Top tier romance of the year!
I had such a fun time reading this one, Kiki is my favorite kinda girl. Just enough sass and hilarity to keep me invested. I really loved watching her mess up and try to fix it as best she could which was funny on my part but for her lol. The romance was great, loved the chemistry between her and Malakai from the very first meeting. Im looking forward to picking up this author’s debut as I really like her writing voice.

I enjoyed this book so much! It was witty, funny and sexy. I enjoy witty banter between characters and this book gave me PLENTY of that. The only thing I wish we'd gotten more of was more details in the sexy scenes...we're all grown, let's not shy away from the details ;p

A sweet, coming-of-age read on young Black love! Great book and the type of books I love to read. Kiki is the radio queen, known for calling out the patriarchy and enforcing feminism in her show. Malaki is the new boy at school who immediately begins to play with multiple girls, which Kiki calls out. Kiki is up for a fellowship and her teacher recommends a partnership with someone so she can showcase her work better, turns out Malaki is who she is recommending. The two form a pact to engage in a fake relationship to help cover up their plan to showcase lovers in the school. As always a fake relationship leads to real feelings, but can Kiki handle finally giving someone her heart? And will Malaki continue acting like a player?

This is probably a good book for a younger audience. I’m too old for the language, antics and drama in this book. It’s a cute storyline, just not one for someone my age. All in all, I just couldn't connect.

I've been a fan of Bolu Babalola since I discovered her live tweets during Love Island and knew that her books would be just as funny, witty, and a romance lover's dream! I thought this story was so sweet and absolutely charming! I will continue to read from Babalola, especially because they do a phenomenal job with representation in all facets!

Honey and Spice by Bolu Babalola is a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick and debut novel. The book is about Kiki, who has a popular student radio show called Brown Sugar. Brown Sugar is aimed to warn women about the dangers of "players." Kiki is not one to be played. She meets Malakai and they are caught kissing and her radio show will be in danger. She begins a fake relationship with Malakai to try to save her reputation and her show. Will she fall in love? You need to read to find out! I almost did not finish the book. I am so glad that I stuck with it. I actually started reading this twice. It is a cute, romance that I did actually end of liking. I loved the theme of enemies to lovers. Kiki is a very smart, articulate character. I was really rooting for Kiki and Malakai at the end. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC for my honest opinion.

Compared to Dear White People, Honey and Spice is a fake dating novel featuring reading your crush's favorite books, clever banter, tension, and gossip! All the recipes for a cute novel to envelop your time in.

Fun dynamic characters are always a win for me. I love an overthinking protagonist (Kikiola) since I relate to them. Kiki and Malaki had great chemistry and really balanced each other out.

We need more college age romances in the world.

This book was an absolute delight, it broke me out of a long reading slump. I had so much fun with this love story. I don't love a third act break up and the huge public gesture but that's a personal preference, not a knock on the book!

I was initially skeptical of the “fake dating” plot device but the relationship between Kiki and Malakai grew on me. I was particularly drawn to the banter between Kiki and Aminah. I wanted more of their relationship, their “sisterhood”. Every woman needs an Aminah in their life.

I adored this book! These characters leap off the page and the author does an excellent job of marrying important feminist themes with rom-com tropes.

The banter in this is so good! Kiki & Malakai are so perfect together, a great match. There’s a scene that I’m just obsessed with around chapter 15 when Malakai reveals he’s reading Kiki’s favorite fantasy series. Then when he talks about her playlists?! Swoon. There’s something about watching someone be so openly smitten that makes me smile so hard my cheeks are sore. Unreal guy! What a dream lol

Halfway through reading this I learned there will be another book for Kiki & Malakai and I screamed. Can’t wait to see the older versions of them reconnect! Especially can’t wait to see Aminah again, what a great friendship to read that never felt shoehorned into the story.

Bolu Babalola's love — and knowledge — of romcoms shines through in her first full length novel, a follow-up to her short story collection, Love in Color. I found the pacing a little slow, but appreciated the characters and pop culture references.

Honey and Spice by Bolu Babalola
4.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Honey and Spice is sweet, sexy, smart, and FUN. A fake-dating new adult romance set in the Black community of a university campus in England, it delivers a beautiful depiction of young Black academics discovering love, loss, heartbreak, and their own power. It’s full of Nigerian, Ghanian, and immigrant representation and chock full of feminism without feeling too cliché or “girlboss-y”.

