enemies to lovers bonding over their shared love for Shakespeare... what more could you ask for? Another addition to my long list of cute summer reads <3

I want to exist in this book forever. Seriously, I'm in love with Nik and Bea and their theater camp romance and banter and misunderstandings and flirting. I want to be best friends with Mia and Nolan and have them in my corner and teach me how to be a teenager. I want to go to a Shakespeare camp even though I'm not a theater kid or interested in Shakespeare. THAT'S how good this book is, because Serena Kaylor makes you want all of this through an immersive experience.

Bea is a genius, with no social skills - it isn't confirmed in the book if she has a diagnosis but I would compare it to some presentations of autism. She desperately wants to go to Oxford for college but her parents won't let her unless she proves she can improve on her social skills and "learn to be a teenager". Nik initially is a jerk to her, let's be honest - but quickly makes up for it with well chosen Shakespeare quotes and banter. All of the characters were phenomenal and well written.

I never wanted this to end. I appreciate the growth Bea made, especially with her parents, but I also feel her parent's needed to budge a bit more to compromise. Yes, Bea's actions were often selfish and not considering her parent's wishes, but her mom also continuously tried to force her to be someone she wasn't and that didn't so much change by the end. I would've liked to see more concessions from her parents.

Anyway, a full 5 stars to this fantastic YA contemporary with an enemies-to-lovers trope.

**Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review**

I LOVED a Long Story Short. What an adorable story! I absolutely loved each character and I was hooked from the start. I wanted to know about every detail of Beatrice's story, how the final performance of the play went, what her parents thought, if she got to go to Berkeley and if she would get to make true friend and possibly more?! The Shakespeare aspect added such a fun, sweet touch. Who doesn't want to see two enemies with chemistry off the charts engage in a Shakespeare battle? I thought it was such a creative modern way to incorporate Shakespeare to a story. Okay, I'm off to research adult theatre camps, bye!

I had a great time reading this! I didn't have a lot of expectations coming in, apart from 'involves Shakespeare but not a retelling', but it genuinely surprised me how fun this was and how much it spoke to me on a deeper level.

First, the fun! I LOVED Beatrice's friends Nolan and Mia and how affectionate, familiar, and supportive they were with her. I also liked the romance! Nik and Beatrice had a believable dynamic that developed from bad first impressions to banter to one-sided flirting and two-sided attraction, and I loved how understanding and genuine Nik was with Bea. The Shakespeare quote-off was hilarious. The way Nolan and Mia commentated on their clear chemistry and mutual attraction (and the flirting that is so totally unintentional on Bea's part) always made me laugh (eg saying Nik's Shakespeare quotes were basically a love letter; pointing out that they loved Bea and NIk's interpretation of Benvolio and Mercutio where they were clearly more in love with each other than the women they were pursuing in the play). I think flinging Beatrice into a nest of theatre kids was a fantastic idea because that's one way to fast-track you into intense socialization.

I think Serena Kaylor's writing style fit Beatrice's voice well and contributed to the ease of read of the story. I also appreciated the way Beatrice was coded as autistic but her voice (and character as a whole!) didn't fall into that stereotypical overcorrection of always being stilted and unfeeling. And that ties into the thing I loved most about this book: Beatrice herself, and how she was written.

Bea was what truly made the book for me. She could misunderstand social cues without being oblivious; she could discuss her lack of social skills and difficulty with new situations without coming off as self-pitying. She could be awkward *and* emotionally expressive; she could hate new situations *and* still be confident; she could mess up *and* still be loved and given more chances; she could be honest (and, at times, insensitive) *and* willing to course-correct without compromising who she was at her core. This was a story about Beatrice learning to interact better in the world and changing the way she saw other people, but it didn't press the narrative that she needed to change to be 'normal' to be accepted. This is something I needed to read and something I think others do as well.

