When I first started watching chandler I was like wow she's super critical of a lot of books! But after being a loyal subscriber for a few months now, she just always hits the mark! While I do still enjoy books she does not, every book she suggests is a 5 star for me. ❤ just a long winded way to say I love your videos!
I read The Unhoneymooners years ago and I still haven't forgiven that book. The reason for their third act breakup actually made me not ship those characters together anymore. They had great chemistry up until that point, though.
I heard Twisted Lies is a solid depiction of Enemies to Lovers (haven't read myself). For me, I agree with your overall rating, when done RIGHT it can be a pretty enticing trope to read. But I haven't read many tbh. I hope you do a trope read for Second Chance Romance! Looking forward to this series :)
Twisted hate is the enemies to lovers and you won't be disappointed! My favorite of the series😍 Twisted lies is fake dating and it is also a masterpiece
I love this series! And great video! Enemies to lovers is so tricky. I kind of think enemies to lovers can only *really* work in fantasy...unless it's like a mafia romance or something lol. Who really has a true,blue enemy in real life lol? Rivals to lovers and/or hate to love is more possible in contemporary, but you have to have a really compelling setup and it inherently has to be slow burn, all of which can be so, so challenging to successfully pull off. (And I might be splitting hairs with the terminology, you know 😂) either way, I think it's one of the hardest tropes to do successfully, but when it's done right...*chef's kiss* cant wait for the next one in the series!
For fake dating: my personal favourites are: “she drives me crazy” by Kelly Quindlen. A YA sapphic romance, the obvious “take a hint, Dani brown” and the kiss quotient.
Such a great challenge and can't wait to watch the rest of the videos. I really like enemies to lovers but for some reason I enjoy it much more in fantasy books. I think it's because the stakes are often higher and that can create incredible tension. My favourite trope in romance is probably fake dating (I blame The Love Hypothesis!) Have a lovely week :)
Agreed. Most contemporary enemies to lovers are usually because of miscommunication (The Unhoneymooners is a perfect example of this), whereas fantasy enemies to lovers has them actually on opposing sides of something bigger like a war.
Just finished reading the unhoneymooners due to watching this video a couple days ago and wow what a great recommendation! First time going for a RU-vid recommendation video, thank you! Keep up the great work, you've just got a new subscriber 😊
Last week I picked 'My Phony Valentine' by Courtney Walsh in KU on a whim for valentines, fully expecting a middle of the road book and was absolutely blown away by just how good it was! It's a fake dating, hockey romance and the depth of the characters, the fully believable 3rd act conflict and how slow burn it is...... Chef's kiss!! Highly, highly recommend it.
It'd also be interesting to explore how these individual tropes vary across romance subgenres, but that might be a bit too big of a task to take on for this series!
I love this long term project! Definitely the type of thing that keeps me subscribed to a channel in general (not that I'm considering unsubscribing, just speaking generally haha)
excited for this series. I just really struggle with the term enemies to lovers in contemporary or historical romance. it makes sense in fantasy or dark romance i suppose but usually the conflict is rooted in a misunderstanding (the Unhoneymooners) or a rivalry/competition (Battle Royal by Lucy Parker) and the stakes are pretty low. Like the MCs banter with each other but it isn't life or death stuff. Maybe grumps to lovers? Or rivals to lovers when that is what it really is.
You need you read To Love Jason Thorne in order to understand Lucy’s motivations in To Hate Adam Connor. You should try them in the audiobooks. Also, To Love Jason Thorne has the marriage of convenience trope
@@chandlerainsley Oh! Yeah, Lucy is with Olive and Jason in the beginning because her boyfriend moved away. Lucy is chaotic, and she meets Adam Connor after spying on him over the privacy wall when she saved his son from drowning. That’s the first 50 pages. I always give a book 50 pages or the first 5 chapters whatever comes first. But yeah, the beginning is chaotic.
Recommendation for the fake dating trope - Faking Christmas by Cindy Steel. Now listen, I know Christmas just passed 😂 But it is seriously so good, and I have NEVER heard anyone talk about it! It’s also got a rivals-to-lovers aspect to it, too. I just love it lol
Fake dating recommendation - Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur! It's sapphic, it's angsty, it has incredible smutty scenes, I'm fairly sure you haven't read it, and I remember you reading and liking another book in this series but this is the best of them all so I think you'd love it!
enemies to lovers is my favvv...when done well all the angst n tension gets me!! BUUTTT traditionally published, contemporary romance cannot do this trope justice. contemporary is too vanilla for this trope imo.
