Book Review: Call Me, Maybe by Ellie Cahill

Book titles that are song titles (even if unintentional) give me earworms the whole time I’m reading it. Luckily, I like the song Call Me, Maybe, and also, I finished this book in one sitting. Though the plot doesn’t seem overly exciting at first glance,  I found I couldn’t put it down.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

One-Sentence Synopsis
When the black sheep of a wealthy family accidentally picks up the wrong phone at the airport, she finds herself falling for the guy she accidentally switched with, but her past leaves her with doubts, secrets, and trust issues. For a full synopsis, see this book’s Goodreads page.

Oops…My Bad
I love stories that have the hero and heroine meeting in an unconventional way. In this case, they meet when Clementine’s brother grabs the wrong phone from the airport and she ends up with the phone of a good looking guy she tripped over in the airport. At the time they realize what happened, Clementine and Justin are going to different parts of the country for different reasons, but as luck would have it, they both live in Chicago, so the cell phone switch isn’t entirely a tragedy.

Going Viral
In the few days they have each other’s phones, Justin and Clem get to know each other…sort of. Clem isn’t entirely truthful, but she has a good reason in the beginning. Besides the fact that her family is wealthy and she gets weird reactions whenever she tells people who she is, Clem is also “on watch” by said family for an incident that involved her, an ex-boyfriend, and some nude photos that ended up on the internet years before.

Pronounced Clemen-Teen
I really wanted the phone relationship to last longer, but even when Justin and Clem got together and started a relationship in person, I enjoyed the read. Clem is the poor little rich girl who doesn’t come across as annoying. In fact, I completely empathized with her lack of direction in life. I couldn’t relate to having so much money that I could nothing if I wanted, but I could understand her conflicts.

Yay & Nay
One of my favorite aspects of Clementine is that she’s not only a reader, but she’s a book blogger/review as well, under a fake name so her family doesn’t know she’s on the internet. One of my least favorite aspects was her overbearing family and her flaky parents who dumped her and her siblings off at their grandparents when they were kids so they could go be humanity warriors in other countries. Don’t get me wrong, causes are good and all, but I can’t stand selfish parents in books or real life.

Getting to Know You
Justin is an all-around good guy with some issues of his own. Still, there were times I wondered if Clem’s paranoia was justified. It really could have gone either way, especially because the story is told completely from Clementine’s point of view. I usually prefer seeing both sides, but seeing only Clem’s thoughts worked so well in this case because seeing things through her eyes gave us a dash of mystery mixed in with the romance.

The Romance Factor
Though Justin is sometimes a little too good to be true, he’s the kind of hero that makes women swoon. He’s kind and sweet to Clementine. He’s also very touchy feely, which works well for the story since Clementine seems to like to be touched. Or at least she doesn’t mind it. I enjoyed their dialogue and interactions, and though there weren’t as many feels in this one, there were definitely some cute moments. 4/5

The Steam Factor
This was more of a fun romantic comedy than anything spicy, and there were no steamy sex scenes (except for one warmish phone sex scene). There was some making out and kissing to lead in to what was going to happen, but it was all closed door. Which actually worked really well for this book. I think a lot of detailed sex would have taken away from the fun vibe of the story. 2/5

Final Thoughts
This was a fun book to read and I really enjoyed it. Also, even though the characters get their happily ever after, the ending doesn’t completely follow the normal formula. I don’t want to give it away, but I will say that the ending does a great job of leaving things open ended, either for another book or for readers just to let their imaginations run a little wild.

Rolling in the Deep by Rebecca Rogers Maher

You don’t find many love stories that center around people winning the lottery, probably because the chances of winning the lottery are so slim that too many stories of this nature would feel unrealistic. However, when executed well, it’s a premise that’s enjoyable and almost believable.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

One-Sentence Synopsis
Two grocery store employees trying to make ends meet decide to buy a lottery ticket together, never thinking they’d win or expecting the ways in which it would change their lives. For a full synopsis, see this book’s Goodreads page.

The Good Stuff
I’m so happy I requested this book. It had so much going for it and ended up being one of those books that I really didn’t want to put down.

Ray is great. He’s just a nice guy, a total beta male, and he has the sweetest crush on Holly, even though he doesn’t act on it right away. He’s not exactly happy, still mourning the death of his mother and dragging his feet when it comes to going to culinary school, but he’s hopeful and he takes pleasure in the little things, like being nice to people. He even makes a Pee Wee’s Big Adventure reference. Classic!

I also enjoyed that the story didn’t take the angle that winning the lottery would make everything awesome, because even though it’s something we all fantasize about, it’s also a complete game changer. Holly and Ray’s problems weren’t miraculously solved by money. In fact, the money caused them more problems. So while the plot wasn’t necessarily common, approaching it this way made it realistic.

Things That Made Me Go Hmmm
I liked Holly and I understood why she made the choices she did, but I wanted her to be stronger in the sense that she wasn’t so passive. The thing is, I felt like the way she acted was probably true to someone who had been emotionally abused, as her ex-husband did to her. The fact that she’d gotten out of the marriage was good, but it was sad that she continued to take his abuse, even though she was doing it out of fear of losing her son. I really wanted to see her stand up to her ex…or beat him with a tire iron. That would have been okay too.

The Romance Factor
The romance felt intense in this one, but in a good way. It was believable that they would become closer after this event, and they felt like real people. Their relationship was well paced and made my heart a bit fluttery. 4/5

The Steam Factor
I was actually surprised at how steamy the sex scenes were. The plot felt very innocent for some reason, and I expected it to be very closed door. I was surprised when things got down and dirty, but happy that these moments only enhanced the romance. 4/5

Final Thoughts
Though this book was more of a novella, it was still well paced. The ending seemed a bit abrupt, but it was a good happily ever after. I’m looking forward to reading more by this author.