Who doesn’t love an enemies to lovers trope set in a Mas Band in Trinidad and Tobago? I personally couldn’t get enough of it! Truly this was such a delightful read and I think its because of the rivalry that felt very authentic. I loved Tess as a main character and I could spend a lot of time just reading about her daily life.

If you are looking for a light, fun romance, this is definitely a must read!

Unfortunately, I'm going to DNF this book for now. I really did enjoy the first couple of chapters I read and was beginning to look forward to the rest of the book. I'm just not in much of a reading mood right now and I really need a NetGalley refresh before I can continue reading this.

This is a colorful story set around Trinidad's carnival season. Tessa wnats to be a carnival costume designer, just like her uncle, and hopes to inherit Grandeur, the company he ran with her parents. Brandon is the bane of Tess' existence and previously worked with Grandeur's rival. But when Grandeur needs a boost to save the company, Brandon agrees to help them out. Brandon and Tess end up working together and their opinions of each other begin to change. It's an interesting and joyful novel of unexpected love.

The setting and descriptions of Trinidad life and culture were absolutely stunning and definitely made me want to take a vacation ASAP! Unfortunately, the MC, Tess, had her. moments of being absolutely insufferable but I chalk that up  as to how teens are typically written as self-centered. Some of the writing tenses could be a bit confusing where something happens off the page, but then the writer brings the reader back into the moment (just one of my pet peeves of being given a summary and then the detailed scene after). Overall, a tropical young adult romance set in Trinidad.

This was quite sweet, but I really struggled to connect with any of the characters. I loved the inclusion of Trinidadian culture, with the Carnival costumes especially, it was a lot of fun to read about! this was a lot of fun, and it's perfect for summer,

This enemies-to-lovers young adult romance is set in Trinidad, and its Carnival celebration is featured heavily. Which is pretty cool. I enjoyed reading about the customs there and the intricate, resplendent costumes that play such a large part in the festival. It was interesting to learn that the celebration in Trinidad is joyous, delightful and family friendly (the last of which is not the case for Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, for instance).

This is just one great reason to read the book: to be educated in a fun way about a different culture that doesn’t get a lot of exposure in most places here in the U.S. The other is that it’s well-written and a good take on the enemies-to-lovers trope.

Tess (short for Beatrice) is the niece of a renowned costume designer. She hopes to work for the mas (masquerade) band their family has run for decades and run it one day. She is skilled at design and creating the costumes and knows good quality when she sees it.

She has hated Brandon, a popular social influencer even at not quite 18, since she met him in school seven years before. She can’t think of anything to like about him. They’ve bickered for years.

But when a rival mas band puts the future of their band in jeopardy, Tess finds herself teaming up with Brandon to help save the family business. That’s about the only reason she would spend time with him, and she does what she can to be civil.

Of course, as these things go, as they spend more and more time together, she finds he may not be as bad as she thought. And could those weird niggling feelings be attraction? Yikes.

A fun and colorful young adult book with a good romance that I recommend for getting a look at another place and culture.

One of my favorite things about When The Vibe is Right was the main character, Tess. She’s seventeen and dreaming of following in her uncle’s footsteps by becoming a famous, professional Trinidadian Carnival costume designer. Right away, I loved how her passion for costume designing showed in the story. I also really enjoyed her as a character overall : she’s certainly a flawed teenager, she’s a bit obstinated but I don’t know, I found it so easy to care for her and really rooted for her, right from the very first pages.
Before anything else, When The Vibe is Right is an enemies to lovers romance. Fans of this trope will LOVE this book, I promise. I fell for the banter between Tess and Brandon right away and loved how the forced proximity, with them suddenly forced to work together, has them changing their mind and feelings, slowly but surely. I found this to be a soft, fun, slow-building and realistic romance overall and I just loved them!

Another highlight of this book is the family. Tess lost her parents in an accident and is now living with her aunt, uncle and cousin Hazel. I really loved the family dynamics in this story, especially the Hazel/Tess relationship. They’re close and you know Hazel will fight someone for Tess if she needs to and I just enjoyed that so much.
The story’s set in Trinidad and Tobago and I absolutely loved that. It was wonderful to see parts of the culture shining through, the landscapes and of course, the carnival and its traditions.

If you’re looking for a lovely enemies to lovers YA book, I definitely recommend When The Vibe is Right. It was fun, entertaining, filled with great characters and banter. Can’t wait to read more from this author!

There's a lot to love about this book. I listened to the audiobook, and I thought the narration was great. There were a lot of charming elements, just like in Sarah Dass's previous book, but I have to admit I clicked with that one more. The story here felt slightly too chaotic at times, as I felt like there was just so much going on all at the same time.

- thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc to review!

- a cute story of love and finding the people who make life a little better. Dass is a talented writer, and though this is the first work I've read of hers, i found myself enjoying the story and liking the direction of the characters choices and the impact of the interactions. if you love romances and bubbly/intriguing characters, you will enjoy this!

Tessa lives for the Carnival! Someday, she wants to inherit the band that her grandfather, dad, and uncle built. Unfortunately, the sales and even their reputation is in trouble. In walks in Brandon. He's one of the more famous local influencers that can help her, but is also Tessa's nemisis.

This book caught me in the first chapter! I love the slice of culture that I learned from this book, and I thought the author did an amazing job making it interesting! Besides the culture, the characters got me hooked in too. Their banter is not annoying and I really do appreciate the slow burn for the romance. The self growth in this was very well put together.

As we go along the story, I can not help but appreciate the well thought out series of events, nothing there was boring, and Tessa's point of view just makes things move interesting too.

