Cupid Calling by Viano Oniomoh
Since finishing this novel, what remains most with me is a sense of warmth.
(Warning: Some Spoilers)
In Viano Oniomoh's Cupid Calling, Obiora and Ejiro fall in on a dating show. It strikes a perfect balance between lighthearted and heartwarming, enough angst to give the characters weight mixed with enough warmhearted romance to light your heart. It's well-written, with excellent bisexual and demisexual rep, and I loved it to itty bitty pieces.
Obiora, bisexual and mourning his late girlfriend, joins the dating show Cupid Calling (cue title card) to get a free vacation. He's chafing at his job working with his family, unable to admit to them (and himself) that he's unhappy. But it doesn't take long for him to start noticing Ejiro, a fellow contestant, once the show starts shooting.
Meanwhile, Ejiro is chafing under his mother's constant demands that he return to Nigeria and her relentless homophobia regarding his lesbian sister. He's also in denial about his demisexuality, and he heads for Cupid Calling on the search for romance.
It's a rocky start for them, their first couple of meetings going... shall we say, not well? And Ejiro spends a part of the book determined to make things work with Sophia, the "Bachelorette" of Cupid Calling. However, an unfortunate event (that is respectfully addressed in the text) thoroughly puts a stop on any romantic feelings he could have developed for her.
Obiora is the first to fall, a lovely slow-burn romance colored pink by how genuinely good he is. Ejiro's fall is slow at first (the demisexuality) and then he suddenly realizes he's sexually attracted to Obiora and the romance start picking up speed fast.
There's a portion of the book where their romance is the sneaking around kind (since, you know, they're contestants on a dating show) and they sneak out in Venice while everyone else is sleeping. They goof off and have fun together in a rather romantic manner, and it's just all together nice to read.
To say I adore the romance in this book might be kind of an understatement, actually.
This is the kind of book I'll definitely be rereading. The book's end holds up, too, and it all the different plot threads are tied off nearly perfectly.
In conclusion, this book felt kind and I wholeheartedly recommend it.