so good! Such a sweet enemies to lovers story. I read this book in one sitting, then immediately searched up Serena Kaylor in hopes of reading her other books but was shocked to find out that this was her debut!.
I was a little worried that the start was a little slow, but after finishing the book I realized that it was the perfect amount of buildup for the character development of Bea. Enemies to lovers is one of my favourite tropes (especially in a contemporary setting) in romance and this book did it so well! The slow burn was just perfect and I think the story ended exactly where it needed to. Not only that there was a perfect balance of romance, friendship, and ’self-searching’;I love how readers got the chance to actually know Beatrice, instead of her simply being the main character who’s only role in the book is to fall in love.
I cannot wait for Serena Kaylor’s future works!!

This book was SO FUN! From life-long Shakespeare loving adult readers like myself (I go to a Shake festival yearly and can't count how many plays I've seen) to YA readers who haven't had much of an intro to Shakespeare yet, it touches on his plays perfectly and puts just the right amount of Shakespearean language in the book to not be difficult to read or follow for a beginner and make it a fun guessing game for readers, along with the characters who are participating in the quote bet!

The main character was such a delight, watching her find herself and blossom with friends while completing her "become a teenager" list brought me right back to all the feelings of first friendships, first romance and first time getting on a stage!

I felt the romance was a little forced and confusing, because just like Bea, I couldn't tell Nik was "in like" with her for a long time, I thought he was just messing with her like her previous experience.

First of all, thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for an e-copy in exchange for an honest review!

Overall, I really didn’t enjoy this book. Between the lack of chemistry and the “he’s just teasing you because he likes you trope,” it just was not for me. I really didn’t like most of the characters and felt many of them were very stereotyped. Not to mention the parents!!

Beatrice’s parents were one of my least favorite parts of this book. Despite being therapists, they actively attempted to force Beatrice to change her entire personality. Not only did they claim she’s not a “true teenager” due to her interests and non-traditional school experience, but they decided the best way to fix this was to send her to camp (which was completely against her hobbies and personality) to “fix” her so she could go to college.

One of my other notable issues with this book is the trope of “he just teases you because he likes you”. It was increasingly apparent throughout the time that Bea and Nik knew each other. I really didn’t care for that aspect of their relationship, especially when her friends used it to justify their beliefs that Nik liked her.

Finally, I just couldn’t get into the premise of the story. It was incredibly manufactured. Almost all of the “twists” were obvious and predictable. For example, her friends adding things to her list, the list in general, and Nik having a kiss as a reward were just some of the poorly done plot movers.

All in all, I just don’t have much to say positive about this book. I was overall disappointed with most aspects of the characters. While the idea sounded intriguing, I wouldn’t recommend this one.

THIS. WAS. SO. CUTE!!!
Beatrice, the secluded, homeschooled nerdy teen protagonist of this book, gets accepted into her dream school - Oxford. She's thrilled, but her parents have their concerns, mainly about her social skills. In an effort to prove she's ready to move to England for college, she agrees to go to a month-long Shakespearean acting summer camp with a list of "normal teenager activities" to engage in by the summer's end. Along the way she makes life-long friends, finds herself, and gets caught up in a dramatic feud with the camp's resident heartthrob.
It's a really adorable coming of age story, with a protagonist reminiscent of Mia Thermopolis (The Princess Diaries) combined with Cady Heron (Mean Girls) and a vibrant, lovable cast of accompanying characters. Cheesy in the best way possible, fast-paced, and an adorable portrayal of the enemies-to-lovers trope. The attention to detail in this book is impressive, as is the author's knack for character building. I've completely fallen in love with these characters, and desperately wish I could read more of their adventures. I highly recommend for anyone else who enjoys nerdy English literature references as much as this former English major.

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, for providing an ARC of Long Story Short by Serena Kaylor.

