What You Wanted by Mina V. Esguerra

WHAT YOU WANTED is the story of a one-night-stand turned romance. Andrea is the sister of Julie, from THAT KIND OF GUY, only whereas Julie was a goody two-shoes, motherly character, Andrea is a world-weary "free spirit" who has a lot of sex with different partners and doesn't really dig commitment. Her heart gets broken when she falls for someone, Thad, finally - only he breaks up with her for another girl named Naomi, leaving her in the dust.

The hero in this book, Damon, is in a similar boat. He's also been in love with another girl for a while, a prissy, high maintenance girl named Geraldine who is Andrea's total opposite in every way. When they meet up again, sparks fly, and Andrea suggests hooking up and going out on double-date-like situations with Thad and Geraldine, along with people from their extended circle of friends, in order to make their ex-lovers jealous.

If you think this plan doesn't work out, you would be right. Both of them start to fall for each other for real, but are still afraid of getting hurt and still not quite 100% over their past love interests. Pretty soon, it's not clear what is a game anymore, and what is real. Andrea has a shot at happiness but this time, her "free spirit" might end up shooting her in the foot and costing her the love of her life.

The first book I read by Mina V. Esguerra was her first book in the Chic Manila series, MY IMAGINARY EX. It had such a classic 2000s chick-lit vibe, and I loved it so much, I recommend it to all of my romance-loving friends and sent the link to coworker friends when it was free on Amazon. THAT KIND OF GUY, my second Esguerra read, was an okay read, but it lacked the charm of MY IMAGINARY, which had a better romance and a lot of focus on friendships.

WHAT YOU WANTED goes back to the formula I loved so much in MY IMAGINARY EX. I love how sex positive this book is, and how Andrea wasn't shamed for having multiple partners. I also like how there's always a twist with the other woman in these books, and that she's never as evil or nefarious as you originally think she might be. There are so many great discussions about sex and relationships and honesty and intimacy in these books, and even though they sometimes take a while to get rolling, by the end I'm always squirming with anxiety and hoping hard for that happy ending.

4 out of 5 stars