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Jane the Virgin meets To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before in this charming debut romantic comedy filled with Black Girl Magic. Perfect for fans of Mary H. K. Choi and Nicola Yoon, with crossover appeal for readers of Jasmine Guillory and Talia Hibbert romances.
Sixteen-year-old Tessa Johnson has never felt like the protagonist in her own life. She’s rarely seen herself reflected in the pages of the romance novels she loves. The only place she’s a true leading lady is in her own writing—in the swoony love stories she shares only with Caroline, her best friend and #1 devoted reader.
When Tessa is accepted into the creative writing program of a prestigious art school, she’s excited to finally let her stories shine. But when she goes to her first workshop, the words are just…gone. Fortunately, Caroline has a solution: Tessa just needs to find some inspiration in a real-life love story of her own. And she’s ready with a list of romance novel-inspired steps to a happily ever after. Nico, the brooding artist who looks like he walked out of one of Tessa’s stories, is cast as the perfect Prince Charming.
But as Tessa checks off each item off Caroline’s list, she gets further and further away from herself. She risks losing everything she cares about—including the surprising bond she develops with sweet Sam, who lives across the street. She’s well on her way to having her own real-life love story, but is it the one she wants, after all?
- This is one of those books I expected to be just cute and fluffy but ended up hitting me emotionally as well.
- I had to take a break from reading due to second hand anxiety at one point which isn’t a bad thing and just shows how relatable and well written Happily Ever Afters is.
- All the representation!!! There were so many diverse and lovable characters.
- Even though I’m multiracial not biracial like Tessa, I related to her a lot. Her struggles as a mixed kid with never feeling like she truly belonged. Her being a mixed girl with a white mom and how that affected things like figuring how to style her naturally curly hair. Tessa’s curly hair struggles were WAY TOO RELATABLE!!!
- I loved how Tessa’s brother Miles with disabilities was portrayed and how it feels for her to see people not treat him right. Reminded me of my bestie’s brother who also has disabilities and how frustrating it can be to see how other people treat him differently.
- Tessa’s internal thoughts were very raw and well written. Tessa was a very complex MC. Tessa’s character wrote as a way to give herself comfort and create love stories for characters who look like her. But when she gets bad writers block for the first time, she falls into the depths of imposter syndrome, anxiety, self doubt, and basically has an identity crisis/gifted kid burnout.
- She was her own antagonist, the main conflict Tessa had in Happily Ever Afters was with herself. She had plenty of insecurities, flaws, bad decisions, and self-doubt which at times was very frustrating. But even when she made mistakes that made me cringe hard or wanna yell at her, she felt very real to me and not the stereotypical “perfectly innocent romance heroine”.
- Since she is a teenager that is still changing and growing as a person, I can’t hold all her mistakes against her and think she’s an overall bad character. If anything, this makes her even better because watching her develop and change for the better was pretty satisfying.
- I loved Lenore immediately after just her first scene! We all need a friend like her in our lives. Which is why I can’t wait to read Bryant’s companion novel One True Loves!!!
- HAWAIIAN SHIRT SAM!!! He was the sweetest and kindest love interest ever!!! A soft boy that bakes?!?! Say no more… yes please!!! No notes!!! Just Perfect!!!
Elise Bryant is the author of Happily Ever Afters and One True Loves. She was born and raised in Southern California. For many years, Elise had the joy of working as a special education teacher, and now she spends her days writing swoony love stories and eating dessert. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Long Beach.
Check out Bryant’s Author Website | Twitter | Instagram
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So that was my simple mini-review of Bryant’s novel, Happily Ever Afters, along with some of my favorite quotes. If you have read this book, what were your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below!
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