ROMeANTICALLY CHALLENGED by Marina Adair

Growing up different, being treated different, trying to always live up to others expectations and your own can be exhausting mentally and physically. Slow down and smell the roses. See the world around you. Fall in love with others, but most importantly with YOURSELF.
I believe that Anh was not finding love because she didn’t know who she was yet. Yes, she was adopted and Vietnamese, but that did not identify yourself. I believe that by living in the house with the photographer, Emmitt that he was getting her to look within herself as she was also making him delve into himself at that same time. It was a self discovery for both of them to learn each other. Digging deep into your soul isn’t easy and can be hurtful especially when it leaves you exposed emotionally.
This book was about not only Anh finding a soul mate, but Emmitt finding family again with his father and daughter. I think the author did a great job of helping the father and son come to terms with the death of a mother and wife and the grief and how it exposed their emotions and how the father didn’t handle it very well. It also gave Emmitt a chance to see how he needed to then be there in a different way for his own daughters loss of her just losing her mother. Emmitt could see how he was on the same track that his dad closed up on him and he didn’t want to do that to his own daughter. He had a chance to be a different type of father and be there in an a emotional way that his own dad couldn’t be and should have been.
This in turn made Emmitt see that he could be a better partner for Anh in a more romantic serious relationship. He wanted to be a better person and more honest and open. I loved how he was the one to come say he was sorry and he didn’t make her be the one to say sorry even though it was his error. Most guys want the woman to say sorry even though it was the guy who screwed it up. Go figure, but some guys don’t have it in them to be the emotional type, but Emmitt was willing to be the right kind of partner and open up and say how he was feeling.
I loved that this book had its drama, but it had its carefree side that it made it seem like the drama was on the side burner. The funny is what was on the top and the drama was underneath and it was a lighthearted moments that made the book just flow without intensity.
I received an advanced copy from NetGalley and I willingly give them my thoughts and opinions!

Very enjoyable book had a great story and looking forward to more from Marina Adair! Felt the story was very flushed out and made me smile!

I really enjoyed this one! Forced proximity is always a fun trope, and this was well executed. I really liked how Anh's identity was explored, feeling stuck in between worlds and trying to discover who she really is. She and Emmitt have a great repartee and I Iove the way they argue and challenge each other

I also LOVED the family dynamic- the three dads, how they worked together, the struggles of raising a teen and figuring out who they are, both to her and to each other, is so sweet.

I look forward to book 2 in this series!

*** I”ve received this ARC in exchange for an honest review ***

Warning that there may be some spoilers. Trying to keep it spoil free as possible!

I requested this ARC after reading an excerpt in the fall romances to read this year. I was not disappointed, and surprisingly I was surprised by the depth of some of the issues in this romance!

When I finished the book, I was legitimately and pleasantly surprised by a few things.

First, as a healthcare professional, how well the author captured hospital life and the legal obligations around privacy. That made me smile because of my background.

Secondly, how Annie’s Asian-ness was handled. I was worried that it was going to be swept under the rug for the romance between her and a white guy, but absolutely not! The author managed to capture the difficulties of being Asian in a majority white community while also allowing our lead character to discover more about herself.

I really enjoyed this read due to the reasons above, and just the fact that it was well written. I would suggest this one heartily.

This book was just something the world needs. Something light-hearted, cute, and funny at times. It follows Emmitt and Annie who are stuck sharing a cabin until Annie's lease is up. Thanks to the publisher for this book in exchange for honest feedback.

3 Figuring Things Out Stars
* * * Spoiler Free-A Quick Review
This had a very interesting way to get to the HEA. Our gal couldn't win for loosing. Every time she thought she had met her "Guy" they would break up and then in a New York Minute, the guy would find His Person and boom, married.

Now, this happened repeatedly, and when it finally happened in the worst way possible...and it really was horrific...She decides she has had enough and moves to Rome...as in Rhode Island.

There she moves into a place with a roommate...a guy roommate with a teenage daughter and other family friends. She is Not Interested in Romance at all but of course, it comes calling.

These two go through their own individual arcs, his more revealing, and then it all somehow works.

A gifted copy was provided by author/publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

Annie fled to Rome in order to put some distance between her and her former fiancee. With her track record being what it was, she had sworn off men. But when the homeowner of her rental, Emmitt, unexpectedly returned, she found herself wanting to make an exception to her no-men rule.

