DNF - Did not finish. I did not connect with the writing style or plot and will not be finishing this title. Thank you, NetGalley and Publisher for the early copy!

ARC was given by NetGalley and The Parliament House in exchange for an honest review.

Content/Trigger Warnings: Content/Trigger Warnings: Loss of a parent, grief, depression, talk of hospitalization, terminal illness (cancer), car accident, child neglect, forced institutionalization, brief mentions of attempted suicide

I had to sit with myself and collect my thoughts and feelings on this book. I’ll be honest, it took me a hot minute to get through this book and even really feel out how I felt about the book. There’s some really lovely elements and discussions happening, but ultimately, I think there were a lot of things I wasn’t expecting. Though, I am a sucker for a mythological story.

We follow seventeen-year old Megan, who’s closed off her heart from every finding love again. After her mother dies of cancer and her father descends into a six year mourning and depression, Megan decides to fast track her life. She’s fended for herself this long, why should she rely on anyone else when you’ll just get hurt? With the end of the school year rapidly approaching and her ticket to leave this small town just in sight, things are going well. Until she gets stuck with Jay Michaels for a final grade project and he keeps giving every excuse in the book. And if things couldn’t get any worse, on the night driving home, she hits Cupid just as he’s about to close out his quota for the year. Now Megan’s world is turned upside down and now she’s not too sure if she’ll ever be able to escape this town or the painful memories attached to it.

Whew, these characters were something else, let me tell you! I think this was the hardest part to decide my feelings on because everything else I knew what I liked and disliked, but these characters left me feeling conflicted. I will say Megan and her father felt very realistic for me. I think many readers will have a hard time connecting with them or caring about them, but I found it was really easy to feel invested in them. This might be due to my own history of having iron walls built around my heart and dealing with neglectful adults in my life. However, Megan was really judgmental at times or lacked understanding in certain parts. Jay on the other hand felt very under-developed to me. In fact, the way the books paints him for the reader is in a light of where we shouldn’t like him from the beginning. The only thing that had me invested in Jay’s character was the fact that it was very obvious he had a secret he wasn’t telling anyone. We only see more to Jay at the 75% mark in the book and even then it feels too late to really get a feeling for who he is as a character because up until this point Jay’s just painted in a bit of a negative light. As for Amadeo, our mischievous Cupid, I still have mixed feeling about him. There were times where I thought his personality was very fitting, but other times that felt like his attitude had no place being in a certain scene. Though out of all the characters, Amadeo has the strongest character development.

The thing I loved the most about this book was the world building. Not just the way Mountain Valley is built up with a lot of small town vibes, but also what we learn of the Cupid societal structure. The amount of details we learn about this world, the different levels and how each of these levels mirror places on Earth, and the way you can see how Amadeo fits among this society was really interesting. I was heavily invested in learning more details about the world and honestly, I think this alone could of been turned into it’s own book because it was such an interesting concept.


“Maybe the point is to remind us there are two sides to everything. It makes us more appreciative of the loving part, you know, knowing at any moment, it could all end.”


Most of all, I think the elements that really sealed my connection to this book were the hard topics of this book. We see a lot of themes of grief and how no person in the same with grief. More specifically with Megan’s father, how you can love someone so much that it breaks you, how nothing including you will ever be the same, and how difficult it is to emerge from that grief, that depression and right the wrongs that have taken place during that time of being a shell of who you once were. On the opposite spectrum, we see how Megan fortifies herself because she’s never been given the opportunity to grieve, to feel the full weight of the loss of her mother and instead had to grow up far too quickly than she should have because no one was looking out for her. I think the author did a really fantastic job at writing the grief in a realistic way that allows others to feel a connection to the characters.

I want to take a moment to address the other hard topic in this book. Though this is for the last 75% of the book and I think this will make a lot of readers turn away from this book, I still wanted to talk about it. There’s a whole discussion happening about mental health and the stigma that surrounds mental health, and not just mental health, but we see a small piece where it’s addressed of how there’s still a strong societal stigma surrounding those who end up institutionalized for mental health. And I wish, oh how I wish, this was addressed more openly, in literature and otherwise. How as a society we have the preconceived notion that we can never speak openly about this, that it’s something to be ashamed of, and how if someone does speak up about their experience they’re instantly labeled as someone to avoid, that they’re “unstable” or “crazy”, or they’re dangerous instead of treating them like human beings who are ill, who are facing challenges and hardships with their mental health, and how they chose to be brave to speak up of needing help and their experience.

