Welcome Back, Booklovers! At this point I've read a few Abiola Bello books and The Love Dare was the one that intrigued me most with a mention of Notting Hill Carnival in the synopsis. And I'll say Ms. Bello has surprised me by improving every book so keep reading for my review of what I think is her best romance yet.
Eva has been playing the flirtation game with Jayden for awhile now but he still hasn't made any real moves. During Notting Hill Carnival her friends get her to dance with a random guy and she meets Saint, a cute quiet comic book junkie. Later after a party ends with her father's car getting wrecked, her friend dares her to get Saint to fall in love with her and she'll give her the money for the car.
This one had the right balance of teen drama sprinkled in with the budding romance. It was evenly paced, the teens felt like real people rather than tropes to fit the story. Eva is quite confident and an extrovert which was refreshing in a sea of quiet bookish girl main characters. Then you have Saint who is a gamer and an avid comic reader. He's very laid back and comfortable in his own skin. Saint and Eva have great chemistry and there's a callback that Love in Winter Wonderland readers will enjoy. There's a distinct cast of characters from Eva's friends from school to her older brother to her Gran.
The romance slowly developed outside of the initial Carnival premise and there was a good representation of Black British culture on display without over explaining to the audience. With Love in Winter Wonderland it felt like the Bello was trying too hard to appeal to the US YA market and not enough of the uniqueness of Black British teen life was on display which was something she remedied in Only for the Holidays. In The Love Dare it finally felt like she found the right voice and style in this easy flowing romance. I listened to the audiobook which had a narrator who captured the vibes perfectly.
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