My Favorite Souvenir by Penelope Ward
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Before I start, let me just say I love this duo so much. Of course, I am talking about New York Times bestselling authors Penelope Ward and Vi Keeland. Their books are a mix of angst, comedy, drama, sexiness, and romance, of course. Their books have made me laugh and cry, and very few authors can make me do both. So, thank you for existing, you lovely pair you.
I am subscribed to both of their newsletters, so I get regular updates on new releases and such. So you can just imagine my profound joy when I learned they were coming out with “My Favorite Souvenir”. As soon as I learned of this new release, the waiting game began. I excitedly stalked their Facebook pages to get updates on the cover reveal and actual release date (I remember there were some hiccups on the release date). Anyhoot, as far as I can recall, it went live on April 27th. I could be wrong, though.
One of the things I love about their books is the dual point-of-views (POVs), because as a woman, I desperately want to see what goes on in the minds of men when they meet someone they’ll move heaven and earth for. And, may I just say that as far as POVs go, I always bat for the men’s team. Yes, I am weird like that. I don’t know if I’m the only woman on the face of the earth who prefers reading a man’s POV.
I guess since I am a woman, I already have an inkling what goes on in most women’s minds. I am already attuned to their thoughts, so I am more excited to learn what men normally think about.
Withheld Excitement over “My Favorite Souvenir”
I got this book a day after it was released, but I purposely held back from reading it even if I was bombarded with “pineapple” posts every time I checked out Penelope’s Peeps on Facebook, which piqued my curiosity up to unknown levels. However, the other night, I was feeling kinda down and needed some serious pick-me-up. So 10 days after THE RELEASE, I relented and read “My Favorite Souvenir”. And boy, am I glad I did.
What I loved about it is the unusual plot – two strangers hitting it off from the get-go and taking all of us readers for the adventure of our lives. The story was refreshing, a reprieve from the usual angst-ridden heroes and heroines. It was heartwarming – who knew a music teacher who looks the way Matteo does could love as strongly and purely as he did? Every thought on his mind and every word out of his mouth just blew me away. He’s the type of man you’d wish for yourself, but, reality check. I’ll have him down as one of the many book boyfriends I have accumulated over the years. LOL
I want this review to be as vague as it can get because I want readers to enjoy it as much as I did without spoiling it for them. Nevertheless, I’ll say this much: the title “My Favorite Souvenir” refers to the protagonists’ promise to take a souvenir (no matter how odd) from each of the places they went to, but (yes, of course there’s a but there!), in the end, it meant more. You’ll see. Read the book. You’ll love it.
Reading it, especially when I came to the highlight of their adventure, brought the words to Little Mix’s song, “Secret Love Song”, to mind – “It’s obvious you’re meant for me, every piece of you it just fits perfectly…” Yes, Matteo and Hazel were meant to be. I’ll leave it at that.
