Gold Coast Dilemma by Nana Malone

During an opulent publishing party, Ofosua Addo crosses paths with Cole Drake for the first time. Their flirtatiously witty exchange culminates in a kiss that etches a permanent mark on both their hearts.

But Ofosua’s identity as a Ghanaian heiress comes before Cole. She loves the vibrant traditions of Ghana’s Gold Coast, and her hand is already promised to a man that even her overbearing mother loves. Yet, when her big Ghanaian wedding transforms from a fairy tale into a spectacle, she’s thrust into a whirlwind of heartbreak and self-discovery.

In the midst of it all, Cole enters her life once again, under circumstances far different from their magical first encounter. Can Ofosua and Cole’s rediscovered spark overcome the weight of tradition?

First off, as a wannabe writer and editor, I enjoyed how Malone showed the realities of the publishing industry. Most specifically the creation of imprints for diversity. It’s a big topic, and while the industry is making strides in hiring diverse writers and characters, the people in the higher role remain overwhelmingly white. Those who want to pay lip-service to diversity, but not truly invested in change or hiring writers with authentic experience instead of checking boxes and stereotypes.

As for the characters, while Ofosua and Cole initially butt heads in a classic bad first impressions way, I enjoyed how Malone intertwined the pressure of familial expectation. Ofosua’s story was a bit more interesting as she also has to deal with the cultural expectations of her parents wanting her to marry a good Ghanian man to save face and adding to her panic attacks. This is a common problem I think where the FMC is generally more interesting than the man because the author and female readers can relate more to her universal struggle of juggling it all. But Cole learning how to unpack and stand up against his father’s overt racism and his mother’s white savior microaggressions was pretty cool too.

Along Came Amor by Alexis Daria

No strings

After Ava Rodriguez’s now-ex-husband declares he wants to “follow his dreams”—which no longer include her—she’s left questioning everything she thought she wanted. So when a handsome hotelier flirts with her, Ava vows to stop overthinking and embrace the opportunity for an epic one-night-stand complete with a penthouse suite, rooftop pool, and buckets of champagne.

No feelings

Roman Vasquez’s sole focus is the empire he built from the ground up. He lives and dies by his schedule, but the gorgeous stranger grimacing into her cocktail glass inspires him to change his plans for the evening. At first, it’s easy for Roman to agree to Ava’s rules: no strings, no feelings. But one night isn’t enough, and the more they meet, the more he wants.

No falling in love

Roman is the perfect fling, until Ava sees him at her cousin’s engagement party—as the groom’s best man, no less! Suddenly, maintaining her boundaries becomes a lot more complicated as she tries to hide the truth of their relationship from her family. However, Roman isn’t content being her dirty little secret, and he doesn’t just want more, he wants everything. With her future uncertain and her family pressuring her from all sides, Ava will have to decide if love is worth the risk—again.

First off, Roman is goals. I’d almost complain he was too perfect, but gotta love the wish fulfillment. I mean, he’s a millionaire, but he’s a emotionally open, and communicative. From the first, he was smitten with Ava. He stood by her. He listened to her.

Plus he was so outside of her circle (at least before she found out he was friends with her cousin’s to be husband) that it allowed her to be free. I should explain, not free as in let out her inner bad girl, but free without having to care for the rest of her family or the expectation of being the good girl.

Daria wrote a great arc in the problem of toxic positivity. Ava was always told to be the good one, to put family first. So much so that in the event of her divorce that she felt like she had to put a brave face for her family and get over it because showing distress or any negative emotion would make her a burden and undesirable to hang around. It’s almost tragic that the woman who always helped others felt that she didn’t have the grace to be helped herself. Also that she was falling into the same unhealthy romantic patterns as her parents and her grandparents and realizing she needed to break the unhealthy communication cycle. It’s so, so good.

But yeah, the FMC gets a majority of the interesting character development. There was a small subplot of Roman learning he didn’t have to fix everything, but it felt like Ava got more out of the relationship than him. Also with Ava hiding her relationship to Roman for most of the book, it lessened the sisterly dynamic of the primas which is bittersweet as their ability to confide in each other and their relationship was as important as the romantic ones.

Can’t Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan

Hendrix Barry lives a fabulous life. She has phenomenal friends, a loving family, and a thriving business that places her in the entertainment industry’s rarefied air. Your vision board? She’s probably living it.

She’s a woman with goals, dreams, ambitions—always striving upward. And in the midst of everything, she’s facing her toughest challenge caring for an aging parent.

Who has time for romance? From her experience, there’s a low ROI on relationships. She hasn’t met the man who can keep up with her anyway. Until…him.

