(2.5) I really wanted to love this book but it just didn't click for me. It was a super cute concept of a girl teaming up with Cupid to make matches but the plot was so cheesy and full of cliches. While the Cupid aspect was interesting, the pacing of the book was way off and first 1/2 didn't really do much. This also included quite a few tropes I didn't like (jock falls for outcast because "she's different from everyone else", bad boy is a jerk until you find out his sad story). This would probably work better for someone who enjoys classic YA tropes with the addition of Cupid.

I'll start with saying overall this was a really cute book, perfect for February and as with all books might be a better fit for some than others. I was firstly drawn to the cover of this and the concept is pretty unique. For me the biggest issue I had was the pacing of the book was way off. The first chapters introduced everything and then just focused on the mains school life for a while then it was sudden okay back to the whole cupid thing and action. There were some parts where suddenly the chapter starts and to me just a weird amount of time had passed and it wasn't really explained in to much detail what happened then. This book does deal with some family trauma and a lot of suddenly deeply sad moments. The emotion of the chapters seemed to switch quite suddenly a lot. In the beginning I think I liked the protagonist more at the start of the book but as it went on she kind of flat lined for me. (That may be more of a me thing reading younger high school age characters I'm finding more and more just isn't it for me.)

Thought it was an okay read. Was good for the Valentines season don't regret giving it a go. I'd be interested to see what other Mythical creatures will be featured in this series. Definitely will consider other books by this writer may not be top priority's though.

DNF @ 50%

it's a shame I didn't enjoy this book, I had really high hopes for it since it seemed like a fun and entertaining read. But I was left bored and skimming through the pages. The writing felt like run on sentences, where the characters would go on talking monologues without much back and forth in the conversation. It was fine at first since Amadeo had to explain how the cupid system worked, but it continued to be seen in many aspects of the book.

I was also hoping for more action by the halfway point, it seemed like the first mission was coming up and then not much was happening. For my taste it lacked things happening, as in we were reading about her day but not much was actually happening, it felt bland and never ending. By the time I got to the half way point I felt as if I had read 400 pages, when in reality it must've been around 200.

The characters were okay, seemingly normal teen characters, but there wasn't anything special that made me love them and stick to the reading. I didn't feel like I had to continue the book, nor did I feel any attachment to the characters, something that I hoped would've been achieved at the point of DNF..

I think the plot and concept were fantastic but what made me DNF in the first place was the pacing and the feeling of info dump dialogue. Definitely not for me, but could be for someone else!

I really liked the depth of the characters in this story. The author did a great job of showing how there is often more going on in others lives then appears at first glance. The small town setting worked well in this story particularly in showing how much the characters thought they knew about each other. I also thought the background for the cupid and showing how cupid society and magic worked was very well done as well. It was a cool magic system and fun to see how the love dust and magic arrows work.

I did however find the pacing to be a bit off. The first part of the book is kind of sad, as one would expect with a main character who has completely given up on any type of love, but I was surprised how long this part of the story lasted. Even with helping the cupid she’s very resistant to love and it felt like that slowed down the plot in the start of the book. By contrast once she starts believing in love again it feels like things go really fast and we don’t get much time to enjoy her happier life before the book is over. That said the ending is still well done and a super cute moment to end on.

I got this novel as an eARC from Net Galley but all opinions are my own.

I started out this novel excited about a story based on cupid and his matching system. What I got instead was a typical YA novel with very little of Cupid.

Something I found great about this novel was the emotional scenes. They were so beautifully written and poignant. The relationship between Megan and her dad was so well executed.

However, this was otherwise fairly plain. The characters felt one dimentional, the main character was oblivious to anyone but herself. It also had a very strong aura of the "I'm not like other girls" trope that I dislike very strongly.

There was so little action in this novel, almost none of it was actually about cupid. Instead it was repetitive inner dialogue that could have been cut out.

This novel was not for me, and I had a very difficult time finishing it.

