A solid YA romance that is enhanced by its setting - I love when location is so important in a story and it's refreshing to read something set somewhere other than the US or UK.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I was pleasantly surprised by this book.

I have never read any books by this author before but I loved the storyline, the banter and characters of When The Vibe Is Right. There was a lot I liked and I think that's also due to the fact that I listened to the audiobook instead of reading the book physically. I think the narrator did an amazing job bringing the story to life.

The book follows Tess who dreams of becoming a famous Carnival costume designer much like her renowned uncle who's business, Grandeur, she dreams of taking over one day. When her uncle's company falls on the brink of collapse, Tess needs to partner up with her annoying classmate and social media influencer, Brandon to help save Grandeur. As Tess spends more time with Brandon, she begins to wonder if she was wrong about him all along.

I absolutely loved the banter between Brandon and Tess. It was easily one of my favourite elements of the book along with the characters in general. Though the book was in first person, I think we got heaps of glimpses into Brandon's personality and character to really understand him. I also enjoyed the pacing and the Trinidadian setting. I have never read a book set in Trinidad and it feels like forever since I read a book set in the Caribbean.

I enjoyed the pacing of the book but my main criticism is that it felt like there were so many things happening at times that it was sometimes difficult to keep track of. Apart from that, I really enjoyed this book and I can see myself recommending this in the future.

I don't care what people say but black romance its the best and if you say I am wrong go argue with the wall. please please read this because its just amazing and everyone needs to read it

When the Vibe is Right is perfect for anyone who is a fan of the enemies to lovers trope. I'm a big fan of Sarah's writing style so this was fun to read.

Unfortunately this book and I were not vibing in terms of writing style, and I just couldn't get into it. I did try my best!

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for the arc. First and foremost, I would like to apologize that I hadn't been able to review this before it was released or around the time it came out for I had missed it and didn't have the time. I'm really really sorry for that :// With that said, this was such a charming ya romance and i definitely can't wait to read more of the author's works to come!

I had a fun time reading this novel and thought it had all the makings of a good YA romance, that was given added texture by its setting.

This was a cute little enemy to love trope that one could throughly enjoy. My students would devour this because Jim the right amount of drama with a love story. I enjoy learning about Trinidadian carnivals and the importance of preserving that history and legacy.

This was very highly anticipated for me and it absolutely delivered. It had everything I am looking for in a YA romance --- angst and butterflies, but also the realism that they are high schoolers. I loved learning more about Carnival, as that is something I was definitely not familiar with before reading, and now I want to do a deep dive on Carnival culture (and I definitely see teens who are not familiar with it being interested as well).

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book, as this book has already been published, I will not share my review on Netgalley at this time.

I loved this book! As a St. Lucian and Bajan girl a romance book about Carnival is something I never though I'd get to read about Carnival but I am so so happy that this book exists. This book truly brought Carnival alive on the pages and I had such a great time reading it. Tess and Brandon's enemies to lovers romance was a great one to read about and I thought it was very fun how they obviously were attracted to each other but found each other annoying at the same time. As the book progressed and they grew closer to each other they each had very obvious flaws but were still great characters and I think their flaws just made them even more believable as characters. Highly recommend this one for my YA romance fans!

I would like to apologize that I am unfortunately unable to review this book. I was too late with downloading this book because I saw the email too late. I apologise for my carelessness. I will do my best to prevent this from happening again in the future. I hope that you have received good reviews for the book and that the book itself is a succes. It sounded really promising. Again, I would like to apologise for how late I'm handing in this review and for the inconvenience I have caused. I hope you will have a nice day.

Who doesn’t love an enemies to lovers trope set in a Mas Band in Trinidad and Tobago? I personally couldn’t get enough of it! Truly this was such a delightful read and I think its because of the rivalry that felt very authentic. I loved Tess as a main character and I could spend a lot of time just reading about her daily life.

If you are looking for a light, fun romance, this is definitely a must read!

Unfortunately, I'm going to DNF this book for now. I really did enjoy the first couple of chapters I read and was beginning to look forward to the rest of the book. I'm just not in much of a reading mood right now and I really need a NetGalley refresh before I can continue reading this.