Kikiola “Kiki” Banjo is a second-year university student who runs a campus radio R&B-and-relationship-advice show called Brown Sugar. While she’s seen as a love guru on campus, she’s been burned in personal relationships before, and prefers to stay aloof and casual to protect her heart. When Malakai Korede transfers in, he throws a wrench in her careful control of the dating atmosphere of Blackwell. When they drunkenly kiss at a party to throw one of her f*ckboi hookups off the scent, they cause mass confusion amongst their peers. To alleviate the mess, they decide to fake a relationship to benefit them both personally and professionally, on their semester’s art projects.

What ensues is a beautiful look into friendship, romance, and Black love. We see Kiki and Kai together navigate the complexities of campus life, including their friendships and exes from high school, complicated family dynamics, campus politics, and the pressures of academics. Unlike in a lot of fake dating romances, there is open communication, for the most part, between the leads. They bare their truest selves to each other.
Their banter is fun and hilarious, the cultural references feel well timed and not forced, and the campus environment felt real. This book truly takes you back to being 20 years old and experiencing independence and dating for the first time, away from home and your family. Even if Kiki and Kai’s experiences are different from your own, you will relate to their youth, hopefulness, and their struggles to find who they are.

The only thing that threw me off of this book a little bit was the pacing. There was SO much sweetness, but not a ton of tension or conflict in the first 80% of the book. The suddenly, all the tension popped up amongst the political climate of the campus, the relationship, friendships, and even academic endeavors. Then it was all quickly resolved within a couple of pages. While I actually loved the resolution, love confession scene, and the way everything wrapped up, I did wish it had been spaced out a bit over the second half of the book.
Overall though, I loved this story and had a wonderful time diving into the world of Blackwell. This was an awesome debut novel, and I can’t wait to read more of Bolu Babalola’s work in the future! Thanks to NetGalley for providing the ARC in exchange for this review!

I don't even know how to articulate how much I loved this book. Babalola is a brilliant writer and she has such a clear idea of who her characters are, even when they don't. She's captured the energy and uncertainty of being young and Black in a PWI, and trying to make moves for yourself and finding the people who validate how difficult it is and yet push you through it.

Hands down, this is my favorite NA romance I've ever read. The chemistry was absolute perfection. I love their back and forth, not just because it's amusing, but because it showcases how much they enjoy being around each other. I have no doubt that Kiki and Kai not just love, but genuinely like each other. They want to care for each other as much as they laugh together.

Overall, just a really lovely read. Highly recommend to anyone with taste.

In Bolu Babalola’s debut novel Honey & Spice, Brown Sugar radio show host and relationship-evasion expert Kiki Banjo and Malakai Korede, transfer student, filmmaker, and player, engage in a fake relationship. No surprise that I read Honey & Spice. It’s a fake dating romance with Black British characters. I’m so glad I did! It’s one of the best romances I’ve read this year and in a long time. And, can we talk about that pretty cover? I started the ARC e-b00k and—because of crazy life stuff—finished by listening to the audio narrated by Weruche Ochia. Both are absolutely gorgeous!

It’s an incredibly well-written mix of rivals-to-lovers, enemies-to-lovers, and friends-to-lovers. This gorgeous novel had me laughing, crying, and feeling all the emotions! Babalola’s original, fascinating, and compelling story drew me in from the first scene. I couldn’t let go of the characters and story even when it ended because of Babalola’s intriguing story, exquisite language use, vibrant and lush description, detailed worldbuilding, and lively and colorful dialogue. Not to mention her characters. Babalola deftly develops and evolves fascinating, fallible, and larger-than-life characters you can’t help rooting for or falling in love with.

A British-Nigerian student and overachiever, Kiko’s self-assigned mission is to keep women of Whitewell University’s African-Caribbean Society from falling into the mess of heartbreak and “situationships” with players. She answers listeners’ questions, offering advice on her popular radio show Brown Sugar, unifying the diverse groups of campus women. However, when filmmaker Malakai transfers, disrupting the women by becoming the campus’ newest player, Kiko’s determined to stop him before things get out of hand. But just after denouncing him as “The Wastemen of Whitewell” on her radio show, she kisses him at a party in front of every Blackwellian, jeopardizing Brown Sugar’s future. To redeem their reputations and protect their futures, Kiki and Malakai fake date each other while working together on a media studies project.

Kiki’s sharp-tongued and intelligent, with a soft heart she keeps hidden from the world. While Kiki doesn’t date or consider herself part of the campus cliques, she possesses an advanced understanding of fuckboiology—calling herself a “Blackboyologist.” Men don’t reach past her façade, but somehow Malakai sneaks past. Handsome, charming, sweet, thoughtful, and kind, Malakai seems different than other men. Most of all, he makes Kiki feel things she’s never felt before. Still, she can’t deny their connection’s electricity. But she’s never surrendered her heart to a man, and she’s not about to start with a player, even one like Malakai. However, after spending time with him one-on-one, Kiki must rethink her prejudices about him. But can she risk opening her heart and pursuing a deeper relationship with Malakai?

