The narration is really great on this one; I think I've been impressed every time I've listened to Reba Buhr. The story does mostly what you'd want for a celebrity romance, and it's relatively low drama until the [third act breakup due to, you guessed it, miscommunication (hide spoiler)]. There's some stuff that's accepted that to me was seriously questionable, with the worst being the heroine's best friend planning to post photos of Alec's toothbrush to social media; Felicity is mad for five seconds, but once the photo is deleted, that's it. This is a huge violation both towards Alec, AND it takes advantage of Felicity, so I think that needed to be a real conversation. Moments like this made the characterization feel rather shallow, but if you want a fast celebrity romance, this might fit the bill. I did enjoy listening to the audio, but it wasn't a perfect fit for me.

Not as good as the first one and there wasn't much of a connection between the main characters, but it was a fun story. I wish that they had opened up a bit more, I really tried to love them as a couple but they were a bit too shy for my taste. Nonetheless, I loved seeing the boys and Stella again, I really enjoy their group dynamic and it made me so happy to know more about them. I literally felt more excitement when I read about the other boys than I did when I read about the main characters

I read this book between July 22nd and July 25th, 2019 and gave it four stars. I must preface this review by saying I knew exactly what I was getting into because I had already read the previous book. It is basically one of those YA contemporary romances in which everybody is straight and white (at least all the main characters are), and even before starting the book we know what's going to happen, but we read to find out how. I understand that not everybody enjoys books like this, and actually, I try to steer clear of them, however, this is pure entertainment and sometimes I need just that in a novel. 

Something about Ali Novak's books is that, despite what I said about her novels featuring romances between white and straight characters, there isn't much fluff. This author manages to build amazing and hard-hitting backstories for her characters that give her books the depth that, say, a Jennifer E. Smith novel would lack. This book is part of a series, but they're companions, which means you could read Paper Hearts without having read The Heartbreakers, but my suggestion is that you read them in order. Paper Hearts features Alec, the band's bass player (I think?) as the love interest. Something I enjoy is that the novels have been written from the perspective of the females, they're the main characters, not the guys who are part of a world-famous boyband. 

Yes, the books are about teenagers who are romantically involved with famous musicians. Is that lame? For some people it is. Would you have to suspend disbelief? Yes, totally, but who doesn't when reading fiction? That didn't bother me at all, but again, I get why it would bother someone else. What did unsettle me a lot was the ableist joke I found, which had been thrown in the middle of a casual conversation. No, that's not okay. And no, an ableist joke is never "necessary." You can always, as an author, avoid making a comment that could harm literally thousands if not millions of people in the world, many of whom might be reading the book. 

Now, let's go back to things I liked that other readers might, too. I liked Felicity's (the main character's) and Asha's (her best friend's) relationship. I didn't particularly like Asha for reasons I will explain in a Disenchantments post, but I did appreciate that she was always there when Felicity needed her. The friendship remains strong throughout the book, which is something that doesn't happen often since authors love making best friends fight. 

If you're into meet-cutes, then you'll love the one in this novel because it's all Cinderella-esque, but it's also super awkward. Alec himself is a very awkward character, and a total opposite of Oliver, who was the love interest in the previous novel. I love that the author did try to make two separate novels considering that the main characters are so different. The reader gets the same style but the tone varies a lot. 

Lastly, I like that there's more to the story than just romance. Our main character is looking for her sister who ran away from home four years ago. We find out a lot about Felicity's family, but we also get to know her. She's very crafty and she also loves to read, and it's awesome how seamlessly the author incorporating this into the character and the story. You see, people, it is possible to have female protagonists who aren't one-dimensional.