This is a colorful story set around Trinidad's carnival season. Tessa wnats to be a carnival costume designer, just like her uncle, and hopes to inherit Grandeur, the company he ran with her parents. Brandon is the bane of Tess' existence and previously worked with Grandeur's rival. But when Grandeur needs a boost to save the company, Brandon agrees to help them out. Brandon and Tess end up working together and their opinions of each other begin to change. It's an interesting and joyful novel of unexpected love.

The setting and descriptions of Trinidad life and culture were absolutely stunning and definitely made me want to take a vacation ASAP! Unfortunately, the MC, Tess, had her. moments of being absolutely insufferable but I chalk that up as to how teens are typically written as self-centered. Some of the writing tenses could be a bit confusing where something happens off the page, but then the writer brings the reader back into the moment (just one of my pet peeves of being given a summary and then the detailed scene after). Overall, a tropical young adult romance set in Trinidad.

This was quite sweet, but I really struggled to connect with any of the characters. I loved the inclusion of Trinidadian culture, with the Carnival costumes especially, it was a lot of fun to read about! this was a lot of fun, and it's perfect for summer,

This enemies-to-lovers young adult romance is set in Trinidad, and its Carnival celebration is featured heavily. Which is pretty cool. I enjoyed reading about the customs there and the intricate, resplendent costumes that play such a large part in the festival. It was interesting to learn that the celebration in Trinidad is joyous, delightful and family friendly (the last of which is not the case for Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, for instance).

This is just one great reason to read the book: to be educated in a fun way about a different culture that doesn’t get a lot of exposure in most places here in the U.S. The other is that it’s well-written and a good take on the enemies-to-lovers trope.

Tess (short for Beatrice) is the niece of a renowned costume designer. She hopes to work for the mas (masquerade) band their family has run for decades and run it one day. She is skilled at design and creating the costumes and knows good quality when she sees it.

She has hated Brandon, a popular social influencer even at not quite 18, since she met him in school seven years before. She can’t think of anything to like about him. They’ve bickered for years.

But when a rival mas band puts the future of their band in jeopardy, Tess finds herself teaming up with Brandon to help save the family business. That’s about the only reason she would spend time with him, and she does what she can to be civil.

Of course, as these things go, as they spend more and more time together, she finds he may not be as bad as she thought. And could those weird niggling feelings be attraction? Yikes.

A fun and colorful young adult book with a good romance that I recommend for getting a look at another place and culture.

One of my favorite things about When The Vibe is Right was the main character, Tess. She’s seventeen and dreaming of following in her uncle’s footsteps by becoming a famous, professional Trinidadian Carnival costume designer. Right away, I loved how her passion for costume designing showed in the story. I also really enjoyed her as a character overall : she’s certainly a flawed teenager, she’s a bit obstinated but I don’t know, I found it so easy to care for her and really rooted for her, right from the very first pages.
Before anything else, When The Vibe is Right is an enemies to lovers romance. Fans of this trope will LOVE this book, I promise. I fell for the banter between Tess and Brandon right away and loved how the forced proximity, with them suddenly forced to work together, has them changing their mind and feelings, slowly but surely. I found this to be a soft, fun, slow-building and realistic romance overall and I just loved them!

Another highlight of this book is the family. Tess lost her parents in an accident and is now living with her aunt, uncle and cousin Hazel. I really loved the family dynamics in this story, especially the Hazel/Tess relationship. They’re close and you know Hazel will fight someone for Tess if she needs to and I just enjoyed that so much.
The story’s set in Trinidad and Tobago and I absolutely loved that. It was wonderful to see parts of the culture shining through, the landscapes and of course, the carnival and its traditions.

If you’re looking for a lovely enemies to lovers YA book, I definitely recommend When The Vibe is Right. It was fun, entertaining, filled with great characters and banter. Can’t wait to read more from this author!

There's a lot to love about this book. I listened to the audiobook, and I thought the narration was great. There were a lot of charming elements, just like in Sarah Dass's previous book, but I have to admit I clicked with that one more. The story here felt slightly too chaotic at times, as I felt like there was just so much going on all at the same time.