Review: Confessions Of A Virgin On A Dating App by Sydney Wilder

 *I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity.

Title: Confessions Of A Virgin On A Dating App
Author: Sydney Wilder
Genre: Romance

Trigger warnings:  Attempted Sexual Assault, Religious Trauma, Stalking, Drug Scars, Mentions Of Past Drug Use, Mentions Of Alcoholism, Divorce, Sexual Shame/Stigma, STDs, Miscarriage, Mentions Of Self Harm, Pressure To Have Sex, References To Purity/Abstinence Culture

Rating: ★★★★

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ (Open Door)  

Sex.

Everyone's concerned with whether or not to have it.
But what happens when you can’t?

Avery Murphy has a problem. Ever since she tried losing her virginity to her college boyfriend, she’s been physically unable to have sex. It’s just too painful. When her failed promiscuity gets her kicked out of bible college and ostracized by her religious family, Avery packs up and moves halfway across the state of Florida in search of a new life.

Now five years later, Avery is happy and comfortable in Orlando, with a job she loves and cute townhouse to call home. She spends most of her free time at a gaming shop, where she enjoys tabletop gaming with a wonderful group of friends - including Devin Lancaster, the shop’s snarky owner. But as her 27th birthday approaches, she longs for a partner to share it all with. She turns to online dating, eager to find a match… but who wants to be with a woman who can’t have sex?

Through a series of dating mishaps and awkward romances, Avery goes on a painful yet eye-opening journey to unravel the cause of her condition. And when one night changes everything, Avery realizes her sexual dysfunction may be caused by much bigger health issues… and that love can often be found when - and where - you least expect it.

Confessions Of A Virgin On A Dating App is the latest novel from author Sydney Wilder. This is a brilliant age gap friends to lovers romance which also features important topics such as endometriosis, sexual dysfunction and religious trauma.

Sydney Wilder perfectly nailed the blend of romance, humour and more serious representation. The book is well paced and a compelling read.

It is truly brilliant to see an underrepresented topic like endometriosis represented within romance fiction, particularly in such depth. We follow Avery’s journey towards getting a diagnosis and her journey towards starting to overcome the sexual dysfunction that has been caused by her condition.

The book also explores abstinence/purity culture and religious trauma. These serious topics were all handled well and explored in the depth they deserved which was brilliant to see.

Avery was a brilliant FMC who felt really relatable. We also had a fantastic MMC in Devin who was so sweet and thoughtful. This is an age gap romance but both of them are adults and Avery as the younger of the two of them is in her late twenties. Avery and Devin had brilliant chemistry and it was amazing to see how supportive and respectful Devin was towards Avery’s health issues and resulting sexual dysfunction.

This book is very heavy on the gaming content with many chapters set in the gaming store and, as someone who isn’t a gamer, these sections did unfortunately start to drag after a while. But I’m sure if you’re into RPGs then you’ll enjoy this aspect of the book. 

Overall, this is a sweet and important romance read covering topics it's truly brilliant to see represented within the genre.

Review: The Paris Agent by Kelly Rimmer*

 *I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity.

Title: The Paris Agent
Author: Kelly Rimmer
Genre: Historical Fiction

Trigger warnings:  War, Guns, Bombs, Torture, Executions

Rating: ★★★★★

Twenty-five years after the end of the year, ageing British SOE operative Noah Ainsworth is reflecting on the secret agent who saved his life when a mission went wrong during his perilous, exhilarating years in occupied France. He never knew her real name, nor whether she survived war.

His daughter Charlotte begins a search for answers. What follows is the story of Fleur and Chloe, two otherwise ordinary women who in 1943 are called up by the SOE for deployment in Frances. Taking enormous risks with very little information or resources, the women have no idea they're at the mercy of a double agent within their ranks who's causing chaos.

As Charlotte's search for answers continues, new suspicions are raised about the identity of the double agent, with unsettling clues pointing to her father.

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The Paris Agent is the latest emotionally compelling historical fiction novel from author Kelly Rimmer. This was my first time reading anything from Kelly Rimmer but her captivating storytelling had me hooked from the prologue and it is easily one of my favourite reads of 2024 so far.

The story is told through a well-paced dual timeline, set between France during the Second World War and England in the 1970s. The earlier timeline was particularly interesting, weaving together the stories of different female SOE operatives through multiple first person POVs. It was really interesting to see how their stories overlapped and how they linked to the later timeline where Charlotte is trying to piece together her father’s wartime experiences.

The history was clearly meticulously researched and you are fully immersed into the time period and the story by Kelly Rimmer’s captivating writing style. Whilst being mindful of avoiding spoilers, at times the story had me absolutely bawling my eyes out, which is testament to her storytelling ability.

In Josie (referred to through her operational name Chloe) and Elouise (referred to through her operational name Fleur) we have two courageous female protagonists who were based on the real heroic women who worked for the SOE during the war. As you may be able to tell, there are lots of code names to keep track of but that helped to make the narrative feel really authentic to the time period. Charlotte was another fantastic protagonist whose relationship with her Dad, and determination to support him, was wonderful to see.

Within the story there is fantastic chronic illness representation through the character of Josie. This is not something I’ve seen before within WW2 historical fiction but it was fascinating to see how chronic illness was managed during wartime. We also had some LGBTQIA+ representation which was great to see.

Overall, The Paris Agent is a really powerful and compelling piece of historical fiction which is truly going to stay with me for a long time. It’s a must-read for fans of the genre and one of my standout books of 2024 so far.