I really enjoyed Magan Vernon’s début novel How To Date An Alien, so I’ve been looking forward to the sequel How To Break Up With An Alien. Is it as good as its predecessor? Read on to find out.

As soon as I saw the title for this book I got nervous; were Alex and Ace really going to break up? Why?!? I should have trusted Vernon. The question about breaking up definitely arises in this story, but true love can’t be denied. Alex has returned home for her senior year of high school after an exciting summer spent at the Circe Operations Center where she fell in love – and became engaged to – alien Ace. Since she can’t really put all that she accomplished over the summer on a college application, it looks like scholarships are beyond her reach. To help with costs, she gets a job at a local coffee shop. There she makes a friend in Simone, her fellow barista. But as their friendship grows and takes up more of her time, Alex begins to question if she is ready for a future with Ace or if it might be time to break up with her alien.

Vernon continues with her deft and entertaining writing style in How To Break Up With An Alien. There is plenty of humor and the romance is definitely more central to the story than in the first book. Alex and Ace are a very cute couple, neither of whom have a lot of experience with romantic relationships, so when Alex starts questioning their relationship Ace is clueless about what to do (typical male!). I liked the way Ace kept trying to understand Alex and her feelings, and the way he jumped in to protect Alex when a blast from his past threatened her. I definitely felt more connected to Ace in this story than the last one.

Alex is asking herself an important question in this book – is she really ready for a relationship that will impact her entire future? Alex is only a senior in high school in her first romance, and she is engaged to marry a member of an alien royal family. She SHOULD be questioning this, so I’m glad it’s brought up here. A conflict that many couples face is raised when Ace keeps arriving late to his evening “dates” with Alex due to work issues. However, I was not particularly keen on Alex paying him back by heading off with Simone when she already had plans with Ace; it seemed like such a typical girl thing to do – punish a guy, but not tell him what he’s done wrong. I never like a lack of communication, so I was glad when Alex realized what she was doing and faced up to her feelings.

Simone was a nice addition to the story, and I was surprised how the friendship played out. I did miss Alex’s fellow Circe interns, though, especially friendly fashionista Jen. I also enjoyed seeing Alex interacting with more people at school, such as “mean girl” Gemma and possible rival for her affections Brody. In fact, throwing a rival into the mix was an unexpected plus; a girl should have choices, so it was nice that Brody was brought in – especially since there turned out to be a twist to his presence.

A couple of things bothered me about this book, though. First, Alex is basically giving up her college and writing dreams for a boy. He’s an important boy – and she will have an important role with him in the future – but that is no reason for Alex to sacrifice her own ambitions now. Secondly, the adventurous tone of the first book is missing here. Yes, I thought the finale for How To Date An Alien called for a serious suspension of disbelief, but it was still an exciting finale! Also, the day-to-day adventures of working at Circe and falling in love against the rules have no counterpart here. It’s just Alex going to school or the coffee shop, with late night talks with Ace thrown in – the typical life of a teenager. While there was a threat to Alex and Ace at the end of the story that added some excitement and danger, it definitely wasn’t on par with what they have faced in the past. Since the queen was introduced in the last book as a rather formidable woman, I’m hoping we have more mother-in-law conflicts in future stories to increase the tension.

Magan Vernon has presented a light and entertaining follow-up to her début novel with How To Break Up With An Alien. There is a little more development of Ace’s character and opportunities to see how much he loves Alex. I wish there was a bit more complexity and adventure in this story (and that Alex wasn’t contemplating giving up her dreams for a boy), but it has a nice climactic scene at the end that grows naturally from the story and feels more “realistic” than the dogfight in the first book. If you are looking for a quick frothy read and love aliens, then be sure to check out How To Break Up With An Alien. ( )

This second book in the "My Alien Romance" series picks up where then first book left off. Alex is now back home beginning her senior year in high school. Ace is still practically on the other side of the country at Circe. Alex and Ace not only face the challenges of a long-distance relationship, but Alex must also come to terms with the fact that she is the future princess of Calatia. Despite Ace's ability to "beam in" to see Alex, the distance proves to be challenging. When weird things start to happen at school with her friends and classmates, and she meets a new friend at work, it puts an even greater strain on their relationship. Alex begins having dreams and questioning everything, and when her friend Brody starts wanting to become more than a friend, she begins to suspect foul play in the form of "sleep creeping," but can she convince Ace of this before it's too late and someone from Ace's past destroys everything.

This was a cute second installment in this series. It focuses more on the challenges of high school, long distance romances, and doesn't have quite as much of the alien interaction as the first novel did. There are several new characters introduced, namely Simone, Alex's new friend, who isn't all she seems to be. Overall this was a cute second book in this series. ( )

I fell in love with Magan Vernon’s “How to Date an Alien” when I read it last year, so when the sequel was released earlier this year, I was excited to dive into it. Unfortunately, it sat on my bookshelf until this past week, when I finally found time to continue reading Alex and Ace’s journey.

In the first book, Alex meets Ace, an alien, during her summer internship at Circe. They form a forbidden relationship between a human and an alien, which nearly ends in an intergalactic war. A treaty is signed into order, stating that, at some point, Alex will marry Ace and become the Caltian princess.

Which brings us to the sequel, “How to Break Up With an Alien”.

I must start by saying that when the title was announced, I was worried about where Vernon was taking the story. But she knew what she was doing, and honestly, I’m actually happy with the direction that Vernon took the sequel.

Now that Alex is back home and she isn’t able to spend as much time with Ace as she did during her internship at Circe, she’s beginning to wonder what she wants. Of course, it doesn’t help that someone is trying to force her into following a different path.

There’s a certain character hell-bent on destroying things between Alex and Ace, and although I suspected this character very early on, it was still a surprise when it was revealed near the end. Crazy Caltians.

With the ending of “How to Break Up With an Alien” and the title Vernon has listed for the third novel, I’m eager for the final book. I can’t wait to see what Vernon has in store next for these two characters.

What I enjoy most about Vernon’s My Alien Romance is that these books really are the perfect light read. The books are full of both humor and romance, and that is a mixture that is impossible to go wrong with. And Alex isn’t the typical YA protagonist, which, for me, is what truly makes this series. She isn’t drop-dead gorgeous, and she isn’t Miss Popularity. She’s your average teenage girl, someone that teenage girls can identify with… if you ignore the whole dating an alien thing. Plus, she’s hilarious.

If you have yet to check out Vernon’s My Alien Romance series, you can actually download the first book for free for your e-reader through Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Amazon. It’s an enjoyable summer read. ( )