When I first read the premise, I was instantly intrigued. Outsider, Beatrice Quinn, who is too smart for anyone her age (and beyond) is told that in order for her to attend Oxford University in England, she needs to have some normal teenage experiences. Her parents make a list for her and send her off to Shakespeare camp in Connecticut where she has to complete the list or stay home another year. Beatrice - who becomes known as Bea - is determined to finish the list and more to show her parents that she can not only live her life, have normal teenage experiences, but that's responsible enough to attend her dream university.

The characters in this book were standouts. Beatrice was so relatable. Although I'm not a math genius (in fact, math was my worst subject), I always felt a little bit like an outcast. I preferred books to people and most of the time, I still do. I also didn't have any serious relationships until I was older and it was great getting to see Beatrice come into her own over the course of the story. Mia and Nolan - her BFFs - were hilarious, amazing, and supportive. Shelby, Nolan's sister, and the antagonist for the majority of the story, was less intriguing. She makes a move to make up with Beatrice at the end of the book, but I still found her extremely unlikeable.

And then we have Nikhil, or Nik, Shah. His parents own the camp and are famous stage actors. He, of course, wants to follow in their footsteps. When a rogue, and frankly rude, comment on the first night pits Nik and Bea against each other, you might think they won't ever get over their differences and become friends... Or something more. I LOVED Nik's character. I'm always a sucker for a character with a British accent, but I loved his personality and how he constantly teased Beatrice to try and bring her out of her shell, or, how he tried to protect her. There were several instances where he tries to go after her that had my heart swelling in size.

I honestly can't find fault with any part of this book. I didn't even know this was a debut novel until I did some research on the author. Whatever she writes next, I'll read. This was fantastic in every way. Although YA sometimes lacks the spice I'm used to reading, there is something so thrilling about the crush and the chase. And that is the reason I still read YA. That is the reason this book worked so well for me. It wasn't angsty by any means, but it made me feel and that is the most important thing to a reader like me.

Beatrice Quinn wants nothing more than to go to Oxford, but when she gets in, her parents are less than convinced that she’s ready to move to another county and away from home. So they make a deal, if she can complete their list of tasks at summer camp, than she can go to Oxford.

I enjoyed this. It was a fun, light read. I liked the characters and thought that the pacing was good. If your not a Shakespeare fan, some of the dialogue might be a bit much though.

Overall I would recommend this if you interested in a ya romance set at a Shakespeare summer camp.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC.

such a cute romance book! i love a good school romance and this one made me live out the dream that i was good at math in high school when i actually wasn’t

I have mixed feeling about this book. The main thing I like it the book was romance, it was absolutely adorable! It was a little cheesy at some parts of the book, but it was still cute. on the other hand, I didn’t really like the main character. At first I was hopeful for her, but it was hard to understand her. I feel that Nik was the only character who was fully developed, I had a hard time connecting with the others. I will say I recommend this if you are looking for a cheesy romance book!

This was a fun read!

Serena Kaylor's debut, Long Story Short, offers up a terrific summertime adventure for all of us who are nervous to step outside our comfort zones.

Yes, this story is promoted as a rom-com, but it's not only that. It's a fun adventure about a socially awkward girl trying to learn more about people and the world around her while discovering more about who she truly is and what she likes in life.

And yes, it is funny. There were several laugh-out-loud moments for me. For example: "I imagined that like most skills, there would be a learning curve to kissing, and I could anticipate poor performance until given the opportunity to receive some instruction."

While overall, I loved the book, there were a few hard to believe moments: when her finger "slipped" and she accidentally applied to Oxford; when her parents, who are therapists, discussed clients by name and issue (huge violation of HIPPA laws and gives therapists a bad rep), and when the physical touching aspect of her new-found relationship happened too fast. But none of these criticisms overshadowed my enjoyment of the book.

If you're looking for a fun, light, summer read, pick up a copy of Long Story Short by Serena Kaylor.

Some of my Favorite Lines:

"I nodded , always a beat behind as the conversation moved forward before I could organize my thoughts enough to contribute."

“It’s easy not to care what other people think of you, when you obviously don’t care either.”