Playing Cupid by S. C. Alban, 263 pages. The Parliament House, 2021. $7.
Language: R (51 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Megan has been carefully upkeeping the walls around her heart since her mother died five years ago. She keeps her distance from everyone, including her father, and is counting down the days to her early graduation -- a goal being threatened by her flakey home ec partner Jay. When Megan accidentally hits a cupid with her car, he insists that she help him match his last three marks as compensation, which is exactly what this girl set against love needs.
Megan’s story is cute, funny, and imaginative with its new spin on the roles of cupid. Also, readers can learn a lot about love and trusting themselves along with Megan. Alban’s book was hard for me to read, though, because most of the humor felt like inconsistencies in the writing and negative put-downs. The mature content rating is for mention of underage drinking and drug use; the violence rating is for mention of suicide.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

A very sweet story! Lots of tragedy and sad family circumstances, but a gentle romance blossoms amongst these difficulties.

The protagonist was not my favourite to read from- she was a bit dense at times considering her age. She was fine, but rather flat. She has some development towards the end I appreciated. Megan and Amadeo’s relationship was my favourite, I enjoyed their banter.

The idea of the plot was really interesting and I liked Amadeo, the Cupid, a lot. He added some vibrancy to the story and pushed the romance along. Megan and her love interest, Jay, both struggle with complex family dynamics. Megan lost her mother and her father is absent in his parenthood and relationship with Megan because of this. Jay struggles with a secret and opening up to others. While the plot itself is pretty straight-forward and predictable, I liked the Cupid role and thought that was super fun.

Overall a sweet read for the upcoming Valentine holiday that younger readers will love! Thank you to NetGalley and Independent Publishers Group for the ARC.

CW: death of a parent, grief, mental health issues

First, Thank you to Netgalley and The Parliament House for an eARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have to admit, I started out on the wrong foot with this novel. I didn't like the main character from the get go. Yes, it is sad that her mother died. But that doesn't automatically make me like a character. Tragic? Yes. No one wants to see their parents die at such a young age. However, that doesn't give a character an automatic pass into likeable territory. Aside from her interactions with Amadeo, and not all of them then, I just didn't find Megan to be that interesting. I found her a bit dense and difficult, actually. Also, Jay was the type of guy that I would have found obnoxious in high school.

The rest of the book was just fine. It was cute, but predictable. Both father and daughter having to move past their barriers that they've erected after the death of her mother and move forward. Girl denies love of boy, but gives in at the end. Fun with a cupid all along the way, which was definitely the highlight of the book. Amadeo was funny and endearing, and the epilogue was great.

Overall, if you like contemporary YA novels with a bit of romance and magic, it should be a solid choice.

2/5

I just want to start by thanking NetGalley, the Independent Publishers Group and SC Alban for sending me this eARC of "Playing Cupid." Now for the review!

I'm going to be honest. I didn't love this book. The premise was so cute and even the cover art was wonderful but I couldn't connect with the story. It wasn't great. This book is about a girl who by crazy circumstances has to assist a cupid. I really loved the idea of it, however there were huge sections of info dumping and it caused me to "tune out" parts of the book. The characters didn't connect with me and I just felt like the story didnt really matter. The writing was simple and easy which made it a breeze to read but I just didnt live the story even though I wanted to so badly. 2/5 purely because I thought the premise was cute. But other than that. I didnt love it :(. I would definitely read more of SC Alban's writing but just book just didnt do it for me.

I HAVE TO WRITE THIS REVIEW IN ALL CAPS. WHY, YOU ASK? WELL, IT'S BECAUSE I WANT TO SCREAM HOW MUCH I LOVED THIS STORY. MAGIC. WHO DOESN'T ENJOY A STORY WITH MAGIC? I FOUND THE CHARACTERIZATIONS REALISTIC AND RELATABLE. THE PLOT HELD ME THE ENTIRE TIME. I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED THE BOOK IN ITS ENTIRETY. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND IT TO LOVERS OF YA.