Paper Hearts is the second novel in the Heartbreakers Chronicles. I read the first, The Heartbreakers, several years ago so I honestly don’t remember too much about it. Paper Hearts was a fun read full of masquerade balls, road trips, and of course lots and lots of music. While it was fun, it wasn’t quite what I was expecting, which disappointed me. Even though the love interest was part of a famous boy band, this book didn’t really seem like a celebrity romance. The focus was definitely more on Felicity, her friends, and her family—which isn’t a bad thing, just not what I was looking for when picking up Paper Hearts. While on their road trip to find Felicity’s sister, they do stop and spend the night with Alec’s bandmates, so fans of the first book will love the cameos!

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. 

I loved the first Heartbreakers book. Oliver and Stellas story was amazing. When I found out that this would be a series I was so happy. 

Paper Hearts tells the story of Alec and Felicity. Alec is a member of The Heartbreakers also. Felicity is an average girl. Together they make for a fun and sweet story. Road trips, bonfires, family, band mates, all of it made me feel like a teenager again. This is the perfect YA novel.

Will no longer be reading or reviewing this book due to lack of interest in the title, and the fact that the title has been archived.

Cute, fun read. This was a fun, fluffy beach read. I think some of my female high school students would enjoy this book.

I believe in being very honest with my reviews and for this book I will do the same. I really didn't enjoy the writing style or the plot. It seemed very rushed to me and the storyline needed more planning. It was a cute read, but there really wasn't any substance to the story at all. Not for me anyway. Not every book is for everyone!

Paper Hearts is cute, fluffy, adorable and perfect for readers who want something quick and easy to read. It makes you smile and giggle. I strongly recommend it to people who like boy band fan fiction.

I read this book this past year. The book is cute, fluffy & full of teenage romance. I know a lot of people expected a lot more to this book then what is was but in all honesty I found it a good light hearted read & something I need/enjoy after so much time reading dark fantasy & adventure books. It's refreshing considering it is full of cliches but that's what makes it the type of book it is. In honesty I didn't find the book as interesting as the first one from this series because it didn't dive into the Heartbreakers world like I expected & instead took the route of introducing Felicity & her life (basically something out of a soap opera STILL I always recommend it whenever my friends are looking for a contemporary romance & YA book because I know they'll enjoy it as it is a quick & sweet read. My favorite part about this book is Alec's character who is quiet & shy & reserved in contrast to his life of fame. Overall I enjoyed the series & look to read more from Ali Novak. 

Thank you for providing the ARC for me to read, I enjoyed this book.

I love Ali Novak's work! The Heartbreakers was a great book, and so was Paper Hearts! While I wish there was more music and rockstars in this book, I still enjoyed it greatly.

I love books with boy band members. I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the first one, especially the ending, but it was still an interesting read, and one I'll probably be purchasing for my shelves.

Thank you for the chance to review this book, however, unfortunately, I was unable to read and review this title before it was archived.

Paper Hearts begins with a cupcake for Rose's birthday - she has run away and been gone for 4 years.  Felicity is at a ball in handmade masks and she meets a guy after he spills on her dress.  He tells her that his name is Aaron, but he is actually Alec and he plays bass in the band the Heartbreakers.  Felicity and Alec get photographed and end up in a gossip magazine.  She expected to never hear from him again and ends up looking around at her house and finds letters from Rose in the closet - she hadn't run away at all and Felicity is going to try and find her.  Alec ends up showing back up and helping her out with her quest to find her sister.  The last letter is from San Francisco so they start there, but end up going up the coast and finding her in Seattle.  It turns out that Felicity's Mom had sent Rose away and told her not to try and contact Felicity until after she had graduated.  Felicity and Alec seem to be getting closer, but all the gossip mags keep saying that he is dating an actress named Violet.  Can Felicity straighten things out with her Mom, sister, and Alec?

This book was a lot of fun to follow along with, so many twists and turns in the plot and you couldn't help but really root for Felicity and her friends to find Rose and find out why she had run away!

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated.

A fun companion book to the first Heartbreaker's, this time focussing on Alec and Felicity. It's a quieter, more charming book and definitely one for fans of the first book. I can think of a few reader who will be happy to find this one on the shelves!

