Girl Gone Viral (Modern Love #2) by Alisha Rai

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In Alisha Rai’s second novel in her Modern Love series, a live-tweet event goes viral for a camera-shy ex-model, shoving her into the spotlight—and into the arms of the bodyguard she’d been pining for.

OMG! Wouldn’t it be adorable if he’s her soulmate???

I don’t see any wedding rings [eyes emoji]

Breaking: #CafeBae and #CuteCafeGirl went to the bathroom AT THE SAME TIME!!!

One minute, Katrina King’s enjoying an innocent conversation with a hot guy at a coffee shop; the next, a stranger has live-tweeted the entire episode with a romantic meet-cute spin and #CafeBae is the new hashtag-du-jour. The problem? Katrina craves a low-profile life, and going viral threatens the peaceful world she’s painstakingly built. Besides, #CafeBae isn’t the man she’s hungry for...

He’s got a [peach emoji] to die for.

With the internet on the hunt for the identity of #CuteCafeGirl, Jas Singh, bodyguard, friend, and possessor of the most beautiful eyebrows Katrina’s ever seen, comes to the rescue and whisks her away to his family’s home. Alone in a remote setting with the object of her affections? It’s a recipe for romance. But after a long dating dry spell, Katrina isn’t sure she can trust her instincts when it comes to love—even if Jas’ every look says he wants to be more than just her bodyguard…

Source: advance e-galley provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review


Kat, whom we met in The Right Swipe, is an intensely private person. Part of the reason for that is she suffers from anxiety and also experienced a traumatizing event that has made her extra guarded and slow to trust. Her immediate circle includes her best friend Rhiannon, Rhiannon's assistant and Jas, her bodyguard. She's happy to keep her circle tight and look after them. When her much-valued privacy and anonymity are blown thanks to a viral tweet, she panics and Jas' protectiveness kicks in. He takes her to his family's peach farm, far, far away from the prying eyes of the city where she can take a breath and wait it out until the public interest wanes. While Kat escapes the media hounding, Jas comes face-to-face with what he's been avoiding: his family. His grandfather's expectation of him and the weight of his inheritance has driven a wedge between them. After his tour of duty, Jas finds it hard to confide in anyone about his experience and the nightmares that torment him. Coming home is almost more than he can handle but he has to keep it together for Kat's sake.

Firstly, Kat and Jas are hopelessly in love with each other though neither has admitted that out loud. There's the sensitive employer-employee dynamic and also the fear of being that vulnerable and open to rejection and heartache. They're ridiculously attractive people and together they're basically blinding to our mere mortal eyes; we don't stand a chance. I have to say that I did enjoy the dance they'd do around each other, noticing the little things, being hyper aware of the shift in atmosphere whenever they were close or barely touched. I liked how that tension between them gradually built while they were hiding away from the rest of the world in their own tiny bubble.

Secondly, the social media angle felt to me like Rai was putting into words how I feel about it sometimes. Don't get me wrong - I enjoy scrolling through feeds and seeing all the pictures but I am also acutely aware that most of that is staged. Perfection sells. So do fairytales and these days fairytales are written differently. In this case, they're live tweeted by people detailing every bit of what they observe is happening in front of them. Now I'll admit, it can be cute. Who doesn't want to get behind two people falling in love and witness it happening in real time? But it's creepy when you think about it. There's someone there watching you intently, listening in on what should be a private conversation even if you are in public, putting things out there and spinning things into something it may not be. It is a total invasion of privacy. So I completely understood Kat's feeling about it and how the unwanted scrutiny further fueled her anxiety. 

Rai writes some spectacular romances and I like Girl Gone Viral and The Right Swipe for different reasons. Both offer pertinent commentary on social culture as you fall in love with the characters. They're entertaining reads with gratifying resolutions and I love every bit of them.

~ Bel

Love at First Like by Hannah Orenstein

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Eliza Roth and her sister Sophie co-own a jewelry shop in Brooklyn. One night, after learning of an ex’s engagement, Eliza accidentally posts a photo of herself wearing a diamond ring on that finger to her Instagram account beloved by 100,000 followers. Sales skyrocket, press rolls in, and Eliza learns that her personal life is good for business. So she has a choice: continue the ruse or clear up the misunderstanding. With mounting financial pressure, Eliza sets off to find a fake fiancé.

Fellow entrepreneur Blake seems like the perfect match on paper. And in real life he shows promise, too. He would be perfect, if only Eliza didn’t feel also drawn to someone else. But Blake doesn’t know Eliza is “engaged”; Sophie asks Eliza for an impossible sum of money; and Eliza’s lies start to spiral out of control. She can either stay engaged online or fall in love in real life. 

