I wish I could say this was something special but for me, it just...wasn't. Make Up Break Up fell into every trap an adult romance could fall into -- the constant (and holy hell do I mean constant) miscommunication, the coming into every situation armed with only your assumptions, the painfully obvious ending that made me want to shout at the characters to just GET ON WITH IT PLEASE the lackluster side characters, a painfully abrupt ending (when will romance authors realize that we want to read about their characters actually being together??? I can't stand when books end the moment the main couple gets together), the ""banter"" that just made me cringe with secondhand embarrassment. Honestly, this is not at all what I was expecting from Sandhya Menon's foray into adult romance. It lacked her usual charm and style for what ended up being just incredibly bland. Even the premise is boring and overdone -- if I never read another "rival dating app CEOs" romance again I'll be living a better life.

...may i humbly suggest [b:The Suffragette Scandal|17343236|The Suffragette Scandal (Brothers Sinister, #4)|Courtney Milan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1399859670l/17343236._SY75_.jpg|24081161]

courtney milan just never misses, huh?

I was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed this so I hope it accurately fortells how much I'm going to enjoy this series. The enemies to lovers? The way it was steamy without being unnecessarily horny?

i was approved for this arc *checks email* nine hours ago, and here we are -- finally time for me to gush about how much i loved this book!

Counting Down with You is the story of Karina Ahmed, a Bangladeshi Muslim teenager who feels stifled under her parents strict standards for her. When they leave Karina and her brother to spend the month in Bangladesh, Karina starts to live the life she'd been hoping for, and is forced to confront her family and herself about what happiness looks like for her.

I adored this book -- it was just the right balance of funny and emotional and delightful and inspirational. I loved the depth that Bhuiyan put into the side characters and the humor of bad boy Ace and the emotional intensity of Karina. I saw a lot of the realities of my own anxiety in her (I might even try her counting habit, who knows?)

I cannot recommend this book enough for lovers of YA contemporary/romance. You will love it.

ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for a review

I feel like I knew as soon as I started seeing other people's reviews coming in that this was gonna be my favorite Rebekah Weatherspoon book. And boy was I right. The characters felt so complete? All three of our MCs had totally distinct and interesting voices. Their relationship was super engaging and incredibly healthy, which we always love to see. The sex scenes, as always, were... satisfying ;)