This book had a ton of heart. And made me cry a lot.

Megan is our main character. After some personal tragedy, she has decided to build a wall around her heart. After hitting a Cupid named Amadeo (WITH HER CAR). This Cupid now needs help with making matches because while he may be injury-resistant, getting hit with a car injured his arm and hurt his archery skills.

Thus we get a buddy-film/novel situation and it was lovely! Amadeo was amazing! His humor, his inability to let Megan forget about hitting him, his dramatics. He was just great! The dynamic between the man with the career built on love and the girl who built a wall around her heart to keep love out was fun.

As much as I liked this book, I wouldn't have been opposed to some more characterization of "the boy she can't stand," Jay. I feel like Megan and Jay's relationship needed a little more something? I just wanted more of a friendship between the two of them, maybe more texts or phone calls.

However, overall this was a sweet (sometimes sad) novel about love and how it can both wreck and heal people. Amadeo was (obviously) the star of this novel, and the Cupid system that this book had is actually one of the best I've read. I'm interested to see what other Mythical Creatures the author takes on (as this is book one in a Mythical Creatures Collection and the author lays some groundwork in this novel for other mythical creatures' backgrounds). I wouldn't mind some characters from this book appearing in future novels, which could be really fun. (*cough*Amadeo cameo*cough*). The romance was mostly sweet (although it wasn't the best aspect of the novel), but this was still a nice Valentine's/Christmas novel. (The elements are more Valentine's but the time of year is more Christmas).

Special thanks to NetGalley & Independent Publishers Group / The Parliament House for the e-ARC. I really appreciate it!

In Playing Cupid, our main character Megan keeps everyone at a distance and has lost her faith in love after having lost her mother and developed a strained relationship with her father. Her main goal is to graduate early and move on with her life, but getting caught up in helping a Cupid reach their yearly love quota throws a wrench in her plans. It's a cute story about love and loss, with Megan opening her eyes up to love and learning to deal with her grief about her mother's death without letting it hinder her relationships now. Her grief was palpable and really made me feel for her, and I was more invested in her dealing with that loss and reconciling with her dad, rather than what was going on in her romantic life.

I struggled to like her love interest, Jay. I've always had a dislike for love interests who are shown to be arrogant and lazy, and Jay is that for majority of the book. For example, He flakes on Megan multiple times, and calls her 'Meggo' when he knows she has a problem with it since her late mother used to call her that. While we learn more about him later in the book, and I warm up to him a little, I still don't think it entirely justifies his actions in blowing off Megan and letting her do all the work (as well as other classmates in the past?).

Amadeo was an interesting character, and I enjoyed reading about him and wish we could have gotten more about him in a way that was less expositional. Overall, it was a sweet read that I think readers who love fluffy romances will enjoy.

I would like to thank NetGalley and The Parliament House for providing me with the e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In Playing Cupid by SC Alban, Megan Cooper has lost faith in love after the death of her mother and lives miserably with her emotionally distant father. However, after hitting a cupid with her car, she is tasked with making love matches and hopefully, finding love for her own. I liked the plot of the book as well as its narration, however I feel that the book could have done better with more characters.

The plot is short and sweet; it is about Megan and how she learns to love and not just romantically. I liked the slow development of Megan and her father’s relationship, which highlights the difficulties that a father-daughter relationship can be inflicted with. In addition, Megan’s own love quest is something nice to read about because it has got awkwardness, mystery, and a long journey to friendship and love. Also, I liked to read about Megan’s quest to help her cupid friend find his love targets; their adventures brought some life to the story.

For a book that is short, the narration was well-paced. The story developed slowly, which allowed the easy development of the different relationships addressed in this book. As a first person narration, its steady speed allowed the reader to fully delve into Megan’s thoughts and feelings, therefore these were nicely spaced out. In this regard, the first narration is important to the story because it helps understand Megan’s problem with love. There are times the first narration feels boring because it is focused just on Megan, nevertheless, this focus shows the reader how the protagonist comes out of her shell.