For me, there's nothing about this book that I dislike. I even like the very very tiny mystery injected in it.

What more I can say? Read it! And have a bla st!

So let's talk about Tess! Thank you for introducing us to her because she was effervescent. I enjoyed reading about her culture and the enemies to lovers in h.s. can be hit or miss sometimes. I think it was a hit this time! 

Thank you so much for the opportunity to review this book.

Book: When The Vibe Is Right 
Author: Sarah Dass 
Genre: Contemporary Romance 
Format: E-book 
Pages: 334

When The Vibe Is Right By Sarah Dass is an enemies-to-lovers, contemporary romance fiction, set during Trinidad's Carnival celebration. This is the story of Tess Crawford, who is aspiring to become a great costume designer and inherit the leadership of Grandeur. But when things start getting worse for Grandeur, she has to deal with Brandon Richards, whom she hates as much as she hates his social media presence. But to save Grandeur, she has to work with Brandon, and spend more time! Will it change something between them as well as for the company for better or worse?  Read the book to know more. 

It was my first book set in Trinidad and also by the author, and I'm so glad that I read it. The setup and character building were perfect and it intrigued me to know what happens next. The chemistry of Tess and Brandon was fun to read and the troupe of enemies-to-lovers was well explored. 

The friendship of Tess with Hazel, her cousin was a highlight for me. The relationship of Tess with Uncle Russel and Aunty Gloria provided some emotional moments in between and were well explored. Tess's longing for her parents and the emotional turmoil were touching! 

The book also shows the ups and downs of social media and the life of influencers quite well and shows the layers in it, a perspective that most of us feel rather than the general stereotype of black and white. 

The rivalry of Grandeur with Kingston was well explored. The culture of Carnival was something new for me and I am glad I got to know about it from the book, something that I would like to explore more now. I just wish for more emotionally connecting moments in the book, and a little more about Tess's parents' past, their own life, and their time with Grandeur. Also, I felt the need for more time between Tess and Brandon and more chemistry, more romance. 

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to all those who want to read something new, that could inspire them to explore more of Trinidad's Carnival and a beautiful enemies-to-lovers romance.

This was quite sweet, but I really struggled to connect with any of the characters. I loved the inclusion of Trinidadian culture, with the Carnival costumes especially, it was a lot of fun to read about! I also did enjoy the tropes that we got in this book, although I don't feel that I was particularly invested in how the romance played out because I couldn't get on with the characters. Tess, our main character, is incredibly stubborn and bullheaded to the point of fault, and I just needed her to have some more personality other than that. I also felt that the dialogue was quite stiff at times. However, this was a lot of fun, and it's perfect for summer, and it's definitely not for me to say that other people wouldn't enjoy this as I think there is a lot to be enjoyed, it just wasn't for me.

I cannot get enough of Sara Dass’s  writing, and how joyful every book is by her. When The Rhythm is Right was amazing so I knew When The Vibe is Right will be also amazing.

In this new book, we follow Tess who is very into designing costumes and fabrics are her whole personality. She lives  for the carnival that happens every year and she is helping her uncle’s  business (they design costumes for the Carnival), until she accidentally messes up, get forced to work with her rival (or nemesis, call it what you want) and learns that her Uncle’s business is about to go bankrupt. 

The book is set in Trinidad, so you not only learn about their culture but will feel like you are experiencing the joy, the adventure the Carnival season brings,

I really enjoyed reading about Tess overcoming her trauma and what  happened to her parents, and how she learns to be kind and more sincere towards her family and the boy she is definitely falling for.

This was a fast paced, delightful and entertaining reading experience, which tackled topics like fear from accidents, fear of future, choosing family and learning to be kind and accept the love given to you.

Thank you for the Arc and allowing me to read this book. 
I loved it, it was funny & had some sass to it which was such an enjoyable read!

3.5 Stars

The best part of this book was the Trinidadian culture. I loved getting to travel to Trinidad through this book and spend time learning about the people, the food, Carnival, and everything else. Unfortunately for me, the romance wasn't quite as developed as I'd hoped, and I never really felt an attachment to the protagonist, Tess. Still, this was a fun read, and I enjoyed it overall.

(Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change upon final publication.)

Tess, a teenager in Trinidad, fights to save her family's Carnival costume business, eventually turning to her enemy Brandon for help.

I barely finished this. The characters weren't anything special. The plot was predictable. It wasn't quite bad enough for me to not finish it but it also just... wasn't good.

"When the Vibe Is Right" by Sarah Dass is a delightful and heartwarming exploration of love and connection. Dass masterfully creates a world where emotions and relationships come to life, offering readers a journey of self-discovery and romance. The book's relatable characters and authentic portrayal of human interactions make it a joy to read. Dass's skillful storytelling and ability to capture the essence of genuine emotions shine through on every page. "When the Vibe Is Right" is a charming reminder that sometimes, all it takes is the right moment and the right people to create something truly magical.

I really enjoyed this enemies to lovers story. I thought the build-up to tess and Brandon finally getting together was perfect. As a Black American, I don't know much about carnival so I enjoyed the exploration of that and I thought the book being set in Trinidad really livened the story up and added a beautiful element of culture. 
All of the characters had such depth and substance to them. I loved that Tess and her Uncle could disagree but the love was still apparent. 
All in all I thought this was a beautiful and rich story.

Meh. 

The characters feel like they are adults, and yet the book itself isn't written like an adult romance novel would be. The romance was okay at best, and I just never really cared? Or maybe I just didn't believe it. 

I will say that Dass successfully showed Trinidadian culture from carnival to food.