YVO’S SHORTIES #196 – The Tourist Attraction & Us

Time for another round of Yvo’s Shorties! This time around a romance edition… One I loved (The Tourist Attraction) and one I sadly nearly ended up DNFing (Us).

Title: The Tourist Attraction
(Moose Springs, Alaska #1)
Author: Sarah Morgenthaler
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
First published: May 5th 2020
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Finished reading: December 2nd 2020
Pages: 400

I’ve been in the mood for cute contemporaries and romance reads lately, so I just couldn’t resist picking up The Tourist Attraction after a recommendation. And boy, it was EXACTLY the kind of adorable romance read I was craving! No overly explicit sexy scenes and a whole lot of banter and building up of tension instead of insta-love… I think I’m in romance heaven! Top this up with the fantastic Alaska setting and the travel element, and this book was a clear winner for me. Sure, things can be said about cliches, but I was able to connect to Zoey and Graham almost immediately and I was honestly having such a good time that I didn’t even worry about the credibility of it all. Of course, having an adorable dog showing up as an important part of the plot is never a bad thing either… If you like your romances on the sweet side with a dose of banter and nature, The Tourist Attraction is a great match. I definitely can’t wait to read more of this series now!

Title: Us
Author: David Nicholls
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
First published: September 30th 2014
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Finished reading: December 5th 2020
Pages: 400

“Was it the happiest day of our lives? Probably not, if only because the truly happy days tend not to involve so much organisation, are rarely so public or so expensive. The happy ones sneak up, unexpected.”

Guess what? It’s unpopular opinion time again! I’m actually a bit surprised by my reaction to Us as I enjoyed One Day when I read it years ago and I do always love a travel element in my stories. I’ve been craving more romance reads than usual too, so I thought this story was going to be a great fit… But I guess it wasn’t ment to be. In fact, I think the only reason I didn’t DNF it was because I did enjoy those little travel element bits. Otherwise, this story was most definitely not for me. Not only did I find the story tediously slow, but I wasn’t a fan of the writing style at all. A dual timeline can go both ways for me, and I did like the idea behind the story with Douglas showing how he first met Connie as a contrast with the present, but somehow I wasn’t a fan of the execution. This probably has a lot to do with the fact that I find Connie to be absolutely despicable and I wasn’t a fan of Albie either. The way they both treat Douglas, and the way she expects him to go on this huge trip after telling him she’s leaving him after just really put me off, and the behavior of their son was highly irritating too. I confess that I started skimreading early on, and in a way I wish I would have chosen the option to DNF instead… Oh yes, this book most definitely wasn’t my cup of tea. That said, I do know that I’m in the minority, so don’t give up on this book on my account. You will probably enjoy it a lot better than I did!