There are times when a book I read has a good amount of characters, but not enough exploration of each of them. However, in this book, it is the complete opposite; there are very few characters. Although, they are well-developed, I feel that the story could have had more characters, which could have added more twists and turns to it. The plot seems to be dragged because there are not many people in it. Nonetheless, the focus on a handful of characters does help the narrator to zoom in on her journey to find love. If you are a fan of young adult romances, then Playing Cupid by SC Alban is the book for you.

3/5 stars

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

First of all, this cover is insanely gorgeous! That's what drew me to this book, and I really wanted to read it once I saw the MC and I shared our name.

Megan's mother died, leaving Megan alone with her father. Overwhelmed with grief, he becomes distant and leaves Megan to get through her grief and life alone. She's tired of their strained relationship and her high school where she has no friends. Her solution is to graduate early, but her grades in home ec are bad, and she needs to ace the final if she wants to graduate early. Unfortunately, she gets partnered with Jay, who is notorious for skipping out on projects. On top of that, she hits Cupid with her car, injuring him and leaving her to fulfill his role. Between the final and playing Cupid, Megan's life gets pretty crazy.

As much as I liked some aspects of this book, others fell flat for me. The prologue and many other parts of the book were beautifully written. I also liked the idea of cupids and their realm. However, Megan and Jay weren't that great. Megan did something towards the end of the book which was completely not okay and it was just glossed over. And even after we learn why Jay has been skipping work, I don't think that it was enough to justify his actions. I was expecting more of an enemies-to-lovers romance, but it was pretty much insta-love with Megan being mad at Jay while also admiring how attractive he was. They rarely interacted and their chemistry was almost non-existent until the end. I did like the ending and thought it wrapped things up nicely.

All in all, I liked some parts of this book while disliking several others. Maybe another reader who likes YA and insta-love would appreciate this more! The ending was satisfying and the book was pretty clean with only a few swear words.

It's true, I've given a book a five-star rating before, and to achieve a five-star rating, a book must meet my incredibly high standards. For me, putting a book on such a high pedestal comes as a rarity... 'Playing Cupid' is one of those rare, one in a million books that NEEDS to have the recognition it deserves. S.C. Alban has offered readers an utterly wonderful, heartbreaking, and dreamy world to enter into, and it's only the first book in the new series. This book is EVERYTHING and more that you want from a YA contemporary fantasy romance novel.

The characters are so raw and familiar that they feel like they could be real people. They have their setbacks and flaws, but Megan, her Dad and Jay in particular, grow, learn, grieve, feel and love in such an overwhelming beautiful way. I am not one that ever cries while reading a novel...but I sobbed like no tomorrow.

For me, the love and passion that I feel has gone into this book is nothing short of a masterpiece. I wouldn't be the slightest bit shocked to find that 'Playing Cupid' becomes one of the most popular books of 2021. If it didn't make me look utterly insane, I would scream my praises for this book into the void if it meant that more people would read it.

This book is set to release on the 23rd of February 2021, and I BEG you to get yourself a copy.

I have never been prouder to say that I received a copy of this book from S.C. Alban, The Parliament House Press, and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This book stood out for its gorgeous cover, and I added it to my TBR because the main character and I share a name. I am a simple girl, with simple desires!

That being said, it was predictable. Characters suffer behind personal walls, love seems unattainable, and by the end everyone has a happy ending. I liked that the book really only focused on Megan, Jay, and Amadeo- adding other characters would’ve made it more complicated (not a bad thing!) but I think Alban really wanted to go for simplicity. Simplicity and predictability make for an easy read, but that doesn’t negate the emotion in the story.

