As Ely and I begin our buddy reads for 2021, I thought it would be fun to go over the books that we have buddy read, rate them and share a few thoughts and overall view. While we didn’t read a book each month, we had some highs and some lows. 

You can see what Ely and I thought about The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski in our first buddy read for 2021. Also, don’t forget to check out what we are buddy reading for the next few months. Now let’s get into it. 

Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston | Full Discussion 

Angel: This has to be one of my favourite buddy reads and I think the first one that we ever did. This is hands down one of the books I keep on recommending to people especially at work. I did a re-read of it late last year and forgot how much I enjoyed reading it. The romance is great, the characters are fantastic and it’s just a good read. It’s a 9/10 for me. 

Ely: This is definitely one of the best ones we’ve read by far. This was the one that started off this whole thing too, as well as really getting me more into romance. I’m hoping to do a reread myself later in the year, but I think I’m going to go for an 8/10 for this.

A Rogue of One’s Own by Evie Dunmore | Full Discussion 

A: I had so much fun reading this. I adored Bringing Down the Duke, so I was super excited for A Rogue of One’s Own and I was not disappointed. Like we said in the discussion, we don’t read much Victorian historical romance, but this did it for me. The romance was so damn good and I can’t wait to read more in the series. This has to be an 8/10 for me.

E: This is just such a fun series—it’s really just one that makes me smile every time I think about it. I reread Bringing Down the Duke just before we read this one which was honestly the best decision. This is just full of everything I love—a historical romance, feminism, CATS! I think I have to give this one a 9/10 just for the sheer amount of happiness this brings me.

Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey | Full Discussion 

A: I think this is one of my most disappointing reads. I was really looking forward to it and it just fell flat for a lot of reasons. Contemporary romances aren’t something that I read a whole lot of and I think it’s because I always find the plot to be a low point. I don’t think I’ll be reading any more Tessa Bailey in the future. I have to give it a 3.5/10 and hope that if you do read it, you like it more than us.

E: Hands down, this is the worst one we’ve buddy read and discussed. That’s not particularly hard considering how much we enjoyed most of the others. I think I’m even less of a contemporary romance reader than Angel is so I really, really struggled with this. 3/10.

The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary | Full Discussion 

A: It’s been months since I’ve read this and I still don’t know how I feel about it. I liked parts of it, and I really didn’t like other parts. Like Fix Her Up, I don’t love contemporary romances. I just feel that it isn’t enjoyable for me to grab on to. I thought the romance was okay, the characters were bland and just not for me. This is sadly a 5/10 for me. 

E: This was certainly a doozy. Right from the right, we were both feeling super conflicted about it. I honestly blocked out most of Fix Her Up, but I have like flashbacks of this one. I don’t think it was as bad as that one, but it was just missing something. The romance was sweet enough, but there were just a lot of weird moments and things that were a little too convenient. This is probably one of my favourite discussions we’ve done though. I’m also going to give it a 5/10.

The Duke & I by Julia Quinn | Full Discussion

A: I mean do I need to talk about this one much? I loved it. This series is one of my favourite historical romances that I’ve read. And this one just started off the series great. It was a great introduction into the family, into the characters and the ton. I think everyone has watched the Netflix series by now, but pick up the series for sure, because it is fantastic. This is 8.5/10 hands down. 

E: Another great one! It’s kind of difficult to give this one a rating now that I’ve read the rest of the series and seen the show, it’s hard to separate all those things. That being said, this is maybe my second of three favourite books in the series, and of course, it does have a special place in my heart just from being the first one. It was a really fun read, and without it, we never would’ve met Anthony so this is an 8/10 for me.

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And there we go! Those are some of the buddies reads that we have done together – and for the most part we have enjoyed our reads so far. I’m excited to see what this year brings. 

Have you read any of these books? What are your thoughts? Have you checked out any of our discussions? Is there a book that you would like us to talk about? Let’s chat!