Source: advance e-galley provided in exchange for an honest review

* * * This review has spoilers * * *

When I saw the cover and blurb for Love at First Like I immediately snapped it up because it sounded cute and I was hoping for a rom-com-like, full of shenanigans and bloopers kind of story. It seemed to start off that way but wound up being something different. 

In this age of everyone living their best life on social media with the aim of selling a perfect image, I totally get why Eliza would be tempted to take advantage of everyone's misunderstanding of her unintended post on Instagram. It looked like she was publicly declaring her engagement and it's big news when the co-owner of one of the city's finest jewelers is getting married and showing off a larger-than-life sparkling ring. At first, Eliza is mortified by her blunder but then her practical side kicks in. She sees the advantage in letting people draw that conclusion because it's good for business. That one post alone has already brought in major sales, and for a small business that's amazing. She feels the pressure for their success and wants to guarantee a steady income to ensure everyone's livelihood, including that of her business partner/sister, Sophie. So if people believe she's engaged, she'll go ahead and make that happen, and there begins my uneasiness with the plot.

Eliza stops at no end to find a suitor or to secure more tie-ins to her "wedding". She doesn't even officially have a fake fiancé yet but she's already accepting free bridal wear or a reception venue in exchange for free promotion. The confounding part is that no one in her close circle of friends or even her sister tells Eliza that what she'd doing is dishonest. Sophie, who initially had misgivings about Eliza's plan, adds more pressure on her because she and her partner desperately need money for IVF treatments. Eliza can't say no or better yet, put it to Sophie straight about their company's finances. Instead, she continues to string along Blake, the prospective groom, all the while convincing herself that they'll fall in love for real after he pops the question and they get married. As she's maneuvering for that, she's falling for another guy, Raj who knows what she's up to but doesn't have a problem with it. He seems to think it's amusing. 

I just couldn't. I was waiting for that defining moment when Eliza would come clean and then work backward to fix everything, as painful as that would be. I also wanted to see Eliza have an honest talk with her sister about the state of things and how they're taking a toll on her. I know it's a tall order but it felt like everyone purposely glossed over reality and it got out of control. I can place the exact moment when Eliza and the story lost me: after she had told Blake the truth and they broke off their engagement, she asks to meet him with the idea to convince him to marry her regardless because of the cross-promotional commitments she'd made. She even had the gall to say to him that since she'd apologized to him already, and that if he indeed had loved her, he'd forgive her and help her. Wait. What?  His feelings were beside the point here, apparently. She continued to manipulate him and everyone around her to continue the lie on her behalf. 

Had Eliza's character arc shifted toward growth and more importantly, remorse, I think I would've felt differently. However, the manipulation, lies and exploitation were too much for me to digest. The only character to show their moral compass was Blake who refused to participate in the charade once he was made aware of it. I so wanted to enjoy this book but instead found the direction of the story and its ending unsettling.  

~ Bel

Perfect 10 by Erin McCarthy

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From Goodreads:

Katrina Phillips is an expert social media manager. But that doesn’t mean she can’t make mistakes. Horrible, hide-in-your-closet-forever mistakes... like accidentally syncing her BootyBook app with her online profiles.

Blammo. Now everyone in the world can see who Katrina has dated and how they rated in appearance, sexual performance, and (OMG) detailed descriptions of their manly parts! Now her phone is blowing up with irate exes—and an out-of-the-blue text from the only guy who came close to a perfect score...

Katrina has had a thing for Drew Jordan since forever ago, even if a booze-fuelled one-nighter did destroy their friendship. So why is he suddenly texting her now—and is it because she rated his Sexy Staff Of Manliness as “magnificent”? Now the only way to satisfy her curiosity is to reunite with Drew... and rate him all over again!

Speaking of nightmares - can you imagine having an app that reviews every guy you've ever had sex with being posted on your Facebook wall and all other social media?  Oh my god, I would hope for a huge hole to swallow me up to save me from the embarrassment.  Poor Katrina.  And Drew, he's so nice about the fact that his penis gets a Facebook fan page!  And then he sets out to show Trina that he's matured since he slunk out of her place after their drunken one night stand.  He's out to get his best friend back - and maybe a second (and third, fourth, etc) chance to get the perfect score.  

Perfect 10 is part of the Red Hot Reads partnership between Harlequin and Cosmo.  Erin McCarthy is a perfect candidate to contribute to this partnership.  Perfect 10 is funny, sexy and thoroughly entertaining.  It's a short story so it won't take you long to fall in love... 

~Shel