[I received an early copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way influenced my opinion.]

I was in a reading slump for a fair amount of time and this was actually the perfect read to get out of it! I literally cannot remember the last time I actually binged a book all the way until sunrise but this was the ONE. I devoured everything about this story and loved absolutely every second of it. I'm kind of embarassed how badly I squealed into my pillow by the end but it's fine. I was twirling my hair and giggling like a school girl for basically this whole book and I'll stand by that.

I would say that this book is the perfect mix of Morgan Matson, Wibbroka, and its own special sauce. If you're looking for probably the perfect summer read with interesting characters, a cute romance, and the feeling of making s'mores next to a camp fire at sunset then this book is definitely for you. This had everything: a summer setting?!?! theatre camp?!?! fantastic banter?!?! I loved seeing Bea grow into her own but also staying true to her quirks and who she is. I also loved our main love interest and side characters. Absolutely every aspect of this book had me losing my mind and I will need to give this a reread when it comes out. I just fell in LOVE.

A Shakespeare summer camp? Sign me up! A wonderful YA that you won’t be able to put it down. A fun and heartwarming story. You will adore these characters.

I went into this book with the expectations of a great summer read with some cute romance. My expectations were met. I love the “getting out of your comfort zone” plot and I love how awkward Bea is while trying to navigate this perspective of being outside of her element. I enjoyed how it was not easy for her and how she had to overcome some internal difficulties to be able to be comfortable in her new setting. The pacing of the world-building was really good and wasn’t elongated to an unnecessary extent and really highlighted the important areas of who, what, why, and how she even ended up at theater camp. I love the characters they were very enjoyable. Bea is a digestible character, you grow to love her but at times she was overly quirky to the point where it was annoying but I think her friends helped balance that out. Mia is my favorite character by far in this book I imagined her while reading to be the strong and understanding best friend that everyone needs. But she is my favorite character I loved her being so supportive to Bea even when times got rocky. The character development was realistic watching how they all grew individually and together as friends. From this perspective of them being secluded to themselves at this camp they had no escape so learning to live with each other and communicate was important because they had no one else. Overall this book was an enjoyable read for me; it’s lighthearted, medium pace, an unlikely duo, enemies to lovers, great support systems, and a good plot. My heart melted then exploded at times and I related to too much of the story it was amazing.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Serena Kaylor for this advanced readers copy :)

Omg this was so cute?! If you're looking for a Shakespearean-themed, summer camp rom com, full of adorable cliches (but in the best way possible), check out this book!!

Rep: South Asian love interest, (possibly) Neurodivergent MC, Queer side character(s)

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC of this book to give an honest review*

As part of a compromise with her parents, homeschooled, introverted Beatrice is sent to a Shakespearean theatre camp to learn how to be a "real teenager". She is given a checklist of things to do, like 1) make a friend, 2) play a prank, etc etc. There she meets an eccentric group of theatre kids and is thrown into an adventure full of friendships, romance, and drama in order to truly find herself.

Okay, first off: we had the classic "quiet nerdy girl x charming popular boy" trope AND the makeover trope, which I am a sucker for (only when done right though, which in this case, it was). I was worried this book was going to be another re-used "omg the nerdy girl takes off her glasses and suddenly she's H O T", but this book did a great job of challenging that notion AND not making it about how the girl needs to look a certain way for a guy. Also, IT WAS A SOUTH ASIAN LOVE INTEREST!!! I was so excited to see it wasn't another mediocre white boy and Nikhil is definitely a quality guy. He and Bea had a bit of a rough patch when they first met but you grow to adore their romance overtime.

However, my favorite part of this book was definitely the friendships!! Bea gains a wonderful group of supportive friends at the theatre camp and they honestly add so much joy to this book. I loved Mia's energy, and both her and Nolan provided excellent witty commentary throughout. I was worried that they might be super pushy about her bucket list, like her parents were (they really wanted to completely flip their daughter's entire personality...not great parenting in my opinion, but at least they seemed nice?) but you can really tell over the course of the book how much they care about her and just want her to feel herself.