The synopsis compares this book to 27 Dresses and Three Men and a Baby, and I had no problem finding those threads in the story, but it was the focus on what-makes-a-family and feeling as if you belong which really stole my heart.

Annie was nursing a bit of a broken heart, and let me tell you, each additional detail made my heart break, more and more. She was always the woman the men dated just before they found their "soulmate", and it was easy to see why she started seeing herself as the problem. She was also dealing with a lifetime of feeling as though she never fit in. She had been adopted as an infant by white parents, and though she knew she was loved, she was always aware of her "otherness" and never quite felt like she fit in anywhere. Her time in Rome was not only filled with romance, but also with a lot of soul searching and trying to figure herself out. I loved seeing her connect with the local Vietnamese community, but I especially liked seeing her connect with Emmitt.

Emmitt was also struggling with finding his place within his family. His family situation was very unique. He shared his daughter with two other men, thus the Three Men and a Baby parallel. Emmitt was the fun dad, the one who was often traveling for his job, while the other two took care of the day-to-day. But Emmitt found himself wanting more. He wanted to be a bigger part of his daughter's life, and he wanted to be seen as someone who could be more than the part-time fun guy. There was a lot more to Emmitt than I gathered from my initial impression and I really grew to love him.

It was a rocky start between the two, when Emmitt just showed. With both of them refusing to vacate the house, they were thrust into one of those forced proximity situations. This produced a LOT of fun antics and laughs, while also resulting in some fantastic tension between Emmitt and Annie. The verbal sparring was so enjoyable and it filled my heart with joy as that sparring turned to flirting and then more. It was wonderful watching these two find a place to belong, and I loved that they belonged there together.

This book was a delight! It had the perfect combination of warmth, humor, charm, drama, and heat. I loved the what-makes-a-family angle, and am hoping the other two dads get their own HEAs too.

4.5 stars

Thank you to Kensington Books for a gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. Pub date - 7/28/2020.

I ADORED this book!!!
- Forced proximity and enemies to lovers are two of my favorite tropes and when you put them together with fun banter, it's a definite win for me!
- Emmitt's arrogance reminds me of Rhysand from ACOTAR series. He is sure of himself and puts up a good front, but you can tell he is also sensitive, with a big heart and soft spot for those he loves.
- I love that Annie (Ahn) is Vietnamese and the author touches on the challenges that come with adoption (for both the parents and child) and Asian stereotypes/prejudices. At first, I was weary that a white author was writing about an Asian character, but then I saw her dedication to her adopted Vietnamese daughter, so I believe she is familiar with the culture and did the proper research to write this story.
- I have never seen the movie Three Men and A Baby but I love that subplot in this book. 3 men raising a teenage girl who is going through huge emotions!? It's disastrous but you know it will have a sweet ending.

I can gush about this one for a while but I highly recommend it. I can't wait for the next book - hoping it is on Levi!

Annie (Anh Nhi) gets dumped by her fiance and decides on a whim to leave her home in Hartford, Connecticut and travel to Rome for work as a physician's assistant. To her surprise she ends up in Rome, Rhode Island but still decides to stay because at least she isn't home. Home, by the way, where her ex-fiance is getting married in her wedding venue on her wedding date. Oh, there's some drama here for sure.

Annie ends up living in Emmitt's house, which gets rented out when he's out of town for work. He comes home unexpectedly and Annie now has a roommate. It's quite comical watching their relationship bloom. Both are holding their own and refuse to leave the house. Both don't realize how much they need each other either...

This is your typical frenemies to lovers tale. I will admit, at first this book had a hard time keeping my attention. The writing seemed a little over the place and sometimes I had a hard time following. There were times when characters were mentioned, but they weren't in the scene...it was just confusing. Eventually I got used to the writing style and stuck with it.

Like any frenemies story, I had to see it through the ending (despite the fact we all know how it ends, haha) and I'm glad I did. It ended up being a nice, quick enjoyable read overall.

3 stars.  It's nothing to write home about, but a great book to fill some time in. I did enjoy Annie and Emmitt and their story. I also enjoyed the second story in this book, Annie trying to fit in (she was adopted from Vietnam and raised by two white parents and never felt she fit in anywhere). It was nice to follow a frenemy story, as well as one of self-finding. This book is due out July 28th!

A great love story with a slow burn romance that had me laughing, swooning and feeling sad at times as well. Just like in real life, nothing is perfect and this book was so well written and with reliable characters that I highly recommend it.

This book surprised me! I had downloaded it and then forgotten about it. Until one day I was looking in my kindle library for something to read and clicked on it. I am so glad I did! This had such witty, fresh dialog and it was really neat that the male lead had a daughter and it showed the messiness of being a parent, and one that's not always around but still loves his child. This story had layers to it, and I really enjoyed it!!

Hooray for this wonderful start to this new series by Marina Adair! This book evoked so many emotions in me and I really enjoyed it. I laughed, I cried, I swooned, and felt all of the feelings I love to catch in a good romance book. It’s a sweet, emotional, honest, funny, frustrating and very thoughtful story that is about so much more than two people falling in love. In fact that takes quite some time and is probably one of the slowest burns I’ve ever read, but it honestly fit so well with the situation. Anh Ni or Annie as she goes by and Emmitt butt heads almost from the instant they meet but you know what they say about that fine line.
Anh struggles with fitting in as a Vietnamese woman who was raised by a white family in the US and being estranged from her culture. She has also just been dumped by her fiancé. Emmitt struggles for a place in his daughter Paisley’s world/heart because he hardly ever sees her due traveling for his job and feels like he is competing with the two other father figures in her life after the death of her mom.
With seemingly nothing in common on the surface, watching these two extremely complex people navigate through the day to day and all the challenges thrown at them was an absolute joy to read! I look forward to more in this new series set in a fictional town in RI.

Loved it. A charming romance, but so much more. Family issues of a wide variety. I especially enjoyed the heartwarming and heartbreaking insight into being an adopted child to parents of a different race. Not a fan of intimate details, but that certainly did not stop me from completely enjoying this book. Many chuckles and even more tears.

I was expecting a completely different book than this. Romeantically Challanged took me by surprise and I'm not mad about it. I was expecting something along the lines of a rom-com, but instead found a great book dealing with deep topics.
Personally, this book made me cry countless times.
I love that Marina Adair decided to write a story with a protagonist her daughter can see herself into. I absolutely love that and you can see she knows what she's talking about when Anh Ni struggles with her life as an in-betweener, trying to find her identity when she is constantly put into tiny little boxes she does not fit.
I really connected with Emmitt's storyline and struggles. I think it hit me harder than it would have pre-lockdown, but I really felt deep in my heart his feeling like he doesn't belong in his hometown anymore, the feeling that he came back to changed people and feeling out of the loop. People thinking that leaving is the easy thing to do when in reality it takes great courage and pain to leave behind what you've known your whole life to follow a dream or for a better opportunity.
I found their story to be sad, touching, but overall hopeful. You might feel like an outsider in your own life but be assured that many other people feel the same and it's OK. Learn to accept yourself in your uniqueness. Some people will never understand, but it' their loss. Like my grandpa always used to say "be yourself, variety is the spice of life".
I wish she didn't have to incorporate the miscommunication trope, also because I saw it coming from a mile away, but she did go there and wrapped it up a little too quickly for my liking.
Overall, this book made very emotional and it was a very pleasant read. I liked Emmitt's relationship and would love to see more of Emmitt, Anh Ni, and Paisley in the future.
I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Romeantically Challenged by Marina Adair is the story of Anh Ni Walsh, or Annie, who after discovering that her ex-fiancee has not only gotten himself engaged again but has also taken over the wedding date and venue of her cancelled wedding. Desperate to get away from the reminders of her failed relationship, she applies to be a physician's assistant in Rome.. But instead of Rome, Italy, she finds herself in Rome, Rhode Island. To add insult to injury, the owner of the house she is renting, who was supposed to be on assignment in China, is now home and invading her space.

Emmitt, Anh's unwanted new roommate, is home on medical leave after suffering severe injuries while working as a photojournalist. Desperate to see his daughter, who has just lost her mother in a tragic accident, he finds navigating the teen years difficult, especially when he is co-parenting with his daughter's stepdad and uncle, who also happens to be his best friends.

I found the journey of Anh and Emmitt, both struggling to find where they fit in their lives and with the people they love, to be sweet and strong. Though on the surface, they appear very different, their personal journeys help them both grow as characters. I liked the correlation between the two as they both suffer from self-esteem issues and their recent personal issues have left them reeling more than ever.

The sexual tension between the two of them is palpable, even when they aren't admitting it to each other. Their use of sticky notes to communicate in the beginning became my favorite part of their story line, emphasizing their strong attraction and ability to be completely honest, even if they can't be that anywhere else in their lives.