Tech mogul Maverick Bell is a dilemma wrapped in an exquisitely tailored suit and knee-melting charm. From their first charged glance at the summer’s hottest party, Hendrix feels like she’s met her match. Only he can’t be. Mav may be the first to make her feel this seen and desired and appreciated, but he’s the last one she can have. Forbidden fruit is the juiciest, and this man is off limits if she plans to stay the course she’s set for herself.

But when Maverick gives chase—pursuing her, spoiling her, understanding her—is it time to let herself have something more?

Just as with Ryan’s other novels, this is refreshing mix of contemporary romance and chick lit, I suppose. There’s happily ever afters, but the adults feel like adults. For instance, I liked how Hendrix and Maverick’s first conversations are not about their attraction to each other, but finding common ground in family experience with Alzheimer’s. I mean, it’s a bit of a downer convo, but it shows Mav’s good guy instincts when he saw a stranger have a tough time and allowed Hendrix to have the space to vent when she needed. It set the foundation for a deeper relationship.

It makes sense as readers are first introduced to Mav on the heels of a break-up, so it’s not like he’ll immediately get back in. But the reason for the break-up (his gf wanting a family when he had been adamant since the beginning he didn’t want kids) was a rare example of a male being expected to change his mind and giving grace that he didn’t. I mean, we would be up in arms if a man expected his gf to give up her dreams for kids when she had repeatedly expressed no interest in changing her mind. It should be the same for him.

Additionally, I enjoyed how Ryan tackles other real world issues like Hendrix’ venture capital fund for black-run business gets into legal trouble, and that it isn’t resolved by the end of the story. It shows that there can be happy endings even amid a difficult, uncertain world. Rest is deserved, and there should be time for love and joy.

Worth Fighting For by Jesse Q. Sutanto

As the right hand of her father’s hedge fund company, Fa Mulan knows what it takes to succeed as a woman in a man’s work twice as hard, be twice as smart, and burp twice as loud as any of the other finance bros she works with. So when her father unexpectedly falls ill in the middle of a critical acquisition, she is determined to see it through. There’s just one the family company in question is known for its ultra masculine whiskey brand, and the brood of old-fashioned aunts, uncles, and cousins who run it—lead by the dedicated but overworked Shang—will only trust Mulan’s father, Fa Zhou, with the future of their business.

Rather than fail the deal and her father, Mulan pretends she’s Fa Zhou. Since they’ve only corresponded over email, how hard could it be to keep things moving in his absence?

But the email leads to a face-to-face meeting, which leads to an invitation to a week long retreat at Shang’s family ranch. One meeting she can handle, but a whole week of cattle wrangling, axe-throwing, and learning proper butchering techniques, all while trying to convince Shang’s dubious family that this young woman is the powerful hedge fund CEO they’ve been negotiating with? Not so much—especially as she finds it harder and harder to ignore the undeniable spark between her and Shang.

Can she keep her head in the game and make her father proud, all while trying not to fall into a trough, or in love with Shang?

I think this may be my favorite book in the Meant to Be series! Mulan may not have to hide she’s a woman, but Sutanto kept an intriguing secret as she struggles to hide her true role within the company. Plus I loved the other little changes like Mushu being Mulan’s quirky female cousin that encourages this madcap scheme. Yet it keeps the themes of the original story by exploring the struggle of being a woman in a male-dominated field and Mulan using new skills she learns at the ranch as well as her female community to come up with solutions.

Plus Sutanto is able to use the situation in order to probe at the intersecting issues of racism and sexism. The Li family tries to be ultra-macho to counteract the stereotype that Asian men are feminine yet they also perpetuate the patriarchy of Asian and Western society on their female relatives.

Which brings met to Shang. Shang is absolutely wonderful, showing that he doesn’t fully buy into his alpha male family members, but goes through his own arc of learning not to bow his head and enable them. Just as Mulan learns to stand on her own strengths instead of trying to co-opt the man’s.

Plus it was humorous, and sweet, and the only nitpick I had was there was no roping mishaps as implied by the cover. Again, my new fav in the series. I only hope they continue it.

Love is a War Song by Danica Nava

Pop singer Avery Fox has become a national joke after posing scantily clad on the cover of Rolling Stone in a feather warbonnet. What was meant to be a statement of her success as a Native American singer has turned her into a social pariah and dubbed her a fake. With threats coming from every direction and her career at a standstill, she escapes to her estranged grandmother Lottie’s ranch in Oklahoma. Living on the rez is new to Avery—not only does she have to work in the blazing summer heat to earn her keep, but the man who runs Lottie’s horse ranch despises her and wants her gone.