I also thought Bea's character development was really well done. She starts off doing the bucket list to please her parents, but over time it becomes more of a "building up confidence" / "finding my true self" sort of situation and I really liked that story arc. I loved getting to see her break free and just start having fun with everything. Plus, we love a woman in STEM <3

Overall, I think the whole concept of this book was super entertaining and did not disappoint!! If you're a theatre kid, I'm sure you'll love this one even more than I did. I binged the majority of it in one sitting too, so take that as a sign that it's very good. Also, if you're a fan of Sophie Gonzales's work, I recommend you check this out!

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Summertime vibes, Shakespeare quotes, banter, perfect rivals to lovers— this book had it all!

Beatrice Quinn is a mathematical genius and I love her because of that, amongst many other reasons. She is smart, she is a girl in STEM, she knows what she wants— we honestly love to see. She wants to go to Oxford, but convincing her parents is the hardest part.

It was nice that her parents wanted her to try something new— such as theatre camp, but I was just so annoyed with her mom. She wanted to completely change her daughter— and that made my blood boil. Yes, she was better towards the end of the book, but pushing your child so much to be “normal” is not okay. Moving on.

Long story short (see what I did there hehe) Bea is made to go to theatre camp, to prove she can handle herself and do something new— only then can she go to Oxford University. Over there Bea makes new friends and has a crush on the son of the owners of the camp! I loved Bea’s camp experience so much and I want to talk about that a little bit.

Usually in the books I have read or the movies I have seen— this new person just comes into a play/show and is SO AMAZING that the people who have been working for it their whole entire existence and shunned away, and this new person is given all the opportunities. This happened in High School Musical, and guess what? I was not happy™. But, in LONG STORY SHORT— this doesn’t happen! Bea is given her own importance, she has fun in her own way, and in a way she feels comfortable. There was no pushy-ness about being “normal”, because what is normal anyways?

I loved the friends she made at camp, at first they came off as a little pushy to me, but later on they realised that letting Bea have fun in the way she wanted to, and was okay with, is the best thing to do! I also loved Nikhil Shah my best boy— he was honestly so amazing. The Shakespeare quotes? The banter? The always (well after he got over his superiority complex) supporting Bea? It was all so great, and I loved Nikhil and Bea together! Not to mention the whole Shakespeare quotes competition they had— that was so *screams*.

In conclusion, honestly this book had such a great vibe— it was so summer romance at theatre camp-esque I absolutely loved it! It had friendships, Shakespeare (I hate that old white man, but eh at least he was good for something in this), theatre camp, and a summer none of the characters would every forget!

This was such a wonderful YA book.

Forced to go to Shakespeare camp in order to be allowed to go to college, Beatrice challenges herself to break out of her (extreme) comfort zone in order to get what she wanted.

This book is wonderfully YA about having formative life experiences and pushing yourself and trying new things. I flew through this book and while it IS a YA romance, it's not completely about the romance. I loved Beatrice's personality and her reactions to the events feel so genuine to her personality.

I loved how multi-layered Bea was and how she allowed herself to have new experiences and wasn't completely closed off to everyone. This is such a gem of a book and I can't wait for the world to read it.

Long Story Short is a book that I wish had been around when I was in high school. It is comforting, sweet, funny, and a great reminder that everyone is different but our differences are what make us special.

Our heroine, Beatrice, is neurodivergent and dreams only of going to Oxford. Her parents don't think their homeschooled and socially awkward 16 year old is ready to live in another country alone so they send her to a Shakespearean acting camp for the summer with a list of goals to complete. There she makes fast friends with Mia and Nolan, and quick enemies with our hero, Nik. Long Story Short is a fun YA read about knowing who you are and broadening your horizons while staying true to yourself.

*I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*