⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙣𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙞𝙩.

📍 Read if you like:
• Childhood Friends-To-Lovers
• Fade-To-Black Scenes
• “It’s Always Been You”
• Valentine’s Day

This was such an anticipated read that I knew I had to read it around Valentine’s. While I did enjoy the book overall, I had some issues that took from that enjoyment.

Sora Reid isn’t in the best place at the moment. She still lives in the condo she bought with her ex-husband, her family shames her for many reasons, her relationships never last, and she’s struggling to become a writer so has her lifestyle blog.

She then decides to #gosolo for the month of February, which means no dating, no relationships, and no romance whatsoever.

However, she ends up bumping into her childhood crush named Jack Mann, who happens to be followed by his ex-fiancé all the time. Jack is this pastry chef and instantly sparks a connection with Sora.

I really enjoyed the childhood-to-lovers in this book. However, I had so many issues with the book itself. Firstly, it started off so slowly. It did eventually pick up though. Also, I didn’t love the talk about weight and weight loss. Sora’s family was so disrespectful toward her and it annoyed me how many times this book mentioned the word “bacon” as a personality trait.

While I absolutely loved Jack’s character, I didn’t care too much for Sora. There were times were she annoyed me. I’m glad she became confident in herself and did what she wanted, but I wish she would’ve stood up for herself more.

Overall, this was a fine Valentine’s read. I had such high hopes for it but it was a bit slow. There were some moments I didn’t love, but I did really connect with Jack’s character. I also enjoyed the Dual POV and childhood-to-lovers trope. Solid holiday romance!

TW: Miscarriage, Infidelity, leukemia, body shaming

Writer Sora Reid is dreading this upcoming Valentine’s day, given the outcome of her last relationship and her younger sister’s wedding approaching fast, she is caught in the throes of romance all around her. Suddenly an idea hits her to pledge to be single, and go solo for February. When she writes an article about her pledge, her readers resonate with her and her idea becomes a sensation having everyone everywhere pledging to go solo for February. In the midst of all the attention her article is getting, Sora runs into Jack Mann, they went to elementary school together and there is some undeniable chemistry that Sora can simply not ignore. Sora now has to choose to stick to her pledge alongside her reader or risk loosing a chance at a true connection.

•

Unfortunately, this one missed the mark for me. It was a little too cheesy for my taste and was really hard to connect with these two MC’s. I do appreciate that this story was told in Sora and Jack’s POV, it gave a better understanding to what they are both thinking and feeling but I do wish there was more tension in this one as it is a “forbidden romance” kind of vibe. Sora is dead set on following her pledge but all of that really goes flying through the window the moment she sees Jack. There was also A LOT of body shaming in this one which was not necessary and seemed repetitive, for example, Sora’s sister getting furious and throwing some unforgivable comments at Sora simply because she did not fit into her bridesmaid dress. This is a closed door kind of romance but I felt like it had the potential to be such a steamy read given the way these two feel about each other. There were also some heavy themes in this book that I wish the author would have gone into more detail about, they seemed just kind of thrown in there and briefly touched on. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review, this title is now available to purchase.

Great characters who have powerful chemistry and yet keep getting in their own way based on their individual life experience and fear. It’s a fun, witty, rom-com with a great cast. It only took a few pages to have me rooting for Jack and Sora and hoping for their well deserved happily ever after. Really enjoyed every moment of this story.
The perfect story to make you smile, laugh and have hope.

As someone who has been recently single, I related to this book so much. There were times I was wondering if this book was written for me. You just never know who can walk into your life the minute you decide to give up...the minute you're single ;)

Thank you netgalley and Cara Tanamachi for the ARC!

✨ PRINCEMAN REVIEW ✨

📝 Sora Reid has been unlucky in love. Divorced and many failed relationships under her belt, she's ready to give up on love! At least for the month of February. So, #GoSolo is launched for her freelanced writing gig. Soon after, she runs into her childhood friend, Jack Mann, in the bakery section at the grocery store. Could he be THE ONE to break her single status?

What I 🤍:
🍰 A Man Who Bakes
🐶 One-Eyed Larry, Her Dog
💘 Valentine's Day Romance
💕 Childhood Friends to Lovers

I am sorry to say that this book WAS NOT for me. There's a variety of reasons, and each just didn't sit well with me. In all honesty, I'm really surprised St. Martins Press allowed this to printing before some major edits.
✔️ Fat Shaming: There's such an emphasis on her weight and gaining weight. What set me over was when her sister got mad at her for gaining weight. What the heck!?
✔️ Single Shaming: Sora's family always wanted her with someone. In fact, she was told it would ruin her sister's wedding if she didn't have a date. 😭
✔️ Miscarriage: This one really upset me. There was no book warning about this ANYWHERE before reading. When a character went through the miscarriage (in her second trimester), the family was happy the baby was lost. No care was given to the person who went through this terrible experience. As a person who's gone through a miscarriage, it was clear the author hasn't, and no taste was written in this situation.