Because you've already read the best fake dating romance right now (the right move), I'll give you two others to consider. Funny Feelings by Tarah Dewitt has fake dating & also Make a Scene by Mimi Grace both of them were 4 star reads for me. Hope this helps ☺️
I'm actually doing some similar research right now! I've been trying to find out the most popular trope, so I've read the Goodreads choice nominees from last year. I've been writing down their tropes, and I'm hoping to find some trends! It's really fun!
i know you weren't a fan of count your lucky stars, but the first book in the series, written in the stars, is really solid, steamy fake dating. there's some good ya stuff too, hani and ishu's guide to fake dating was really sweet
I definitely agree with your comments on the third act break up. I think sometimes it feels like a plot device and THAT is frustrating and annoying. I don't read a lot of contemporary romance but I have had Unhoneymooners on the edge of my radar for so long and I think I finally need to pick it up. Have you read Scarred by Emily McIntire? I really enjoyed that one and loved the enemies to lovers aspect.
I'm 35 and this book was such a good surprise!! I wasn't prepared to enjoy it that much! 😅 (hate the cover, don't like that kind of trope) but I think it's the authors's writing that I liked a lot. I don't know how she did it but I just couldn't put this book down!!! And for that very reason, I thought the review was a little harsh but to each his own right. I'm looking forward to reading the next book from the series!
This book is not terrible and there is a love/hate relationship with Phoenix (at least on my end). The real issue with this book is it has a bad plus-size representation. Yes there are ways to work on ur insecurities and feel better but when you have to change the looks of ur MC to be accepted and liked by others it isn't a representation😕
@Kapeesha Watson I understand what you are saying and I respect that. Honestly, it is all about perspective and what you consider right. For that, so many of us are 50/50 on wherever to like or hate this book. In my eyes and half of the readers don't like the representation because you don't need to lose weight to be "beautiful" and accepted and the MC was depicted as a fatphobic.
I think a third act conflict is necessary I just kinda hate when it’s like one of the characters does something super devastating to the other and have to come back from that because it just makes me kinda lose faith a bit in the development they’ve made throughout the book up until that point
The last two "enemies to lovers" books I read were Strictly Business Carrie Elks and Everything for You by Chloe Liese. They're both contemporary romcoms, so the enemies situation is more like a rivalry. Both are workplace, but neither actually spends that much time with the characters at work, which I really liked. Strictly Business does have a pregnancy storyline as well, so if that's not your thing, I don't recommend (It's not a surprise pregnancy though).
I really liked Everything for You (and the whole series). Also: The newest book by Chloe Liese - Two wrongs make a right - is also great and has fake dating.
The unhoneymooners was so disappointing in my opinion. I remember reading it because of your recommendation but Ethan gave me an ick at the end. Maybe I just didn’t get it.
Okay but when you do marriage of convenience for this trope series, please read ‘hate you forever’ by Denver Rose bc I simply must know how you feel about it
Thanks for the heads up about The Words - ‘fat girl who eats too much and then goes on a JoUrNeY’ is a hard pass for me. Lifelong fat girl who doesn’t need that nonsense in her life 😂. (No issues with your review of it or enjoying it a bit)
Tbh the ending of The Unhoneymooners bothered me. It didn't make sense how much the guy wouldn't believe the girl about what was going on and then the resolution is really glossed over.
Fake Dating Recs * My Phony Valentine by Courtney Walsh * Lovelight Farms (Lovelight, #1) by B.K. Borison * Mixed Signals (Lovelight, #3) by B.K. Borison * Blind Side (Red Zone Rivals, #2) by Kandi Steiner * Funny Feelings by Tarah Dewitt * Spring Tide by Ki Stephens
I think I commented this on another video but Ramón and Julieta by Alana Quintana Albertson is an enemies to lovers 😍 (read the synopsis and if you like what you seeee… please read it!!!) Haha I’ll do anything to get people to read Latinx Romances 🥰
Speaking of the 3rd act conflict/breakup, why aren’t there more 4th act make up smut scenes? I hate a steamy book that falls flat after the conflict. ETA: The Frat Boy was a steamy enemy to lover book.
