Dial A for Aunties
Dial A for Aunties by Jessie Q. Sutanto is $1.99! This is a mix of cozy mystery and romance. It’s also been recommended a ton of previous podcast episodes. Have you read it?
A hilariously quirky novel that is equal parts murder mystery, rom-com, and a celebration of mothers and daughters as well as a deep dive into Chinese-Indonesian culture, by debut author Jesse Q Sutanto.
1 (accidental) murder
2 thousand wedding guests
3 (maybe) cursed generations
4 meddling Asian aunties to the rescue!When Meddelin Chan ends up accidentally killing her blind date, her meddlesome mother calls for her even more meddlesome aunties to help get rid of the body. Unfortunately, a dead body proves to be a lot more challenging to dispose of than one might anticipate, especially when it is accidentally shipped in a cake cooler to the over-the-top billionaire wedding Meddy, her Ma, and aunties are working, at an island resort on the California coastline. It’s the biggest job yet for their family wedding business—“Don’t leave your big day to chance, leave it to the Chans!”—and nothing, not even an unsavory corpse, will get in the way of her auntie’s perfect buttercream cake flowers.
But things go from inconvenient to downright torturous when Meddy’s great college love—and biggest heartbreak—makes a surprise appearance amid the wedding chaos. Is it possible to escape murder charges, charm her ex back into her life, and pull off a stunning wedding all in one weekend?
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Set on You by Amy Lea is $1.99! I believe this was Lea’s debut and was pretty buzzy. I’m always iffy on books with a fitness theme, but if you love that trope, we recently did a Rec League!
A gym nemesis pushes a fitness influencer to the max in Amy Lea’s steamy debut romantic comedy.
Curvy fitness influencer Crystal Chen built her career shattering gym stereotypes and mostly ignoring the trolls. After her recent breakup, she has little stamina left for men, instead finding solace in the gym – her place of power and positivity.
Enter firefighter Scott Ritchie, the smug new gym patron who routinely steals her favorite squat rack. Sparks fly as these ultra-competitive foes battle for gym domination. But after a series of escalating jabs, the last thing they expect is to run into each other at their grandparents’ engagement party.
In the lead up to their grandparents’ wedding, Crystal discovers there’s a soft heart under Scott’s muscled exterior. Bonding over family, fitness, and cheesy pick-up lines, they just might have found her swolemate. But when a photo of them goes viral, savage internet trolls put their budding relationship to the ultimate test of strength.
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As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!The Fastest Way to Fall
The Fastest Way to Fall by Denise Williams is $1.99! This was another recommendation on our Fitness & Running Rec League. I liked this one, though be warned there is a lot of talk about diet, exercise, and weight.
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As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers
The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers by Adam Sass is $1.99! Thank you to everyone who let us know about this one. I can’t remember if this was mentioned on Book Beat or Get Rec’d, but I do remember Sarah posting about it in the SBTB Slack.
A charming YA rom-com perfect for fans of Red, White, and Royal Blue and What If It’s Us.
Micah Summers runs a popular Instagram full of drawings of his numerous imaginary boyfriends (ninety-nine so far)—though he’s never had a real boyfriend before. But when a meet-cute with Boy 100 goes wrong, Micah embarks on a Prince Charming-like quest throughout Chicago to find true love—for real this time.
Will Boy 100 be the One?
Micah is rich, dreamy, and charming. As the “Prince of Chicago,”—the son of local celebrity sports radio host known as the King of Chicago—he has everything going for him. Unfortunately, he’s also the prince of imaginary meet-cutes, since he’s too nervous to actually ask boys out.
Instead, Micah draws each crush to share on Instagram with a post about their imaginary dates. Ninety-nine “boyfriends” later, his account is hugely popular, and everyone is eagerly awaiting Boy 100. So is Micah. He’s determined that Boy 100 will be different. This time, Micah will sweep the boy off his feet, for real!
So when Micah flirts with a hot boy on the L who’s wearing a vegan leather jacket and lugging a ton of library books, he is sure this is Boy 100. But right before he can make his move and ask for the boy’s number, the guy rushes off the train, leaving behind his pumpkin-embroidered jacket. The jacket holds clues to the boy’s identity, so Micah and his friends set off on a quest to return it. Along the way, Micah will discover that the best relationships aren’t fairy tales. In fact, the perfect fit—and true love—might be closer than he thinks.
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I was excited to read Set on You, but I would rate it as a C-. I found the main character insufferable and the conversations about body image were super shallow. I basically DNF’d it.
99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers is light and fluffy, but I was annoyed by the way the MC throws his family’s wealth around a lot. He reads younger than 16 – maybe 13 or 14. It is definitely NOT in the league of Red White & Royal Blue, or What If It’s Us
I really disliked Dial A for Aunties, and I think the only reason it wasn’t a DNF was because I listened to the audiobook and kept hoping it would get better. I pretty much only liked the aunties, but the main character annoyed me to no end and the premise ended up being pretty traumatic when it came down to it all; there was even a weird secondary story where those characters were pretty awful too. It was not a fun or feel good for me at all.
Anyway, that and Emily Henry (where I read one chapter of her first book, noped out, and haven’t looked back after my DNF) are now why I don’t really take in ratings anymore (except here at SBTB since they break down their love/hate well for me) since I apparently dislike some of the most popular books in existence…
@spinsterrevival—I had similar problems with DIAL A FOR AUNTIES. If you take it as a totally bananas farce and don’t look too closely, you’ll be okay, but peel it back a little bit and it’s definitely darker. (Sorry, couldn’t resist the pun!) I thought the heroine was dreadful to the hero and the whole thing is resolved with one (one!) measly paragraph of dialogue. Needed more grovel and less manslaughter.
Also, not sure which Emily Henry you read, but there’s one (BOOK LOVERS, maybe?) where the heroine’s sister has ditched her husband and her kids and I was so mad about that that I could barely focus on anything else in the story. Solidarity in not liking popular books!
@FashionablyEvil–You just reminded me that I did look at Emily Henry twice; the first one I noped out on was Beach Read, but then I did check out Book Lovers too (again after so many positive reviews) and wasn’t a fan (I skimmed the whole thing trying to figure out what I might be missing…) as well so now I’m at a definitive nope for her. Solidarity! 🙂
Witchblood by Lissa Kasey (book 1 in the Kitsune Chronicles – an mm paranormal series) is free right now – I loved this one but caution a TW for SA to the MC from a previous partner.