LOVED LOVED LOVED this. It beautifully captures the tension between confidence, insecurity and intensity of EVERYTHING of being in your early 20s and navigating university. While it fits into the Rom-Com genre and is based on the fake relationship trope, it's not trite and is beautifully written. The romance is intense and real (rather than cringey, unbelievable or gratuitously steamy) and the comedy is biting, sharp, cynical and satirical. The main character, Kiki, is dealing her mother's cancer recovery, a rape and the consequent social anxiety, but these things are dealt with very sensitively, and not as graphic plot devices. Would definitely recommend.

Would recommend to students Yr11+

After very much enjoying 'Love in Colour', I was so excited to read Bolu Babalola's first full novel 'Honey and Spice'. As with her short stories, I love the way that Bolu's voice and personality shines through in her writing. I absolutely fell for Kiki and Malakai in this novel, loving their spark and relationship. The fake dating trope is one of my favourites so very much enjoyed the growing romance from fake to reality across the course of the novel. Kiki and Malakai are both budding artists, Kiki running a radio show on her university campus called 'Brown Sugar' and Kai being a director. In order to support each other creatively, Kai and Kiki hatch a plan to fake date in order to boost radio ratings and contribute to a documentary about love and relationships, all with a prestigious New York internship and film festival in their sights. Of course, it does not remain fake for long!

Despite this being a little slow to start, the fake dating does not fully get into its stride until about 40% into the novel. Bolu spends time building the world of the Whitewell university campus, the different cliques and social dynamics. This allows the reader to have a deeper connection with the characters, including the side characters who are often neglected in romance novels. My favourite parts of the novel are, of course, the evolution of Kiki and Kai's love for one another but I also loved following the character arc of the others who surround the couple.

Overall, this is slow to start but a really fun fake dating romance which fully develops its central couple, including unwrapping and allowing them to process their past trauma. I would certainly recommend this for romance fans and I look forward to reading what Bolu writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Whilst it took a while for this read to get going, when it eventually did wow! I loved Kiki and Kai's interactions and learning more about both characters. I honestly think that the development of secondary characters were also intriguing.

This book would make a brilliant movie with a powerful message!

Bolu Babalola’s writing is absolutely stunning and I cant wait to pick up more of her books in the future. She has such an incredible talent for writing what emotions people are feeling just by describing the look in their eyes, and wowww, I am in love.

One of the biggest things that I loved about this book and will always stick out to me, is that, in usual romance books, the miscommunication trope is randomly shoved in towards the end of the book to set up for a third act break-up, but in Honey & Spice, it feels like a real, human miscommunication that could easily happen to anybody. I felt like I was reading about a real couple and I just wanted to know more about Kiki and Kai’s lives even as I closed the book.

I honestly highlighted so many passages in this book and can’t wait to reread them soon.

(Thank you to Netgalley and Headline for the eARC)

The characters were so well described with so much depth and feeling that I instantly got swept up into the Blackwell life. The chemistry between the main characters was excellent and supported by just as strong relationships with the extended friendships in this book. It all felt so relatable and realistic which I absolutely loved.
This book has so much to offer, not least the enemies to lovers/fake dating trope which was brilliantly executed but this is also a story about friendships and culture and finding your own way and learning from past experiences and supporting each other. This book touched on some very important issues but still kept a fun and lighthearted feel to it.

I loved the story that Bolu Babalola created. The characters are interesting and loveable and the plot keeps you interested in what's happening next or why the main characters are influenced to act that way.

I absolutely loved Love In Colour, so naturally I was intrigued and excited when I got approved for this ARC.
Kiki Banjo has made it her mission to protect the women of Whitewell University from the dangers of players & heartbreak, offering advice on her student radio show, Brown Sugar. And then she meets Malakai Korede, who threatens to tear apart the community of women she's fought so hard to protect. When she & Malakai suddenly find themselves in a fake relationship to salvage their reputations & save their academic futures, she is in danger of falling for the “wasteman” she warned her sisters about. With her heart compromised & defences weakened, Kiki has to learn to open herself up to love... & face up to a past that forced her to shut love out in the first place.
I’m not normally a big consumer of romance novels, but this was exactly what I needed after a very heavy read. It is your classic enemies-to-lovers, fake relationship trope, full of equally sweet and low-key cringe moments. It was lovely watching Kiki and Malakai’s relationship blossom, from the conflict, the chemistry and the romance that ensues. But I enjoyed it mostly because Kiki didn’t change her principles or her personality despite navigating something she wasn’t so sure of. I really liked her character and she is what definitely kept me turning those pages. I also *loved* the positive female friendships in this book.
Was it a tad predictable in parts? Sure. But I thought that the plot was executed well and Babalola uses it to dive into issues such as friendship, complex relationships, identity and racism. It all flows very well. Babalola is an excellent writer.
If you’re looking for a fast-paced romance that is (mostly) light, then look no further! I could definitely see Honey & Spice being one of the most popular romance books in 2022.
Thank you to Headline Books & NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC.

As an avid Bolu twitter follower (is that a thing? I'm making it a thing), I just KNEW if there was one person I could trust to deliver on a romance it would be Bolu Babalola.

Honey & Spice was everything I didn't know I needed and so much more. It was so unapologetically Black-British (heavy on the Nigeria, although other countries in Africa are mentioned) from the vernacular used to the banter, I truly have never seen representation in this manner. It felt like I was back at university experiencing all the events in the story with my friends.

