REVIEW: Real Americans by Rachel Khong

OUR REVIEW:

So, I was intrigued by the synopsis and the first pages, and then within chapters, I felt a little less enchanted. Lily's story felt a little disconnected and I don't know if I ever fully understood her. I powered through, though, and decided to give Nick's story a chance. I told myself if I didn't connect within his first few chapters, I'd throw in the towel. That didn't happen. I found Nick's story so compelling and frustrating and I couldn't put it down. In retrospect, knowing a little of Lily and Matthew's story (Nick's parents), helped me understand Nick better, but I just didn't love that part of the story. 

Should I backtrack for a minute? Probably. 

This novel is told in three generational perspectives. We start with Lily. We learn that she is a poor, seemingly purposeless, intern, living in NYC in 1999. She meets Matthew at a work party and she falls for him, while never feeling like she's good enough for him. They're together for a while, then she ghosts him, only to reunite with him later. They end up married and having Nick. I'm glossing over quite a bit, but essentially, what I got from her part was her fraught history with her mom, her distress at being poor and a bit at a loss for who she was or what she should be doing, until she met Matthew. Even after meeting him, there was a sense of her being not really sure of her place in the world. Things happen and her part ends mysteriously and we jump into Nick's story when he's in high school. 

I think what was so compelling about Nick's story was how easy it was to connect to him; you understood his angst and its source. And while he, too, was a little lost at times, he seemed to be more decisive and eager to figure things out. He, as they all were, was definitely flawed and frustrating, but it was easier to follow his narrative. 

The last part of this novel was reserved for Lily's mom, Mei (May). Her story was also quick and easy to read, Threaded with persistence and a desire for something better, she constantly suppressed her deepest wants for a shot at a future that wouldn't look anything her past. Her story is filled with things you'd never want to live through, and is really just sad, which doesn't excuse what she did to Lily and Nick, but it made a lot more sense, when you found out her backstory. The very end of her part brings us to the present and we see that her life isn't sunshine and daisies, but she gets one last chance to right some wrongs and tell her story. 

So while it didn't start out as promising as I wanted it to be, it ended so much stronger than I thought it would. It definitely left me with things to consider and that's something I always appreciate. A very solid 3.5 read for me. 

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/3YHSNIv

SYNOPSIS:

From the award-winning author of Goodbye, Vitamin: How far would you go to shape your own destiny? An exhilarating novel of American identity that spans three generations in one family, and asks: What makes us who we are? And how inevitable are our futures?

Real Americans begins on the precipice of Y2K in New York City, when twenty-two-year-old Lily Chen, an unpaid intern at a slick media company, meets Matthew. Matthew is everything Lily is not: easygoing and effortlessly attractive, a native East Coaster and, most notably, heir to a vast pharmaceutical empire. Lily couldn't be more different: flat-broke, raised in Tampa, the only child of scientists who fled Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Despite all this, Lily and Matthew fall in love.

In 2021, fifteen-year-old Nick Chen has never felt like he belonged on the isolated Washington island where he lives with his single mother, Lily. He can't shake the sense she's hiding something. When Nick sets out to find his biological father, the journey threatens to raise more questions than answers.

In immersive, moving prose, Rachel Khong weaves a profound tale of class and striving, race and visibility, and family and inheritance—a story of trust, forgiveness, and finally coming home.

Exuberant and explosive, Real Americans is a social novel par excellence that asks: Are we destined, or made, and if so, who gets to do the making? Can our genetic past be overcome?
 

REVIEW: Home Game by Ginger Scott

OUR REVIEW:

It's been toooo long since we've been in the Reed and Nolan universe, so you can imagine our delight when we saw that Ginger was revisiting them, with the added extra fun of the story being focused on their daughter, Peyton, as she meets and falls for Wyatt, the quarterback for the new, rival high school in town. 

I was so excited when this was announced!! I love not only that we are back in the OG Ginger era, but that Reed is a hometown Coach now, and his daughter is giving him a run for his money by finding her own path. I love Ginger Scott's ability to write the best coming of age story, not only for the romance, but also for the extra character development that she writes so well and gives us a fantastic story to sink into. I love this world so much! 

Home Game had all the things you love about a Ginger Scott novel about young love: drama, tension, laughter, and of course, love. In the case of Peyton and Wyatt, there was the obvious source of tension (him playing for the rival team), but throw in a bunch of bruised egos, amped up by teenage testosterone, and a dad (Reed) who is suspicious of Wyatt, and their path wasn't easy. Naturally, that didn't deter them and despite the forces working against them, they figured it all out. I loved that Nolan seemed to be all for it, from the beginning, as evidenced by the gleam in her eye she always seemed to have when it came to these two. I also loved that Reed was initially such a hard ass, which cracked me up, honestly, when I think back to his story. 

Exactly! I wasn't sure exactly what we were in for! Fall football drama is always a fun time, but split up a team in a town that eats, sleeps and breathes football and we were in for it! How they meet, and who they are was so fun. There was some things with the team and how well Ginger writes sports that had me enthralled and it was on. Daddy's little girl is growing up, and yes, it is exactly as fun as we thought when we remember the Waiting Series and how much Reed has grown as as a character then but still makes us know that Peyton is her father's daughter for sure! 

