#and the MC is like omg how do you know so much about thai food???

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Monstersona

YA sci-fi/romance/thriller

a girl who’s moved across the country after her parents’ divorce, to a small town home to the HQ of an international tech company

when she wakes up to find the labs blown up, town on fire, and her mum likely dead, she, her dog, and a classmate drive across the country to find her dad

but quickly realise they’re being chased by dangerous agents, and there might be something different about the girl she’s traveling with..

explores grief, bi MC & LI

[thanialis]

Imagine (Ethan x MC)

| Ethan x Willow | PG 13 | 1,400+ words |

| Inspiration: Imagine by Ariana Grande | After chapter 8, they have a redo |

thank u, next 

Stayin’ up all night, order me pad thai 

Then we gon’ sleep ‘til noon

Me with no makeup, you in the bathtub 

Bubbles and bubbly, ooh

This is a pleasure, feel like we never

Act this regular

“Trash!” Willow threw a crumpled napkin to Ethan’s tv. She angrily took a bite from her egg roll.

“Hey, I would appreciate if you didn’t trash my apartment.” Ethan side-eyed her while he walked over his coffee table to place the napkin back on the table. 

“Ethan, you have very long legs, you could’ve just used your feet,” her voice muffled with rice and chicken stuffed in her mouth.

“Please, keep your mouth closed when you eat,” he groaned, picking up his glass of scotch. “I can’t believe you watch this show, you know all of this is bull, right?”

“Let a girl dream, giraffe,” Willow nudged him with her foot, a teasing smile plastered on her face.

“Giraffe? What the hell?” a chuckle escaped his lips, grabbing his chopsticks and his box of chow mein.

“Yes, giraffe. Everyone calls you a giraffe. Obviously we say it in safe proximity from you,” she giggled, “Not gonna lie, that softball uniform only made your neck stick out even more than before.”

“People were staring at my neck?” he cocked an eyebrow while he chewed his food, keeping his eyes trained on the tv.

“Yes, but I was distracted by something else... those pants were awfully tight on you.” She felt a rush of heat take over her cheeks, avoiding his eyes while picking at her food.

“They were... uncomfortable,” he replied with a slight smirk tugging at his lips.

“Those pants made it look packing,” she shrugged, “Not that I should be surprised, I have seen it.”

“Willy,” he whispered.

“Shhhh! McSteamy is talking,” she shushed as her eyes glued to the tv, “How is someone able to look that good?” Willow said in awe at the actor.

“McSteamy? Was McDreamy not good enough?” he asked.

“Well, this McDreamy is trash, I prefer my McSteamy if I’m being honest.”

“And who’s that?” 

“You,” she simply stated with a smile on her face.

Imagine a world like that

Imagine a world like that

We go like up 'til I'm 'sleep on your chest

Love how my face fits so good in your neck

Why can't you imagine a world like that?

“I think the mom dies and the baby is saved by Dr. Karev,” she mumbled, pulling the blanket tighter on herself.

“Who’s Dr. Karev again,” Ethan asked tiredly, he stifled a yawn and tried his best to pay attention to the dramatic tv show.

“Him, he’s the cowboy doctor,” her finger pointed to the young actor. She lowered her hand and gently placed it on his chest where her head laid. 

Take out boxes where left on the coffee table, leaving a whole mess which was driving him crazy, but Willow was laying on top of him and he didn’t dare to move from where they were. He had his arms wrapped around her tiny waist, holding her tightly, wishing, hoping, praying for nothing to interrupt them.

And it seemed like someone was listening. No spam of text messages, no worried roommates, no nosy co-workers, no having to pretend that there was nothing between the two. Finally, they were allowed to have a night to themselves.

His attention was now focused on the small, fragile woman laying on top of him. Her brown highlighted was spread all over him, some strands of hair tickling his nose while he could also pick up the coconut-scented hair.

“God, Denny, and Alex deserve so much more than Izzie. She gets on my nerves,” she grumbles, her head turning to look at Ethan who seemed lost in some sort of daze. “You okay?” 

“Hmm?” he snapped out of his head, “Yeah, just thinking about every single medical error this show is committing,” he said, his eyes flashing towards the tv.

