Took me three months, but I red ten trends etc by penny reid and I loved it. I think although yes, it is kind of bizarre, it is a representation of mental health (byron) and trauma that prevented their emotional development as teenagers/college aged people. It’s bizarre because the internal dialogue of the character is as messed up as their mental health. Maybe it’s just me but I found it refreshing that the characters are open with each other. It felt real, and reality it’s messy. It’s not a perfect fairytale. Not for everyone’s taste but I loved it.
Ten Trends to Seduce Your Best Friend was literally my favorite book of the year, but I also fully understand the rant lol. That chapter from Byron's perspective when he's drunk hit so hard for me. I am seriously questioning if my train of logic is just not normal because Penny Reid had me on board for the entire thing.
your rant was perfect, put a huge smile on my face. I was laughing so much while you explained what happens in the book. Also saved me from reading an unsatisfying romance ! love your reviews !
Your rant about Ten Trends is sooo perfect. It is simultaneously really endearing and just WEIRD. The sub plot with Jeff? And the fade to black sex scene in the epilogue?? Penny??! I gave it 3.5 stars though, which is my "I had a good time but I will definitely l not be rereading this" rating lol.
All of this. I love Penny Reid, but I was not warned about that ending. This was hours of build up followed by me swearing loudly alone in my car because I was on a road trip at the time.
In A Jam by Kate Canterbary - not sure I would call it true friends to lovers but also has forced proximity and fake marriage (well real marriage) - basically read it. I love Kate Canterbary so much!!
Chanmaaaasss!! Yayyy. Happy Holidays❤️ cannot wait to watch. Vlogmases honestly motivate me to get up and give me a reason to look forward to the day. The holidays are tough but having so many creators take part and make such wholesome and fun content makes me feel less alone. Thank you ☺️Hope whoever reads this is having a fantastic day, you are loved and you matter and happy holidays 🎄
Friends to lovers is probably my all time favourite trope so I’ve definitely read a lot of them. One of my favourite friends to lovers books is finding a keeper by Nicole Pyland, and Would You Rather by Alison Ashley is also pretty good. Loved the video and hearing your rant on Ten Trends.
I had totally forgotten I read Ten Trends to Seduce Your Best Friend until I saw your IG story. I totally agree with your whole rant, it gave me a lot of second hand embarrassment because the challenges were so cheesy and the book felt like it dragged on forever BUT I was still rooting for them as a couple
I really enjoyed Mixed Signals. Sweet and cozy! I liked that this wasn’t a “fake dating” so much as “we’ll date each other to help each another out” and the townspeople know that they “practice dating”
I was so confused after I read that Penny Reid book. The audiobook was 16 hours, and I felt like it could’ve been edited down to a nice 9 hour book. I didn’t hate it, but it was absolutely a disaster. I gave it 3 stars. Penny Reid is always a gamble for me. The Winston Brothers series was mostly enjoyable for me, but the Knitting in the City series was not, and I gave up on the Hypothesis series because the first 3 books were all 3 stars for me. I’m so looking forward to the choose your own adventure video! And Chanmas in general
Lovelight Farms is top tier for me - easily one of my favorite romances this year so I'm nervous to read the others. And I'm not a small town romance girlie but Miss BK got me! Currently reading In the Weeds and enjoying but definitely nervous it won't live up to the first one.
Chandler, I’ve been watching your videos for over a year religiously and I just wanted to let you know that your work is really appreciated, you’re a delight ❤ (And have been keeping me sane while I complete my PhD 🫠) Looking forward for Chanmas!! Happy Holidays!
I love Penny Reid but I could not finish this one because it really felt like she was trying to get into the "reylo fanfic" as you said it! I don't know if this is fair, but I do get this vibe that a lot of other authors who've been writing "steminist" romance got upset that The Love Hypothesis blow up while their books didn't.
