For something I’m calling Rom-Com-a-Thon I am reading and reviewing ALL the romantic comedies. This was lighter on comedy, and incorporating more social issues – check out my review of Open House below!
Open House (Uptown #2)by Ruby Lang. Published by Carina Press on November 11 2019. Thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy.
Synopsis: Tyson Yang never imagined that one day he’d be the de facto spokesperson for an illegal community garden. But when the Harlem lot goes up for sale, Ty can’t let all their hard work get plowed under. Even if he is irresistibly drawn to the lovely but infuriatingly stubborn real estate associate. Magda Ferrer’s family is already convinced this new job will be yet another flop in her small but growing list of career path failures. Ty is her charming rival, her incorrigible nemesis, the handsome roadblock to her success.Until one hot Harlem night blurs the hard line drawn between them, and the seeds of possibility in this rocky garden blossom into love.
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Review: Open House
Sometimes it’s an uneasy balance when a romance tries to throw in too many issues, leaving insufficient page space for the development of the main characters and their romance. But I thought Open House did a great job of incorporating real-life issues (personal and social) while making sure the romance got enough time and space to fully develop.
Magda has a huge amount of student debt and hasn’t had much luck earning money to pay it down. So when her uncle agrees to let her try to sell his Harlem townhouse and a vacant lot nearby, she’s thrilled to get a chance to earn the commission. Tyson, an accountant, is working with his neighbors to preserve that same vacant lot, which is set up as a community garden.
Community gardens created in vacant lots are a quintessential New York thing — real estate in Manhattan is valuable, but community gardens provide something invaluable — a sliver of green in the city and a way to bring neighbors together.
The enemies-to-love aspect here isn’t super strong because Tyson and Magda are both really nice people who happen to have opposing interests. But they do have to disagree a little — and fight their attraction to each other!
Loved the emphasis on gardening and family and the portrayal of Harlem, a diverse neighborhood with a rich history.
If you love a slow burn romance between really nice and likable characters, and enjoy a certain amount of steam, definitely give this one a try! I also should mention that you don’t need to have read the first book in the series.
You can check out all my rom com reviews here on my Rom-Com-a-Thon page
This sounds like a sweet one… and pretty low on the when it comes to the hate to love aspect. Nice that it can stand on its own, too, since I’m experiencing series burn-out. 🙂
It is sweet – not too much angst and can definitely be read on its own since I haven’t read the others in the series!
This sounds super fun! I enjoy low angst every once in awhile!
Ha – when I have angst in my life I like not having it in my books!
I read this book and the previous book in the series, and I would call it the social justice romance series. I do agree with you, that the author did a nice job finding a good balance, and I enjoyed this one a bit more than the first.
I like the enemies to lovers tropes so this sounds right up my alley!
For some reason, I got super bored while reading this one and DNF’d it. It wasn’t terrible, it was just meh on the writing and I just couldn’t get into the characters. Maybe because they were too nice? Should I try again? Is it worth it?
That’s so funny – I was telling Karen @ FWIW that this was the nicest pair of enemies to lovers I’ve ever seen. And yes, that made it have less of an edge. But I think I was in the mood for nice!