Her child-like hand cupped his cheek to bring his attention back to her. She scanned his ocean eyes, seeing them soften at hers. There were times where she knew it was best not to think about it, but couldn’t of how their kids eyes would be. Her light brown eyes were dominant, but she remembered how her brothers had blue eyes like her mother which is rare to see in a family of Latinos from Central America.

Ethan’s hands captured her face as he stared at her eyes while his index fingers barely brushed her cheeks. Slowly he pulled her into a soft kiss. 

Knew you were perfect after the first kiss

Took a deep breath like, "Ooh"

It started out more slow and gradually grew more intense as emotions began to pour in.

Passion, desperation, longing.

It had only been a day since they last kiss when Willow was returning to her apartment, but they spent the last couple of months doing their best to find a way around the awkward tension they had around each other. All of the built up tension was finally being released as they laid in each others arms.

“God, I was so wrong about everything,” he mumbled, catching his breath. Willow giggled in response, nuzzling her nose with his.

“Well, finally you’re able to open your eyes. It took you about almost four months, but at least you’ve realized how much of an idiot you are.” Ethan released a low chuckle, shaking his head, pressing a kiss on her nose.

“You’re lucky I’m capable to see past at as I am very deeply...” he paused himself. 

Her body froze from what he almost let slip out, “Very deeply...?” she raised an eyebrow.

They looked at each other intensely, knowing well enough he wasn’t going to say the next three words. Instead they decided to return their focus to the show, ignoring what could’ve happened.

It was too soon, way too soon. They spent last year ignoring what they had to only resurface at the end when they... Either way, they crossed a line that no two employees should do, especially if one was their boss and mentor.

The things that people would say about them. Ethan couldn’t give a single damn of what others think of him, but it was more of Willow he was afraid for. She was already on thin ice with the board due to the hearing last year, finding out she was with her attending would be even worse.

If it meant protecting her and her waiting future of success then he would do anything to make sure she saw it. Even if it meant cutting himself from her life. 

Right now, he was being selfish and caving in. They couldn’t deny to each other of how much they cared for one another, and the chemistry between them was only growing. Maybe he was meant for her and she was meant for him. Just maybe. 

The concept of soulmates was something Ethan could not wrap around, but thinking he might have found someone to complete him wasn’t though not much of science did back this up.

A couple of more episodes played before the usual ‘are you still there?’ finally popped up. Ethan carefully nudged the young doctor who had the control in her hand, but when she didn’t click continue watching, he knew she had fallen asleep.

Carefully, he removed her from on top of him as he quietly picked up the trash and moved it into the garbage can. He turned to the tv on, and cautiously picked up Willow from the couch and moved her on his bed. 

Willow stirred a bit in his arms when he placed her down. 

“Shh, go back to sleep,” he soothed her, planting a kiss on her temple.

“Mmm,” she nodded before shaking her head in discomfort. “Can I borrow something to wear?”

Ethan gave her a pair of sweats and a white tee and let her change while he went to his bathroom. 

He stared at himself for a very long time, wondering what was the next move.

I cannot break her, not this time.

Finally parting from the mirror, he joined Willow who was now deep asleep under the silk bedsheets. Ethan wasn’t quite tired yet, deciding to just watch her sleep peacefully, running his hand gently on her arm up and down to soothe her. In the darkness, he was able to catch a lazy smile on her lips.

He could get used to this, her sleeping in his house, sharing kisses, embraces. That was further in the future though, but for now he could only

Imagine

| It’s a bit of a messy chapter, but things will get better... I hope. I really do hope y’all enjoyed. Okay, I love y’all ❤️ |

| Tags | | PLEASE NOTIFY ME IF YOU WANT TO BE ADDED OR DROPPED FROM MY ETHAN X MC TAGS |

| @drakewalkerfantasy​ | @lonelysoulallday​ | @xxmultiangela​ | @wildvitamin​ | @dailydoseofchoices​ | @vika-rafa​ | @omg-its-vixen​ | @queencarb​ | @faithhasnowords​ |

[hermitlibrarian]

Babe’s got a viable side business working out of Busy Bean’s, the coffee shop in her hometown of Oar’s Rest, creating all sorts of tasty treats from sandwiches to baked goods for the people in her small beach town. Can sweets and savories heal hurt hearts, though, in a summer full of turmoil and new love? It’s hard to say, but in Lillie Vale’s debut novel readers will be treated to not only delicious dishes, but to a deliciously intricate story of friends and emotions, of the summer before the rest of their lives start, and a town that feels like home.

