Blog Tour: The Falling In Love Montage + Giveaway

Hey friends! I have an exciting post today! I was lucky enough to be on the blog tour for The Falling In Love Montage by Ciara Smyth! I read and absolutely loved this book, so I’m confident you all will to!

About the Book:

Saoirse doesn’t believe in love at first sight or happy endings. If they were real, her mother would still be able to remember her name and not in a care home with early onset dementia. A condition that Saoirse may one day turn out to have inherited. So she’s not looking for a relationship. She doesn’t see the point in igniting any romantic sparks if she’s bound to burn out.

But after a chance encounter at an end-of-term house party, Saoirse is about to break her own rules. For a girl with one blue freckle, an irresistible sense of mischief, and a passion for rom-coms.

Unbothered by Saoirse’s no-relationships rulebook, Ruby proposes a loophole: They don’t need true love to have one summer of fun, complete with every cliché, rom-com montage-worthy date they can dream up—and a binding agreement to end their romance come fall. It would be the perfect plan, if they weren’t forgetting one thing about the Falling in Love Montage: when it’s over, the characters actually fall in love… for real.

About the Author:

Ciara Smyth is a social work student by day, writer by night and cat enthusiast 24/7.

Her first YA novel – about memory, rom-coms and girls who like girls – will be published in Summer 2020 by Andersen Press in the UK and HarperCollins in the US.

She previously worked as a teacher and mental health trainer. She enjoys jigging (verb: to complete a jigsaw) and claims to enjoy yoga in order to cultivate a zen persona that is shattered approximately ten minutes after you meet her.

She is from the south of Ireland but has lived in Belfast for so long that her parents make fun of her Northern accent.

Aesthetic Board:

For my blog post, I was asked to make an aesthetic board for the book, and I had such a blas making it! I think it encapsulates the vibes of the book, and gives you an idea of what’s in it without spoiling anything! Plus I love how all the colors match up 🙂

My Review:

So I’m writing this review a couple of days after finishing The Falling in Love Montage and I can’t stop thinking about it. When I first finished it, I thought it was just a four star read, but the more time that has passed, the more this book resonates with me. We’ll see how I feel in a couple of weeks, but I’m confident in a 4.5 or maybe even a 5 star rating!

Things I liked:

I loved Saoirse’s inner monologue. She felt like such an authentic teenager. She was both angry and empathetic with her dad for moving on and falling in love with another woman. She made mistakes, but learned from them. She was witty and funny, and her humor felt like something I would say (as a seventeen year old like Saoirse.)
The romance was drop dead adorable! I love the idea of having a bucket list for date ideas inspired by iconic rom-coms! Ruby was a breath of fresh air in comparison to Saoirse’s cynicism, and I loved how open and communicative she was with her feelings. She wasn’t afraid to be vulnerable, and always voiced her insecurities or her concerns about their relationship to talk things out! A+ for communication on her part.
Oliver was another shining character in this book. His friendship with both the girls was so cute and amusing to read. I love how him and Saoirse grew on one another and became best friends!
I mentioned this earlier, but I love the father daughter relationship in this book. They both had many flaws, and were too prideful to admit their true feelings to one another at times, but in the moments that counted, You as the reader could really tell they cared and loved each other. Saoirse was a bit harsh on him, but what teenager isn’t when their dealing a with a lot.
The mental health discussions were also a nice surprise. Saoirse’s Mom was a psychotherapist, until her early onset dementia prevented her from continuing, and while I can’t speak on the accuracy, I think it was handled well.

If you’re looking for a super cute romance that also discusses harder topics, The Falling In Love Montage is the perfect book for you! I seriously recommend this to everyone, trust me you’ll love it!

I’m also super excited to announce that there is a giveaway for the book! Click here for the Rafflecopter link or click the image below: