Can a dare made at Notting Hill Carnival turn into true love? He’s All That meets How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days in this trope-filled sizzling summer romance, perfect for fans of Joya Goffney and Lynn Painter.
Popular girl Eva Òjó is used to boys falling for her without her even trying. So when her friend dares her to dance with a random guy at Notting Hill Carnival, she meets Saint.
Comic obsessed Saint Rowe-Falade thinks Eva is cute, but he’s not interested in her in that way. He’d rather get lost in stories than look for romance.
When Eva’s birthday party gets out of control and causes damage to her dad’s beloved car, her friends set the ultimate dare: get Saint to take her on one date and they’ll help her pay to fix her dad’s car. Operation fall-in-love-with-Eva is set in motion and Eva makes it her mission to make Saint fall head over heels. But just as Saint starts to warm to Eva, and her own feelings towards him grow, Saint finds out about the dare. Can Eva convince Saint she’s truly into him, or has she lost him for good?
*This book was sent to me by Simon and Schuster via Literally PR, please read our disclaimer policy for more information
The Review:
After reading Love in Winter Wonderland and Only for the Holidays, I was really expecting another Christmas romance read from Abiola.
I was SO excited when I found out this would be a summer read and it begins at Nottinghill Carnival.
I was SOLD.
And if that wasn’t enough – the cover is gorgeous!! Caroline Garcia deserves all the flowers! It’s stunning.
This is such a fun summer read. If you’re looking for something light-hearted with easy dialogue and short chapters, then this is for you. It has such gorgeous friendships, lovely family dynamics and of course, a romance that you’ll wholeheartedly root for.
Elements:
👩🏾❤️👨🏾 Friends to Lovers
🧲 Opposites-attract
👿 Truth or Dare
🤓 Nerdy guys
🤺 Cosplay
☀️ Carnival
We’re introduced to Eva, the popular girl at school. She’s gorgeous with an incredible friendship group. It’s the last summer she has with her friends before they all go their separate ways. She has the attention of the hottest guy in school and she’s throwing the birthday party of the century in a few days.
In theory, she is living the dream.
But as the story goes on we see that Eva has so much more that she’s struggling with. I really loved how Abiola delved into the pressures surrounding going straight into university after schooling. It’s something that I’m sure so many of us can relate to in general. Most of us assume it’s the natural next step after you finish A-Levels without even considering if it’s:
A. Something we actually want to do
B. If there’s other options available.
There are many reasons as to why the majority of us seek out university and I know for a lot of Black children, it’s something our parents have enforced on us. Now that’s a much deeper conversation and I know Abiola explores it at a surface level. We see how Eva feels like she has to be the perfect child for her parents and there’s no room for mistakes. In fact, it’s pretty much the driving force of this whole novel. But what I will say is that I loved how we saw a different reaction to what we would usually expect. It was loving and sweet.
‘Why don’t you? Life’s too short not to do what you want.’
It’s a reminder that it’s our life to live and we can do whatever we want to do. As long as there’s a plan in place.
That was probably my favourite part of the book.
Of course, the romance was sweet and I loved that we were seeing Eva pursue Saint, instead of the man pursuing the woman. Although, please this is NOT something I advocate for in real life. If you love ‘How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days’ –
Although sorry, who doesn’t? That yellow/gold satin dress that Kate Husdon wears lives in my mind rent free. Iconic.
Anyways, if you like that romcom. You’ll love this book. The dares are a nice added touch and really loved how that forced Eva out of her comfort zone for Saint.
Saint seemed like the perfect guy. Literally. He was nerdy, sweet and ridiculously thoughtful. If I could find someone like him in the UK, I’d be so incredibly happy. I loved how authentically himself he was. He didn’t try to change for Eva. In fact, Eva had to meet him in his world in order to truly get to know him. I could see how inspiring he was and how much he influenced Eva for the better – which was so lovely to read.
He gave her confidence to find her true self.
I LOVED all the nerdy elements of this book. From the comics to anime and even to mentions of Game of Throne, which I’m yet to watch yet so I skimmed over any potential spoilers. It really made the book shine as I could feel Abiola’s passion through the page. The descriptions of cosplay made me laugh.
It really warms my heart when characters have a really niche thing they’re passionate about.
It brings out the plot and that’s exactly what it did for The Love Dare.
There were SO many other things that I liked about this book. I loved the friendship dynamics. Although I would have liked Oyin to receive a bit of a harsher cussing (my personal preference). I liked her relationship with her brother and grandma. I really loved the way she grew to like her brother’s girlfriend – that was really sweet. And I really adored the little mentions of the characters from Love in Winter Wonderland.
Overall, this is definitely the perfect read for those picnics in the park, lounging by the beach or even just reading on a bench in the sun. It was such a great representation of Black British London and we really need SO many more books like these for teens.
Check out the rest of the blog tour (on Instagram) below!
This looks really fun but with important topics also covered – great that it has that representation and mirror for young Black kids in London.
Yes definitely! I think that representation is incredibly important and it’s always nice to see it reflected in YA books!