I want to thank Vicky from Vicky Who Reads for facilitating this partnership & Lillie for her guest post today on the tummy rumbling food in Small Town Hearts and much more!

  From Lillie Vale

  Hi Harker! Thanks for hosting me on your blog today! So excited to chat about my YA debut, Small Town Hearts, all the yummy food Babe conjures up in her kitchen, and, of course, the foods that mean the most to us! Everybody else: Hi! I’m Lillie Vale, the author of upper YA contemporary Small Town Hearts. It’s a messy BFF breakup + found family novel taking place in the summer after high school, the last summer 19yo bi baking barista Babe thinks she’ll have before her friends Penny and Chad start college in the fall. She has a somewhat co-dependent relationship with the people she loves, and change has never been a good thing, in her experience, so she’s trying to hold on tight during a time when she has to learn how to let go. Matters are further complicated when her ex-girlfriend Elodie returns to their sleepy Maine village of Oar’s Rest at the same time as a mysterious summer boy shows up to rent Babe’s mom’s cottage on the beach.

“It’s hard to figure out if you want something to be a career. Like when people find out I’m not going to college, they get all awkward. They think staying at Busy’s and being a barista is . . . a stepping-stone job. And for most people, it is.” I shrugged. “But I’ve never wanted to do anything else in my entire life. Making people happy with food is something special.”

– Small Town Hearts (pg. 124)

Food plays a huge role in Small Town Hearts. Babe loves taking care of her found family with sweet treats, steaming chowders, fresh-baked bread, and experiments with flavors like goat cheese that her author is way too chicken to try! Nope, nuh uh, sorry, I have an adventurous palate but it does not extend to goat byproducts! 🙈

I joke all the time that Small Town Hearts should come with the disclaimer that it will make you really hungry, and I hear this A LOT from readers that they were craving snacks (or actually went out to get some!) while reading! Which, to my foodie heart, is top-shelf praise.

“The sweetness of a slice of cake has the ability to turn a bad day around. There’s a lot of memories in food, you know.”

– Small Town Hearts (pg. 225)

So I thought I’d chat with Harker about comfort food, and why it means so much to us!

I live on a steady diet of Asian food: khow suey, chicken biryani, shrimp/egg curry, vegetable korma, pad thai, thai basil chicken, and so many more. This stuff takes FOREVER to prepare if you are a turtle at chopping vegetables like me, and in general there’s a lot of prep involved with Asian dishes, and sometimes a very specific order in which to add ingredients, so all in all it can be time consuming.

My mom makes the best chicken gravies/curries. It reminds me of my childhood whenever I smell frying onion. Her butter chicken and chicken tikka masala is *chefs kiss*. Rich, smooth tomato gravy with lots of onion and garlic, oh my gawdddd. Paired with white rice or naan? THE BEST. Also, Indian recipes that require only one clove of garlic? DO NOT TRUST. Who doesn’t love garlic? It’s doing double duty! Not only is it making your food delicious, it serves a very medicinal purpose of keeping you safe from vampires (;

Crisp vegetables, tender meat (or your choice of protein! I often substitute tofu!), the bite of ginger and the sweetness of onions, crunchy bean sprouts and sugar snap peas, chewy re-hydrated mushrooms (my favorite!!!), flavorsome lemongrass and curry leaves, garlicky noodles and sauces, fragrant coconut milk mixed in a delicious, savory broth…I could wax poetic about this all day! Eating any of this is like being enveloped in a warm hug. I know how much time goes into meals, so I appreciate it even more when it’s made for me. It soothes me to a degree I sometimes didn’t know I needed. Sometimes, food can be love.

As a diaspora Indian-American, food is the best way I know how to connect to my heritage. I associate my favorite Indian dishes with stories my mom tells me of her childhood in India, of a world and a time and a place I have never known, yet still feel wistful for.

And when I don’t have the time/energy to cook for myself or can’t beg/bribe my mom to make me something? Nothing beats packet ramen with a ton of veggies and a fried egg (gochujang and pickled radish and greens if you’re feeling fancy)! Wendy’s chicken nuggets, fries, and chili! You haven’t lived until you’ve dipped fries in their chili. So. Freaking. Good. And…corn flakes. I just really like corn flakes.

Harker, what are your favorite comfort foods, and why are they so evocative? Any special memories you associate with food? (Also, I am really hungry right now!!! Why did we think talking about food was a good idea!!! I have no idea what to make for lunch!!! I JUST WANT ALL THE THINGS!!!)

  From Harker, the Hermit Librarian

  Oh Lillie, I don’t know! Just reading your post made me hungry all over again. Each dish sounded better than the last. 😀

I feel very basic in saying that two of my comfort foods is mac n cheese or Chef Boyardee, both of which are super easy to make when I’m feeling low energy. However, I also enjoy Asian food quite a lot, especially from my local restaurants: brisket ramen, bool go gi, takoyaki,  and butter chicken. I haven’t made many of these dishes myself at home because, as you mentioned, these and similar can take a long time to prepare and I often don’t have the energy or the strength (my hands cramp easily when chopping/mixing). I’ve tried some jarred butter chicken sauce which I know isn’t the same as homemade but it suffices and it still quite delicious.

Reading Small Town Hearts made me ache to try some of the dishes that Babe was making. Whether it was the sweets or one of the savory dishes, pretty much everything she made sounded delicious, even if it had an ingredient I’m not partial to (blue cheese is apparently to me what goat cheese is to you, Lillie! *lol*).

Babe’s fare was a bit easier to replicate at home.

  (Left to Right – Babe’s “Grilled Cheese” Toastie, Ham & Cheese, Dark Chocolate Chip Pistachio Cookies)

  There was one sandwich that jumped out first: a grilled cheese that Babe made with blue cheese, arugula, and apricot jam. I made my twist on this by switching out the blue cheese for gouda and using an arugula/spinach mix. Omg, this was SO good! I’d never thought of putting jam on  sandwich before! What a joy! This was supposed to be a grilled cheese and I kind of failed on that in all the iterations I made, so it became more of a toastie, but even only semi-melted the smokiness of the gouda was a real nice counterpoint to the sweetness of the apricot jam.

Since I had the apricot jam and the arugula/spinach mix already and I wanted to make something that Babe would be proud of, I tried to think of a sandwich that would utilize many of the same ingredients. I paired the aforementioned items with some deli ham and sliced swiss cheese to make another sandwich. If you’ve got the energy you can toast it, but if you want something quick late at night, this Ham & Cheese can also be enjoyed cold.

And, of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t try and recreate Babe’s dark chocolate chip pistachio cookies. In Small Town Hearts, Babe includes sea salt in her recipe, which I nixed because I thought that the pistachios would be a bit too salty in the cookies. Next time, though, I would include it and also put more pistachios on top. All in all they were quite tasty! The recipe is the one on the back of the Nestle Tollhouse bag with the addition of the nuts if anyone would care to recreate them for yourself. 🙂

Food is only one part of Lillie’s book, of course. There’s so much more to it, from setting to the characters. Check out the synopsis, purchase links, and my review for more on this debut novel.

Once again, thank you, Lillie, for joining me for this wonderfully delicious guest post!

  Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Goodreads | Indiebound

Published: 19 March 2019

Publisher: Swoon Reads

Category: Contemporary/Young Adult/Romance/LGBT+

Rule #1 – Never fall for a summer boy. 

Fresh out of high school, Babe Vogel should be thrilled to have the whole summer at her fingertips. She loves living in her lighthouse home in the sleepy Maine beach town of Oar’s Rest and being a barista at the Busy Bean, but she’s totally freaking out about how her life will change when her two best friends go to college in the fall. And when a reckless kiss causes all three of them to break up, she may lose them a lot sooner. On top of that, her ex-girlfriend is back in town, bringing with her a slew of memories, both good and bad.

And then there’s Levi Keller, the cute artist who’s spending all his free time at the coffee shop where she works. Levi’s from out of town, and even though Babe knows better than to fall for a tourist who will leave when summer ends, she can’t stop herself from wanting to know him. Can Babe keep her distance, or will she break the one rule she’s always had – to never fall for a summer boy?

