I really enjoyed many of the stories in here. I skipped a few because I head read the first few pages and I wasn't really interested in continuing, but I immensely enjoyed the ones I did read. This collection of short stories are penned by some very popular and amazing writers, some new and some old. There's some kissing, lots of romantic tension, and lovely characters. If you love romance (in a variety of different situations and genres), be sure to check this one out!

Cover via Goodreads
Whether or not you believe in fate, or luck, or love at first sight, every romance has to start somewhere. MEET CUTE is an anthology of original short stories featuring tales of "how they first met" from some of today’s most popular YA authors.

Readers will experience Nina LaCour's beautifully written piece about two Bay Area girls meeting via a cranky customer service Tweet, Sara Shepard's glossy tale about a magazine intern and a young rock star, Nicola Yoon's imaginative take on break-ups and make-ups, Katie Cotugno's story of two teens hiding out from the police at a house party, and Huntley Fitzpatrick's charming love story that begins over iced teas at a diner. There’s futuristic flirting from Kass Morgan and Katharine McGee, a riveting transgender heroine from Meredith Russo, a subway missed connection moment from Jocelyn Davies, and a girl determined to get out of her small town from Ibi Zoboi. Jennifer Armentrout writes a sweet story about finding love from a missing library book, Emery Lord has a heartwarming and funny tale of two girls stuck in an airport, Dhonielle Clayton takes a thoughtful, speculate approach to pre-destined love, and Julie Murphy dreams up a fun twist on reality dating show contestants.

This incredibly talented group of authors brings us a collection of stories that are at turns romantic and witty, epic and everyday, heartbreaking and real.  (via Goodreads)

I received an eARC of Meet Cute via Netgalley, courtesy of HMH Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review.

In news that will surprise no one, three of my four favorite stories from this anthology featured f/f meet cutes. I loved that there were a good selection of stories of women meeting other women.

There were a few content warnings throughout though - racism, an abusive father, sibling death, parental death, trans-antagonistic slurs, homophobic family, and aro-antagonistic comments.

Some of my favorites were Print Shop, Something Real and The Dictionary of You and Me.

Print Shop was the perfect artsy, modern meet cute for me.

Hands down, though, Oomph by Emery Lord was my favorite. It was exactly what I wanted from the rest of this anthology, which many of the stories left me wanting more.

For example, I really loved the concept of Nicola Yoon's The Department of Dead Love, but I wanted more of the story, and of the love interest's emotion beyond where the story ended. I'd happily read a full book of that story.

Same with Meredith Russo's Somewhere That's Green - I loved the writing and the characters, but the end of the story left me with so much anxiety for both the main character and the love interest. I wanted just a page or two more, and to know that everyone was safe.

I had a similar issue with Ibi Zoboi's Hourglass, which was stunningly written, but I wanted a page or two more about the decision that Cherish had to make at the end. I was so proud of her for standing up for herself, but I just wanted a little bit more to give me some closure.



You can pick up a copy for yourself on Amazon or Indiebound. You can also find each author's backlist on Book Outlet.

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Posted to Goodreads: For a more in-depth review watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAfwe...

A cute collection of stories about meeting and falling in love. Several of the stories would have been much stronger as whole novels instead of short stories. Also, I had difficulty with the two stories that were told in the second person. Highlights included: "Print Shop" by Nina LaCour,"Hourglass" by Ibi Zoboi, "The Dictionary of Me and You" and "The Unlikely Likelihood of Falling in Love" by Jocelyn Davies.

I received an eARC of this through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A collection of stories about love. It incorporates different kinds of love in different settings. Several stories feel like the first chapter of a longer novel, while others are perfectly encapsulated in their section. It provides a quick taste of many popular authors.

I was really interested in this book as soon as I saw the theme of Meet Cute. Some of my favorite literary couples got their start with a good meet cute so I was excited to get a book entirely about this topic. I am a romantic at heart and the beginning of love stories are always my favorite. However, anthologies are always so hard to review so I am going to break down my ratings per individual story.
Siege Etiquette by Katie Cotugno: Nothing really special with this story. It felt like the typical YA contemporary and I have found that that is not my taste anymore. 2/5
Print Shop by Nina LaCour : This felt like insta-love/stalkerish to me. Ok so I’m sure we are all guilty of looking people up on the internet but this was like insta in love based on just a couple of pictures and a phone call. It was not believable to me. 2/5
Hourglass by Ibi Zoboi: It started out promising. I thought this would involve a killer friendship story but sadly no...it just seems like it stopped at a weird place and there wasn't even a lot of interaction between the couple. I feel like it should have started later in the story and shown us more of the relationship of the couple...1.5-2/5
Click by Katharine McGee: I really enjoyed this one! It felt like kismet, a real meet cute. It was adorable and I would actually want to read more about their love story. 4/5
The Intern by Sara Shepard:: I had hope for this story but there was more insta love then meet cute. It’s so hard to get the emotions right and to feel natural with a short story especially when there is such a thin line between appearing like a meet cute and not insta love. Sadly this story failed… 2/5
Somewhere That’s Green by Meredith Russo: I can appreciate the message here but I can barely remember this story and I just read it. 2.5-3/5
The Way We Love Here by Dhonielle Clayton: Interesting concept but not the most original. I think I would be interested in reading about what happened to these characters so because of that it was successful. 3.5/5
Oomph by Emery Lord : Now this was a believable meet cute. I really liked the characters and their humor. This story definitely had some Oomph! 4/5
The Dictionary of Me and You by Jennifer L. Armentrout: Okay this was definitely my favorite story of this anthology. Just having the setting in a library won me over. Yes it was a predictable story but honestly I didn't care. This was the first story to make me smile. I loved the characters and the plot was adorable. 5/5
The Unlikely Likelihood of Falling in Love by Jocelyn Davies: meh...nothing memorable. I like the idea of looking at a random stranger and having a connection of some sort but let's be real it's usually lust not love in these cases. 3/5
259 Million Miles by Kass Morgan:: NO. This felt unnatural and unbelievable...I just couldn’t. I did, however, enjoy the male POV. 2/5
Something Real by Julie Murphy: Average. 3/5
Say Everything by Huntley Fitzpatrick: Don’t have anything nice to say so I wont say anything at all 2/5
The Department of Dead Love by Nicola Yoon: This was an interesting concept about love in the future. I actually might read a book about this. Not about these 2 characters per say but the world would be interesting. 3.5/5


I will say, overall, I appreciate the diversity and inclusion of so many types of characters in these stories but sadly this anthology underwhelmed me. I love a good meet cute but many of these stories left much to be desired. They lacked the essential kismet needed to make a great meet cute in my eyes. I think Old Hollywood movies may have given me unrealistic expectations when it comes to a meet cutes but all I know is I like what I like and I didn't particularly like a lot of these stories.

I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a lovely read with so many adorable "first meet" stories. I'll admit I requested this on Net Galley because of certain authors who I love - such as Emery Lord - but I found so many others I hadn't read at this point, and will now be picking their books up next. Thanks so much for this. Highly recommend if you want a collection of diverse beginnings instead of one long story!

Review (below) is scheduled to post on 12/20/2017 on site.
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As you may know, I recently read an anthology where the them was all love triangles, and I did not like it. Now, I’ll be featuring an anthology of the complete opposite (or at least I think it’s the complete opposite). Here’s to hoping that it is so much better than the latter!

Siege Etiquette by Katie Cortungo
2/5 – Well this isn’t a strong start. I guess I wasn’t too into this because it was, in second person? And I wasn’t too enticed with the whole, locking yourself in the bathroom to escape the police. Or Wolf, or even “me”, the reader, as a character haha.

Print Shop by Nina LaCour
4/5 – I actually really liked this! Evie finds a job at a print shop, and though she wasn’t expecting it, she was hired to create social media handles for the store. AND THEN SHE MEETS LAUREN THROUGH TWITTER DM (because of a dispute), and I could not love this more.

Hourglass by Ibi Zoboi
3/5 – I liked both the message and the story, but I guess I just didn’t completely love this short story for some reason. Also, I guess I wish there was more? Like perhaps seeing Cherish at prom, looking amazing? But I suppose that’s not the point. BUT STILL.

Click by Katharine McGee
5/5 – THIS WAS SO GOOD. I really liked how there’s this app, that guarantees you’ll find a match based on your social media. Though most of the story doesn’t focus on this, but rather Alexa and her date, Raden, rushing around the city trying to find her lost phone. And I don’t know what else to say about this other than the fact that I really liked where the story went, and the fact that it wasn’t what I expected at all.

The Intern by Sara Shepard
3.5/5 – It’s not that I didn’t like this, I just wasn’t as invested in Clara or Phineas. Basically, Clara is showing Phineas, an up-and-coming musician (rock? I think), around town, despite the fact that she’s been having a rough time lately. But nevertheless it was still nicely written and a cute story, just not one I fully cared about.

Somewhere That’s Green by Meredith Russo
4/5 – So in this story, we get to see the point of view of both Nia, who’s transgender, and Lexie, who is secretly gay but is afraid to come out because of her parents. Plus, her parents kind of force their views on her, which is what prompted Lexie to speak out against Nia using the women’s bathroom at school. I really liked the chemistry between Nia and Lexie (or I think they look cute together lol). I have mixed feelings about the mutual friend that set them up, and also the fact that no one really stood up for Nia (where was the rest of the school? Isn’t this 2017?), but I guess that wasn’t the point of the story.

The Way We Love Here by Dhonielle Clayton
4/5 – This short story takes place on an island named Meridian, where people have coils around their ring finger, and when they disappear it means you’ve found your true love. But you’re not supposed to touch fingers with anyone else, which is of course, what Viola and Sebastian too. And when they do, they see possible futures. I enjoyed this immensely, though the only gripe I had was that setting itself didn’t make much sense to me. But I guess that’s part of the intrigue of it all.

Oomph by Emery Lord
5/5 – I really liked this one! Cassidy is traveling alone to NYC, for the first time, to get a taste of what it’ll be like alone when she attends college. At the airport, she meets Johanna (code name Natasha Romanoff). I just loved the dialogue, and the fact that they pretend to be Marvel characters. And it’s just so cute that I could melt.

The Dictionary of You and Me by Jennifer L. Armentrout
5/5 – This one was also unbelievably cute. Our main character, Moss, works at the library, and she’s been calling this one day a few times a week to remind him to return an overdue library book. Which ends up being, a dictionary. I loved how unique and adorable this was. Again, made my heart melt.

The Unlikely Likelihood of Falling in Love by Jocelyn Davies
5/5 – THREE ADORABLE STORIES IN A ROW! And this one uses statistics. Despite the fact that no professor would ever approve of a project that involves counting the number of times you see a boy on the subway, I loved it. Plus, the fact that the story was divided up by Intro, Hypothesis, Research, Analysis, and Conclusion. Very cool.

259 Million Miles by Kass Morgan
3.5/5 – I think there was something missing from this story. Basically, Phillip and Blythe are competing for a spot to go to Mars. They need to both pass an evaluation, one where they have to be together alone for 24 hours. I think this was missing the great dialogue and banter from the previous stories. And the ending wasn’t my favorite, to be honest.

Something Real by Julie Murphy
4/5 – This story was pretty predictable, but in a good way. June and Martha are competing for a date with a famous celebrity. June is crazy about him, that she started her own fan club, one that is now massively popular. Martha is only in it because she wants to find closure. I did like this very much, and was glad to see that my predictions turned out to be right.

Say Everything by Huntley Fitzpatrick
3.5/5 – I honestly, don’t even remember this story even though I just read it last night. And reminded myself of it again this morning. Oh right, although I liked Sean and Emma, I didn’t know enough of Emma’s back story to understand how Sean’s family was connected to her, and how it all went down.

The Department of Dead Love by Nicola Yoon
3/5 – I didn’t like this one as much as I wanted to, only because I felt no chemistry between Thomas and Gabby. Thomas is in the department for Emotional Recovery because he wants to get a do-over with his ex-girlfriend (think of that movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). Both of them just don’t understand why there is suddenly just no feeling of love between them, and they want to figure out why. Although the concept is quite interesting (departments to deal with your love problems), I don’t understand why Thomas suddenly became interested in Gabby. Kind of came out of nowhere, especially since he was so determined to see what was wrong with his previous relationship.

Final Thoughts: Overall, Meet Cute gets two thumbs up from me. At first, I was a bit hesitant because it wasn’t such a strong start, plus I had just read an anthology that wasn’t the best. BUT it all turned around by the middle, and I really started to enjoy the short stories. They were all just so cute, so heart-warming, and all so very well done. I definitely recommend this.

***Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog***

Meet Cute: Some People Are Destined to Meet by various authors
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: January 2, 2018
Rating: 4 stars
Source: eARC from NetGalley

Summary (from Goodreads):

Whether or not you believe in fate, or luck, or love at first sight, every romance has to start somewhere. MEET CUTE is an anthology of original short stories featuring tales of "how they first met" from some of today’s most popular YA authors.

Readers will experience Nina LaCour's beautifully written piece about two Bay Area girls meeting via a cranky customer service Tweet, Sara Shepard's glossy tale about a magazine intern and a young rock star, Nicola Yoon's imaginative take on break-ups and make-ups, Katie Cotugno's story of two teens hiding out from the police at a house party, and Huntley Fitzpatrick's charming love story that begins over iced teas at a diner. There’s futuristic flirting from Kass Morgan and Katharine McGee, a riveting transgender heroine from Meredith Russo, a subway missed connection moment from Jocelyn Davies, and a girl determined to get out of her small town from Ibi Zoboi. Jennifer Armentrout writes a sweet story about finding love from a missing library book, Emery Lord has a heartwarming and funny tale of two girls stuck in an airport, Dhonielle Clayton takes a thoughtful, speculate approach to pre-destined love, and Julie Murphy dreams up a fun twist on reality dating show contestants.

This incredibly talented group of authors brings us a collection of stories that are at turns romantic and witty, epic and everyday, heartbreaking and real.

What I Liked:

If you know one thing about me, it is that I love a good romance. I am a huge fan of romance, and I am such a hopeless romantic. When I first heard about this book, I knew I needed to read it. Meet cute moments are amazing and I live for them! If you want to read about a meet cute of my own, check out #ManBunGuy on Twitter (and look for my updates -- @Alyssa_Susanna). Not that I'm dating the guy - but it's still an adorable meet cute. It would have made an amazing addition to this anthology. ANYWAY. I really like meet cutes and adorable beginnings to romances so this anthology was right up my alley. Most of these stories were amazing!

I'm not usually one of anthologies for one reason: short stories are always too short. I hate feeling like what I read wasn't complete enough! I don't love being left with the feeling of wanting more (but knowing there won't be more). I will say that some of the stories in this anthology definitely left me wanting more; the short stories were based solely on the meet cute moment, and not the aftermath (i.e. going on a date, dating, etc.). BUT this didn't irritate me because the premise of the book is the meet cute moments, and so I knew upfront that the stories would be exclusively about the meet cutes and not the entire romance/love story. This seems like a simple thing but it makes a difference!

I'm not going to talk about all of the stories because some of them didn't really stick with me and some of them I didn't really like. For the most part, all of them were interesting and worth the read. But some of them were better than others!

I think my favorite was Jennifer L. Armentrout's story, "The Dictionary of You and Me". It involves a girl who works at the library, and has to call patrons when they haven't returned their overdue book. There is one patron, around her age (based on his voice), that has had a dictionary checked out for forever. Every time she calls him, they end up talking about other things... and he never returns the book. She likes talking to him though. What happens next? You'll have to read the story to find out! Honestly it is so cute and it is the type of meet cute that I could see happening to me (meaning, while it is definitely fiction, it isn't so far-fetched). I was smiling the whole time I read this story.

I also adored "Click" by Katherine McGee. This story is set in 2020 and it is about a girl and a boy who uses the Click app. The app matches you with a person that is highly compatible to you, up to the 99th percentile. Alexa is on her way to a date with a guy she matched with on Click, in the 99th percentile of compatibility. She and Raden meet, but then she realizes she left her cell phone in the taxi cab. Raden uses his phone to track hers, and they go off to chase down her phone. I thought this story was so sweet, and the twist at the end made me smile. This one made me think about how we are in this day, with dating apps and matching and whatnot.

Another story I liked was Dhonielle Clayton's "The Way We Love Here". I didn't quite understand what was happening at first, especially in terms of the world-building, but this was the type of story that you needed to keep reading in order to fully grasp what was happening. It isn't set in a purely contemporary world and the world-building wasn't thrown in all at the beginning, so it took a bit for me to understand the what's and how's. The story involves a girl who saves a boy from drowning, but there is so much more to it. It made me smile, it made me feel a little sad, but it also made me feel a spark of hope. This pair had a heartbreaking yet romantic meet cute.

"Print Shop" by Nina LaCour was adorable. A girl gets hired at an old-fashioned print shop, where banners and things like that are hand-lettered. But a mishap with an order happens, and the customer isn't happy. The customer is a high school student like our protagonist. These two "meet" at the very end of the story when the protagonist takes the banner to the customer, but the meet cute is still so cute. And the story itself was intriguing - there was a lot going on besides the meet cute. I liked it!

Like I said, most of the stories were so interesting. I'm not going to talk about all of them because this review would go on for forever and ever, but I liked most of the stories and therefore, I recommend the anthology as a whole. I must give a shout-out to all of the authors who featured diverse characters. There was such a wide array of characters - it wasn't just boy meets girl/girl meets boy. The meet cutes were all so different but the characters themselves were so different. I loved seeing so many different relationships.

Bottom line: I liked this anthology! It was definitely worth the read.

What I Did Not Like:

There were some short stories that I didn't really love, and that's okay! It's an anthology so there was bound to be at least that I felt kind of ehhh about. I'm not going to talk about any specifically because me feeling ehhh about them is very subjective (as with all stories, really). I didn't find anything "wrong" with any of these stories though.

Would I Recommend It:

If you are like me, a hopeless romantic who loves love and romance and relationships, then give this anthology a shot! Meet cutes are one of my favorite aspects of a good romance, and I love what the authors came up with. This anthology is so sweet and heartwarming and made me really happy.

Rating:

4 stars. Worth the read, in my opinion. I don't usually go for anthologies but this one is as good as it sounds. It would make a great gift! If you live in the USA and preorder the book, you could get some neat buttons from the publisher. Just a thought!

I'm writing this with a sad heart because I was a bit disappointed with one of the early anticipated releases of 2018. Meet Cute promised melt-worthy stories that will make you yearn for your own meet cute. Sadly, I didn't get that feeling with all the stories.

The main problem I had with this book is that some were written in second person point of view. It felt really awkward being addressed directly when I was so used to being an invisible spectator when reading. It totally made me feel uncomfortable to the point that I felt like looking over my shoulder to make sure that no one was actually narrating my life!

There were some stories that I liked such as the one written by Katharine McGee and Nina LaCour! Some of these stories were realistic enough to be believable, however some were too far fetched and highly unlikely to happen for a meet cute.

Overall, this was an okay read especially if you find yourself having a few minutes to spare. These are short stories so you are in no rush to finish one story to the other. I personally took my time reading these and read them when I was in the mood to feel butterflies in my stomach. 

Meet Cute is set to be released on 2 January 2018.

I loved this book! Each story was so unique and different. I loved the inclusion of LGBTQ characters without being overly precious about it. I can't wait to recommend this to my library's readers.

Meet Cute is just the anthology that I’ve been waiting for! This is an entire book featuring 14 incredible authors all about adorable first encounters. I personally enjoyed Jocelyn Davies, Kass Morgan, and Julie Murphy’s stories the most. I would definitely recommend this book to those looking for a feel-good read.

I adore the concept of this anthology. It is all about first meetings and, as the title promises, it is absolutely adorable. Meet Cute is incredibly diverse and contains a wide range of topics and genres. Not all the stories are 100% happy, which really makes the book more realistic. It is always hard to review anthologies because there are so many different contributions, but I enjoyed most of them, and overall, this collection lived up to the hype.

My favourite of the stories was The Unlikely Likelihood of Falling In Love by Jocelyn Davies. This story is about a girl woking on a research project about love at first sight and the probability of meeting the cute boy on the train again. I loved the main character and the mathematical aspects. This honestly needs to be a full book, it’s that engaging.

I also loved 259 Million Miles by Kass Morgan. This one tells the story of a boy applying for a one-way trip to Mars. There are some massive plot twists, which are pretty impressive for such a short story, and it is one of the stories that is pretty heartbreaking. Julie Murphy’s Something Real also captivated me. I loved the reality TV aspects and how supportive the girls are of each other even though they are competing for a date with a famous singer.

Meet Cute is an anthology about love at first sight. I enjoyed the diversity and the lovable characters. My favourite was Jocelyn Davies’s, but there were many other 5 star contributions. This is the perfect book to cozy up with this winter.

Most of the stories in this collection were an absolute delight. My heart just loves a good meet cute. I'm biased. Please read and recommend so that others can feel their hearts soar with the delights only possibilities can bring!

Meet Cute is a super cute anthology of YA authors writing short stories about the lead up to meeting someone. Actual Rating: 3.8/5 stars

Siege Etiquette by Katie Cotugno: 3 stars
The story of two people who haven't seen each other in a long time and end up trapped together in a bathroom when a house party is being raided. It reminded me of the movie "Can't Hardly Wait" from the 90s. This story was cute, nothing amazing. I would be interested if it became a full novel.

Print Shop by Nina LaCour: 4 stars
I immediately enjoyed the diversity in this one. The main character, Evie, starts working in a print shop where everything is made by an artist instead of computers and machines. An angry customer voices her unpleasant opinion of the shop on Twitter and begins a love interest. Interesting concept.

Hourglass by Ibi Zoboi: 2 stars
Honestly, I didn't care for Cherish's POV in this one. She came off as very whiny and "woe is me" because her best friend starts dating the guy who teased her for her size, thankfully she comes to term with who she is.

Click by Katharine McGee: 4 stars
I really liked the idea behind Click. Katharine McGee introduces a futuristic dating app where your entire social media presence and online footprint are analyzed and match you with another person. While the thought of this overwhelmed me, I really enjoyed the fast pace of the story and wit and banter between the characters. It also was a great peek into how love can be unexpected even when you're looking for it.

The Intern by Sara Shepard: 4.5 stars
SO CUTE! Clara interns for her dad's record label and has to show around one of the artists and unexpectedly falls for him-cheesy, I know, but so cute. The beauty is really in the details in this one.

Somewhere That’s Green by Meredith Russo: 4.5 stars
Another WE NEED DIVERSE BOOKS story revealing a transgender girl's fears and fight with a school board about which restroom she is allowed to use while a gay student who isn't out yet deals with her own issues. It was a little slow, but a great, quick, look into a world I'm not familiar with.

The Way We Love Here by Dhonielle Clayton: 4 stars
Very interesting concept. On a remote island, the people are born with a ring mark on their finger that reveals when they'll meet their soul mate. When two teens find a way to "hack the system" they see how their lives will play out and how they will live and fall in love with. Another interesting concept. I wouldn't read it as a whole novel, but it was a perfect short story.

Oomph by Emery Lord: 5 stars
Oomph was one of my favorites in this anthology! A super cute unexpected romance in an airport where mystery is in the air. Two girls meet in an airport pretending to be Marvel characters and hit it off. Loved it!

The Dictionary of You and Me by Jennifer L. Armentrout: 4.75 stars
It might be the librarian in me, but I loved this story. It was a bit predictable, but worth it. Moss has to track down an overdue dictionary from the library that she works at and finds more than just a book. Sometimes books reveal people for us. ;)

The Unlikely Likelihood of Falling in Love by Jocelyn Davies: 5 stars
Again, it might be that I was a math teacher in one of my past lives (before I became a librarian) but I loved this one. The main character writes her semester statistics project on the odds of her seeing a mystery boy from the subway again.

259 Million Miles by Kass Morgan: 3 stars
Meh. It felt more like the main character was running away from his problems rather than facing them head on, which *spoilers* he ends up doing. Blythe and Philip are two finalists for a mission to Mars and only one of them will be chosen. They have to spend 24 hours in an isolation chamber together to see how they will interact and work as a team-of course the predictability is obvious-but they make it through the test. A beautiful display of how sometimes we meet someone at the wrong time.

Something Real by Julie Murphy: 4 stars
Julie Murphy wrote a perfect show story on how meeting your celebrity crush can sometimes be a disappointment, but you can meet someone in the process that makes up for it.

Say Everything by Huntley Fitzpatrick: 0 stars
Just no. I didn't care at all for the POV, the main character was unmemorable and it was honestly just slow and boring.

The Department of Dead Love by Nicola Yoon: 6 (out of 5) stars
When is it socially acceptable to dub Nicola as the queen of romance? I mean really, this short story was perfect and made up for the crappy one before it. Thomas goes to the Department of Dead Love to find out what happened that caused an end to his last relationship and ends up finding a way to heal his heart. So many good quotes come from this story. LOVED IT!

Overall, I really enjoyed this anthology. Each story brought something different and it will appeal to all sorts of readers.

This fun anthology gives us the genesis of fourteen different relationships (or, at least, possible relationships). Most of the stories are contemporaries, but there are a few fantasy/sci fi stories to tempt those of us who like to escape reality now and again! I wrote down a quick review of each story as I read the anthology because they're all so different, it's hard to review the book as a whole.

Here are my thoughts:

"Siege Etiquette" by Katie Cotugno: 4 stars
This little story was a surprise, told in second-person POV. The story centers around two characters who've known each other their whole lives but find a connection while hiding out from the police at an underage party (in the bathroom). The story was a lot less "cute" than bittersweet, but I loved how much story Cotugno managed to stuff into such a small package!

"Print Shop" by Nina LaCour: 3 stars
This story again has a second-person element to it at the beginning and the end, since the main character is describing to her girlfriend the circumstances around how they met. The MC goes to work at a print shop because she loves the art behind it, but ends up in a job handling social media (not what she expected) and then gets embroiled in a customer service issue. This story was cute, but I didn't feel a terrible connection between the MC and the love interest since the MC basically fell for her Facebook profile. Still a fun read, though!

"Hourglass" by Ibi Zoboi: 2.5-3 stars
I really loved this story at first, but then it just didn't seem to really go anywhere. Plus, very little of the story was actually spent on the MC meeting the romantic interest---it kind of felt just added on at the end. But I liked the fact that the story dealt with a girl who feels like she doesn't fit the mold when it comes to body image and her quest to find a dress that fits her, not just physically, but also fits her true image of herself.

"Click" by Katharine McGee: 4.5 stars
This was my favorite up till this point. We got dual POV's from a couple on their first date after using a somewhat futuristic dating app to meet their ideal match. Things don't go as planned when Alexa loses her phone and they end up on a wild goose chase to find it. Alexa is also dealing with loss, and there are some other hints of future tech elements to the story (though, actually not that futuristic because the tech referenced already does exist in some forms).

"The Intern" by Sara Shepard: 3 stars
This was another bittersweet story. I liked it, but it didn't stand out in my mind all that much. Honestly, even though I didn't read this one all that long ago, I'm struggling to even remember it.

"Somewhere That’s Green" by Meredith Russo: 4 stars
This one had a transgender main character and a main character who was struggling with her sexuality due to her religious beliefs (or, perhaps more accurately, struggling with how she thought others would perceive her sexuality). I really enjoyed the story, though I thought the ending felt a little too easy and didn't give quite enough weight to Lexie's decision at the end. (But that's kind of what happens with short stories).

"The Way We Love Here" by Dhonielle Clayton: 4.5 stars
The first (only?) fantasy story of the bunch. I LOVED the unique world that Clayton created and I was amazed at how well she was able to flesh it out in just a short story. I would read a whole book about this world in a heartbeat.

"Oomph" by Emery Lord: 5 stars
This story was the height of adorableness, featuring two girls who meet in an airport. This one made my heart happy and felt like a true "meet cute."

"The Dictionary of You and Me" by Jennifer L. Armentrout: 4 stars
Again, a really cute story. This one felt a little more realistic than some of the others because the characters had a connection before they actually met (via months of phone calls). Plus, it involved libraries and cute words like "zazzy." How could you go wrong?

"The Unlikely Likelihood of Falling in Love" by Jocelyn Davies: 5 shining stars!
I don't know what it was about this story, but I ADORED it! The MC is a self-professed math geek and she is working out the statistical probability of meeting up with a boy she falls for literally at first sight (without ever having met him at all). This should have been a disaster of insta-love proportions, but Sam (the MC) is so highly engaging and likable that I loved every minute of her story. This one's all about fate vs. statistics, and you don't know where it's all going to lead. (Hint: It leads to a story that made me all sorts of happy.)

"259 Million Miles" by Kass Morgan: 3.5 stars
This story had an interesting premise---a guy trying to get into a program to head to Mars in order to escape from his public humiliation that was posted to YouTube. It was an interesting spin on the typical social media story---It almost felt like the Mars part was a backdrop to that. I liked it, but it wasn't as good as the ones preceding it, and it was hard not to compare.

"Something Real" by Julie Murphy: 3 stars
I might have liked this story more if I'd read it earlier in the book, but I sort of started to feel like the bittersweet story of a family member who had died was being overdone in this anthology, so I had a harder time connecting to it than I might have otherwise. I liked the fun spin on the non-ideal dating show situation (even though it was pretty obvious early on where the story was going). A cute story, but not my favorite.

"Say Everything" by Huntley Fitzpatrick: 2.5-3 stars
Surprisingly, another story told in second person POV. I usually love Fitzpatrick, but I just never quite connected with this story and I also never felt a true connection between the main characters. There was nothing wrong with the story in the least, but I wasn't terribly invested.

"The Department of Dead Love" by Nicola Yoon: 3.5 stars
The concept for this one was a complete win. It took place in a sort of fantasy (or sci-fi?) world where people's relationships are handled via bureaucracy. There are departments to handle all sorts of issues related to love, including people who want a do-over in their relationship. I thought this was a really fun idea, and I loved seeing it play out. The only thing that kept me from absolutely loving it was because I didn't really see the connection between the MC and the person he ends up with. Still, there was so much more going on with this story that it was great anyway.

This is probably my favorite anthology that I've read up until this point. With the star-studded list of authors, it's no surprise that this was great reading! It's the perfect book to have on your nightstand, ready for one of those nights where you want to read something quick and adorably satisfying! I give the overall anthology 4/5 stars.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is a composite score. Like most story collections, some stories were awesome, some were just so-so, and some were horrid.
I loved the concept of "first meeting," though.
But I'm a jaded old woman. Teens will probably devour this--well--CUTE collection.

This book is squeal-worthy in many respects-- I love the diversity of the stories, even among the common theme of the meet-cute scenario. Queer characters, lead characters of color, and characters of all sizes take center stage and get the chance to fall in love. Special standouts in the collection include Emery Lord's adorable airport f/f story and Dhonielle Clayton's imagined world where tattoos help tell love destiny.
I recommend this book to sip on-- a story at a time-- rather than gulping them all down at once. Highly recommended for the young (and young at heart) looking for a happy ending (or at least a happily-for-now ending).

So many adorable stories of first loves and first meetings. I loved the diversity of the stories-both in originality and characters. There were poc, lesbian and gay love stories and each story was different from the last. So many great authors too. Definitely a 2018 release for people to look out for!

Meet Cute: Some People Are Destined to Meet is one of my most anticipated releases of 2018 since one of my favourite authors, Jennifer L. Armentrout, wrote a short story in this anthology. When NetGalley accepted to send me an e-arc copy of it, I simply couldn't believe it: I was extremely happy but still was a bit scared. What if I was disappointed? After all, it happened with Because You Love to Hate Me and maybe I just didn't love anthology. Well, I was wrong: This book is the cutest thing I have ever read and made me feel extremely happy.

The first thing that struck me while reading it was how diverse it was. I knew it was going to be, but I never thought it would be that diverse and I'm so glad it did. I felt so good reading it, and this book definitely is important. I may not be part of the LGBTQIA+ community as I am a straight cis woman but I can see how powerful this book is for people who belongs to this community.

I grew up reading books about girls falling in love with boys and boys falling in love with girls and it talked to me but I wish I would have grew up in a world in which every kind of relationships is portrayed, a world in which a gay boy can see himself in the main character, in which a trans bi girl can say that this book was about her. Everyone should see themselves in literature, and it was damn time a book like Meet Cute came out.

This book was natural. Boys fell in love with boys and girls with girls and boy with girls and girls with boys. Some were trans girls and some were trans boys and never once it was said that they were fake boys or fake girls; they just were who they were. Meet Cute also was about everyone, not just considering sexuality but also skin colours. It wasn't just about white people for once, but really about everyone. This anthology succeed in making everyone feeling represented, in just a few words and a few stories, something that is still missing a lot in today's literature.

Meet Cute made me feel good about our future. I dream to live in a world where people wouldn't assume you love boys because you look like their definition of a girl, where love is love is love is love is love.

Now talking about the anthology itself, I loved some short stories more than others. For example, I fell in love with Print Shop, Click, Oomph, The Dictionary of You and Me and Something Real. There were some that didn't work out for me, like Siege Etiquette and Say Everything (as I don't like the second person point of view), as well as The Intern (which deals with insta-love). The others were cute, sometimes weird but still adorable. In the end, the whole book is the definition of cuteness and love.

In conclusion, this anthology is simply amazing and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves romance or contemporary books.

Six word summary: Who doesn't love a meet cute?

Overall I enjoyed most of the stories - though it seemed the second half of the book was better than the first half for some reason. Some were much more original than others and some were a little too cheesy, even for a book about meet-cutes. I liked the diversity in the stories and the variety in the stories presented.
Here are the ratings out of 5 for each story:
Siege Etiquette by Katie Cotugno - 3
Print Shop by Nina LaCour - 3.5
Hourglass by Ibi Zoboi - 2
Click by Katharine McGee - 4.5
The Intern by Sara Shepard - 3.5
Somewhere That's Green by Meredith Russo - 3.5
The Way We Love Here by Dhonielle Clayton - 3
Oomph by Emery Lord - 4.5
The Dictionary of You and Me by Jennifer L Armentrout - 5
The Unlikely Likelihood of Falling In Love by Jocelyn Davis - 4.5
259 Million Miles by Kass Morgan - 3.5
Something Real by Julie Murphy - 4.5
Say Everything by Huntley Fitzpatrick - 3/5
The Department of Dead Love by Nicola Yoon - 4.5

I enjoyed this collection of stories much more than the last YA collection I read about summer romances. This book was full of stories from some really amazing authors and I could see each one's writing style clearly. It was great for my trip to Mexico, as I could focus just for a short period of time without forgetting details.