This book demolished me. I don't have much to say other than that. I did think it was a bit instalove-y, especially at the beginning, but I enjoyed watching their relationship progress (and fall apart), so it all worked out in the end. I NEED the sequel.

Read if you like:
🌶️ Spicy Reads
🤰🏼 Pregnancy
💋 Cheating
🌏 Atmospheric Settings
🥈Secobd Chance Romances

This is quite the spicy and atmospheric read! I really enjoyed the cultural element to this book with the setting in Shanghai!

I typically really hate the cheating trope, but how this was handled as a second chance romance with the cheating element and the accidental pregnancy tropes being in the past made the plot much more doable for me.

This one is sooo spicy and the chemistry between the characters absolutely jumps off the page and makes you root for them despite all the things working against them.

Thank you to the publisher for sharing my ARC of this spicy romance with me in exchange for my review!

⭐️Star rating: 2.50/5

I will start by saying I love the culture in this book. Reading a story set somewhere other than the US can be so fun. In this book, I did find it hard to keep up with at times (because of food names and street names...etc) only because the culture of Shanghai is different. I feel like it's hard to write a study abroad story for this reason.

The book is a quick-paced story about Blake and Farrah meeting while in a study abroad program in Shanghai. They become closer through their mutual friend group and sparks fly from there. It's a cute story but I feel like it's been done before. I will say I found the story more relatable because the characters shared hopes and dreams were actually realistic.

Overall, I am not sure I would recommend this Ana Huang book to fellow readers but I would recommend the Seven Deadly Sin series. Those are...*chefs kiss* amazing!

If We Ever Meet again was an easy read, easy to follow, almost predictable storyline. It reads almost Young Adult compared to previous reads by Ana Huang. To be honest, I expected more to grab the reader’s attention. I did appreciate the cultural differences. It did set the book apart from others.

I think this read would be good for new adults/college ages. I found this disappointing only because I have already loved Ana Haung's Twisted series so going back to an earlier, less-spicy writing was difficult. I do love this new covet though and hope the book reaches its target audience!

Thank you to Bloom Books and NetGalley for the e-copy of If We Ever Meet Again in exchange for an honest and independent review.

First and foremost, it must be said, Ana Huang is one of my top 3 favorite authors. I absolutely devour anything she writes and her King of Sin series in just sexy perfection in the written word. Even though the If Love series first came out a few years back, this was a new one for me. Being that this is a two part story, I want to be careful to not give too much away here, so I'm going to try to keep this review strictly opinions and cut out what may be too much of a spoiler here when it comes to storyline.

If We Ever Meet Again follows Farrah Lin and Blake Ryan on their journey abroad for a year in Shanghai during college. Farrah is a hopeless romantic looking for a sign that the fairytale love that you read about in novels truly exists. As chance would have it, Farrah runs into Blake, a three time college football national champion who just happened to walk away from his life under the bright lights to escape to Shanghai in search for a simpler life. Sadly enough for Farrah, Blake doesn't believe in the true love you see in moves or read about in books. Could Farrah be the one that changes it all for him? Is he willing to give up his no strings attached outlook in hopes of something more exciting and potentially the love of a lifetime?

I have to admit, while reading this one I had a really hard time imagining the characters as college students in their late teens/early twenties. The way that the dialogue was written and the interactions between the characters at times gave me a high school feel that I really struggled with. I have to wonder if that's because I'm used to more mature characters and plotlines out of Ana that the college scene was a bit of a plot twist for me? Regardless, there were moments where I just struggled with the maturity level of our main characters and their cast of friends (obviously I'm aware they are in college and maturity is fleeting at that point in life, but I think you get my gist here).

While this book doesn't necessarily end on a cliffhanger, you will definitely want to run to grab If the Sun Never Sets to get the conclusion of Farrah and Blakes love story. I honestly immediately downloaded the second book after finishing this one because things felt so unsettled and I had to know where this was going. While this book feels a little outside of Ana Huang's usual lane, I still loved it all the same because she can do no wrong in my eyes. I think this book may just be a little "softer" in comparison to her other romance series, and I'm not saying that in a bad way. This series may be a good way to ease your toe into the water to determine if Ana's style of writing is appealing to your or not, and by style of writing I absolutely mean 'spice' here :)

While this series has not dethroned my King of Sin series, the first book was still a solid read that left me running to the second book of the series (do not pass go, do not collect $200). I already feel the vibes with the second book that much more now that both characters have matured and have come into their own. That's all for now! Can't wait to finish If the Sun Never Sets!

”Did Shanghai change them, or was it a mere footnote in the stories of their lives?”

The story begins with a break up and a betrayal of some sort that we’re not privy to, yet. We are then thrust to when Farrah and Blake first meet. They are both studying abroad in Shanghai. Farrah finds Blake arrogant and wants to stay away from him but as the story progress she begins to open herself up to the possibility of more. The love story that developed was cute and gave me all the feels. I enjoyed that both characters were vulnerable and had relatable insecurities. The banter was witty. They were typical college kids. The side characters were fantastic and I loved the found family aspect of the story, seeing as that they were all away from home.