I also loved Emmitt's relationships with his daughter and co-parenting dads. It was unconventional but it worked, especially when they all agreed to work together for Paisley's good. That conversation had me cheering for them all.

I would love to revisit Rome and learn how Gray, Levi, Beckett, and Lynn are doing and hope that this will turn into a series.

Note: I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley and the publishers.

I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I think the little blurb does this book a disservice. Yes, it is cute and funny but it also has some more serious issues, like Emmitt trying to find his place in the family with his daughter Paisley (or Sweet P), her step dad and her mother's brother. That was heartbreaking at times and oh so sweet at others. Add that in with Annie trying to recover from a jerk of an ex fiance who is marrying the love of his life in the venue that Annie had picked out, on the day that was also special to Annie. That part infuriated me a little, especially since the dress that Annie picked (it was her grandmother's) ended up being modified by accident to fit Molly Leigh (the new love of Clark's life)!

I enjoyed reading this book and I wish Emmitt and Annie a long and happen life together, whether it is in Rome, Rhode Island or where ever they travel! Though Rome, Rhode Island seems like it has a bunch of interesting people and would be a lovely place to live.

Can two broken souls help each other find happiness and love? Annie needs to find her place in live. She was born in Vietnam but raised in the USA for a lovingly couple. But she feels she doesn’t belong to either culture. Emmitt’s heart broke when her mother died and he isn’t fit for commitment. The only woman in his life is his daughter, which he share with her stepfather an de her uncle. Annie and Emmitt need to help each other realise love is trust. And they need to trust their feelings. A funny and strong love and live story

Anh (otherwise known as Annie) straddles two cultures. She is Vietnamese by birth but was adopted as a baby and was raised by a Caucasian child. As a result, she has become a “people-pleaser” who always tries to make people happy and to not rock the boat as a way to fit in.

Emmitt is a bachelor photographer who is the odd man out in his family. He discovers that he has a 5 yr. old daughter who has been raised by and is very close to her stepdad. Due to his traveling as a journalist, he flows in and out of his daughter, Paisley’s, life which makes being a part of her everyday life nearly impossible.

He rents out his house during his extended assignments and due to a serious injury is forced to take medical leave and finds himself with an unexpected roommate… Anh. She is working in a temporary position as the physician’s assistant to Paisley’s stepdad and has rented Emmitt’s house for 4 months. Having a roommate is not what either of them expected but they may be the best thing that has happened to each other.

This book is fun but beneath the fun is the underlying theme of wanting to fit in. To find that place where we belong. Anh and Emmitt are two lost souls who in see something good in each other and their journey to wholeness is heartwarming to watch.

Marina writes this from her own experience of raising her Vietnamese daughter. She has done a great shop mirroring her daughter’s experiences of fitting in. Take the time to read this book… I don't think you will regret it.

I don’t give out 5 star ratings very often but I absolutely loved this book! Yes, it was a sweet accidental roommates to lovers type romance and there was plenty of humor thrown in too. However, it was so much more than just that. The complex family dynamics, the theme of family being who you make it, reconciliation, learning to be true to yourself, forgiveness, the desire to fit in and belong, etc. Goodness! So much depth to the characters too. Yes, this was a fun, light read but it really resonated with me...and not just because I live in a town named Rome as well! It wasn’t fluff, if that makes sense. I highly recommend this book and believe it will be one I read again and again!

I have been patiently waiting for Marina Adair's next book, and was excited when RomEantcally Challenged was announced. I knew I would likely enjoy the book, but Annie and Emmitt's story exceeded every one of my expectations.

Like Annie, I was adopted as a baby in Asia, and raised by white parents. I am Korean not Vietnamese like her, but so much of her experience, feelings, and struggles resonated with me deeply. She is trying to get over a bad break up and has moved to Rome, RI for a temp Physicians Assistant job.

Emmett is home and taking time off from his job as a photojournalist, though not willingly. He is surprised to find Annie renting his house and the two of them become reluctant roommates. He also struggles with finding his place in his teenage daughter Paisley's life as he spends time with her now that he's home.

I loved Emmitt and Annie together. They provided support and clarity for the difficulties they were experiencing. That connection between them made the romance even better.

The secondary characters of Levi and Gray were interesting and added a lot to the story. I am looking forward to getting their books in the series.

Marina's writing and storytelling here are just fantastic. This book is heartfelt, heartwarming heartbreaking, and unique. I cannot recommend this book enough!