The only issue I really had with this book was the insta-love between Megan and Jay. A lot of this book is focused on Megan healing from the loss of her mother and her assisting Amadeo hitting his final three targets for his quota. There was never any time fully dedicated to Megan and Jay establishing chemistry between one another, there wasn’t dedicated time to truly see Jay’s character until the last 75% of the book, and Megan and Jay had barely any interactions with one another, as well. We get small little pockets, but for the most part they barely have anything to do with one another and the fact that this relationship was an inst-love with all of that preestablished just didn’t work for me. Honestly, I think I would have loved seeing Megan fall in love with a Cupid over the relationship between her and Jay.

Overall, I really did enjoy reading this book, but I definitely want to caution that this isn’t the book it’s advertised or the way a lot of readers label it as a rom-com or a fluffy romance. Honestly, I removed the romance tag for this book because I see this more as a contemporary story with romantic elements, but it’s a strong contemporary read with hard hitting topics laced throughout the entirety of this book. If you’re someone who’s not turned off by books with heavy topics or enjoy books with mythological elements then I think you’ll enjoy reading this book.


The quotes above were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

First off: I am absolutely obsessed with the cover, it’s simply gorgeous!

This book wasn’t what I first thought it would be. I expected more or less a romance book, but it deals heavily with loss and pain and friendship. Which I absolutely didn’t hate either. It was a beautiful story, an important story, and wonderfully written.

I thought the concept of incorporating Cupid was lovely and original and it was just overall an enjoyable experience.

I'll confess, I fell in love with the cover first. I did in fact judge a book by its cover. And sadly, Cupid bit me right back (pun intended). While I enjoyed the premise, and I actually enjoyed the booked more than I imagined, it fell flat for me.

First things first - I Loved - that it was a book that brought Cupid to life in a way not yet imagined by others, I loved watching the main character heal from her loss, and even loved ... the love.

But, - I didn't enjoy - that somehow, this book had been marketed to me as LGBTQ+. And I'm not the only reader who made that mistake. So, I had signed up for a quirky, sapphic rom-com, and instead read a 'coming to terms with loss and illness' book, less about love and more about healing from the loss of it.

Overall, it was okay, but only okay. Extra points go to the writer, because I did enjoy her writing. Would I pick up this book again, probably not. Will I recommend it to others, of course! It may not have been for me, but there are readers out there who would love it in a way that I couldn't.

Playing Cupid is a young adult romance with interesting mythical elements involving a teen girl, a classmate and Cupid. After injuring Cupid, she has to meet his matchmaking quote and finds love in the process. Although the plot and ending were predictable, I had a great time reading this fast-paced, wholesome book. Any teen looking for a fun read would enjoy reading this book.

2.5 stars

If this book was solely about Amadeo, this would have been at least 4 stars but between the dramatic life of Meghan eventho i was rooting for her to find happiness after everything she went through; the instalove with Jay whom I couldn't connect at all and the lack of TW for certain things that were left out in the blurb (seriously trigger warnings are not spoilers!) I just struggled to fully enjoy this book which is a shame because the blurb sounded amazing.
Still, although it had a fairly predictable story, I had fun reading this (especially Amadeo's parts).

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was provided to me via Netgalley in return for an honest review.

"Fate caught me off-guard, plunging its silver-tipped sword deep into my heart and twisting before I could parry."

Honestly, the opening prologue broke my heart. Megan lost her mother as a child. When her dad withdrew from her life due to his grief, she learned to cope by not letting anyone get close enough to hurt her again. Love just isn't an option for her, she doesn't even believe in it...

When Amadea is hit by her car, she is roped into helping this cupid complete his last few marks. But how can she help someone else find love when she refuses to let it in herself?

"You can heal anything with saltwater. Doesn't matter if it's from the ocean, your sweat, or your tears; saltwater is a great healer. It cleanses us of everything."

This is a story about losing your faith in love after a great loss, and finding it again with the right person. It is also about forgiveness, not just of other people, but of forgiving yourself for choices you made to survive a painful experience.

This book was cute, fluffy, and just what I needed. We don't see very many books featuring a Cupid as one of the main characters so I really enjoyed the unique concept of this one.

Megan lost her mom when she was young and after that her dad was barely present even if he were in the same room. Because of this Megan has distanced herself from having any kind of relationship with anyone and spends most of her time alone or riding her horse. Between getting partnered up with Jay, the kid who always has an excuse for leaving, and hitting something in the road on the way home one day, Megan will be forced to face all the feelings she's spent so long bottled up.

