Would You Rather

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Overall, this was just such a lovely read, both emotional and uplifting and unreservedly romantic. If you love yourselves a friends-to-lovers romance or are a fan of the marriage-of-convenience trope, then Mia and Noah’s love story will be for you! Her chronic illness isn't labelled. It's kept a mystery, which feeds into feeling like fictional bullshit created for the sake of drama. It appropriates disabilities.

Noah and Mia have been best friends since they were 8 years old. Both of them have very strong feelings for one another, but have kept it secret, not knowing how the other feels. Mia has heath issues, and needs a kidney transplant, so does not want to burden Noah. Noah is happy to have Mia as a friend and doesn't want to scare her off. When Mia gets a scholarship to return to school, she can't go if she has to quit her job as she needs health insurance. Noah is up for a promotion at work, but is willing to take a chance for Mia. He offers to marry her, in name only, so she can be put on his medical insurance and return to school with her scholarship. If the employer or insurance company finds out, there will be consequences. Not only that, but will this fake marriage actually allow them to show what they really feel toward one another? I haven’t read a marriage of convenience in a minute!!! This was a great reminder of how fun this trope really is. Mia and Noah had such great chemistry, so even though there is usually awkwardness that comes with this trope, Mia and Noah's own wasn't extreme because they’ve known each other forever. Their love for each other was overflowing in the book due to their devotion to helping each other and being with each other through tough times. I love it when I read a romance and it’s not just sweet words or sex, but ACTIONS!!!The author delivers a touching story that brings up so many different emotions. Hurt, anger, and fear are just to start. But one of my main peeves is the frustration with her extreme denial of assistance of any kind. She is overly stubborn and it got super repetitive for a bit. Pros: good jokey jokes throughout, super sweet and cute, solid characters, no Pander Express, just good vibes I think we all know by now that friends to lovers is my favorite trope, so I was pretty sure I was going to love this one going in. Add in fake dating and forced proximity and it is pretty much a recipe for perfection. Would You Rather by Allison Ashley was a fun story with plenty of humor but also some heavier moments involved for the characters to pull at a reader’s heart too. I’m one that enjoys a couple with history together in romance stories and Noah and Mia being so close friends already made it easy to want to give them that little push to take their relationship further. And on top of that the push together came with another favorite of mine in faking being a couple so it was double the enjoyment. When finished I would definitely look for this author again in the future.

Noah and Mia have been besties since childhood, and although there have been moments over the years when their relationship was on the verge of change, something always happened that would keep them squarely in the friend zone. Ashley makes favorite rom-com tropes feel new again with a pitch-perfect friends-to-lovers story.” — Publishers Weekly starred review When chronically ill Mia receives an unmissable opportunity to return to college to pursue once-abandoned professional dreams, she is torn and heartbroken to realise she’ll have to decline the offer because her precarious health status demands she stay in her unfulfilling job to keep her insurance relevant. Fake marriage- friends to lovers tropes blended in extremely heartwarming, inspirational, genuine love story! You shouldn’t miss Mia and Noah’s amazing story! WOW!! All the stars possible!! Would You Rather totally exceeded my expectations and is a MUST read for fans of romance books with emotional depth. I’m still thinking about this one and would recommend it to literally all readers.

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From the first chapter both Mia and Noah made you root for them a lot. They have been friends since they were 7 and now they are sharing office space as Noah working on his dream job as aspiring architect at family company and Mia is administrative assistant. Pink—what's the Pander Express? Glad you asked guys. The Pander Express is a play on Panda Express because that's how simple my mind is. And yes, the way I wrote "getting on the Pander Express", implies that it's some kind of train... but I just said my mind is simple so take it or leave it. Thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing, Allison Ashley and NetGalley for the ARC. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review*

DISCLAIMER: I am not a seasoned romance reader, so if you are a romcom vet, you may feel very differently about this book. This is more than a RomCom and dealt with heavier situations. Thanks for friends who push and encourage others and call you out on crap. (And look - it’s like I planned to wear my Friends pj pants on purpose!) 😉 🎶 I’ll be there for you 🎶

Mia’s relationship with her parents also definitely had my attention. Wow, there were so many emotions going through me any time they came up.