Happily Ever Afters

 Warning: Slight spoilers

Hello everyone!  I have recently finished was Elise Bryant's Happily Ever Afters.  It was amazing!  

Sixteen-year-old Tessa Johnson has never felt like the protagonist in her own life. She’s rarely seen herself reflected in the pages of the romance novels she loves. The only place she’s a true leading lady is in her own writing—in the swoony love stories she shares only with Caroline, her best friend and #1 devoted reader.

When Tessa is accepted into the creative writing program of a prestigious art school, she’s excited to finally let her stories shine. But when she goes to her first workshop, the words are just...gone. Fortunately, Caroline has a solution: Tessa just needs to find some inspiration in a real-life love story of her own. And she’s ready with a list of romance novel-inspired steps to a happily ever after. Nico, the brooding artist who looks like he walked out of one of Tessa’s stories, is cast as the perfect Prince Charming.

But as Tessa checks off each item off Caroline’s list, she gets further and further away from herself. She risks losing everything she cares about—including the surprising bond she develops with sweet Sam, who lives across the street. She’s well on her way to having her own real-life love story, but is it the one she wants, after all?  

I loved Tessa's character!  I especially liked how she was portrayed as soft.  Black girls and other girls of color are rarely portrayed as vulnerable.  However, she annoyed me a lot.  Tessa was very selfish.  She caught feelings for a boy at her school named Nico just because he was "tall, dark, and handsome".  The boy she was crushing on wasn't even giving.  Throughout the book, she kept trying to grab Nico's attention while disregarding the feelings of her friends.  However, when she realized her mistakes and apologized, I had a major serotonin boost.  

I adored Tessa's love interest, Sam.  His passion for baking was the best thing!  I could almost taste the donuts.  Sam was sweet, sensitive, and was always ready to help Tessa.  There was one scene where Tessa and Sam went to a store that he frequented.  Tessa had come in after Sam and was looking for him.  The owners of the store were Asian and one of them kept following Tessa.  Tessa left the store and told Sam what happened.  Instead of brushing it off, Sam went into the store, confronted one of the owners, told her off, and said that he would never be visiting their establishment again.  Absolute boyfriend material.

In spite of this, I am very happy that this happened.  Girls of color are rarely ever protagonists in love stories.  They never get to be selfish in romance stories and then let it be forgiven at the end of the book.  Stories like this show that girls of color are multifaceted and deserve to be loved.  I recommend this book for people who love sweets, fluffy love, and black girl magic✨.  I give this book 5 five stars.  I cannot wait for the sequel. 

XOXO, Michaela