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alexsfictionaddiction · 3 years

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‘There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved.’

So, I know the whole Valentine’s thing can be seen as a big commercial con. I know I spent a long time holding that opinion but as I’ve got older, I’ve realised that it doesn’t have to be all about romantic love. It’s a chance to take stock of all the kinds of love that you’re blessed to have in your life. At a time where our collective mental health is undoubtedly declining, having a day to remember how loved we are is probably something we could really do with right now.

Whether you’ll be with your significant other, your family or maybe even alone this Valentine’s Day, take a second to reflect on each of your loved ones and frolic (mentally) in some happy memories. And maybe read some of these books! -Love, Alex x

ENEMIES TO LOVERS: Make Up Break Up by Lily Menon

Annika Dev is an ambitious young entrepreneur whose brainchild Make Up is an app dedicated to giving separated lovers a second chance. Hudson Craft is the wealthy founder of the wildly successful Break Up, a brutal dumping app. So it’s safe to say that their philosophies on love don’t quite match up. But when the Break Up team move into the office next door to Make Up, Annika finds that she can’t stop thinking about her nemesis... Employing the irresistible enemies to lovers trope, this warm-hearted romance is sizzling with chemistry that will leave you screaming at them to just get it together!

QUEER YA: You Should See Me In A Crown by Leah Johnson

Liz is desperate to get a scholarship out of her prom-obsessed town but in order to get it, she finds herself up for the prestigious tite of Prom Queen. Along with the beautiful, smart and funny new girl Mack. This uplifting, cute queer romance is a gorgeous story about a young girl taking up space where she has always been unwanted. Full of wonderful friendships and an easy-to-root-for slow burning love story. I dare you to not smile on finishing it!

SELF-LOVE: One To Watch by Kate Stayman-London

Sassy successful fashion blogger Bea loves Main Squeeze, a Bachelor-esque dating show but she notices a distinct lack of diversity amongst its contestants. So she writes a blog post and it attracts the attention of the show’s producers who invite her to be the star of the next series. Seizing the opportunity to give a platform to plus-sized women, Bea finds herself on an unexpected search for love. Encompassing real issues such as trolling and being fat in a skinny-obsessed world, this is a fantastic novel of self-love and celebration of body positivity with a wonderfully relatable protagonist.

FAMILY LOVE: Real Men Knit by Kwana Jackson

When his beloved adoptive mother dies, Jesse is desperate to keep her Harlem knitting shop open despite his brothers wanting to close it. Kerry is madly in love with him, but she agrees to help him revive the shop and keep his mother’s memory alive. Jesse is a playboy and Kerry is pretty sure that the growing chemistry between them won’t lead to anything. But Jesse is determined to prove that they’re perfect for each other. It’s a slow burning romance full of family, heart and a celebration of small Black business and community.

CUTE AND AWKWARD: Adult Virgins Anonymous by Amber Crewe

Kate has just lost her job, her friends are busy living their adult lives and she has never even been on a date. Freddie is a comic book nerd who has spent his whole life plagued by anxiety and OCD and could never dream of asking a girl out. Both nearing the big 3-0, Kate and Freddie meet at a therapy group for adult virgins and realise they could really help each other out... in more ways than one! This hilarious, wholesome rom-com is full of diverse characters and it smashes any stigma associated with adult virginity. Awkward, adorable and brilliantly addictive.

BOOKWORMS: Beach Read by Emily Henry

Romance author January has a rapidly approaching deadline while trying to deal with a recently revealed secret about her dead father. So she retreats to his beach house to figure things out. But her old college rival and lit fic extraordinare Gus is apparently finishing his book in the house across the street. After some heated discussions, they challenge each other to each write a book in the other’s genre just to prove how easy it is. While absolutely not falling in love. Full of charm and intellect, this enemies-to-lovers novel is a feel-good, predictable story with two stock rom-com characters and a whole lot of book and publishing commentary.

TEARJERKER: Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Elsie and Ben's whirlwind romance began on a rainy NYE in a takeaway pizza place but when Ben is tragically killed six months later, Elsie needs to somehow carry on living. After his death, she meets Susan, the mother-in-law who knew nothing about Elsie and the two women need to put their lives back together amidst devastating loss and grief. Alternating between their beautiful, short-lived love story and Elsie’s new reality, this emotional, heartbreaking book teaches us that all grief and love is valid. It’s perfect if you simply need a good cry this Valentine’s Day.

HEARTWARMING QUEER COMIC: Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

Charlie was recently outed as gay at his all-boys school and suffered horrendous bullying as a result. Nick is a rugby player in the year above Charlie but he knows who he is. They’ve never really talked before but they become friends and Charlie realises he’s falling for Nick. But he’s pretty sure Nick is straight. Smile-inducing, heartwarming and unbelievably cute, this awkward, relatable YA comic series are a complete joy to read. You won’t be able to help from squealing and grinning the whole way through!

#valentines day #romance #rom-coms #book recommendations #books #bookworm

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nineteen-yearslater · 7 years

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After reading the confession about James Sirius not living up to his name and seeing you used a picture of Alain Delon, I started wondering and well, my question is that if you had to make a dreamcast of the Next Generation using only Old Hollywood actors/actresses, who would you choose for each character? x

Ted: I think GeneKelly. He’s attractive, but it’s in a “normal guy” kind of way, and he portraysTed’s personality in pictures – studious and responsible but also kind andfunny. He seems more mature, as well

Victoire: GraceKelly. She looks beautiful and sophisticated and as though she could have anykind of personality underneath her appearance. Looking at pictures, it’s likeshe’s delicate and sweet but underneath that she could be insecure or brassy orfunny or anything, and that’s also how I imagine Victoire. Also maybe IngridBergman

Dominique:Marilyn Monroe, but not because of sex appeal because that’s not reallyDominique. More because she’s beautiful and has some of Dom’s features, butalso because she portrays a wide range of emotions in photographs and thatemotional depth is really important to Dominique’s character for me

Louis: MarlonBrando. Super attractive but in a pretty boy way. This is one I’m definiteabout

James: Honestly,when I made that confession I just used a random picture from tumblr, but I doreally think now that Alain Delon would make a perfect James after all. Theylook very similar and they seem to have matching personalities

Albus: RobertHarron from SOME certain angles. They both have a simpler version ofattractiveness – not the rugged, stubble type nor the pretty boy type

Lily: A weird cross between Judy Garland and LizTaylor. Elizabeth because of the eye shape and the unique beauty, and Judybecause of the childhood image (I really don’t know how to describe this. It’slike naivety but also having the ability to look like you’d run around in afield and get muddy instead of sit indoors drinking a cocktail)

Rose: Bette Davis– purely because of the look she has in some photos like, “Honestly, I reallydon’t care”. She also looks a bit more upbeat, lively and fun than some otheractresses

Hugo: Maybe FrankSinatra, actually. They have the same expressions and he looks composed but notstand-offish

Molly: KatharineHepburn. She looks more serious/less innocent than Audrey and really carriesMolly’s personality

Lucy: AudreyHepburn (100%). Somewhat because she looks like Lily Collins who has a Lucy-ishvibe and also because I think Lucy is someone who would love/romanticise AudreyHepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Fred: MaybeErnest Anderson – he really looks like Fred to me

Roxanne: Amixture of Sallie Blair and Ava Gardner. Both of them have some of Roxanne’sfeatures, and they both have that intimidating look as though they’re way too goodfor you and they know it

Lorcan: JamesDean. Not necessarily because of appearance, but because he looks incrediblycocky and self-assured and I guess he does also look similar enough to myLorcan tbh

Lysander: ErrolFlynn – he has a narrower face and a more gentle beauty than the other actors.Also this is completely irrelevant but in some pictures he looks so much likeRyan Gosling lol

Scorpius:Laurence Olivier. I think the facial features carry a very Scorpius-esque lookto them, but it’s really subtle, like eye placement etc

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