I enjoyed the cultural setting of this book. I had to look up a few places and a few of the foods mentioned.

I wasn’t a fan of the mixed of dual POV and the limited 3rd person narration style. The plot twist was predictable and I can see where book 2 is going to go. I did want to see more of the side characters. The miscommunication had me wanting to pull my hair out. All they had to do was talk... This was a very light and quick read and I look forward to diving into the rest of the series, even if I know book 2 will make me mad.

So, I was really excited to read Ana Huang's "If We Ever Meet Again," especially after loving her other stuff. But diving into Jake and Farrah's story, I just couldn't get into it. The pacing felt wonky, and honestly, I couldn't really vibe with the characters.

But one of the best parts of the book was the killer descriptions of Shanghai. That part was spot-on. Even though the book didn't quite hit the mark for me, it still had its moments of beauty and made me appreciate the author's style.

This was not what I expected. Ana Huang usually gives a masterclass in romance and HEAs, but this felt sub-par. Maybe because it's the first in a series, but it felt unfinished. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed it for the most part, but I found myself flipping through the pages a little bored.

typically, i'm a huge ana huang fan so i jumped when i saw this was available. sadly, this one was NOT it for me. after reading several of her books already, i lowered my expectations as this was one of her debuts but still had some qualms.

what i enjoyed:
• the vibrancy of descriptions of life in shanghai
• the drama in the friend group

what i did not enjoy:
• the writing for sex scenes - "member", "folds" ... no thanks
• jake ryan -- i mean BLAKE ryan who did not deserve farrah at all, maybe if he would have actually been honest about his mistake, but he wasn't
• the cheating trope, which honestly because there was drinking should have been examined more as date rape due to the pressure from his ex
• the pregnancy trope, i don't even know for sure if cleo got pregnant or not, but cheating was bad enough as it was (hide spoiler)]
• honestly i was so confused how (view spoiler) fell in love with ja--blake so quickly

if you like books that are messy romances that don't end in a HEA (until book 2) that are set on time limits (this one is a college study abroad program), you may be more suited than i was for this.

4 ⭐ 2 🌶 5 🎧

Well that was so sweet and yet so heartbreaking. I loved the beginning of this story, Farrah and Blake were adorable. I loved watching them love each other so much. And then he breaks her heart and I'm just left in this puddle unsure how to feel...

I have theories around this heartbreak and a lot of them feature a filthy, lying twatwaffle... But I guess I'll have to finish the duet before I can get some answers. I'm really rooting for these two to make it through.

The audio was amazing. Cindy Kay and Aiden Snow are both absolute favorites of mine and they did such an incredible job with this story.

I enjoyed the Twisted series and am so invested in Huang's newest King series. But am also very glad that she has grown as an author. I could not get into this romance. I tried and tried and just never found myself invested in the story or the characters. But thank you for letting me try!

Thank you Bloom Books and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ana Huang. When I find you. The if love series is such a cute way to be introduced to Ana Huangs world. I love this series more than Kings of Sin and Twisted. Which is saying a lot. I cannot wait for more Ana

Got this book as an ARC and I was excited to read it! Ana is usually a hit or miss for me so I was interested to see how I felt about this one.
But ugh
Firstly, even with the HEA warning right in the beginning author’s note I still was frustrated when the ending came. At 80% through I was thinking “okay.. maybe it won’t end with this particular thing going on.” And then at 99% I was thinking “well shit, okay this IS where this story is going.”

I don’t feel inclined to read the second one, even though the HEA is guaranteed in it. I think it’s mostly because I don’t feel the love I want to feel for the main characters. I’ve read many books with zero HEA’s or one’s that cliff hang and continue into future books, but this one didn’t have that drive for me to want to continue on. I think it’s due to the particular tropes used in it.
I wish I loved it!
2/5⭐️
2/5 🌶️

okay so in all honesty, it was so hard to connect with this characters in this book that it makes it hard to give a in deep
review on it.
i couldn't really feel for them or love them because i just didn't care for them as harshly as that sounds the FMC was boring and gave us nothing and the MMC a manwhore and just plain rude, i do enjoy books from this writter this one just wasn't for me sadly.

Omg, I'm a huge fan of this author and I absolutely loved this book! Thanks Netgalley and to the publisher for this ARC

If We Ever Meet Again - Ana Huang ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book gave me all the feels: emotional, love, sadness, giddiness,
I was SO rooting for Farrah and Blake. Their love and banter put a huge grin on my face. I cannot wait to read the next book in this series - If The Sun Never Sets. I need more of Farrah and Blake’s love story!

Definitely not my fave. I don't like the Tropes at all and I feel like this was so easy to predict. Plus I bet in the next book Cleo was faking it and it was all a ruse. Not my fave Ana Huang book and I love her work usually

This was my first intro to Ana Huang and I am hooked!!! Ana's dual POV, story telling, and spicy scenes were chef's kiss. I cannot wait to read more of Ana's work!

dnfd at 43%

not good or bad just kinda meh. story was very just lackluster in my opinion and couldn’t keep me interested.