Rating: 3 Stars

Rep: Bisexual MC, Black SC, biracial ex-LI, Chinese American SC

CW: manipulative friendship, mention of casual drug usage (weed, not shown on the page), alcohol consumption (on page), alcohol abuse (a character drinks and parties to the point of dehydration and sleep-deprivation; two characters get wasted and are too drunk to fully consent to sex with each other); in this edition use of a racist term (tr*be – “It always felt like once people had their tribe, they didn’t have a lot of time for new friends.”) during the included quote. Note: having spoken to the author, she’s accepted this note and while it’s too late to change the current edition, she mentioned correcting it in further print runs.

From the get go, Small Town Hearts had a great knack for setting. At the heart of it was The Busy Bean, the coffee shop where Babe sells her baked good and works as a manager. It has a certain eclectic charm that is illustrated well in the furniture from various patio sets and alternating lettering styles displaying the daily specials on a board.

Vale constructs a comforting setting. Oar’s Rest comes to the reader’s mind not only through visuals that she sets out for them, but through scents that are described and used to round out the image of the town. It almost makes it a 3D image and puts the reader that much more in the story than any other.

There were some characterization choices that I thought were interesting, such as when Babe & Penny compare Penny & Chad’s relationship to Rory and Logan of Gilmore Girls. Penny/Rory, in their respective works (book/show) don’t tend to notice what they’re asking of others, the demands that their actions place on others, and I found this a super apt comparison.

Penny did not end up being my favorite person. There’s some growth on her part, but it was difficult to read her interactions with Babe. There’s language she uses that’s subtly manipulative of Babe & Babe’s feelings as well as judgment toward Levi when “first meeting” him at a houseboat party and offering him weed/alcohol but also “water if you’re not into having fun”.

I wasn’t sure, at first, if the tension between Babe & Penny was casual friends depending upon one another or something else, but as one scene plays out (Penny asking Babe to, essentially, cement a breakup with Chad) it becomes clear that Penny knows what she’s doing. Events spiral from that one request, and from the past decisions that have happened between Babe, Penny, and even Chad, to create a whole mess that intertwines the entire narrative.

Babe & Levi had some sweet moments, despite the tension that was running between them for a variety of reasons. Their dates around town, their conversations, there were some truly lovely, intimate moments that bolstered the quickly formed relationship.

There is something I found slightly odd, maybe offputting, about the tone of the characters. Before their ages were explicitly stated, and perhaps even a bit after that, I would’ve said based on the way they acted, the situations they were in (living conditions, certain freedoms, etc.), that this was more a New Adult novel and that most of the main cast was in their early twenties rather than late teens. Like, there was a disproportionate amount of young people to older (late twenties and up) residents. These characters were all 17-19 and not quite acting like it. They had jobs, “houses”, and responsibilities that didn’t quite mesh with the personalities that had been presented on page.

There is a brief explanation given as to where Babe’s mother is (she works on a cruise ship most of the year) and why Babe is able to afford living in a lighthouse (given funds). It felt a rather convenient way, though, to avoid developing a familial relationship between Babe and her parents because both are essentially absentee what with her mother working on a cruise ship and her father being a relative unknown to the reader.

Overall, while the action seem choppy/repetitive at times, creating a sometimes rough reading experience, what was good was good and what wasn’t awful. I really could see Oar’s Rest in my head and sinking into a setting isn’t always easy. I wish that it was possible to visit such a place, get a picnic lunch at Lorcan’s seafood shack, and wander down to the beach. Small Town Hearts is a wonderfully atmospheric novel and getting to settle down with a snack and a good read is totally something to look forward to with this debut.

  About the Author

  Lillie Vale, upon discovering she could not be one of Santa’s elves or attend Hogwarts, decided to become a writer to create a little magic of her own. Enjoying the romantic and eerie in equal measure, she’s probably always writing a book where the main characters kiss or kill. Born in Mumbai, she has lived in many U.S. states, and now resides in an Indiana college town where the corn whispers and no one has a clue that she is actually the long-lost caps lock queen. She can be reached on Twitter @LillieLabyrinth and Instagram @labyrinthspine. Small Town Hearts is her debut novel.

            I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. Quotes included are from an advanced reader copy and may not reflect the finalized copy.

All media belongs to the respective owners and is used here solely for the purpose of review and commentary.

  Yummy Read: A Guest Post with Lillie Vale, author of Small Town Hearts Babe's got a viable side business working out of Busy Bean's, the coffee shop in her hometown of Oar's Rest, creating all sorts of tasty treats from sandwiches to baked goods for the people in her small beach town. 2,668 more words