These last few weeks have been very exhausting for me. I've been pushed to tears, pushed to question everything, pushed to want to give up, but you know what id do? I'd just wipe my tears, find a book in my library, and read, the aftertaste of crying, still very evident in my mouth. It was on one of these days, when I was so desperate to get into a book that I came across Bolu Babalola's 'Honey and Spice'. I read it, and it ended up providing everything I needed at that moment, and even more.
Honey and Spice is a 488 paged book with 40 chapters, written by Bolu Babalola. Kiki Banjo is that girl that has no interest in love. She runs a show with her best friend, where she speaks to their listeners, basically females, on playboy behaviours around them. Apart from her show which has garnered a large number of viewers, and a quiet popularity, nobody knows much about Kiki other than what she lets you know, through her show. After an encounter with a mysterious guy, and according to Kiki's Intel, the newest playboy in town, Kiki announces on her show, the new playboy in town, who the girls should stay away from - Malakai.
On the other hand, Malachai is a guy who just got transferred to Kiki's school. Not one to do relationships, but extremely charming, he is almost every girl's choice, till Kiki's broadcast makes it's way to them. Malachai though, being the sweet book boyfriend that he is, helps Kiki out of a situation, by sharing a kiss, at a party, where everybody is present. Putting her in an even tougher situation, where she has to explain to the girls why she kissed the playboy she warned them all against.
I smiled a lot in this book, and my reason for smiling was simple - Kiki. There was a time I wrote about how female authors channel more energy into making their male characters good enough, to be liked by the readers, and that way, they end up forgetting about the females. I think 
I could go on and on, talking about loving Kiki but no, you need to read this book. And I have more reasons to convince you to read it. Here, you didn't need to read ten pages, without being reminded of why Honey and Spice was named Honey and Spice. If food references weren't made, Kiki and Malachai were the references themselves. The author made it a point to emphasize the reason behind the title, every now and then. It was so much that, even Malachai's nickname for Kiki was... Something you wouldn't know till you read the book. Go read it.
To be very honest, fake dating as a trope was never among my tops because I find myself irritated when both characters who have played partner roles in the eyes of the public, begin to deny having actual feelings for each other. But with this one? I enjoyed every bit of it. Our main characters were the real definition of beauty with brains, and since Kiki was always against relationships, doing it was such a hard pill to swallow. As much as she tried to discard her feelings for Malachai, and warn the girls why they should fall in love with their heads and not their hearts, she fell deeper. Oops, there I go again, talking about Kiki.
If Kiki was a green forest, our male character, was the soil on which the forest trees grew. That man was sooo... everything. From cosplaying Kiki's favourite book character, to picking out where exactly he was wrong, and apologizing according, I enjoyed reading him in love.
Everything about this book was done just how I like my books to be. A perfect blend of honey, mixed with so much spice, refrigerated water would do no justice abating it. I'd rate this book a 9.5/10. I'm currently reading another book from the author, thanks to how much I loved this. So, if you haven't read this one, do yourself a favour and pick it up.
Image above is a screenshot from my e-library.