For example, I love "Dating-ish", but I think that story is much more authentic than this one, the characters are way more well developed and not everything feels like the author is trying to check little boxes of what this type of book must have to be a success
My favorite best friends-to-lovers is a het historical: The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan. She's a widowed plant nerd, he's a carefree rake (or is he?), there is a lot of pining, and discussion, and SCIENCE and I love them to bits. (CW: past miscarriages) Very fun video to watch, as always :)
I'm so glad I waited for your thoughts on Happenstance. 😂 I was going to read it because it was your Patreon book club pick, but omg, reverse harem isn't my cup of tea... so yeah... I'm glad I waited! Haha
ah, the satisfaction i feel when you have the same take as i do!!! i’m also very much more on the poly rather than reverse harem books; just feels more complete and there’s a lot of opportunity for fun dynamics!!! i’m really looking forward to reading give me more by sara cate cause of the poly rep
So excited for all the Chanmas content! I'm not typically a huge fan of friends to lovers, but a novella that definitely won me over was Go Deep by Rilzy Adams. Neither of them ever saw each other as more than friends, until the heroine (who is an erotica writer) needs inspiration for her content and turns to her bestie for assistance.
Don't worry about the cursing. I'm listening to this video while I'm working in a office. I'm laughing and agreeing with you. So much so that my coworkers are looking at me like I'm a crazy person 🤪. Love it
i'm not a friends to lovers enthusiast but here are two i enjoyed: - pretty boy d by rachel jonas, nikki thorne (it has forced proximity PLUS they're living together!! it's apart of a series but u don't need to read previous books to understand) - a love letter to whisky by kandi steiner
30:41 - I literally just saw this book cover floating around somewhere just the other day and remembered you reading those beard books by the same author (which I thought sounded interesting and might read at some point) and instantly wondered if you'd read it and what it was about / what you thought of it / if it was worth reading because it seemed so wildly different that the beard books 🤣🤣
I don't remember what book it was but I remember Penny Reid coming out in an author note for one of them and saying that no, she's not autistic, she just has OCD, or something like that but the way she writes many of her characters and her dialog... Her knitting series had me going "Am I reading this correctly?" A couple of times as characters explain something or do something. I never rolled my eyes so hard as the one where apparently the Hero (Alex) is the CREATOR of Bitcoin and was imprisoned by the NSA from 15 to 18 when they decided to just let him go.
SO conflicted about Ten Trends. I assumed Ali Hazelwood wrote it, but Penny? She's written some really great series! Had no idea what would happen with the couple, but kept rooting for them. Def wouldn't re-read though 🤷
So excited for Chanmass 🎄😍 and for books with the friends to lovers with tension that "have to share the same space" I loveee Rommates with benefits by Nicole Williams. Is simple, the conflict is not a big deal but the romance is really cute
I agree! I was upset to learn Why Choose isn't actually polyamory. I agree that if I'm reading a romance with multiple people, I want them all to be romantic together, not just all romantic with one person. Other people can like what they like but not for me!
Raven of the Sea by Stacey Reynolds is good. I wouldn't say they're friends to lovers or enemies to lovers. But there is forced proximity and it's just an awesome book. I think it has what you are looking for honestly.
Oh my gosh, now that I think about it.. Most of Penny Reid's books don't have much re-read value or became DNFable. I mean some of her books have very creative premises, I appreciate how she brings her STEM background into her writing and how she writes really smart female characters.. I guess she just got pressured to write so much (cause she has a lot of books) that the quality has started to decline? If she needs a break from writing, I hope she takes it and come back with a stronger release
Married? 😂 I DNF’d ten trends to whatever your whatever so fast. Maybe I should have stuck around for the chaos. I just couldn’t get past the strange and very contrived romance tiktok thing
20 books in one month is the middle of the road for you?! Holy macaroni! Can I ask if you know what your words per minute is? You might aldready have shared this, but I'm new to your channel. 😚
@@chandlerainsley Reading. 😄There's like a test where you set a timer (can't remember for how long), and then depending on how much you read during that time, you get an average count of words per minute. You're a fast talker too, true, but being a fan of Gilmore Girls I kinda enjoy it, in a weird way.
I totally forgot about chanmas!!! I'm so excited, I love love love having your vids to keep me company in these dark, cozy days. And I've been reading the Mistborn trilogy all month, so I'm really in the fantasy mood. What has your experience with the Stormlight audiobooks been? Because I want to read them but they are VERY big books 😅
stormlight is fun! but imo not as overtly action packed as mistborn because the series is so much longer. haden has been reading mistborn in november and loving it, even after reading stormlight :)
33:32 - I don't know why, but I'm quite weirdly invested in the ongoing saga of discovering if you will ever find a reverse harem book that DOES actually work for you. 😅😅 🤭😅 (I'm pretty sure poly relationships can and do sometimes actually work that way, where they're not a closed circle or whatever, sometimes they're just hinged[ one person seeing multiple people who are not also seeing each other] or whatever; or sometimes it's multiple people seeing each as well as seeing other people, but different other people than each other are seeing. If you can imagine it, probably somebody's done it at least once before. Buuut, if it's a reverse harem book, I don't think it's supposed to realistically represent actual polyamory? usually? It's just a fantasy really about one person, just totally being worshipped, a whole lot?[ or overdosing kind of on possible options to choose from, like for choose-your-own-adventure harem style games?] Or something?? Lol I could be mistaken though, I dunno; that's just always seemed to be the impression I've had of harem/reverse-harem fiction generally, for whatever reasons, but I'm not really an expert at all🤷♀️😁 Totally fair it quite understandably might not be everyone's cup of tea though[-kind of like praise kinks, or minotaur 'milking', right?😅👀 To each their own]-& I have no idea if it'd actually work for me or not either truthfully, some days I think it might and I consider picking a reverse-harem book up, and other days I think maybe it wouldn't; maybe it would just depend on my mood at the time!!)
(P. S. - 17:15 - *knickers ?🤔 🤔 maybe? 🤔 irdk😅🙃🤣🤣) ((Search results suggest 'drawers', 'pantaloons', and 'pantalettes' too; at least if we're talking the 1800s, I dunno about earlier than that though. LOLLL))
This is like the 5th time I’ve heard someone describe How To Be A Wallflower and the plot just sounds more ridiculous each time. It just sounds so dumb?
Took me three months, but I red ten trends etc by penny reid and I loved it. I think although yes, it is kind of bizarre, it is a representation of mental health (byron) and trauma that prevented their emotional development as teenagers/college aged people. It’s bizarre because the internal dialogue of the character is as messed up as their mental health. Maybe it’s just me but I found it refreshing that the characters are open with each other. It felt real, and reality it’s messy. It’s not a perfect fairytale. Not for everyone’s taste but I loved it.
The way you described the Penny Reid book made me laugh so hard I cried lol
Ten Trends to Seduce Your Best Friend was literally my favorite book of the year, but I also fully understand the rant lol. That chapter from Byron's perspective when he's drunk hit so hard for me. I am seriously questioning if my train of logic is just not normal because Penny Reid had me on board for the entire thing.
your rant was perfect, put a huge smile on my face. I was laughing so much while you explained what happens in the book. Also saved me from reading an unsatisfying romance ! love your reviews !
Your rant about Ten Trends is sooo perfect. It is simultaneously really endearing and just WEIRD.
The sub plot with Jeff? And the fade to black sex scene in the epilogue?? Penny??!
I gave it 3.5 stars though, which is my "I had a good time but I will definitely l not be rereading this" rating lol.
All of this. I love Penny Reid, but I was not warned about that ending. This was hours of build up followed by me swearing loudly alone in my car because I was on a road trip at the time.
I really love the car setting for whatever reason.
In A Jam by Kate Canterbary - not sure I would call it true friends to lovers but also has forced proximity and fake marriage (well real marriage) - basically read it. I love Kate Canterbary so much!!
