The Romance Rivalry By Susan Lee Will Have You Swooning!

We can’t believe how many weeks it’s been since we last read a contemporary romance! When we said we have so many amazing new book releases this month, we weren’t kidding. And Susan Lee’s new YA rom-com, The Romance Rivalry, only adds to this list.

The Romance Rivalry follows an online romance book reviewer named Irene Park. As she starts her first year of college, she’s determined to fall in love. The only way for her to achieve this is by going with what she knows best: romance book tropes.

We adore this rom-com so much, and the rivals-to-lovers romance made us squeal and giggle like no other. Here are three of our favorite things about The Romance Rivalry by Susan Lee!

Book Overview: The Romance Rivalry

Summary: Irene Park loves romance novels—so much so she’s made a career of them as an online book reviewer with a massive following. But Irene’s real life dating story? Non-existent. So when she starts her freshman year of college, she sets her sights on finding true love using the one thing she really understands…romance book tropes.

If only it were that easy.

Enter Aiden Jeon, Irene’s online book review rival and biggest nemesis. When Aiden challenges her to see who can find love-by-trope first, he becomes the one person standing in her way to getting everything she wants both professionally and personally, too. So when the competition takes an unexpected turn, forcing the two of them to have to partner in the ultimate trope, fake dating, Irene is not prepared for everything she believed about romance, and Aiden, to flip on its head.

As Irene tackles the challenges of college life, struggles to figure out what she really wants for herself, all while trying to win the race for love, Irene realizes the answers may not be found in a romance novel. Happily Ever Afters seem so easy on page. But for Irene to find her ultimate HEA, she’ll have to get her nose out of the book and become the main character of her own story.

Romance Book Reviews

As the main character of The Romance Rivalry, Irene Park knows her romance novels. Each chapter starts with a comment about her latest read. And then there’s her online rival, Aiden Jeon, who offers his two cents on the same novel. It’s no coincidence that he reads the same books she does, and it just so happens that their opinions are almost always clashing. We loved this book because it felt like looking in a mirror. Our book reviews are our safe space, and we at THP love getting to share our opinions with all of you.

Love Is In The Details

The Romance Rivalry is 100% a love letter to romance readers like us. And it’s clear that the author loves this genre as much as we do! Irene goes through so many romance tropes in every chapter, even the dreaded miscommunication trope. Then when Irene and Aiden start fake dating (one of our favorite tropes ever), there’s love in everything they do. From Aiden remembering Irene’s coffee order to them both fighting for the bill, they’re the absolute sweetest.

It Cracked Us Up

Another thing we love about The Romance Rivalry is how funny it is. The dialogue between everyone, not just the two main characters, had us cracking up. Aiden’s jealousy gets the best of him all the time, and it makes for the funniest, snarkiest comments. Our favorite moment has to be when Irene gets hurt playing kickball and meets her childhood friend Taejin again. From Taejin’s repeated “I’m premed” line to Aiden rejecting his attempt at asking her out, we couldn’t stop laughing.

The Romance Rivalry by Susan Lee comes out May 13th, and you can get a copy of it here!

Did you love The Romance Rivalry as much as we did? Let us know your thoughts on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!

Looking for new audiobook recommendations? Here’s the latest!

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