Unlike Megan, Amadeo is a Cupid and has all the wisdom when it comes to love. The banter between Megan and Amadeo was my favorite part. They are both snarky and a bit unlikeable. The two of them end up on an adventure to match three pairs in time for Cupid to hit his quota.

Playing Cupid is about love and family. If you're looking for a fast-paced read than I definitely recommend this one!

Thank you to NetGalley & The Parliament House for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

TW// loss of a parent, parental death, mention of mental health and child abandonment

I want to preface that I went into this book with completely different expectations because of the blurb and how it is targeted towards readers. It comes off as a rom-com twist on a classic holiday fairytale we as a society have played into. I was both pleasantly surprised and a tad disappointed that the story didn't match my expectations. Without spoiling and giving too much away I want to focus on the positives that this book brought to the table.

+ There are important discussions of loss, love and healing (loss of a parent, parental death etc.) and I appreciate the way the author handled these topics and the discussions the characters had.

+ Humorous/funny moments: Cupid & Megan's interaction made this book extremely enjoyable.

+ The second half of the book was much stronger and the epilogue was a pleasant surprise.

Some of the issues that overall made this a 3 star read for me was definitely the pacing and the overall execution of the story.

- Even though I was fully rooting for that breakthrough moment with Megan, she as a main character was very unlikeable, and pretty insufferable at times.

- The story felt rushed at times and every trope was pretty predictable.

- And lastly the love interest was not only a little bland (he was mentioned very little throughout the story as it was more focused on Megan's character development) but the connection between Megan and Jay came off very insta-lovey.

Overall, this book dealt well with heavy topics and showed great character development but fell short on delivering what I wanted with my reading experience.

★★★ stars

A clever, witty story about navigating the many channels of love. Full of real life situations that can be easy to relate to, a dreaded home-ec class (I remember mine), and cute slow burn romance between the MC and the cutest guy in school. The characters were surprising, and I felt the depth of their emotions. The heavy was very well balanced with the humor of Megan and Amadeus, our starring cupid. This was a fun, easy read that was exactly what I needed between my usual fantasy laden reading. Another Parliament House book that makes my list of highly enjoyed reads! I especially enjoyed how this book touches on loss, and coping with family who have a mental health diagnosis and how others view you.

Opinions: In my opinion, Playing Cupid was a perfectly average book. The plot is enticing, but not invigorating. The themes are existent, but will not be appreciated by teen readers. The mythology is unique, but not enchanting. In short, Playing Cupid will be a fun read for some readers but nothing more. That said, fun it shall be! For the teenagers who can look past a few monotonous scenes and Mary Sue-like character development, Alban's passion and dedication to Megan's journey must be acknowledged. Even though I didn't particularly enjoy this one, I am still impressed with the obvious planning, researching, and imagination needed for Playing Cupid to exist! It's easy to say the book deserves the stars from another reader, it simply isn't my cup of tea.

My Favourite Thing: As I mentioned above, I sincerely appreciate the effort Alban put into Playing Cupid. It must be noted that although this isn't the first YA book with Cupid in it, it's the first one where Cupid gets hit by a car and it is certainly the first one where a human has to take their place! Personally, I wish Cupid had a larger role but finishing the book was no job when Megan took lead. The mythology and creativity is the main reason why Playing Cupid deserves three stars in my eyes!

My Least Favourite Thing: Also as I mentioned above, too much about Playing Cupid was flawless. Without spoiling anything, Megan grows as a person, Cupid's journey is completed, and complimenting the latter, the ending is rather predictable. This isn't to say reaching the climax wasn't exciting, but I personally would've preferred a bigger reveal.

Recommended For and Similar Reads: Playing Cupid is a quick, heartwarming read for teens who are looking for a mix-up in the fantasy genre! If you have read and loved Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick, Cheerleaders from Planet X by Lyssa Chiavari, His Hidden Wings by Alexander Williams, The Redpoint Crux by Morgan Shamy, or Vampires of Portlandia, you should give Playing Cupid a try!

Since the death of her mother six years ago the only time seventeen year old Megan let's her guard down is when she is driving, fast and recklessly, down the back roads that she knows like the back of her hand. But one afternoon just as she takes a curve a small person darts in front of her, causing her to lose control of her truck and crash. When she comes to a few minutes later she is miraculously unharmed. Beside herself with the fear that she has killed someone she searches for whoever ran in front of her and finds, not the child she expected, but a small man dressed completely in shades of pink. Injured and insistent that he is a Cupid, an immortal being of love, he enlists Megan's help with making love connections for the last three names on his list.

