January 16, 2024 - Anastasia Suen

Courtesy of Cupid
by Nashae Jones (Author)
@ Amazon* | Bookshop*

Booktalk: Erin Johnson’s thirteenth birthday unfolds like any other day, from her mom’s quirky and embarrassing choice of outfit to racing her nemesis, Trevor Jin, to the best seat in class–front row, center. But her gifts this year include something very out of the ordinary: magical powers.

Erin discovers her mysterious father is actually the love god Cupid and she’s inherited his knack for romance. It’s not the most useful ability for an overachiever with lofty academic and extracurricular goals…or is it? Erin desperately wants to be elected president of the Multicultural Leadership Club, and as usual, Trevor is her fiercest competition. He’s never backed down from a challenge before, but if Erin makes him fall in love with her, maybe he’d drop out of the race and let her win.

With her magical pedigree, wrapping Trevor around her finger is a snap, and having him around all the time is a small price to pay for victory. But without their cutthroat rivalry bringing out the worst in each other, Erin realizes Trevor may not be as bad as she thought, and suddenly her first foray into love gets a lot more complicated…

Snippet:
A soft knock sounds, and my mom opens the door. I don’t know why she even knocks. She never actually waits to be told she can come in.

Privacy is not something we have in the Johnson household.

She leans on the doorframe, smiling at me like a crazed raccoon. She looks absolutely ridiculous in a yellow poodle skirt, her hair pulled up into two poufs on either side of her head. I pull at my blue sweater self-consciously, giving her a withering look.

“You’re not taking me to school like that.”

My mom chuckles, coming over and giving me a playful hip bump. “Why not? It’s a lot of fun. I’m getting into character. My newest heroine is a love-shy girl carhop who loves a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. You know getting into character helps me to write.”

I roll my eyes.