Red Fox Ranch has been home to Lucas Iron Eyes since he was sixteen years old. He has lived by three rules to keep himself out of trouble: 1) preserve the culture, 2) respect the horses, and 3) stick to himself. When he is tasked with picking up Lottie’s granddaughter at the bus station, the last person he expected to see is the Avery Fox. Lucas can’t stand what she represents, but when he’s forced to work with her on the ranch, he can’t get her out of his sight—or his head. He reminds himself to keep to his rules, especially after he finds out the ranch is under threat of being shut down.

It’s clear Avery doesn’t belong here, but they form a tentative truce and make a Avery will help raise funds to save the ranch, and in exchange, Lucas will show her what it really means to be an Indian. It’s purely transactional, absolutely no horsing around…but where’s the fun in that?

Another winner from the hand of Danica Nava as she has Avery explore her roots A Simple Life style. It helps that the stunt that gets Avery cancelled was one out of ignorance. I mean, ignorance isn’t good either, but she was trying to use the “sexy Native maiden” image to reclaim it. But as her mother kept her so detached from her culture in order to be more commercial friendly, she didn’t know how harmful it would be until it was too late.

Yet Nava explores how the (literally violent) backlash is disproportionate to the crime. Avery is held to a higher standard compared to other (ie white) celebrities who appropriated native regalia, and the most incensed are those who cannot speak for the indigenous people themselves.

Especially as there’s not one way to be native or as Avery learns, no easy way to learn and just proclaim you know everything. There’s always more to learn just as she learns about her family’s personal history and the root of her own issues with her mother as she feels pushed to fulfill her mom’s failed dreams and all her coworkers that depend on her for her paycheck. She never truly had time to focus on herself until she goes to the ranch.

The only problem is that because it’s only from Avery’s POV that I didn’t feel like I had much insight to Lucas’ POV. We can see how his father’s emotionally abusive and he sees the ranch as his home and his escape, but it’s always filtered from Avery’s lens.

Overall, it’s a very feel-good contemporary romance complete with a let’s save the ranch finale reminiscent of Hannah Montana or a Dolly Parton film.

Something Cheeky by Thien-Kim Lam

Zoe Tran is living her best life, designing plus-size lingerie at her own award-winning clothing boutique, when suddenly her college best friend reenters her life. Derek Bui is offering a tantalizing chance to recapture a forgotten dream: designing costumes for the musical they created together years ago.

Derek has loved Zoe since freshman year but never had the guts to confess his true feelings. Now he’s directing the Vietnamese Cinderella rock musical they dreamed up in college. The stakes are high: it’s the first production with an all-Asian cast and creative team at Washington, D.C.’s largest theatre and if they can make it work, they’ll head to Broadway. But his real goal: get Zoe back in his life.

A proud demisexual, Zoe only ever saw Derek as her best friend, but working on their dream production together brings them closer than ever. Sparks ignite under the hot spotlights. But when the theatre’s artistic director pressures Derek to make the musical “less Asian,” he and Zoe clash on whether to stay true to their vision or compromise to keep the production alive.

Will Zoe and Derek finally let love take center stage or will their creative differences close the curtains on them forever?

As a musical lover, I really enjoyed this story. Not only in seeing the pure passion of the characters in trying to stage a new play, the thoughts/insight put into the material, the musical references. But in seeing the backroom politics, more specifically Derek’s struggles in pitching a diverse show only to be threatened that it will never open unless he caters to white audiences. It’s a difficult position as you can understand both sides of Derek not wanting to compromise his vision, but if he doesn’t “play the game,” how will he ever change the theater landscape.

Needless to say, Lam did a great job in balancing both Zoe and Derek’s arc and making them both compelling. Zoe feels a tiny bit inferior in the beginning because even though she’s happy with her successful lingerie business, she does feel like she ran from NY with her tail behind her legs when she didn’t make it as a designer. Compared to Derek who is working his way up. So getting to work on costumes for his show is like a dream come true, but is she just getting swept up in his vision rather than her own.

Unfortunately, I felt that bit wasn’t as explored as deeply as it could have been. Same with a comment Derek makes during their third-act fight that not everyone has the financial cushion like she does to pursue their dreams without compromising. Rather it gets swept away with trying to find a solution for bringing down the sexist, microaggressive director jerk, Greg. Which I can’t complain, him getting his publicly humiliating comeuppance was satisfying.

Also satisfying was friends to lovers, I love friends to lovers because the romance is just a shade more cozy and the steam just a tad more spicy because their history makes the intimacy more intense.