Retrospectively this storyline reminds me of a Valentine's version of The Santa Clause (The Tim Allen movie). However for a book all about love and a mythical race of Cupids I found it to be unexpectedly heavy. With the exception of Amadeus (the Cupid) all the characters in this book are suffering from palpable loss and grief and more than once I found myself crying. Not exactly the fun romance I thought I was getting into!

I still liked the book but I'm not sure I would have picked it up had I realized how melancholy it would be.
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CW: Terminal Illness, Mental Illness, Emotional Abandonment, Child Neglect

Rating: 3.5 stars
This was a very enjoyable read for me.
The book was very predictable and has a very common storyline BUT I liked it nonetheless. It kept me fairly entertained and I had a good time. Despite being ordinary and predictable, the book was unique in it's own way. It has a touch of fantasy in the form of real life cupids! I love how cupids have been portrayed in this book and how the cupid in this book -Amadeo was.
We follow the perspective of seventeen year-old Megan, who is graduating early to go to college, far away from the small town. She is still dealing with the loss of her mother, which is harder still because her father refuses to look at her because he cannot bear the stark resemblance. I must admit that parts of the book, especially where she deals with the grief - it was so graphic and heartfelt that it brought tears to my eyes.
Also, I must mention that this has a haters to lovers trope but in a very mild form. This trope however, is not the main focus, which was really interesting. The book dealt more with mental health and dealing with loss, and finding yourself.
So, why did I give it 3.5 stars? That is because the book felt too much like a debut novel. I admit that it is a debut novel, but considering the themes and the hard topics that it discussed, I wish there was a little more maturity to the writing style and not to mention the fact that I wished it could be more unique. Barring this, it was a book worth reading and if you are looking for a quick and easy read - "Playing Cupid" might be it. I would like to read more from this author.
You might want to know - although this is the first book in the series, it can be read as a stand-alone.

First, that cover is gorgeous! It’s so cute and pretty!

Playing Cupid was a good enough read. It had a lot of potential, but it just fell a little flat. I felt like the plot didn’t really start until about 40% of the way in. But overall it was a fun, quick read.

Megan. Oh, Megan. I found her annoying and frustrating, but I was also rooting for her to have a happy ending. She makes some questionable decisions and takes forever to come to the conclusions that we already know. I knew how the book was going to end, but at the same time I felt no attachment to Jay. He blew her off for the first part of the novel and then suddenly he’s everywhere in the second half.

Grief and loss were handled well, but I didn’t feel that we earned the resolutions that happened. Problems were solved quickly with no build up and pay off. If we had started working through those problems earlier I feel like the emotion behind them would’ve been much stronger.

I did love the ideas of the cupids and their world. The Emotional Realm seemed fun and I’m intrigued to see what other beings exist in this universe. Amadeo really made the book. I caught onto his plan pretty quickly, so it was funny seeing him being so sarcastic to Megan when she just. wouldn’t. get. it.

Overall, it is a quick holiday read that touches on serious topics like the death of a family member well. I just wish the cupid plot kicked in sooner and that we had worked up those emotional payoffs sooner.

Lastly, some random thoughts I had while reading:
This is the first book I’ve read that mentions TikTok
They have stools AND are allowed to use their phones in home ec?! (cue ‘back in my day’)
Amadeo keeps rejecting guys for Stacey, “oh she’s gay then.” Ohh. no.. you were just waiting on that other guy to show up….alright then.
Oh, that’s not Eros Eros, that’s just a Cupid named after Eros
He brushed a piece of hair behind her ear!

Thank you Parliament House and Netgalley for the review copy!

What do you do when you run over a Cupid? Do you call State Farm insurance? Sing, "like a good neighbor state farm is there?" Well, in Playing Cupid, when you run over the mystical being, you get to be cupid instead. And if you suck at the topic that is love just like our main character Megan Cooper- well, all I can say is good luck, Charlie.

Thank you NetGalley for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!

Playing Cupid follows seventeen-year-old Megan Cooper, a recluse in her senior year of high school before graduating early and going to college for early admission. She has a sort of rocky relationship with her dad and basically people in general. Following the death of her mother, her relationship with her father ceased to exist to the point where he can't even face her anymore because she reminded him so much of his first love. During finals week, Megan is paired up with her school's hottest jock, Jay Michaels, although nice, polite to teachers and massively attractive, he flakes out of every school assignment ever.

After driving home from her Home EC final, Megan is angered with the audacity that Jay Michaels have, flaking out on her when all she wants to do is get her last assignment done with so that she can be done with high school. Driving at a horribly fast rate, Megan runs over an unseen figure in the road-- that figure turning out to be the love god himself Cupid.