"Which is a big deal because shadows are just a really big deal" 💀😂
Chanmaaaasss!! Yayyy. Happy Holidays❤️ cannot wait to watch. Vlogmases honestly motivate me to get up and give me a reason to look forward to the day. The holidays are tough but having so many creators take part and make such wholesome and fun content makes me feel less alone. Thank you ☺️Hope whoever reads this is having a fantastic day, you are loved and you matter and happy holidays 🎄
Friends to lovers is probably my all time favourite trope so I’ve definitely read a lot of them. One of my favourite friends to lovers books is finding a keeper by Nicole Pyland, and Would You Rather by Alison Ashley is also pretty good. Loved the video and hearing your rant on Ten Trends.
I had totally forgotten I read Ten Trends to Seduce Your Best Friend until I saw your IG story. I totally agree with your whole rant, it gave me a lot of second hand embarrassment because the challenges were so cheesy and the book felt like it dragged on forever BUT I was still rooting for them as a couple
Chanmas might get me excited for the holidays but it also is helping me get through finals season lol
ah best of luck!
I really enjoyed Mixed Signals. Sweet and cozy! I liked that this wasn’t a “fake dating” so much as “we’ll date each other to help each another out” and the townspeople know that they “practice dating”
I was so confused after I read that Penny Reid book. The audiobook was 16 hours, and I felt like it could’ve been edited down to a nice 9 hour book. I didn’t hate it, but it was absolutely a disaster. I gave it 3 stars. Penny Reid is always a gamble for me. The Winston Brothers series was mostly enjoyable for me, but the Knitting in the City series was not, and I gave up on the Hypothesis series because the first 3 books were all 3 stars for me. I’m so looking forward to the choose your own adventure video! And Chanmas in general
Love Chanmas! Can't wait for the episodes :))
Chanmas aka my fav time of year
Lovelight Farms is top tier for me - easily one of my favorite romances this year so I'm nervous to read the others. And I'm not a small town romance girlie but Miss BK got me! Currently reading In the Weeds and enjoying but definitely nervous it won't live up to the first one.
Chandler, I’ve been watching your videos for over a year religiously and I just wanted to let you know that your work is really appreciated, you’re a delight ❤ (And have been keeping me sane while I complete my PhD 🫠) Looking forward for Chanmas!! Happy Holidays!
I love Penny Reid but I could not finish this one because it really felt like she was trying to get into the "reylo fanfic" as you said it! I don't know if this is fair, but I do get this vibe that a lot of other authors who've been writing "steminist" romance got upset that The Love Hypothesis blow up while their books didn't.
For example, I love "Dating-ish", but I think that story is much more authentic than this one, the characters are way more well developed and not everything feels like the author is trying to check little boxes of what this type of book must have to be a success
My favorite best friends-to-lovers is a het historical: The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan. She's a widowed plant nerd, he's a carefree rake (or is he?), there is a lot of pining, and discussion, and SCIENCE and I love them to bits. (CW: past miscarriages)
Very fun video to watch, as always :)
I can't wait to get through all the Goodreads Romances so I can start reading Lovelight Farms. Very excited for it!
Good lord I love your reviews 😂
I'm so glad I waited for your thoughts on Happenstance. 😂 I was going to read it because it was your Patreon book club pick, but omg, reverse harem isn't my cup of tea... so yeah... I'm glad I waited! Haha
i love your style of speaking and sense of humour
Chanmas is my favorite time of year! Kind of want to read that unhinged book just to see how ridiculous it is.
It's that time of the year y'all! 😍 Chanmas is hereee 🎉
so excited for chanmas!!!!!
ah, the satisfaction i feel when you have the same take as i do!!! i’m also very much more on the poly rather than reverse harem books; just feels more complete and there’s a lot of opportunity for fun dynamics!!! i’m really looking forward to reading give me more by sara cate cause of the poly rep
So excited for all the Chanmas content! I'm not typically a huge fan of friends to lovers, but a novella that definitely won me over was Go Deep by Rilzy Adams. Neither of them ever saw each other as more than friends, until the heroine (who is an erotica writer) needs inspiration for her content and turns to her bestie for assistance.
