Title: Charming Daphne
Author: Morgana Bevan
Series: True Platinum #1.5
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary romance, Rockstar romance
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novella
Year: 2021

Charming Daphne was a wonderfully quick and easy novella to read. It’s a forced proximity / second chance romance that I really enjoyed. And I like how quick and easy it was to read on a night when I was feeling a little stressed and overwhelmed by the responsibilities of life. Plus, the fact that Daphne and Matt are stuck in an elevator and forced to deal with their issues was a great way to reveal secrets and reconnect a couple that were obviously meant to be together. It was a beautiful and cute way to spend an hour of my time.

Matt was a bit of a peripheral character in Chasing Alys, so it was nice to get to know him a little bit better. Especially as he is incredibly driven, and although he ultimately helps the couple, he is also a little rigid in the ways that he chooses to do this. So it’s nice to see some of what drives him, plus it’ll probably give more context to his character as we meet more members of the band that he manages throughout the series. Although I’d often be disappointed at the shortness of his story, I actually quite enjoyed that it was a novella length tale, and not a full length novel. Matt is a peripheral character to me, and this keeps him that way in my mind’s eye.

Past and present collide beautifully in Charming Daphne. Matt has to reveal why he kept secrets from Daphne and torpedoed her career. She has to learn to trust again. And then, to tidy up the entire adventure, the very figure that has caused so many issues in their past reappears in the most unexpected of ways. This was such a fun and tidy story, and it makes me want to pick up the True Platinum series again.

Image source: Bol

Title: Chasing Alys
Author: Morgana Bevan
Series: True Platinum #1
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary romance, Rockstar romance
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2021

I really wasn’t sure what to expect from this story, and honestly, I loved this far more than I had anticipated. I actually completely adored this rockstar romance. It was so difficult to put down and now I want more of Ryan’s bandmates’ romances. And Emily’s. I mean, the main couple is absolutely adorable, but so are the secondary characters. All in all, this was a fantastic story that hit me in many of the emotional points. And one that I would like to read again in the future (after I’ve finished the rest of the True Platinum series).

I love that it’s Alys who is the person reluctant to fall in love. Too often it’s normalised that the men are the reluctant ones for a relationship. So it was incredibly nice to have that switched to a woman who is reluctant and the man who is all in from the beginning. Plus, it’s such great character growth for Alys to finally decide to take the plunge and actually try to invest within herself and her happily ever after.

I think one of the most poignant things about reading this novel was the time in which I read it. Alys carries a lot of guilt for not doing enough for her father, and finds it difficult to associate with him sometimes because of this. But, ultimately, he understands that she has other commitments and loves her for the time she is able to give – it’s all about quality, not quantity! Plus, Alys’ father is 100% in her corner, whilst still pushing her to be better and challenge herself. A great father-daughter relationship that I really appreciated!

I loved this romance. It was a rockstar romance with just enough angst to make it interesting, but, ultimately it was just super cute. Plus, there’s the fact that Ryan is really sweet. I always fixate on the woman’s growth and being, but I also loved how Ryan was able to grow throughout this. Admittedly, some of his behaviour could’ve had some serious stalker vibes, but he managed to skirt that line. Somehow, instead of being creepy, he ended up being cute. Overall, I thought this was a seriously adorable romance, one that left me with all of the happy, bright feelings.

Image source: Books2read