Now with the task to do Cupid's job for him since his shooting arm is broken, can Megan find love for other people, including herself?

This book was an easy light-hearted, humourous and very heartwarming read. After reading this book, I was left with a nice feeling in my chest and I definitely felt the loving mood that it gave me. It finally felt like was February 💖 .

However, even though I do love good fluff and cute romantic tropes in books, Playing Cupid was a solid 2/5 stars for me.

The plot itself was okay. It was simple, really. Ran over Cupid? He can't do his job of making people fall in love? No problem! Megan Cooper is right here, and she'll get the job done! I thought that the idea of the plot was interesting and cute, we even got to see the Cupid (Amadeo) and Megan form a kind of relationship together which I found really sweet and wholesome. But, alas, like this book just added another character onto my "mcs that I can't stand" list.

Mainly why this book fell flat for me was because of the main character Megan. For some reason I just couldn't connect with her throughout the entirety of this book. Her personality just didn't click with me, and I found myself cringing and rolling my eyes at almost everything that she was thinking/saying/doing.

What irritated me the most was her "I'm not like other girls" personality. I'm okay with the trope/characteristic, but the fact that the book brought up that she wasn't like other girls all the time is what annoyed me the most. The fact that there was written dialogue by her and the main love interest saying that she wasn't like other girls made my fingers physically curl up because of how much I cringed.

The only character that I felt that I genuinely liked was Amadeo. The Cupid Megan ran over. His character was witty, sarcastic and downright entertaining. He was the only one that got me to continue the book.

Overall, I found Amadeo and Megan's adventure of trying to find matches all over town to be entertaining and very fluffy! It's definitely a read for February to get in the loving mood.

The major reason I didn't enjoy this book is that it's completely different than the blurb and cover imply. I was expecting a fluffy rom-com, and although it has some of those elements I wouldn't describe it as that. Firstly, I think it should have been mentioned that this book is predominately a story about a teenager healing after her mother dies of cancer. I steer clear of books that mention terminal illness and parent health, I wouldn't have picked this up if I had known. I tried to move past this and give it a chance anyway but it just wasn't for me. I love the idea of a cupid requiring help, and I definitely think that was the strongest part of the book. However, the romance had absolutely no chemistry, and the main couple barely had any interaction. There just wasn't anything there? Not to mention it's a very 'I'm not like the other girls' book, and the main character isn't particularly likeable. I think to some audiences this would be a really fun read, and I can see this author has talent, but this book isn't something I enjoyed.

A fluffy read, perfect to bust out of a reading slump or when you want something cute to brighten your mood. Love and grief are explored but there isn't much to the story to dive into. There isn't much to the plot that can't be predicted and there were plenty of coincidences. I can give the insta-love a pass because this story is literally about Cupid, but the lack of interaction between the character left something to be desired if anything to root for them even more than I already was.

DNF.
Honestly I found the plot really interesting and actually loved the idea of seeing a series of mythological creatures and people team up with humans to do certain missions.
My main problem with this book is 1) characters and their clichéd personalities (the "I'm not like everyone else" protagonist, the macho who's actually a sweetheart once you know his ~story~ 2) the 1D characters (I felt like there were too many inner monologues foe the reader to get to know the main character yet all characters had the same voice) and, because of this 3) the writing (100% subjective, someone else could love it).
I'm pretty sure other people will totally enjoy this! It just wasn't a story for me.

2.75 stars
This was a solid read! It was a fluffy pick-me-up if you’re having a bad day or you want something quick to read.

Playing Cupid follows Megan as she agrees to aid a cupid, Amadeo, with fulfilling his love match quota after accidentally running over him with her car. Of course, chaos ensues.

Grief, loss and love were themes prominent throughout the whole novel and I found them deftly handled. I felt Megan’s pain and loneliness through the pages and I rooted for her happiness.

I didn’t feel connected to the characters, unfortunately. Megan was slightly annoying and judgmental but she was so endearing, it was so hard not to root for her. Jay was kind of bland. This was possibly due to not enough page-time and we never get to know him as a person. That being said, the romance felt a bit rushed and insta-love. Megan and Jay hardly interacted with each other I would have preferred some more interaction between the two to see their dynamic.
Amadeo, on the other hand, was so much fun! He was sassy and incredibly understanding. I chuckled when he showed up on the pages.

In terms of the plot, it felt fairly coincidental. Everything just fell into place and arcs were easily resolved in a couple of pages. Except for the addition of cupid, this book didn’t really bring anything new to the table. It was fairly predictable but I had a fun time reading it regardless.

(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.