.

Too bad he’d forgotten the one thing that could destroy us.

Because Jensen Wright doesn’t share. Not with anyone. And if his brother finds out, this could all go down in flames.

When it all was said and done, was he the Wright brother?

This was my first contemporary romance from KA Linde and it won't be my last! The Wright Brother was fun, sexy and had the right blend of emotional highs and lows to keep me flipping the pages.

The beginning was a bit rocky for me as Emery breaks up with her long-term partner in chapter one then within the space of a week (less than?) she was falling for Jensen but I got over it quickly for her long-term partner was a cheating scumbag and no loss. But then I also had to get over the fact that Emery had been in a serious relationship with Jensen's brother (back in high school) and that was harder for... ugh, family sharing! (I don't care that it's been 10 years. That is weird.) However, I got over it, again, for Jensen and Emery's chemistry was awesome.

Once I'd shaken off the ick, I was all in and happy as a clam while reading about the messed-up Wright family and getting super excited for all the future books that I haven't read yet.

If you're looking for a fun, flirty, sexy, little-bit angsty contemporary romp then I'd recommend this one!

The Wrong Prince Charming by Holly Renee

Every little girl dreams of being swept off her feet by a charming Prince.

But my life was no fairy tale.

And in this kingdom called college, the rules went out the window.

I’d known golden boy, Theo Hunt, was the one for me since we were kids. My heart was his for the taking, but I had become nothing more than the MVP of the campus king’s friend-zone.

Easton Cole was a storm I couldn’t have predicted. He knocked me off my feet and stole my heart. But he was off-limits. Not only was he Theo’s frat brother but he was the teacher’s assistant in English 101 and I was acing every test.

My heart was torn, my feelings tangled.

Because as soon as I noticed Easton, Theo finally noticed me.

I was in love with two guys, as different as night and day, but I could only have one.

I only hoped I didn’t choose The Wrong Prince Charming.

Oh where do I begin with this one... I wanted to love it. Heck, I wanted to like it but it was so very firmly meh I have no idea why so many people raved about it when it released.

Maddy was irritating. Her relationship/friendship with Theo was utterly whacked. Easton was pretty cool but his willingness to throw away everything he'd worked for on Maddy - who'd leave his bed to go and snuggle with her BFF Theo - was incomprehensible.

Maddy had this magical allure thing going on quite clearly and, naturally, all the guys (Theo and Easton) were so hot that they just fried her brain cells and turned this allegedly smart gal her into an idiot.

The "love-triangle" was the most ridiculous and forced thing I'd ever read and I have no idea what the hell happened in the final quarter beyond forced drama for the sake of drama.

The sad thing is, even though the book wouldn't have been all that, it would have been a good-enough read if it wasn't for the descent into absolute farce towards the end.

Needless to say, I don't recommend and I'll probably avoid books by the author in the future.