I absolutely love this video 😂
Omg this book was sooooo gooddd. The slow burn tho😭😭😭😭
Don't worry about the cursing. I'm listening to this video while I'm working in a office. I'm laughing and agreeing with you. So much so that my coworkers are looking at me like I'm a crazy person 🤪. Love it
Your humor is giving me life on this very, very cold day in Madrid 😂😂
I want to go read Ten Trends just because of your rant 🤣
i'm not a friends to lovers enthusiast but here are two i enjoyed:
- pretty boy d by rachel jonas, nikki thorne (it has forced proximity PLUS they're living together!! it's apart of a series but u don't need to read previous books to understand)
- a love letter to whisky by kandi steiner
30:41 - I literally just saw this book cover floating around somewhere just the other day and remembered you reading those beard books by the same author (which I thought sounded interesting and might read at some point) and instantly wondered if you'd read it and what it was about / what you thought of it / if it was worth reading because it seemed so wildly different that the beard books 🤣🤣
wooo happy chanmas!!
Ahh, I can't wait to watch it, love you chan!
Have you read, "That time I got drunk and saved a demon", It's so funny. I adore the whole series so far!
I don't remember what book it was but I remember Penny Reid coming out in an author note for one of them and saying that no, she's not autistic, she just has OCD, or something like that but the way she writes many of her characters and her dialog...
Her knitting series had me going "Am I reading this correctly?" A couple of times as characters explain something or do something.
I never rolled my eyes so hard as the one where apparently the Hero (Alex) is the CREATOR of Bitcoin and was imprisoned by the NSA from 15 to 18 when they decided to just let him go.
I would lovvvveee to see a video on your favorite age gap romances!
It‘s not December without Chanmas!
Yay chanmas! 🤍❄️🤍❄️🤍
SO conflicted about Ten Trends. I assumed Ali Hazelwood wrote it, but Penny? She's written some really great series! Had no idea what would happen with the couple, but kept rooting for them. Def wouldn't re-read though 🤷
So excited for Chanmass 🎄😍 and for books with the friends to lovers with tension that "have to share the same space" I loveee Rommates with benefits by Nicole Williams. Is simple, the conflict is not a big deal but the romance is really cute
I agree! I was upset to learn Why Choose isn't actually polyamory. I agree that if I'm reading a romance with multiple people, I want them all to be romantic together, not just all romantic with one person.
Other people can like what they like but not for me!
Lmao your review of Happenstance and the Penny Reid novel
Ten Trends was absolutely ridiculous. What is Penny Reid thinking these days 😩😩😩
Try Happy Endings by Alice Winters. It's a bit of a stretch to call it Friends to Lovers, but picture Hades getting with Howl. 😄
Lmaooo nahhh that penny Reid book is wild.
"that was my month. I read books" 😭😭 same bestie
Raven of the Sea by Stacey Reynolds is good. I wouldn't say they're friends to lovers or enemies to lovers. But there is forced proximity and it's just an awesome book. I think it has what you are looking for honestly.
Im very happy, any month i manage to read one book is a good month 😂
Burger King Borrison 🤣🤣🤣
Petticoat? 🤣 Love this
Lilly gould writes some good reverse harems !
'Devil Gets his Due' was my least favourite book, but Keeley was my favourite heroine so far.
(still 4 stars tho)
Oh my gosh, now that I think about it.. Most of Penny Reid's books don't have much re-read value or became DNFable. I mean some of her books have very creative premises, I appreciate how she brings her STEM background into her writing and how she writes really smart female characters.. I guess she just got pressured to write so much (cause she has a lot of books) that the quality has started to decline? If she needs a break from writing, I hope she takes it and come back with a stronger release
Before Jamaica Lane by Samantha Young is probably my favorite friends to lovers book. And I'm not a huge fan of friends to lovers either
OMFG IT'S CHANMAAAS
Married? 😂 I DNF’d ten trends to whatever your whatever so fast. Maybe I should have stuck around for the chaos. I just couldn’t get past the strange and very contrived romance tiktok thing
Do you have any poly recs?? Looking to read more!