Honey & Spice follows Black-British Kikiola Banjo, host of Black Sugar who joins forced with Malakia Korede, unlovingly dubbed the 'Wasteman of Whitehall' in order to boost the ratings of her radio show. What follows is an enemies-to-lovers fake dating scenario that you cannot help but get invested in. Watching Kiki and Kai develop a friendship and eventually something more was such a joy to read. Their chemistry was everything, as was the way they broke down each other's walls. The conversations they had, the banter they shared, the witty humour that flowed so freely between them was all written so well by Babalola. I'm pretty sure I spent 99.9% of their interactions squealing and giggling at how cute they were. Dreaded breakdown in communication aside, everything about Kiki and Malakai's relationship was.

Honey & Spice is a deliciously layered debut novel by Bolu Babalola, a refreshing summer rom-com read rooted in the celebration of black joy, love and sisterhood (shoutout to Kiki's bestie Aminah). I look forward to seeing what Babalola releases next!

I love love loved this book! Okay so the main focus is an almost enemies-to-lovers romance (although enemies is probably too strong a word for how they start out), but even though you know how it’s going to go, there’s still so much tension and drama that draws you in.

And there are so many lovable secondary characters like Aminah and Kofi, when can we have a book for these guys, please?

A fabulous book that I enjoyed reading.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author - I will return!

A fun, reference-heavy (I am here for it) story centred around a university radio show with a nicely set up fake dating scenario. It sent me running for Spotify for a suitable playlist.

I loved the themes of friendship, identity, race in Britain (particularly within the microcosm of university), social capital and how often it intersects with misogyny (and revenge porn) as well as a sweet love story. I love a couple of fantasy nerds! 💛

I enjoyed the humour and the way side characters were fleshed out.

Absolutely adored this from start to finish. Loved the characters, they had great chemistry and I was invested in their relationship from the very start. Extremely funny and romantic without being too schmaltzy and did a really fantastic job of balancing the more romantic comedy elements with what the main characters have to deal with as Black people.

Great to see a campus novel set in the UK!

I received an advanced reader copy from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of the BEST rom-coms I have ever read, and I have read a lot of them! I'm a fan of Bolu Babalola so expected great things, but it exceeded expectations. I read it in 2-3 sittings, and that's only because (unfortunately) I have a 9-5.

Bolu manages to incorporate so many rom-com tropes with a fresh perspective, the cast of characters are well-observed, I laughed out loud at the dialogue several times.

10/10 would recommend and thrilled to hear there is a sequel!

A slow starter, but once I got into it, I found it an enjoyable read. Well rounded characters and I enjoyed the development of the fake dating relationship as Kiki and Mail got to know each other.

This is a Reese’s book club pick of the month, so when I saw it, I was desperate to read it! It took me a little while to get in to, but once I was into it; what a treat it was. In the current climate that is (IMO) saturated with romance (not my favourite genre), the story of Kiki and Malakai made a very refreshing change - Kiki is a brilliant character and narrative voice. This story is about the insular society and world of university and it’s politics, (if anything, it made me miss university!) but somehow that doesn’t come across - the real message that comes across is being true to yourself and that reaching out to others and breaking the boundaries is what is needed to get you where you need to be.

This was a great book, I had high expectations and it thoroughly if not more live up to them.. I adore Kiki and her bestie , the romance is an amazing slow burn , I love the build up, the will they/won’t they went it’s so much better when you’ve had to work for that first kiss, that acceptance, the realisation, it’s so much more satisfying. As I said I loved the friendship between Kiki and her best friend, I loved the fact the friendship was as equally as important a plot as the romance, there is a lot of emotion in this book and it is handled so well. Fantastic story, I’m so glad I got a special edition from Waterstones even more now

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Thank you Bolu Babalola and NetGalley for the copy of Honey & Spice.

Personally, I'm not a big romantic reader and tend to avoid reading them but upon seeing that Bolu published another book, I was really keen to read Honey & Spice.

I was not disappointed! From the start of the book, I loved Kiki's character and really enjoyed how we find out parts of her identity throughout the book. I also really enjoyed how the dynamics in the groups were described, bringing me back to university life and really being able to imagine it looking like that.

Overall, the book made me giggle a lot but also cry happy tears multiple times making this one of the best reads of 2022 so far!

Enemies to lovers - check
Witty banter - check
Incredible banter - check

Where do I even start with this book! It was just so much fun to read - I didn’t want to put it down. I adored our main character Kiki, she was fierce and her character was so well put together and believable.

A book that explored love, friendship and culture. I’ll be on the lookout for more from this author for sure!

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Honey & Spice
By Bolu Babalola

I'm having a nice little run of success with Romance novels all of a sudden. This one was a great big surprise to me. In fact I almost DNFed t in the first 3 or 4%. It felt like it was written on a foreign language, so totally unfamiliar with college age slang am I. What kept me going was the hilarity of the dialogue (once I got into the swing of it) and thankfully I have always had an affinity to languages 🤣. I don't want to profess to being fluent in Brit Naija but I'm now better at it than Japanese, say.

Then I feel in love with all these characters. Give me a campus setting filled with strong, brave, articulate femmes any day. I hope their world is representative of the world today, if so, congratulations to the women of today. I would have loved to be around these girls with their positive attitudes and care for each other. Who wouldn't want an Amirah as a bestie, she was my favourite.

Such a refreshing glimpse into British African culture.

Thanks to #netgalley and #headlinebooks for the egalley.

So thrilled for this author that this title was chosen for July's @reesesbookclub pick.

#bookreview
#romance
#romanceplus
#honeyandspicebook
@boluberry

I was hooked! I loved the portrayal of different relationships, between friends, lovers and friends to lovers! Beautifully written, incredibly engaging and kept me smiling throughout the book.
I loved the different cultures portrayed in the book, and it felt like I was reading a story about a friend. If there’s anything I love more than a love story, it’s a love story with female empowerment and this was just that.

This was a simple, fun, easy and quick read. The perfect type of book for your holiday, beach, pool kind of read. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.