Like Babalola’s plot/story, which is multilayered and deep, the interactions and connections between her characters are equally complex. Babalola wonderfully develops/evolves Malakai and Kiki’s relationship through sweet, humorous, sexy, intimate, and intellectually challenging banter/verbal sparring and steamy interactions. My favorite scenes are those with Kiki and Malakai just hanging out at old-fashioned diners, dancing, walking in the park and talking, their study sessions, intimate late-night talks, and how they talk to each other about any- and everything. The connection/attraction shared by Malakai and Kiki is intense and profound from their first meeting because it’s not just sexual it’s also intellectual. I love their banter, interactions, and love scenes, which show how evenly matched they are, develop their characters, and further the plot.

I love how seamlessly Babalola weaves current events and pop culture—illustrating how crucial they are—into the lives of her characters and the text of the story and plot. How could I not love a novel filled with wonderfully written Black love and friendship and Beyoncé love?

A new adult fake dating, rivals-to-lovers romance, Honey & Spice is a funny, sweet, sexy, angsty, emotionally intense, steamy, romantic, and thoroughly captivating novel. Babalola brilliantly explores several themes and topics, including college life/student politics for Black students, romance and dating, self-discovery, Nigerian culture, racism, sexism, overcoming familial expectations/pressure to follow your own dreams, taking risks to open yourself up to love and relationships, and making peace with the past. I highly recommend this beautiful novel in audio and e-book/print! I so look forward to reading more by Babalola.

Advanced review copy provided by William Morrow via Netgalley for review.

Sweet, easy summer romance set as though the Unfriendly Black Hotties were the truly the main characters of Mean Girls. I picked up the audiobook in addition to this ARC and enjoyed the narrator. Turn your brain off and soak up the dregs of summer with this rom com.

Months had gone by and I wondered when I would find another favourite book of 2022. Then I was sent the eARC for Honey & Spice. It’s safe to say I found a second book to add to my 2022 faves list.

I kid you not, I finished this book within a few days. I ate it up.

Set in England, Kiki is a student and radio host at the university she attends. She is all about feminism and getting what she wants when it comes to relationships/situationships/fwbships.

Kiki has her eyes set on a bridge program between the uni she attends and one in New York however her professor wants her to make her radio show bigger. Do something with it that can benefit the college community. Little did she know her inspiration (and collaborator thanks to the same professor) would be in the form of the oh-so-sexy transfer student, Malakai. Not only do they make their project work but they become more than just academic buddies.

Kai and Kiki have such fantastic chemistry, their banter was great and felt so real. The slow burn between their characters was so worth the wait. I loved the language and the jokes. Anytime a book has the words “wasteman” and “mandem”, you know I’m reading it. I loved the political aspects and can I just say I loved Kiki/Amirah’s friendship?!

This book was top tier for me. Thank you HarperCollins Canada for the eARC!

Most of the books I’ve read recently have had characters in their mid-to-late thirties, so Honey & Spice, with characters who were 20, was a big change for me. I really enjoyed the characters, the humour, and the romance in this one.

Kiki was smart, sassy, and had a great, distinct voice. I loved that she was secretly nerdy and only let certain people see that side of her. She was the host of a popular college radio show called Brown Sugar, where she played her favourite music and gave romance and dating advice to the women of Blackwell (what the Black students at Whitewell call themselves). I really enjoyed watching Kiki’s growth throughout the book; she had isolated herself for a long time because she’d been hurt and she thought it was safer to keep to herself than to let that happen again. There were all these cliques within Blackwell, but she wasn’t part of any of them and didn’t want to be. She had her best friend, she was a good student, she was respected for the advice she gave on her show, and she didn’t want more than that. Then Malakai came into her life, and he completely turned her world upside down in the best ways possible. It was so satisfying watching Kiki come out of her shell, open her heart, make friends, and fall in love.

The only thing that took away slightly from this book for me was the pacing; the setup felt like it took ages and then there were parts that dragged a bit. That being said, this was an entertaining read. It made me laugh out loud quite a few times, and there was a fair bit of drama that ranged from amusing to rage inducing. It dealt with heavy topics like racism, sexism, and misogyny while balancing it out with humour and romance. This would make a really fun miniseries or movie!

This was a fun romance book and I was excited to read the author is writing another one in this series. I loved the setting and all the characters felt like real people.

The huge presence on social media and being picked up for Reese’s book club made me go for this book, but it just didn’t work for me. The characters felt a bit old for the college aged setting and I felt the fake dating reason was so stupid. The slow start also made it really hard for me to get into this book. There is a lot of British slang to get use to - so be patient in that regard.