This sexy, multicultural romance impresses with an enjoyably nerdy heroine; a charming and willing-to-be-vulnerable hero (love that in a man!); and a cast of fun, well-fleshed-out supporting characters (Daisy's large Indian family, particularly her aunties, are a hoot).

An inventive new take on the popular (and my personal fave) romance trope, fake dating, it finds Daisy Patel reconnecting with Liam Murphy, the boy (now gorgeous man) who stood her up for prom. As the sister of Liam's high-school best friend, Daisy adored/loved Liam for years and was devastated when he never showed and then never apologized/made contact for the next ten years. As a boy from an abusive home, Liam loved visiting and sharing in family activities with the Patels, so she couldn't understand how he could cut himself off from her, her brother, and the security and love her family gave him.

When she meets him at a pitch event for start-ups and venture capitalists, Daisy isn't ready to forgive and forget. Yet, when both she and Liam are presented with the perfect "fake fiance" plan--she, to avoid the matchmaking of her aunties and father and Liam, to get the inheritance he needs to rebuild his grandfather's beloved distillery--they jump in, lingering feelings be damned.

Although we know how this is going to go, the getting there is both distinct enough to create a new, fabulous foray into this beloved trope's library and delicious enough to keep romance fans reading with eagerness and enjoyment. Author Desai does a great job putting a new twist on the beloved trope.

One minor quibble. I know most novels nowadays are around 300 pages on average but 340 seemed a tad too long for this one. The conflicts that derailed the romance were believable but did, as a whole, seem a bit too prolonged.

I love the diversity; the creative, fun new takes on beloved romance tropes; and the small but relatable details present in today's romance novels (Go Sharks!). It shows how both the genre and its readership have progressed. Love it!

Now, off to buy The Marriage Game. How did I miss that?!

I had to sit with this book for a bit and while I did, I ended up changing my original four-star rating to a five. Why? Because I still think about this book often. It truly resonates and has me thinking of it while I read and experience real-life events and situations. The stories in it--especially "Alcatraz" and the novella, "The Office of Historical Corrections"--are smart, topical, powerful, and engaging.

All the stories explore the idea of history--how the varying characters process it, learn about it, engage with it, and, ultimately, act based on it. It particularly focuses on the history of racism in the United States. In "Boys Go To Jupiter," a young woman reacts to the social-media uproar--support and denigration--that result from her wearing a bikini with a Confederate flag on it. The incident is presented from the point-of-view of the woman who wore the bikini and how her history with a friend and boyfriend who are Black affect her feelings and actions in the present. "Alcatraz," is another stellar story that mixes history with race. Cecilia is Black and wrestles with her family's history, including her great-grandfather, who was an innocent white man imprisioned in Alcatraz. Cecilia sets it up for her mother, who is also Black, to spend the day touring the jail with her first cousin, Nancy, who is white. Issues of race, family, and love take center stage in this emotional and thought-provoking tale.

My favorite is the novella that bears the collection's name. Cassie works for the Office of Historical Corrections, a division of the federal government that corrects historical records that are inaccurate. Everything from a sign in a bakery celebrating the Emancipation Proclamation to a plaque in a Wisconsin town--that recognizes the location of the murder of a Black man by white residents who burned down his store with him in it because they wanted his land--are fair game. Cassie, an ex-history professor, took the job to try and make a difference.

Since she is Black, Cassie's office sends her to Wisconsin to investigate the sign. You see, an ex-Office employee--and childhood friend of Cassie's--has changed it on her own to name the white townspeople who committed the crime and were never charged (there's a picture of them posing and smiling by the rubble). One of the white townspeople's descendants found information that implies that the Black man who was supposedly killed, may have survived. Another of the white townspeople's descendants is a member of a white supremacist group and he's threatening Cassie and anyone else who is involved with erecting and changing the sign. Cassie's on the case to find out the truth.