Dead Man Walking by Giana Darling (the next book in the series) is the best book in the series.
the penny reid book..agree with everything you said, but still somehow liked it?
haha i mean... i kinda did too!
20 books in one month is the middle of the road for you?! Holy macaroni! Can I ask if you know what your words per minute is? You might aldready have shared this, but I'm new to your channel. 😚
like reading or speaking? hahaha. i have no idea. i usually read about 100 pages an hour?
@@chandlerainsley Reading. 😄There's like a test where you set a timer (can't remember for how long), and then depending on how much you read during that time, you get an average count of words per minute.
You're a fast talker too, true, but being a fan of Gilmore Girls I kinda enjoy it, in a weird way.
I totally forgot about chanmas!!! I'm so excited, I love love love having your vids to keep me company in these dark, cozy days.
And I've been reading the Mistborn trilogy all month, so I'm really in the fantasy mood. What has your experience with the Stormlight audiobooks been? Because I want to read them but they are VERY big books 😅
stormlight is fun! but imo not as overtly action packed as mistborn because the series is so much longer. haden has been reading mistborn in november and loving it, even after reading stormlight :)
Burger King Boreson 😂 stop this 😂
I want to read ten trends but why is it so expensive
33:32 - I don't know why, but I'm quite weirdly invested in the ongoing saga of discovering if you will ever find a reverse harem book that DOES actually work for you. 😅😅 🤭😅
(I'm pretty sure poly relationships can and do sometimes actually work that way, where they're not a closed circle or whatever, sometimes they're just hinged[ one person seeing multiple people who are not also seeing each other] or whatever; or sometimes it's multiple people seeing each as well as seeing other people, but different other people than each other are seeing. If you can imagine it, probably somebody's done it at least once before. Buuut, if it's a reverse harem book, I don't think it's supposed to realistically represent actual polyamory? usually? It's just a fantasy really about one person, just totally being worshipped, a whole lot?[ or overdosing kind of on possible options to choose from, like for choose-your-own-adventure harem style games?] Or something?? Lol I could be mistaken though, I dunno; that's just always seemed to be the impression I've had of harem/reverse-harem fiction generally, for whatever reasons, but I'm not really an expert at all🤷♀️😁 Totally fair it quite understandably might not be everyone's cup of tea though[-kind of like praise kinks, or minotaur 'milking', right?😅👀 To each their own]-& I have no idea if it'd actually work for me or not either truthfully, some days I think it might and I consider picking a reverse-harem book up, and other days I think maybe it wouldn't; maybe it would just depend on my mood at the time!!)
🙀🙀 CHANMAS IS HERE-ALREADDYYY!?-YAAASSSS!!!!!🥰🤍💖
(P. S. - 17:15 - *knickers ?🤔 🤔 maybe? 🤔 irdk😅🙃🤣🤣)
((Search results suggest 'drawers', 'pantaloons', and 'pantalettes' too; at least if we're talking the 1800s, I dunno about earlier than that though. LOLLL))
I also don’t like when the girl is pinning. I need the heros to be pinning, longing, yearningggg for the heroine.
I will dnf a romance with an early hook up so quick
Damn, I checked KU, but it’s not on there. I kinda wanted to check it out if it was on KU. But I’m not gonna pay for it😂
haha yeah i paid money for it... fail on my part
Ten Trends was just not it. I agree with everything you said about it. Plus the celiac disease rep wasn’t great 😬
oh that's good to know!
❤️
Happenstance sounds very odd 🤔
I would give you recommendations, if I read friends-to-lovers much[ or anything] lately😅😅((🙏Sorryy!))
omg a romance book with my name
why are my namesakes in books the complete opposite of me😂
This is like the 5th time I’ve heard someone describe How To Be A Wallflower and the plot just sounds more ridiculous each time. It just sounds so dumb?
ten trends sounds…. what
Got it. Don’t pick up penny Reid. Roger that
LOL i love her winston brothers series!
I also feel like women should be worshipped 😂
No, but putting the effing in the epilogue is ABSOLUTELY cruel