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These three books are a bit of an eclectic mix. We’ve got an adventure romance (Romancing Miss Stone by M.C. Vaughan), a college set YA (Past, Present, Future by Rachel Lynn Solomon), and a really, deeply emotional romance (Just Playing House by Farah Heron). So, let’s begin by thanking Netgalley for the e-ARCs of these books, though I did purchase the audiobook of Past, Present, Future by Rachel Lynn Solomon on Libro.fm. But now, let’s just go ahead and dive into my reviews!

Romancing Miss Stone
by M.C. Vaughan

My favorite book out of this set of three, Romancing Miss Stone is a fun adventure filled novel, in the vein of The Lost City minus the people trying to kill Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum. Bo flies down to Belize because his fiancé randomly breaks up with him via the phone while she is down in Belize on an archeological dig. Bo is not the kind of person who can move on with his life with no closure so off he goes. The problem is, he needs a guide, and that is where Alex comes in. Alex has had her confidence in herself shaken tremendously because her ex embezzled from her family company and left her in pretty dire straits. So the two of them team up to get Bo to his ex in exchange for Alex making a significant dent in the amount of money she owes to Mr. Sleaze-ball Loan Guy.

Along the way there is dancing, intense conversations, more nature than I would ever be comfortable dealing with, and a lot of internal assessments trying to figure out who each of them are. The self-reflection was well done and overall made for a very compelling storyline. Did I occasionally want to yell at the two of them that they were already in love and just didn’t recognize it yet? Yeah, absolutely. Overall though, the pacing of this story was quick and it was such a delight. I had so much fun with it.

Past Present Future
by Rachel Lynn Solomon

I adored Today, Tonight, Tomorrow and so I was delighted when Rachel Lynn Solomon announced a sequel in Past Present Future. And I know that when you have a sequel to a romance there is going to be something that challenges the couple. I thought that I was prepared for that, particularly since Rowan and Neil are freshmen in college in this book. The problem, for me, was that I wasn’t quite prepared for the heaviness of this book.

Essentially, Neil goes off to college in New York and Rowan is in… Boston, I think. So they’re on the same side of the country and only a train ride away from one another. However, they obviously don’t get to see each other that often and they both want to find their own place at their respective colleges. They manage all of that well, until Neil hits a depressive episode spurred on, in part, because of a letter he receives from his dad.

Ultimately, although I think this book will be great for teens, for me, the conflict felt a bit jarring and like the pacing of the book overall just didn’t quite work. That said, I recognize that this book is not an adult romance novel. It’s a YA romance/coming of age. And so, I’m left with the sense that this book did what it set out to do, but it was not exactly the book for me or the book that I wanted it to be. And that is okay! So I still recommend this book, for high school/college students especially.

Just Playing House
by Farah Heron

Farah Heron is an extremely talented writer, but, at least for me, making a romance novel out of a situation where the FMC is dealing with getting a preemptive mastectomy due to the BCRA gene was probably always going to be a challenge. And yet, that is not one of my triggers and I love Heron’s writing, so I thought I was a good candidate to read and enjoy this book. Unfortunately for me, it turns out maybe I’m not.

The romance in this book is between prom dates and good friends (high school) who had sex on prom night and then haven’t spoken since. Now Marley is a stylist (sort of) and Nik has just been cast as a superhero (which has caused a lot of racists to pop off). Their relationship slowly sinks back into friendship (with caretaking!), although their attraction to one another remains at the forefront. The problem comes, for me, in that when I reached the third act conflict, I didn’t believe it. I could see the groundwork for what Heron was trying to achieve, but it didn’t make any sense to me. And so, that was the point where I just sort of gave up. I’m not a third act break up fan regardless, and while I could have kept pushing myself to finish the book, I just couldn’t quite muster up the energy or willingness to do so.

All that to say, if this book helps someone, which I imagine it might, I think that’s amazing. I’m glad this book exists because I think there’s a chance it will bring comfort to someone. I also know that this book is not one that’s likely to work for a lot of people. It was a risky concept and I’m glad Heron got the opportunity to take that risk. That said, I rather hope her next book is a little less high concept because I think normally, Heron is so good at creating characters, but in Just Playing House the character interior work felt disconnected from the romance for me.

Closing Thoughts

These reviews are only a bit late, but the good thing about that means that you’re able to pick up any of these books that appeals to you and I hope you will! Let me know if you’ve read these books already or if you know that you want to/absolutely do not want to read them. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

xx