Have you ever read a book in which all the characters seemed like filler characters? That’s what Paper Hearts felt like.

We have Felicity, the so-called MC, who is really stupid and needs obvious things spelled out for her. With a brain as slow as hers, I’m surprised she gets to be a character in book (that was written and published) at all.

The male lead is Alec Williams, member of the “world famous” boy band The Heartbreakers. Like every YA hero since the dawn of time, he’s the brooding, reserved kind and only the female lead can “save” him. How Felicity would ever accomplish this with her terrible IQ is beyond me.

We have Asha, the “hot best friend”, and token POC character. Actually, I’m not sure of the POC bit – Asha sounds like an Indian name, and she wears saris (what teenager wears a sari to a masquerade ball!?), but her surname is Van De Berg, which is… Dutch? It isn’t important whichever way, cos we don’t have any background info or character development.

Then there’s Boomer, and all we know about him is he loves cars and Asha.

Plus some of Alec’s band members thrown in for good measure.

The story begins with Felicity telling us her sister’s been missing since four years. Conveniently, around a few pages in, she finds out her sister had actually been writing to her. She decides to go search for her and Alec (whom she’s only met twice before) offers to drive her all the way from LA to Seattle. Lots of random stuff happens, like water gun fights, hide and seek games. You know, usual stuff that happens in YA novels. Not. (Seriously, what 20 yo plays hide and seek ffs!)

There is nothing about this story that’s believable. It is full of grammar errors, but since this is an ARC, I’m willing to give it the benefit of doubt on that front. It ends abruptly and then you begin lamenting all the time you wasted on this.

I've come to terms with the fact that I will probably never love another Ali Novak book the way I loved My Life With the Walter Boys. I know that doesn't seem like a very high bar considering that I gave MLWWB a star rating of 3.5, and my review was more about how it reminded me of a reverse harem anime than about what I truly enjoyed about the book (not one of my proudest reviews from 2014). Nevertheless, I did enjoy MLWWB, I still enjoy it, and I do think about it from time to time, which is more than I can say for several books I rated higher that year.

Paper Hearts was all right. Just all right.

There was nothing particularly shocking or great or unique about the ideas, the setting, the plot--any of it, really. It was your standard, feel good, fangirl fantasy in the voice of a half-decent contemporary writer.

Granted, Novak did try to make this a bit different from the previous book in the series, The Heartbreakers. There's a mystery that centers around Felicity's runaway sister that takes up quite a bit of the second half of the book and serves as a backdrop for the characters to get to know each other. I actually did respect this to an extent--it's actually the reason why I kept on reading. However, the reason why I don't count it as making the book special and different is that it only felt like a plot device. There was no real emotion driving it. The entire time, the focus remained on Alec and Felicity despite Novak's efforts to shift it to Felicity's relationship with her sister. On each front of this attempted mystery premise, there are better books to be read.

If you're looking for great books about roadtrips, I'd recommend Morgan Matson's classic Amy and Roger's Epic Detour, Adi Alsaid's Let's Get Lost, Emery Lord's Open Road Summer, and Ingrid Law's Savvy (middle-grade).

If you're looking for mysteries based on missing siblings (I can't believe this is even a category but) I enjoyed C.J. Omolulu's The Third Twin and Natalie Standiford's How to Say Goodbye in Robot.

Since it's not a question of complexity or depth, what it comes down to is how much the author can make the reader care about the characters and the romance. For many, following the Heartbreakers journey will be enough. They'll enjoy these characters and this world, from the moment Alec unveils his identity at the ball to when he and Felicity together. The cameos are great, the right jokes are all there, the ending is satisfying enough. That's why I would still recommend this book, but personally, it wasn't enough for me.

If you're looking for something like this, I read a book called American Girl on Saturn a while back by self-pubbed author Nikki Godwin, and it's one of the only indie books I actually loved. Would highly recommend instead, and I'll probably end up rereading it and reviewing pretty soon. 2 stars.