Even though this novella is fictional, it's still so timely. In today's world, the topics of historical accuracy regarding official information about racism in America, the concepts of cancel culture versus suffering consequences for your actions, and the scourge of white supremacy groups committing violence are prevalent and widely discussed and debated. The idea that the government would create a group whose job it is to go in and "correct" depictions of history is controversial, in and of itself. But add to that a particular plot point (that I won't spoil!) that's both intriguing and shocking and you've got yourself one amazing novella. And for me, as a white woman, reading it from the point-of-view of a Black character was eye-opening, too. A must-read, especially if you've tasked yourself with reading more stories and books from the POV of characters who are different from you in race, ethnicity, or gender.

Read this book! One of the best short story collections I've read in years.

As a middle-aged woman who enjoys YA, I especially love YA books with a strong message AND an engaging main character. Love is a Revolution is definitely that.

Nala is excited about having fun her summer before senior year with her cousin-sister-friend Imani, friends, and her family. Imani's part of a young-adult activist group called Inspire Harlem and although Nala isn't part of the group, she still attends one of their open mics and falls hard for cute emcee Tye Brown. The problem? Tye is an activist with a capital A and Nala feels like she doesn't measure up. She drinks out of plastic water bottles, loves bacon, and doesn't want to spend her summer saving the world. She's not even sure she wants to go to college. So she tells a few white lies in an effort to get and keep the attention of her crush.

As summer slips by, Nala's lies start to wreak havoc on her relationships, not just with Tye but also with Imani and Imani's family. Soon, Nala's wondering if not being her true self is really worth it? How Nala reconciles the strong emotions of first love with the discovery of her own self is a sweet and fun story. I zipped through this one and found myself smiling a big smile at the end. Nala's a lovely character--flawed, relatable, and charming; you can't help but root for her. The supporting characters are distinct and engaging as well. And the issues this one touches on--body positivity, environmentalism, social justice, love, etc.--are relatable and easily digestible for young readers and engaging for us slightly older readers ;). A charming, romantic, and inspiring book. I really enjoyed it.

This book is epic in every sense of the word. I'm late to reading it, but I just finished it for my church bookclub and am so glad I did. Using American history, author William Kent Krueger weaves a majestic and emotionally resonant fictional tale. It's a page-turner that touches on many themes, including the power of storytelling, the horrors of American history, love in all its forms, the concepts of God/faith, and the search for home. I loved it.

A quick summary: It's 1932, and four orphans escape from an "Indian training school" and end up on the run by canoeing along Minnesota's Gilead River. While trying to stay ahead of their pursuers, the evil people who treated them horribly at the school, they meet many people and experience so much along the way. The narrator, Odie, tells their engrossing story.

First, I loved the framing of the novel. In the beginning, we immediately know Odie is an elderly man "telling" the readers this story from his life. So right away the storytelling aspect of the book comes into play. It's a powerful and neat way to speak to the power of story, both as a real-life narrative tool to educate about our history using fiction but also how important of a role it plays in the book. Odie is a storyteller and uses the tool throughout the book to charm, entertain, and educate other characters, particularly one of his companions, little Emmy. His ability to tell a good story is showcased frequently and builds in the reader an appreciation for how many aspects of life storytelling touches.

It's through this storytelling that readers learn about a horrific feature of American history: The "Indian training schools," that took Native children away from their parents and worked to erase their Native culture and "train" them in the culture and religion of white Americans. It also reveals the hunger, economic struggles, and other harsh realities that many Americans faced due to the horrors of the Great Depression. The pain and struggles suffered by the characters due to these are palpable thanks to Krueger's riveting description.

With love, we see it in many forms. Familial, friendship, romantic, and just the basic human decency of being kind and helpful to strangers. This exploration of love is tied to the theme of God/spirituality that runs through the entire novel. Odie's faith changes throughout the book: It starts with the idea of "The Tornado God" or a God that only brings destruction and pain. As his experiences with various people and places grow, his view of God changes, too. The exploration of faith and spirituality in this book is done in such an authentic and amazing way. It offers a complex view of God/religion that's realistic and speaks to the expansiveness of it...how different people believe different things, but how underlying all spirituality is a common theme: hope. Hope for good to triumph over bad, hope for love over hate, hope for a decent life filled with love for all humans.

I could go on and on about this book, but do yourself a favor and read it. It's an epic story of struggle, faith, history, human connection, and, most importantly, the power of love and hope. I know you'll love it as much as I did.