Editor’s Note: This column includes spoilers for Just Friends by Haley Pham, People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry and Just for the Summer and Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez. 

Book YouTuber Haley Pham released her debut novel Just Friends on March 3. As someone who has watched Pham’s book-related content for years, I’ve followed along on not only her writing journey, but  perience the many books she’s read through her videos. While reading Just Friends, a second-chance romance, I noticed some similarities between the novel and the books of one of Pham’s favorite authors: Emily Henry.

One of the main similarities between Pham and Henry’s novels is the idea of a second-chance romance, as seen in Just Friends between the main characters Blair and Declan and also in Henry’s novel People We Meet on Vacation. However, I’ve found this plot similarity in many of the romance books I’ve read, and it is not unique to a particular author. 

Another similarity between Just Friends and other romance novels that I and Pham have read include family issues featured throughout the book. In Just Friends, Blair struggles with grief following the loss of her great-aunt. In several novels I’ve read from Henry, Abby Jimenez and Katherine Center, familial issues feature as a side component to the main romance, which I personally enjoy as a contrast in the story.

Pham’s novel also features a small town beach setting, a prominent feature of Henry’s summer romance novels, which many other authors also utilize. For example, Jimenez’s novels Just for the Summer and Say You’ll Remember Me also feature this summer setting.

While there were many similarities between Just Friends and the many other romance novels I’ve read, Pham offered a unique perspective with the heritage of the main character and narrator Blaire. Pham is of mixed ethnicity, with a Vietnamese father and Caucasian mother, and she features her Asian-American heritage in the novel through the character Blaire. 

Both Blair’s great-aunt and mother in the novel are of Asian descent, and the intentional incorporation of her great-aunt’s broken English and nicknames for Blair painted a different picture than many of the romance novels I’ve read which focus solely on White characters. 

While Pham’s debut novel was maybe not the best romance novel I’ve ever read, it stands out as an example of why trying to find new points of originality when writing books is important. As so many books have been released over time, many stories have already been told. The second-chance summer romance with family troubles is nothing new but the incorporation of Pham’s own Asian-American heritage in the novel added another layer to this tried-and-true story. 

Authors should try to include interesting stories like Pham’s within their novels, especially in the often overdone genre of romance. Without the incorporation of interesting, underrepresented ideas, the repetitive nature of many romance novels will only get worse. 

The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. Reach Mady Kiser at [email protected].