Publisher: Rhiza Edge.
Release Date: August 15th, 2020.
Source: Purchased.
Category: YA, contemporary, rom-com.
Synopsis from Goodreads:
An Australian to-do list. A broody host brother. A disaster in the making.
When Maya leaves Chicago armed with an important Aussie must-do list, she assumes she’s heading to Barangaroo with its beautiful Sydney Harbour views—NOT Barangaroo Creek, a fly-ridden, wi-fi dead zone hours from a decent body of water. Like that’s not bad enough, her home-stay host brother Gus clearly wishes she’d landed in somebody else’s sheep paddock.
Gus has important plans this summer— plans that do NOT involve helping an animal-phobe from the States tick off items on her seriously clichéd must-do list. So he devises a list of his own—one guaranteed to send Maya packing, allowing him to enjoy the last of his freedom before he trudges off to agricultural college.
But Maya doesn’t scare that easily and soon sparks fly. Before long, Gus and Maya discover hidden depths to clichéd bucket-lists and secret summer plans. Because sometimes it takes someone half a world away to remind you why you’re really here.
My Thoughts:
4 Stars.
Remind Me Why I’m here was a heart-warming book that was a lot funny and a little sad.
Maya arrives in Australia determined to cross everything off her to-do list. She thinks she is heading to a beautiful place in Sydney Harbour, but has accidentally booked herself into the country property Barangaroo Creek instead.
Gus, the son of the property owners, had plans for his summer, which are upended when Maya arrives. He has to cancel his plans to play host to Maya, and he is not happy. He devises a plan to make her stay as unpleasant as possible in hopes she will give up and go home. Maya isn’t scared off so easily, though. There is a very important reason why she has to get through her list and can’t just go home.
As the pair get to know each other, and the true reasons for what they are doing, they start to understand each other and see each other differently.
This was such a well written book. It was easy to read and get swept up in. Both characters were likeable, even when they were antagonising each other, and there was great chemistry between them. It was a fun, sweet romance with emotional depth. I loved the ending.
My only issue with it was there was too much swearing for my tastes, even though the swearing in this would be considered mild by most. I prefer no swearing in my books.
I think it is suitable for upper YA and above.
Content warning:
No violence or sexual content, so moderately clean.
Swearing included Bl**dy, s-word, A-word, Bast**d as well as a few others. (No F bombs.).
Rochelle L. Sharpe 