The only problem? Her tutor doesn't seem to like her.
Well, she doesn't like him very much either. Sure, Ryohei Mori is talented, and there's no denying he's hot. But he's also a surly, bossy know-it-all who eats too many cookies.
Another annoying thing about him is he's nosy. And when he stumbles upon the crazy bucket list Aya's sisters forced on her, he teases her mercilessly about it.
But when their professor pairs them up for a design competition, things get . . . interesting. Fueled by beer and a whole lot of cookies, can Aya and Ryo cross out some items on her bucket list without killing each other? Or will they realize there's much more to each other than they'd originally thought?
Comment: I've read a positive reference to this book somewhere and when I saw the cover (well, they are both very cute) I imagined this would likely be a very charming story.
Malaya "Aya" Contreras is a Philippine college student who is about to start her studies abroad, in Japan, when her boyfriend decides to end their relationship. Aya is determined to not let this ruin what she hopes to be a fulfilling experience and before she leaves, her sisters come up with a bucket list for her to do. In Japan, Aya is handed in to tutor Ryohei Mori, as usual per Japanese custom, and at first they don't seem to get along that well. One night, however, Ryo helps Aya when she needs and since they also have to work together on a project, they end up getting closer to one another, which leads to them learning a lot about one another and liking who the other person is. However, with so many differences and possible distance between them, is there any hope for a relationship?
This was precisely the element I was looking for see how the author would develop. Although the Philippines and Japan are geographically close enough for the situations depicted to be easier to visualize, distance does play a part on how certain things might work out or not, and I was curious to see what the author would choose to do.
Aya is a likable heroine and, actually, I was quite envious on how easy some situations seemed to be for her, mostly the ones related to her move to a new country. I suppose the author tried to make this seem smoothly done, but to me it was a bit too easy and I kept thinking that if it was me moving to anew place, could I accomplish the technical issues, the logistics a that quickly? We are told she has friends there, other Philippine students helping, Japan helps with "giving" new students a tutor/guide and there is even a note by the author sharing details about her personal experience, but... it must be quite a difference anyway.
Aya breaks up with her boyfriend and this makes her doubt herself, but she still has the dream of studying in Japan, where she ends up meeting someone who she is attracted to and with whom she becomes friends. I found the story line simple but cute and the story is more novella size than full length, therefore some situations do develop quickly, but I still wish certain things had had more time to be developed.
The romance between Aya and Ryo starts off in a funny way, because Ryo assumed Aya would need more help and when she doesn't, things become too awkward until one day, when he finally helps her and discovers the bucket list her sisters gave her. I think that things did improve from this moment on, but since the narrative is only from Aya POV, obviously certain things seem to be difficult to grasp, namely Ryo's POV on things.
In fact, this is the element I wish it had been different, because while Ryo is quite talkative when in dialogue and interaction with Aya or others, he seems to be more difficultto read. When his and Aya's relationship becomes more than friendship, I could accept the idea of them starting to fall in love, being friends, being co workers, but in general, things seem to happen too quickly all the same. I suppose the page length didn't help, but with a few changes, things could have been better for certain.
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