If I had to sum up Honey Girl in one word, it’d simply be exquisite. It's a tale spun out of stars; a million warm hugs and tough-love conversations wrapped in tales of lonely monsters and folklore. Every once in a while, you’ll find a book - or maybe, the book has found you, I’m not really sure how the magic of books works - that seems to be exactly what you need to hear at that moment. A story that has nestled its way into your soul, and has said “I’ve made myself a permanent home here”. Honey Girl is one of those books, for me.

Morgan Rogers is a brilliant wordsmith; her words have a way of making you feel like you’re there in the story. I want to frame her words and hang it in a museum, tattoo it on my skin, imprint it in my brain - you get the idea. Point being, Rogers’ writing is simply beautiful. There’s no other word for it.

Full review to come on 2/16, on here, Goodreads and on my blog www.teatimelit.com/

“Us lonely creatures have to stick together.”

*3.5 beautifully relatable stars!

Do not let my rating dishearten anyone from reading this book, because the book is beautiful!

The premise of the book alone is enough to hook you in, it adds a little mystery into the romance that’s done amazingly. The found family aspect within the book is enough to make your ‘I want friends like that’ heart swoon.

This book does not shy away from tough topics like mental illness, racism, the crazy (sometimes toxic) dynamics with family, self harm, loneliness, and the pressure we put on ourselves, and at some parts I found myself tearing up at all of the feelings I was getting, relatable or not, I was feeling so much throughout.

The way the romance is written between the two characters is slow, but in a way fast, which might not make sense. But, with half of the book being about a mystery girl the main character married and then finding and interacting with said mystery girl, and learning to love this girl after one night of champagne bliss, it all flows slowly when it comes to the meeting and understanding. Then, when it comes to the feels? The love? The intense emotion? That’s fast and as I’ve already mentioned: beautiful!!

But there was something about this book that made it hard for me to breeze through, the book is not incredibly long and it is the perfect length in my opinion. I just found myself taking forever to read through it/finish it, and I’m sure it had more to do with myself than the actual book and it’s writings.

Which is why, even though I adored it so much, I’m giving it a 3.5.

“Everyone is uncertain, Grace Porter. Sometimes you just have to keep going anyway.”

Have you ever felt like you were a hamster, spinning on a never ending wheel? You feel the rungs with your tiny hamster claws. Each one is a new accomplishment, the next step in the equation, the next thing to do once you’ve complete what you think you’re meant to.

This book, Honey Girl, questions what happens to the hamster when the wheel breaks.

The brilliant and beautiful, blessed by the sun, Dr. Grace Porter has been working her entire to garner the approval of her father, “Colonel.” Feeling like she’s let him down by pursuing a path in astronomy, Grace finds herself flying off the hamster wheel when an interview she was a shoo-in (shoe-in?) for, falls apart due to the company’s systemic racism. In attempts to recover from the horror of her accomplishments and identity being questioned, Grace travels to Vegas with two of her besties. She lives the life we all dream of- getting drunk and married to a dreamy flowered girl who talks of monsters in the night on her NYC radio show, Yuki.

Feeling like she needs something to do and go for, Grace and Yuki strike up a long distance relationship, gradually falling into a quick infatuation that blossoms into an even quicker love.

To avoid spoilers, I won’t get into what throws a rift into their relationship. I’m glad romance novels are getting away from the misunderstanding. This book had nothing of the sort, but it still had a miscommunication that had Grace running fast enough that I doubt she even put her shoes on before she left.

The book was filled with flowery sweet prose that occasionally verged on purple, but I really think the author made it work for her. It was established in the beginning that this would be her style and she kept it throughout, leading to a great authorial voice.

While I think this was a case of insta-love, the shining amber honeycomb in this novel was the friendships and the diversity across primary, secondary, and tertiary characters. The real look at female friendship and supporting one another through infatuation, mental illness, a parent’s health issues, work struggles and the like was a great display of how things work in most of the real world, and how they ought to work everywhere.

Trigger warnings for self harm (both mentioned and on page), recounting of amputation, mental illness, racism

Thanks so much to NetGalley for this ARC! I think I need to come back to this book when I'm more in the mood for it - so please note this may be throwing off my initial thoughts! It's a beautiful premise, and I thought there were some beautiful moments - but I just wasn't connecting to this book and the style as much as I was hoping to! Again - I'll try to pick this one up again soon as I see so many people loved it!

A not-so-young adult coming of age 🍯 💫 ⁣
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HONEY GIRL is not quite what I expected from a book advertised as a romance following a quickie Vegas wedding between strangers. Instead, it’s a sweet and soulful novel exploring what it’s like to still be finding your path well into adulthood. ⁣
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I loved the side characters and one-liners in HONEY GIRL, but sometimes it felt like the lyrical prose was having to work too hard for a so-so plot. Although it wasn’t what I thought it would be, HONEY GIRL is special in its own way and I’ll always love seeing queer POC celebrated. ⁣
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Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin for providing an eARC in exchange for this review. ⁣

I cannot tell you how ecstatic I was when I opened my email and saw I’d been approved for an ARC of this book. It was one of my most anticipated reads of 2021. A drunken Vegas wedding? A post-grad trying to figure out her next step in life? That gorgeous cover? This was a book that felt written with me in mind. And yet, it kind of fell flat.

This book has such a good foundation and explores such great themes, but it feels a little lacking in execution. I love close friendships and found families, but the ones in this book feel a little forced to me. They give off that vibe when you’re with your friends and see an ex in public and you kind of make a show of how happy and moved on you are. None of Grace’s relationships feel natural.

Grace’s internal struggle also suffers from a lot of telling rather than showing. She tells us over and over about how tired she is, how desperate she is to be perfect and live up to her father’s expectations. Her emotions aren’t palpable because we don’t feel her conflicted feelings.

Her romance with Yuki has some killer lines, but I wanted a little more development on that front. I knew going into this book that it was more about Grace’s internal journey than the romance, but the romance is part of that internal journey. Moreover, I wanted to get to know Yuki better than we do. Why has Grace fallen for Yuki, other than the fact that Yuki allegedly sees her in a way others don’t? Why has Yuki fallen for grace, other than her honey-colored hair? I just needed more substance from the romance than I got.

Don’t get me wrong, this book was good. I just think it could’ve used a little more work and edits. I know Rogers has it in her to develop her characters and their relationships more authentically. The last 20% of this book is proof of that. I finally started to understand Grace and her struggles more as we saw them explored, rather than told to us.

I also appreciated the themes Rogers explores here. After I graduated college, I definitely felt a little lost. I still don’t have a job in my field. It’s hard out here! Unfortunately, it’s even harder for Black women, no matter how qualified they are. I can also relate to the pressure Grace feels to be the best. Though my parents are more supportive than Grace’s father, I still sometimes feel I’m not who they want me to be. I know they just want the best for me, but it can be hard to live up to that. We’re all only human after all.

On a less personal note, the writing style is pretty good. It’s straightforward, yet introspective. And when it wants to be romantic, boy is it ever! I’m eager to see Rogers further hone her craft as she writes more books.

Because yeah, I’d read something by Morgan Rogers again. Honey Girl is a pretty good debut. It’s not the knock out of the park I was expecting, but it got me to tear up a bit towards the end. And Rogers sure knows how to make the reader swoon! If you’re okay with some clunky dialogue and somewhat forced interpersonal relationships, you’d probably like this book. I especially recommend it to people who have reached a long sought after goal and don’t know where to go next. And if like Kehlani you like your girls just like you like your honey, then you just might fall in love with Honey Girl.

Grace Porter spent her entire adult life focusing on one goal: earning her Ph.D. in Astronomy and becoming the best in her field. At twenty-eight-years old, she's got the diploma, but now what? Grace and her two best friends decide to celebrate by going to Vegas as a way for Grace to finally let loose. Being raised under a strict ex-military father, Grace isn't one to let her inhibitions go wild, so the last thing she expected from this trip was to wake up after a drunken night only to find a ring on her finger, an empty bed, and a note from the woman she hazily remembers marrying asking to come find her.

This one fleeting moment of rebellion against her regimented lifestyle leaves Grace questioning everything she's ever known. All of a sudden, her degree no longer feels fulfilling, and the weight of her father's expectations and repressed anxieties come crushing onto Grace's shoulders. So, she does the only thing she could think of to escape the burnout-- she tracks down her elusive wife and flees her home in Portland to visit her in New York City. When Grace finally properly meets her wife, Yuki, she's thrown for an even bigger loop. In New York, Grace is finally able to breathe for the first time in years, and it's all thanks to this wonderfully weird creative woman she married. But Grace soon learns all good things must come to an end, and when reality comes crashing down, it hits her like a ton of bricks. For Grace to find true fulfillment in her life, she'll need to stop running from all the pain she's hidden deep inside and decide what really matters most.

I went into this thinking it was going to be a fluffy contemporary, and while there is a romance, it's more of a subplot. This was more about Grace coming into her own and discovering what she truly wants out of life. She has spent the majority of her life doing what she thinks others expect of her and not stopping to think if that's actually what she wants. I enjoyed watching her go on this journey of self-discovery, and while at times, it was difficult for her to face her fears, she eventually sets herself onto the path of closure she needs. It was so satisfying and very relatable. Going back to the romance between her and Yuki, while it did play a smaller part than I originally thought, it doesn't mean it wasn't impactful in its own right. The pair were adorable together and brought out one another's vulnerabilities. Another highlight was the friendships. Both Grace and Yuki have an amazing support system and I loved every second their friends were on the page. They also added such levity to this which helped it not feel so dark. There were only small details about this that I had issues with. Namely the pacing, which felt uneven between the first half and second, and the writing, which at times just felt a bit clunky. Other than that, I thought this was enjoyable.

Honey Girl is a delightful, smart, funny, brave, emotionally tender book. Rogers is a great, talented writer with a wonderful sense of both sentences and pacing. Honey Girl tackles some huge, big-picture issues---oppression in academia, racism, familial pressures, the job market for millennials--while still keeping the focus on our main characters and their unique, dark comedy sort of long-distance love. The book is wonderful for its work about queer women (the main characters) but also includes a medley of queer friends, which is not seen nearly enough in literature. Queer/chosen family is so special in this book, and was done really well and meaningfully. I can't recommend this book enough, and relatedly, think it would work wonderfully for a movie/TV adaptation. Whatever else Rogers writes, I'm definitely buying.

This was not an easy read, but it’s one I’m going to be recommending all through 2021. For one thing, Honey Girl is gloriously written and every single character is their own universe you want to dive into. The relationships between family members, friends, and otherwise are so honest and telling of the variety of human experience. As we follow Grace’s physical journey across the USA and mental journey as she settles into life post-graduation, her struggles ring true the more she delves into them. I appreciate the way that the institutional racism she’s endured in her professional life doesn’t just go away after just a side mention, but it is a trauma she finds herself working through. This is a beautifully written novel about risk, the connections we make with other people, and being lost in this huge universe.

I want to start this off by saying that I was not in the right mood for this book. Based off the synopsis, I was expecting something light and funny. I was expecting a romance, and that is not what I got. If I go back and reread this, I can definitely see myself enjoying it more, but now was not the right time for this.

Unlike some other reviewers, I actually enjoyed the first half of this much more than the last half. I loved meeting Grace's friends, and Yuki was a super interesting character. The second half, and especially the last quarter just felt clunky to me. The story began focusing on Grace's mental health and her family relationships, which were not what I was in the mood for.

I also really struggled to connect to Grace. This might have been because of the way this was told. It wasn't first person, but we were told what she was thinking, and it was just a little strange. I do feel like her conflicts were super important to the world right now, and she was an inspiring character though.

I think the real strength in this story is the side characters. So many strong friendships were represented, and they were all so diverse. I loved when we actually got to see them interact with each other, which is why I liked the first half of the book so much.

Overall, this wasn't the right book for me personally, but I can see why other people like it! This is an amazing debut, and Rogers has serious potential as an author!

Thanks to Netgalley and Morgan Rogers for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review

When I saw the 'woke up married to a stranger in Vegas' plot I thought this was going to be a tropetastic cheesy romance, but it turned out to be far more thoughtful than that - more focused on protagonist Grace's post-PhD lostness, the systemic oppressions she faces as a black lesbian trying to have a career in the sciences, and the immense pressure and perfectionism that's chipping away at her mental health after a lifetime of her military father's harsh expectations. Plus a burgeoning romance with her unexpected wife. A lovely read about a woman putting herself back together after years of pushing hard which I think lots of people will relate to, with some dreamy romantic writing too.

I am so grateful to have received an ARC of Honey Girl. It was absolutely incredible. The representation across the board is absolutely amazing. If you're looking for a diverse book, Honey Girl is a great read.

It was different than I expected going into it, but I loved it none the less. The writing is absolutely beautiful and the story was amazing and heart wrenching.

This book is a must read.

I was elated to get an e-ARC of this from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review! I think the universe knew I needed a book like this right now (or at least I knew I did). This is a coming of age novel that isn't about high school years and the MC isn't an adolescent; which it refreshing and makes it all the more believable as an actual coming-of-age to me.

This was not at all what I expected it to be, but it was really nice. For some reason I expected it to be more comedic, but it's actually terribly heartbreaking and beautiful. Morgan Rogers takes the drunk-married-in-vegas trope and turns it into something wonderful and touching, instead of corny or funny.

The representation in this book is fantastic. Our protagonist Grace is a Black, biracial, lesbian protagonist and her love interest, Yuki, is a Japanese lesbian. Grace's best friends are Black and Latina, white and mentally ill, and Indian. There are also Black, Muslim, trans and Indigenous side characters, and this is how books should be: reflecting reality. This is also one of the first books I've read that faces mental illness head-on in a way that is neither glorifying nor demonizing of it.

I think the most disappointing part of this story was the relationship between Grace and Yuki to be fully honest. I didn't like how mean and even overbearing Yuki could be at times; she acted like she knew Grace or knew better than Grace in a way that seemed like a red flag to me. I wish there had been a longer buildup of their relationship because it moved quite quickly... but then again, they got married the first night they met! It was also hard to keep track of how much time was going by at the end of the book. For this reason, I liked the first half of the book better than the second.

The relationships that Grace has with her friends and her chosen family are absolutely beautiful and was by far my favourite aspect. I wanted to cry so many times just reading about how much love she has for Xi, Agnes, Meera, Raj and Baba Vihaan. I also enjoy books where characters don't have a perfect relationship with their parents, especially the parent(s) still involved in their daily life, and this is definitely one of those.

I felt both comforted and haunted by this book; there were some parts that resonated so deeply with me, even though Grace is 28/29 and I'm only 21, that it scared me. Rogers' writing is poetic and beautiful, especially when talking about the stars and the universe and Grace's place within it all. This novel definitely had all the components and more of a great coming-of-age tale.

CW: self harm, misogynoir and systemic/academic racism, mental illness, parental neglect

Grace has just attained her PhD in a predominately white male field. Grace is neither white nor male. Grace is, however, a perfectionist and over achiever. So when life after graduation doesn't go according to the plan she has lived by, she doesn't know how to cope. She wakes up one morning, in a hotel room in Vegas, wearing a wedding ring and a t-shirt that says bride, with a photo of her and a woman whose name she doesn't remember getting married. There is also a business card that has the information for a late night radio show. Grace heads back to her life, not knowing who her know wife is or what drove her to get married in the middle of the night in Vegas to a stranger. When things get difficult, Grace tunes in to the radio show only to hear the voice of the woman she took vows with.

This was a beautifully written book, but I felt that the description made it feel more like a romance novel than it was. From my perspective it was a coming of age novel with a romance sub plot. I adored the cast of characters and their interactions. I liked seeing Grace work on her relationships with her parents, her friends, and her relationship with herself. I like how comfortable the writing was and how the plot moved without significant down time.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

What I didn't like: Some of the language had inconsistency. Certain parts were described beautifully, poetically, and read like a song. Others felt young, as if they were being written by a young adult. I believe that it may have been a purposeful decision by the author, but it left a big of a disconnect for me, as a reader.

What I liked. I was originally pulled into the story because of the premise of two women falling in love and waking up married in Vegas. What a fun plot for a story! However, this book was so much more than that. Grace is a well- developed, thoughtful, beautiful character. I feel like anyone would be able to relate to Grace and her flaws, and her search for perfection and acceptance. I think that this is an important book about mental health, acceptance, and the complexities of being a Black, LGBTQ+ woman in the STEM field who is trying to navigate both her professional and personal life. While the book covers some difficult topics, I found the book hopeful and enlightening. The theme of romance and and family (both chosen and given) were beautifully interwoven into the story. Yuki was probably my favorite character in the book (I love her podcast!), and I absolutely adored the minor characters surrounding Yuki and Grace. I hope this author writes a novel from the perspective of one of Yuki or Grace's friend groups!

If Nayyirah Waheed and Rupi Kaur teamed up to write a lesbian contemporary romance, it'd be this. Honey Girl has the most jaw-droppingly beautiful prose I've ever read. Coupled with a realistic protagonist struggling with how to just be and a cast of amazing queer side characters I didn't want to leave, Honey Girl is a magnetic, powerful, and incredible book that will surely rock the entire contemporary romance genre

Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for an advanced copy of Honey Girl in exchange for an honest review.

"What's up with you?" she asks. "The Man? Institutional racism? The gender binary?" Grace laughs. The sound echoes in the empty hallway. "All three," she says. "I've also been having this existential crisis about my place in the world and what I'm supposed to be doing with my life and who I even am?" She scrunched her nose. "Really Inconvenient."

Grace has spent so much time striving to be the best and go the furthest that she didn't stop to make sure it was what she wanted. After a drunken marriage in Vegas, she is finally pulled to evaluate what brought her to that point. While it may sound like it from the inside cover, this book is not a fluffy romance and is much more a heartfelt commentary on millennial burnout.

I'll start by saying I think these types of books are important and I'm hopeful that publishing houses will continue to pursue #ownvoices and more diverse authors, characters, and storylines. The themes of this book are written in a very relatable way and it was great to see therapy be presented and experienced as the solution to mental health issues. The examination of Grace's relationships and choices towards the last third of the book was portrayed well as the non-linear path that is so often messier than one person being wrong and one person being the victim.

The pace was slower than I would have liked, and the first third of the book felt both clunky and like it could have used some additional editing, which made it hard to be pulled into the story. Growing up in a military household with a father not unlike the Colonel I found those parts of the book more than a bit grating. While the messaging was there, it was done in such a repetitive and almost caricature-like way that it didn't fit with the realness so much of the rest of the book showed.

The writing started to clear out a bit once Yuki and her roommates were introduced which allowed me to get more invested and the book started to pick up from there. The imagery was well done, mostly around the discussion of Yuki which is likely why I enjoyed her so much. I also loved that smells were often the descriptor of choice, it was a unique way to set the stage and develop characters in a quick but interesting way.

All in all, a good read but not a light one so going in with the right mindset will make it a more enjoyable experience.

Dr. Grace Porter is lost since she finished her doctoral work. After a career setback, she finds herself waking up in a Las Vegas hotel room with a wedding ring on her finger and a note from the woman she drunkenly married the night before. Grace struggles with what she wants to do with her life while managing familial expectations. Morgan Rogers paints an intricate picture of queerness and what it is to be black in academia and female in STEM. Honey Girl is more bildungsroman than romance, but still guarantees a happy ending.

Wow I had no idea what I was in for when I picked up this book and I honestly mean that in the best way possible!

Now, I've seen few people say this but I think it needs repeating: this is not a romance. Not in the way you're probably expecting it. If you're like me, you heard this was a book where a woman gets drunk and wakes up married to a stranger and you just pictured all the rom-com gloriousness...but I'm here to tell you this story will not be giving you that. Not exactly. See, this book is more of a coming of age with a *side* of romance. It's definitely there and the romance we get is so beautiful, but it's not the focal point of this novel. This is a book about a woman named Grace who has tried her best in life to be perfect. She over works herself to the point of exhaustion and even then, she will try to keep going. This book is about Grace and what happens when her body and mind finally give in and give her no choice but to start taking a look at what her life is really like and what she needs if she wants to be happy.

There are so many things that I loved about this book: the diversity, the found family (aka the amazing secondary cast), the writing and the way that the author can make you feel so many things. I found all the intricate and multi-faceted characters and their relationships with each other so fascinating and fun to read. Ximena and Agnes, Meera and Raj...honestly I could read books on each of them because I found them so interesting. But the thing that I loved most about this book is probably Grace's journey and reading her story. I found her to be such a relatable character and even when she made mistakes, I loved her. I love that this book is a gentle reminder that there is no age limit to when we should have our crap together. You don't just wake up one day and become a fully efficient and responsible adult. We all grow and learn at different times and sometimes you can spend your whole life thinking you know who you want to be only to wake up one day and realize that who you wanted to be when you were 18 is not who you are now in this very moment. I needed that reminder and I bet many other readers will feel the same way too.

That being said, there were a few things that didn't quite work for me and what ultimately led to me not being able to give this 5 stars. While I found the writing to be very beautiful, there were quite a few times where I felt like I was being told things rather than shown, especially when it came to the relationship and time between Grace and Yuki. I also felt like we didn't get to really know Yuki and I felt like there was so much more there that should've been explored with her character. Honestly, the same could be said about all the secondary characters. The author builds these characters up and gives them such interesting backstories, but then they kind of just...disappear and for some of the side characters, we don't really get to find out what happens with them.

Overall, this was such a great read and I definitely recommend it to everyone! I cannot wait to see what this author writes next because I will definitely be picking it up!

I LOVE HONEY GIRL! I don’t always love romance, but I absolutely loved this. I don’t think folks going into this thinking it’s ROMANCE romance will satisfy everyone, because this is really a millennial story of growth and figuring your shit out.

Yuki was such a babe, and the late night radio show was probably my favorite element.

I can’t wait to see everyone lose their minds for this book!!