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Some Bali to Love
Ava Bonifacio’s plan was simple—attend her friends’ engagement party, look good, toast the happy couple and get out. What she hadn’t planned on was kissing Scott Sabio in front of the entire party to ward off the jerk her friend was trying to set her up with. Scott, who she hasn’t seen or spoken to in nine years. Scott, who used to know absolutely everything about Ava. The kiss makes it a little hard to execute the ‘get out’ part of her plan. Especially when her bride-to-be friend announces her brilliant idea—a five day, all expenses paid trip for their little barkada to Bali to shoot content for her vlog—and Ava’s pride and pettiness refuses to back down on the fake boyfriend ruse she already started. Scott’s more than happy to spend time with an old friend. He hadn’t exactly expected that she would speak to him, let alone fake date him after he ghosted her nine years ago. But as the unBalievable sun starts to rise and set in Ava’s eyes, Scott dares to hope in a future for them, one beyond the beach shores.
288 pages, Paperback
Published October 7, 2022
5 people are currently reading
165 people want to read
About the author
Carla de Guzman
25 books177 followersAuthor, occasional illustrator, full-time traveler.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 24, 2024
i truly adored this book! i loved the fat rep and saw so much of my teenage self in the fmc! such a cute read and it went by so fast i could not put it down!
July 19, 2024
3.5 ⭐️
I loved this read had me giggling and kicking my feet. Ava and Scott are not only really likeable and fun characters but their relationship is so sweet. I think the author gets the emotions and nature of their love to the reader long before even the characters realize it or confess it. I’m not usually a fan of friends to lovers but the tenderness of their relationship and their comfortability together brings a vulnerability and intimacy to the book that makes their love swoon-worthy.
Only thing that held me back from the fourth star is the couple of spelling errors and switching of pronouns, a couple of times he was used in place of she or vice versa and it interrupted the flow of the story a bit. But it wasn’t enough to completely detract from the overall story. Another thing I think I would’ve appreciated that would’ve tightened up the story that much more is probably giving us one scene before the engagement party. So much happens at the party and we meet all the key characters but they also all have such long histories and characteristics that I think a scene of Ava getting ready and taking us through everyone in the friend group aside from Scott would’ve helped make the engagement party scene less bulky. While I was able to keep up it still feels like so much happens in such a short time you kind of get whiplash. And because it’s so much packed into one scene we don’t get to linger on the more impactful/important moments like Ava seeing Scott for the first time in 9 years.
Another thing I wish was delved into a bit more was Scott’s relationships with the rest of the friend group. While it’s established that he kept in contact with everyone it clearly wasn’t the same and their friendships were also strained by his leaving but we never see him taking about it with Charlie or Mon. I get the type of friends who can pick up where hey left off like nothing happened but even a sentence would’ve helped especially because the strain is mentioned later in the book when Scott talks about not being part of the wedding party because him and Charlie weren’t close for a while.
Overall I had a lot of fun, learnt a couple of Filipino words which was super fun and swooned a lot . I’d definitely recommend this fun read.
I loved this read had me giggling and kicking my feet. Ava and Scott are not only really likeable and fun characters but their relationship is so sweet. I think the author gets the emotions and nature of their love to the reader long before even the characters realize it or confess it. I’m not usually a fan of friends to lovers but the tenderness of their relationship and their comfortability together brings a vulnerability and intimacy to the book that makes their love swoon-worthy.
Only thing that held me back from the fourth star is the couple of spelling errors and switching of pronouns, a couple of times he was used in place of she or vice versa and it interrupted the flow of the story a bit. But it wasn’t enough to completely detract from the overall story. Another thing I think I would’ve appreciated that would’ve tightened up the story that much more is probably giving us one scene before the engagement party. So much happens at the party and we meet all the key characters but they also all have such long histories and characteristics that I think a scene of Ava getting ready and taking us through everyone in the friend group aside from Scott would’ve helped make the engagement party scene less bulky. While I was able to keep up it still feels like so much happens in such a short time you kind of get whiplash. And because it’s so much packed into one scene we don’t get to linger on the more impactful/important moments like Ava seeing Scott for the first time in 9 years.
Another thing I wish was delved into a bit more was Scott’s relationships with the rest of the friend group. While it’s established that he kept in contact with everyone it clearly wasn’t the same and their friendships were also strained by his leaving but we never see him taking about it with Charlie or Mon. I get the type of friends who can pick up where hey left off like nothing happened but even a sentence would’ve helped especially because the strain is mentioned later in the book when Scott talks about not being part of the wedding party because him and Charlie weren’t close for a while.
Overall I had a lot of fun, learnt a couple of Filipino words which was super fun and swooned a lot . I’d definitely recommend this fun read.
June 24, 2024
Fake dating is the best but fake dating on vacation? Amazing .
I haven’t read many Filipino authors but when I do I love it. The culture, the language and the cuisine were present even when the characters were in Bali. What I especially loved was the use of language: there was Filipino scattered along and I loved even that it wasn’t translated. I had to look up the word kilig and I love the concept of a giddiness typical of flirtation and blooming feelings. The untranslated words altered the rhythm of the narration in a way that I found amazing.
I didn’t love the romance in itself but it was fine. Love a lesbian subplot anytime. I imagined Scott as Manny Jacinto the whole time.
Such a good indie novel!
I haven’t read many Filipino authors but when I do I love it. The culture, the language and the cuisine were present even when the characters were in Bali. What I especially loved was the use of language: there was Filipino scattered along and I loved even that it wasn’t translated. I had to look up the word kilig and I love the concept of a giddiness typical of flirtation and blooming feelings. The untranslated words altered the rhythm of the narration in a way that I found amazing.
I didn’t love the romance in itself but it was fine. Love a lesbian subplot anytime. I imagined Scott as Manny Jacinto the whole time.
Such a good indie novel!
January 8, 2024
Carla de Guzman never misses.
Some Bali to Love is a delicious friends-to-lovers who agree to fake date for a week romance that got me hooked from the first chapter. It’s highly possible that this is because the two tropes in this novel are my top two faves, but that won’t be fair to Carla’s ~magical way of unfolding a story—like a delicate, intricately designed fan that’s both beautiful and functional. Every chapter is rich with detail, providing a great backdrop to the characters’ relationships as well as Ava and Scott’s main arc.
I love it when I meet characters I can truly root for, and Ava and Scott are two such characters. A perfect match, through and through. And so mature! I love that every step of the way, the communication between them was so open and honest, and that they gave each other a safe space to unpack certain baggages when they were ready to do so. Miscommunication as a conflict? Carla literally said NO THANK YOU, and I loved that.
Know what else I loved? All of the pop and cultural references as well as the shoutouts to #RomanceClass characters that were peppered all throughout the book. It made me feel so safe and at home with the story, and also rekindled my want to travel to Bali someday.
Like the feeling of warm hugs? Some Bali to Love is the equivalent of that. :)
Some Bali to Love is a delicious friends-to-lovers who agree to fake date for a week romance that got me hooked from the first chapter. It’s highly possible that this is because the two tropes in this novel are my top two faves, but that won’t be fair to Carla’s ~magical way of unfolding a story—like a delicate, intricately designed fan that’s both beautiful and functional. Every chapter is rich with detail, providing a great backdrop to the characters’ relationships as well as Ava and Scott’s main arc.
I love it when I meet characters I can truly root for, and Ava and Scott are two such characters. A perfect match, through and through. And so mature! I love that every step of the way, the communication between them was so open and honest, and that they gave each other a safe space to unpack certain baggages when they were ready to do so. Miscommunication as a conflict? Carla literally said NO THANK YOU, and I loved that.
Know what else I loved? All of the pop and cultural references as well as the shoutouts to #RomanceClass characters that were peppered all throughout the book. It made me feel so safe and at home with the story, and also rekindled my want to travel to Bali someday.
Like the feeling of warm hugs? Some Bali to Love is the equivalent of that. :)
December 31, 2022
Full disclosure: I was part of the team that made this book happen. This, however, does not affect my opinion about the book! I LOVE Some Bali to Love—punny, touching, and deliciouuus romance, another favorite of mine by the author.
January 2, 2023
I know I’m reading a Carla de Guzman book when I’m feeling these things:
- A need to travel.
Carla is so good at describing places and the beauty of it that I JUST NEED TO BE THERE. So yeah, Bali got bumped up higher on the list of places I need visit in this lifetime!
- To eat.
I’m not gonna lie, I had to take a few snack breaks while reading this book.
- And the most important of all, to fall in love.
I’m very much like Ava, in more ways than I could process. Witnessing her growth was a good reminder that I can have that too. I can demand things too and that I matter too. <3
Some Bali to Love is definitely a story I needed to read and I’m grateful to Carla for writing it.
(Oh, can I also mention how wonderful the cover of this book is? Plus the step back/alternate art that was included? Perfection.)
- A need to travel.
Carla is so good at describing places and the beauty of it that I JUST NEED TO BE THERE. So yeah, Bali got bumped up higher on the list of places I need visit in this lifetime!
- To eat.
I’m not gonna lie, I had to take a few snack breaks while reading this book.
- And the most important of all, to fall in love.
I’m very much like Ava, in more ways than I could process. Witnessing her growth was a good reminder that I can have that too. I can demand things too and that I matter too. <3
Some Bali to Love is definitely a story I needed to read and I’m grateful to Carla for writing it.
(Oh, can I also mention how wonderful the cover of this book is? Plus the step back/alternate art that was included? Perfection.)
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews