Would You Rather by Allison Ashley

Would You Rather by Allison Ashley

Published by MIRA ISBN 9780778366490

Trade paperback, $15.99, 320 pages

Mia and Noah have been best friends since childhood in Allison Ashley's friends-to-lovers romance Would You Rather. Noah is an architect at the firm founded by his now-retired father and Mia is his administrative assistant. They spend the day playing pranks on each other (Mia taped a banana under Noah's desk that smelled after a few days, Noah signed Mia up to receive by email a daily fun animal fact) and playing the game "Would you rather?" (Would you rather be a pirate or a ninja? Would you rather be able to read minds or fly?)

They both have issues to deal with. Noah's older brother died a few years previous in a car accident. Mia has a chronic kidney illness that requires her get weekly infusions at a hospital while she waits for a kidney transplant that may or may not come. She is also estranged from her parents. Both of them feel guilt for reasons that aren't necessarily their fault.

Mia's dream is to become a pediatric nutritionist, but she needs the health insurance from her job to pay for her medical bills. When Noah comes up with a plan to marry Mia so she can keep her insurance while going back to school, Mia is dead set against it. She doesn't want to burden Noah with that, she thinks it is unfair to him, but Noah talks her into it. They are best friends after all.

They have to convince everyone at work, their friends, and Noah's family that this marriage is real in order for their plan to work. Mia sleeps in Noah's guest room, while they both pine away for each other with just a hallway between them.

When one of Noah's coworkers overhears their plan, he uses that information to his advantage. After all, insurance fraud is illegal. 

Would You Rather is a sweet slow-burn love story (if you liked season two of Bridgerton as much as I did, you'll enjoy this book) with the requisite misunderstandings and miscommunications. The storyline dealing with chronic illness and the health insurance problems in this country add an interesting element. Noah's devotion to Mia is so touching, and I found the way the characters dealt (or didn't deal) with their feelings and emotions realistic. I recommend Would You Rather.

Thanks to Harlequin for me on their Summer 2022 Rom-Coms Blog Tour.

Friday 5ive- August 12th, 2022

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly post about five things that caught my attention this week, a day late this week.

1)  Living in New York City, you can pretty much find anything in your neighborhood. The one thing we bemoan is that it's hard to find soft serve ice cream in our neighborhood. For more than ten years we have been complaining about this, and then I found a Ralph's Famous Italian Ices & Ice Cream tucked into a small space on 1st Ave. and 82nd street, a mere eleven blocks away. I ordered a Peanut Butter Crunch Sundae and it hit the spot on a scorching hot day. I'm going to try the Pistachio next time, that intrigues me. (I still miss Tom Thumb's Mexican Sundae from back home.)

 

2)  Speaking of cold treats, on my way from work on Tuesday,  I saw this street vendor park his helado cart in front of the driveway to our apartment building. He sold a few icy treats, and then continued his walk up the bus lane on York Avenue, traffic be damned. I wonder if he had Bette Midler's favorite flavor- pineapple? (Your Seinfeld reference for the week.)

3)  I caught the end of Janice Huff, our distinguished local WNBC meteorologist, on the news who was talking about the Strugeon Supermoon we would see on Friday night. Normally we don't get to see much of the exciting celestial events here in NYC, but I looked out our window and saw a huge moon hung over the East River. 

4)  My friend Trish recommended a new series on Apple TV+ called Loot. The brilliant Maya Rudolph stars as Molly Wells, the recently divorced wife of a tech multibillionaire who now finds herself without a husband but with $87 billion. She discovers that she owns a foundation and decides to step up and do good work there. Hijinks ensue as she comes to annoy and befriend the people who work for her foundation including Sofia, the serious minded CEO (MJ Rodriguez),  Arthur the accountant (played sweetly by Nat Faxon),  and her cousin Howard (Ron Gunches). Add in Molly's sycophantic assistant (Joel Kim Booster) and this show reminds me of Park & Recreation in the best way possible. It's funny and sweet, and I want a candy room like Maya has. I can't wait for season two.

5) I read three books this week, all romances and all for reviews to post in the coming weeks. 

Allison Ashley's Would You Rather is a terrific friends-to-lovers tale. Mia works as an administrative assistant to her best friend Noah, an architect at his father's firm. Mia's dream is to go back to school to become a pediatric nutritionist but she needs the health insurance from her job because she has a chronic illness that will require a kidney transplant soon. Noah doesn't want Mia to give up her dream and offers to marry her so she can keep her insurance as his wife. Noah loves Mia and Mia loves Noah, but they won't admit it to each other. It's a sweet slow-burn love story for people who loved the second season of Bridgerton (like me!). My full review posts August 23rd. 

Ivy Owens' Scandalized is a steamy hot romance that begins when Gigi, an L.A. Times journalist who is about to break a big scandalous story about wealthy men doing bad things to women in a London nightclub, runs into Alec, the brother of her childhood friend, in Seattle. Their flight to LA gets cancelled,  and Alec offers Gigi to stay in his hotel suite with him. While he promises to be a gentleman, their attraction to each other is too much to ignore and they have a hot one-night stand that turns into a longer adventure when they get to LA. How Alec plays into the story she is chasing comes to light, and could affect Gigi's big story. (This one has lots of explicit sexual content so if that isn't your thing, steer clear. If it is your thing, you'll enjoy.) My full review publishes August 25th.

The third book, Jennifer Snow's A Lot Like Forever, is the third installment of her Blue Moon Bay series. Set in the small California coastal tourist town of Blue Moon Bay, Whitney is the workaholic head of tourism marketing for the town. She's been dating Trent, who owns two popular bars in Blue Moon Bay, for seven years and they are engaged to be married. Whitney's mom has Alzheimer's and lives in an nearby adult facility. Whitney has a lot on her plate, and she is keeping something big from Trent and her best friends, something that can change their lives forever. I really liked the small town setting, and Whitney's dealing with her mom's Alzheimer's rings true for so many people in her shoes. This romance is more on the sweet side of the spectrum, but there is a little spice to it to keep readers happy. It made me want to read the first two books in the series- A Lot Like Love and A Lot Like Christmas to get the backgrounds on some of  the other characters. My full review publishes September 1st.

This post was shared with The Intrepid Reader's Weekend Cooking posts. You can read more posts featuring food here.

Have a safe, healthy, fun week.