Prince's Rating: ⭐️⭐️
Passion: 🔥🔥(One Closed Door)
Read 📅: In February

Sadly, this isn't one I wouldn't recommend. I had high hopes, but morally I had some major concerns with this book. I wish this could have gone back to editing because it really had potential.

Publishers and authors.......Please start putting Content Warnings at the beginning of your books.

The Second You’re Single is a delightful tale by Cara Tanamachi. Sora Reid has bought in to inertia. She has reached a point of status quo and rarely pushes further. Her career isn’t exactly what she wants, but she fell into the job. But then she comes up with an idea she does put forth to her editor. On the backside of a lying, turns out married, boyfriend she kicked to the curb and having already survived a cheating ex-husband, Sora is ready to swear off men and wonders if there are many women feeling the same. This brings her to the concept of #gosolo February, which sparks both her editor and the public that follows her. Why should those not in a relationship be made to feel bad for an artificial holiday?

Just as this idea goes viral with her online followers, Sora has a surprise encounter with a ghost from the past. Jack Mann had been a fellow student of Sora’s in elementary school. He had been enamored of her then and those feelings still lie dormant. When he encounters Sora, and subsequently her ex-husband and his new squeeze as well as his ex-fiancé, it doesn’t go so well. Luckily, times change, but can they until before solo February is over?

This is such a laugh out loud funny story! I enjoyed every moment of this tale. With richly drawn characters and a perfectly developed plot, this book is a gem! I very much enjoyed this story and highly recommend it.

Are you in the mood for a cute, cheesy and quick to read romance? Yes? Then this is the book for you!

The Second You’re Single is a shorter read. So it reads quick. I usually take a few days to read romance novels and this one I got done in a day. Sadly, it did also feel rushed. Like there could easily be more. Jack and Sora have knew each other in elementary school, now 10ish years later they are reconnecting. I feel like Jack and Sora both were like “Your the same person you were when you were in grade school” as a teacher whose seen many many kids grow up I can say “nope sorry”

But Jack and Sora did have a spark and it was easy to see/feel on the page. Going back to what I said before about it feeling rushed, I would have really liked to see more growth and a longer courtship between the two. It kind of felt like instalove, which isnt the point of reading a romance novel to me.

One thing I didn’t like was that Sora was described as a “heavier” or “plus size” when at a size 14. That is average and healthy. And while I am happy to see a main character that isn’t a size 2,I wish there as more positivity around that.

Overall, a fast, decent, and easy read.

The Second Your Single is a solid debut from Cara Tanamachi.

I liked the story and that Sola was #GoingSolo for February, and the struggles that occur when childhood friend Jack reenters her life. There were plenty of funny moments between the two of them and you could see the connection happening.

I struggled a bit with the constant reminder that Jack fell in love with her in kindergarten. It was kind of weird.

I really wanted to love this one. I really did, but it fell flat for me. There were some funny parts, but those felt forced. It almost felt like it was missing something and I can’t quite pinpoint it. I loved that Sora was a writer and the idea she has of showing people it’s just fine to be single for valentines is great. I just didn’t love Sora’s character. I think that’s why I couldn’t quite connect with this book as a whole, but did enjoy parts of it. Very cute premise and was excited to read it. It does have an HEA…but this one missed the mark for me. Rounded up to three stars.

This sounded really good but the writing wasn’t for me. The jokes tried a little too hard, not a big fan of closed door romance, and there was definitely a bit of fat phobia!

It’s the way this book is Goblin Mode in paper form.


Just read it. You’ll see what I mean and feel absolutely validated for every choice you ever made post-breakup.


Tropes I loved:
He Fell First
Swearing Off Men/Dating
Second chance romance
School yard crushes

Such a charming romantic novel that left my cheeks hurting from smiling, and my heart feeling happy! This was my first novel from this author but I will for sure buy every novel this author releases!

