LOVER OF BOOKS

The Winter Quarters by Anna Veriani
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was lovely and sweet and a feel good romance that I really needed to read.

Kai Ledging is a reluctant reality tv star who really dislikes how fake his life is. TV cameras in his face all the time recording everything from his fake joy at being a reality start to his fake apartment to his fake fights to his OH SO FAKE boyfriend - who also happens to be a douche and straight. But the reality show is his mom's baby and he's never been able to say no to her, not when she sacrificed everything, moved from Japan to America and scraped her way up to her own fashion label and her own reality show all while being a single mother because his Caucasian dad did't want to leave Japan or his life there.

But he's so so tired of it all. So Kai escapes, loses his security detail and hops a plane to the one place that has always been 'home' to him. The Asada Inn in rural Japan, the place his best friend from childhood is running and set to inherit. Hiro Asada is one of the few 'real' people in Kai's life and he clings to his friendship and his friend's family as he tries to figure out just what he wants from his own life. Well other than Hiro because Hiro is straight and his best friend despite Kai still carrying a secret crush for his bestie.

Except Hiro isn't straight anymore. He's come out to his parents and extended family. His parents still expect him to marry a woman, however, because how could a man take up all the hostess duties of their traditional style Inn? So Kai and Hiro's grandmother cook up a scheme to help Hiro prove that two men can run the Inn as successfully as a man and a woman. And in the process Kai and Hiro find out that their relationship goals are a lot more in tune with each other than not.

Now if only Kai can figure out a way to break his contract and get out of reality tv so that he can have a _real_ life with the man he's loved forever.

I _adored_ this book. It was just the balm to my soul I needed. It was sweet and easy and a small glimpse into rural Japan I rarely get in books. It will easily become a go-to favorite whenever I need a feel good book to read. I cannot recommend this book enough.

*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*

View all my reviews