Though its been six years, Megan is still suffering after the loss of her mother. Her father is distant, it’s hard for her to maintain friends, and she really just wants to graduate and start college to get out of her small town where everyone knows everything about each other. Enter her home ec final parter, Jay Michaels, and a car accident involving a sassy five foot tall cupid, Megan learns that some things, like love, don’t require overthinking. Both Amadeo and Jay force Megan to open up and start to move on.

The characters are lovable but the plot is comical at times, and not necessarily in a good way. I like Jay, even if he is a generic, classically trope-y male love interest; Amadeo is extremely over the top and nowhere near as funny as he (or Alban) thinks he is; and Megan is a very, very dense girl for someone who’s graduating early with (practically) all As- the last 20% of the book is spent with her essentially in denial about liking Jay and trying to find him a match while not considering herself as a possibility. I understand she struggles with letting people in, but it took her way too long to reach the same conclusion about her feelings as the reader and Amadeo, magic or no magic!

I will admit I cried at certain parts, but that’s because I am a huge baby. Other than the death of Megan’s mother, there isn’t anything that deep about the story. It’s very surface, and would’ve made a good 2000s Disney Original.

*My blog contains one spoiler alert but it’s included because it has relevance to my review*

This book is fast paced and has such a cozy atmosphere to it.

I cried so many times reading this it is so beautiful. Megan’s character development and the way her relationship with her dad progressed throughout the book wrecked me. Amadeo was a fun contrast to Megan and added the fun tone to the book.

That ending was exactly what I needed and it made me lose it.

I'm not sure why this book didn't work with me, but I just never connected to it. Some aspects of it I enjoyed, and other aspects I disliked. There's definitely potential here, but this book fell just a bit short.

What I Liked
-The way Cupids were portrayed in this! I love that we were given explanations on their lifestyle, and their government. It added an entirely new element, and it was completely different than anything else I've read.
-The writing. Parts of this were beautifully written, and I loved it!
-The length. I really feel like this was the best possible length. It was long enough for me to get invested, but not too long.
-The epilogue. I felt like it was a super fun way to end the story!

What I Disliked
-Our main character, Megan. I liked her for the first half, but she really irritated me in the second half. One of her decisions really irritated me, and I hated that there were no consequences for it.
-The main romance wasn't necessarily a dislike, but I didn't really care about it. Jay didn't stand out to me at all, he was a fairly bland character.

I can definitely see people loving this, but I just wasn't my type of book! I'll be keeping an eye on this author!

Thanks to S.C. Alban and and Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an earc to read in exchange for a review!

Rating: 2.5

The cover for this book is one of my favorites from the year so far but sadly I didn’t entirely like the book.

The one thing I enjoyed about it was the retelling of Cupid. It was fun and unique! He also is quite sarcastic and definitely makes Megan’s life interesting. I really enjoyed the interactions they had together. Also, it ends with an epilogue explaining things that happened in the plot a bit more and I was not expecting that!

Since this is a book that includes Cupid I figured that the main character, Megan, would end up learning a thing or two about love. The thing is, the romance just wasn’t believable for me. Megan and the love interest didn’t have many interactions and I guess that’s why Cupid comes in. It also mostly happens well over 50% into the book and that makes for the ending to feel rushed.

Another thing I didn’t like was how quickly important topics were glossed over. Megan has issues with her dad ever since her mother died of cancer and when they don’t have many scenes together it’s hard to believe that they would make up so quickly. The love interest also deals with family issues and again, it was rushed through so it felt like what was the point in bringing it up besides for Megan and him to have a connection.

Overall, I liked the parts with Cupid but everything else was quickly glossed over and and the ending was too rushed for my taste. I do think others will like this one but sadly it wasn’t for me.

A charming and original take on Cupid. Our heroine injured Cupid in an accident and had to help him complete his assignments. It's touching and heartwarming. I like how the heroine is forced to deal with her emotions after closing off her heart for so long. Love how things get resolved. A perfect ending.