📚Book review:
The Second You're Single by Cara Tanamachi (released Jan 31/23)
⭐⭐⭐⭐

I really enjoyed this book aside from a couple of small things that bothered me. Right away in the first chapter I found myself smiling and laughing because of the FMC's internal dialogue, much of which I related to. I loved the power and value to the singles idea and appreciated the journey the FMC went on as far as self love and care, even though she did still end up falling in love. Bonus: a bit of dual POV! It was very heavily Sora's story but we did get Jack's side of things on occasion, which I enjoyed.

My two complaints: the use of the word "handi-capable" in reference to Sora's one-eyed dog--many of us in the Disabled community prefer for those made up combo cutesy terms to be used--just say disabled! Right off the top I made a note and was thrilled that Sora had adopted a disabled dog since not everyone would. The other thing was I thought the author did a pretty good job of Sora loving and accepting her body size and shape as a mid-sized character from a family of tiny women who put pressure on. At the end, though, though she did imply that finding balance around foods eaten was the right way to do things, there was some language around choosing "right" and "healthy" foods over others and I'm not a fan of terms that moralize food, especially when there is such a disparity around food privilege and how expensive "healthy" foods often are.

Those couple of moments where I cringed meant for me that I had to knock off a star, but otherwise the reading experience and the story itself were super enjoyable!

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the advanced copy!

#BookReview #TheSecondYoureSingle #NetGalley #StMartinsPress
#AmReading #Books #RomanceReader #ValentinesDay

I loved this book so much!! An absolutely adorable, witty, feel good, fun read! I loved Sora, Jack, Stella, and especially Larry! Can’t wait to see what this author writes next!

The Second You're Single was a very quick and just fine read. We follow Sora who is doing a Solo-February challenge when she reunites with Jack someone she knew from kindergarten. As the sparks fly Sora is tested to see if she can commit to solo-february and if she is even doing it for the right reason. There was a cute love story in here and some side characters/plots that could have been developed further.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

I liked this book! It started off and ended strong! My only reason for not giving it more stars is because it dealt with some serious subjects that I was not prepared for. When I get that in a romance book it always throws me off as there is no warning to it. I generally pick up romance books for the cute content. Other than that I loved the chemistry and banter between the two main characters and how their story unfolded. Bonus this is a great read around Valentine’s Day.

This was a fun, cute read. I enjoyed Sora and Jack navigating their way through Solo February. I liked how the characters grew during the story. I love Larry who totally deserves the good kibble always. Overall, it was an enjoyable romance and I would recommend it.

This book got me hooked right away! Sora is a writer who starts writing an article about going solo for February (love month) after a married man strings her along. She’s downright bitter! But it lands her a reoccurring spot at slick magazine. And it starts gaining popularity! Tons of women are empowered to go solo for love month! And then sora runs into a childhood friend and instantly feels a connection. It’s instalove but how can she betray her fans of going solo by getting a man before the month is over? This book was enjoyable and I found myself smiling. I did notice some problematic things that could have easily been left out.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

Sora Reid is a freelance writer whose all but written off seeing any semblance of success. Flailing in her career and failing in her love life, she’s sick of being pressured by her family (and society), constantly feeling like she doesn’t measure up.

Another thing Sora hates? Superficial holidays like Valentine’s Day that only serve as a reminder to how far away from taken Sora really is. Depressed at the idea of facing yet another year surrounded by cult like commercialism, Sora haphazardly pitches a story to her editor, opting out of the whole dating scene for the month of February.

Never expecting the concept to catch on, #gosolo morphs into something much bigger than Sora could ever dream. At the center of it all is Sora herself, promising to practice what she preaches. That is, of course, until she has a re-meet, meet cute with childhood acquaintance, Jack Mann. Jack, now a far cry from the awkward boy he was in elementary school, just might be what Cupid ordered. But sweared singledom and swoonworthy, sexy men just don’t mix. Sora’s always had bad timing, but this takes the cake. Should she follow her heart, or stay true to her single self?

The Second You’re Single is a quick read that centers around a surface holiday, ironically not digging much deeper in its own context. While romance novels often involve a certain suspension of disbelief, I had a hard time seeing Sora as hard up. After all, it wasn’t like she could NEVER date Jack, she just couldn’t….for the remainder…of February, which need I remind you, also happens to be the shortest month of the year.

Putting it all into perspective, this story had a cute premise with the promise of a timely gimmick. Like the r in February, however, the story itself wasn’t all that memorable, leaving me wanting more.

This was a delightful rom-com with enjoyable characters. Now and then it is wonderful to find a rom-com that makes you get a silly smile while you read simply because the characters are that adorable. I am not sure if I have ever read a book by this author before, but I will definitely be reading more in the future.