Paper Hearts is the second book in the Heartbreakers series by Ali Novak. This is Alec and Felicity's story, told from Felicity's point of view. If you haven't read the first book, that's okay. This one stands alone just fine. I do recommend that you read it though, as the characters cross over, and it's fun getting to know them. 

Alec is a hard guy to read, so it's understandable that Felicity has her doubts and doesn't always know how he feels or where she stands with him. Alec is very reserved. He holds everything in, so he wasn't as easy to connect with as Oliver was in the first book. I think he's actually a very passionate and observant guy who doesn't know how to express himself. Give him a chance though. He'll grow on you. 

Like the first book, our main characters are finding themselves. We get the see the Heartbreakers again, and I'm pretty attached to them. This is such a fun, tight-knit group of people. The fun they have is infectious and carries through to the reader. And JJ?? I can't wait for his story! He's a hoot, so I know it'll be entertaining. But, I love them all, so whoever's story is coming next, I'm ready for it!

The Heartbreakers Chronicles is my favorite kind of swoony read. It has music, lovable cheesy moments with characters who are a joy to read about. Ali Novak could be one of my favorite YA romance writers because her style is smooth and flows nicely together.

I love her first book 'The Heartbreakers' and knew I wanted to read the next one. I already knew the male lead, Alec, he was fun in the first book and I was over the moon when I found out that he was the lead in this one. He's a sweet geek guy that makes this book amazing. 

My favorite parts of this book would have to be when all the characters are all together. I already know them and I like to see where they are now to where I left them at the end of the first book.

I also like the lead female Felicity. She has her plans but they don't go the way she thinks they will. She goes through a lot of family problems during this book and I felt that make her a strong character because of it.

Overall, this is a perfect read to get lost in on a cold night. It's a story that flew by fast and was a blast!

Like The Heartbreakers, I had a lot of fun reading Paper Hearts, and found it to be more than just a fluffy novel. It’s a feel-good romance, sure – what girl wouldn’t want to date a guy from the biggest boy band in the world? And to meet him at a masquerade ball? It’s the stuff of Cinderella dreams. That part of the book was really fun and definitely met expectations.

But what I liked about The Heartbreakers was the same thing that got me into Paper Hearts: the female protagonist was dealing with more than just a love story, or her own problems. Paper Hearts is a family story about Felicity, a girl who lives with her single mom and has to scrimp and save for her dream college, Harvard. She’s had to deal with her father leaving, her mom going from OC wife to responsible, and oh yeah…some serious sister issues that I don’t want to spoil. It’s an interesting story, and one I haven’t seen done before in YA.

Similarly, Alec has his own parental issues to deal with – which were mentioned in the first book, but come more into play here. You quickly get a sense of how similar Felicity and Alec are, and how they balanced each other. They also had a natural chemistry and a quietness that made their relationship different from Stella’s and Oliver’s from the first book. But rest assured, if you’re a shipper of Stella and Oliver, there’s plenty of them here. But like the first book, there’s a posse of sorts around Felicity, and they quickly grew to be just as important and fun as the Heartbreakers and Stella.

I fell quickly into Ali Novak’s breezy writing style and the fun fangirl-y moments. While the book definitely has moments that screamed fanfiction to me (because seriously, The Heartbreakers are totally 1D), the wish fulfillment aspect never felt like it overpowered Felicity’s story. There are little things here and there that felt way too predictable, but honestly? I didn’t go into this book expecting not to get those moments.

THE FINAL WORD:

Paper Hearts is a fun, fast, clean YA romance about Felicity Lyon, a smart, focused teen with a passion for jewelry, and Alec Williams, the bassist in The Heartbreakers, the world’s biggest boy band. While it’s definitely a bit wish fulfillment-y – and thus fanfiction-esque – it’s also more than what it seems, touching on family pressure, financial issues, and more. It’s a really fun summer read, and one that you’ll breeze through on a beach.