Home Game was just the read I needed--a little sweet, a little spicy, a little nostalgic all wrapped up in the perfect package of Peyton and Wyatt. I am that girl and would not be myself if I didn't also say I would love more from these characters!!! 

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/4eZ87au

SYNOPSIS:

Football has been my life. Not that I ever had a choice in the matter. When your dad is a retired, future Hall-of-Fame quarterback, the gridiron tends to weave its way into your DNA.

I always loved the game, but I could do without the spotlight that comes with being Peyton Johnson, the great Reed Johnson’s daughter. To make matters worse, when my dad retired from the NFL, he decided his second calling was to take over the head coaching gig at my high school, where he has coached my boyfriend for the last three years.

Correction—my ex-boyfriend.

While the fairytale high-school sweetheart story may have worked for my parents, I have other plans. And following a self-absorbed athlete to college is not part of them, no matter how hard my dad tries to push me and my ex together.

Thankfully, a new high school opens and draws a line through the center of our town, sending half of my dad’s players to a new team. And apparently, their new quarterback is breaking all of my dad’s old state records. It’s the ultimate distraction, giving me the chance to land myself a spot on the cheer team at any college that isn’t close to home.

But then I meet him. Wyatt Stone. The guy my dad considers our enemy. The best quarterback I’ve ever seen. A complete jerk who I can’t quit thinking about. And running into. And rooting for.

Now, I’m the one who is distracted. And repeating my parents’ love story doesn’t sound so bad after all.

 

NEW REVIEW: My Darling Jane by Ilsa Madden-Mills

 

OUR REVIEW:

I've had fun reading this series and I was very curious about how she'd write Jasper. He'd always come off as such a player and sometimes a little arrogant or smug and even though that can be fun, I wasn't sure how it would turn out. Turns out Jasper is so much more than I thought he'd be--he's warm and caring and has a lot more depth than I suspected, which makes him a great match for Jane--sister of Emmaline, owner of a matchmaking service, and mother to a precious daughter. It shouldn't work--he comes off as a player and she has zero time for all of that, and yet it totally works. 

It starts off innocuously enough--she needs clients for her service and he does her a solid and agrees to try it out--but after one terrible date...and then several not great ones, they become closer and closer as she tries to get to know him better to find him the perfect girl. Of course neither of them are really interested in him finding someone through the dating service, because what they both want is each other. From late night talks to missions to find his nieces and everything in between, Jasper and Jane find that they truly do like each other and find love in the other. 

Sweet, fun, romance that you'll read in just a few hours and I am eager to see who on this team or in this family goes down next. 

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/3zcwP78

SYNOPSIS:

On an ordinary day, Jane Darling wouldn’t be caught dead in a sports bar wearing a toga with angel wings. But she’s desperate to launch her matchmaking business to secure her young daughter’s future. Her to attract new clients at any cost.

Her Cupid outfit catches the eye of New York’s beloved star quarterback, Jasper Jannich. She and Jasper have always clashed, but when a pushy admirer goes too far, he steps in as an unexpected knight in shining armor.

He offers a tantalizing to be Cupid’s Arrow’s premier client. Reluctantly, Jane agrees, aware of the business potential despite her reservations about Jasper and his playboy reputation.

As she sets him up on date after date, it grows clear that Jane’s the only woman he wants.

She is his goal, his endgame.

She’s not not interested…but her heart has been burned before. To get anywhere, they’ll need courage and faith, not just sizzling chemistry.

He’s ready to make the pass. Is his darling ready to catch it?

REVIEW: Dream Girl Drama by Tessa Bailey

OUR REVIEW:

In book two of this series, my curiosity was fully piqued, and Sig and Chloe did not disappoint. They were just as fraught with tension as I suspected they would be and while I've been around the romance block a few times, so I didn't quite see the scandal of them being together, I quite enjoyed it nonetheless. I enjoyed learning more about Chloe and how much more depth she had, since she'd seemed a little shallow when we first met her in book 2. I enjoyed learning about Sig and his huge heart and secret insecurities. It was nice to read about genuinely kind characters who cared so much about each other that they'd sacrifice being together to make sure the other one was okay. Sounds convoluted, and completely messed up, but somehow that's what they felt they needed to do, and yet it all ended up being okay. Romance crisis averted. 

I don't know what it is about sports romances that get me every single time, but they do. I guess I love the idea of it--the idea of this big jock falling hard and being helpless to stop it? It just works, or it does in this series, and I seem to be a sucker for it, so sign me up for the next one. 

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/48vrC83

SYNOPSIS:

A steamy chance encounter between a professional hockey player and the manic pixie dream girl he just can’t seem to forget takes a turn when the pair realize that their parents are engaged—in an all-new rom-com by #1 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey.

When professional hockey player Sig Gauthier’s car breaks down and his phone dies, he treks into a posh private country club to call a tow truck, where he encounters the alluring Chloe Clifford, the manic pixie dream girl who captivates him immediately with her sense of adventure and penchant for stealing champagne.

Sparks fly during a moonlight kiss and the enamored pair can’t wait to see each other again, but when Sig finally arrives to meet his dad’s new girlfriend over dinner, Chloe is confusingly also there. Turns out the girlfriend is Chloe’s mother. Oh, and they’re engaged.

Sig’s dream girl is his future stepsister.

Though the pair is now wary of being involved romantically, Chloe, a sheltered harp prodigy, yearns to escape her controlling mother. Sig promises to teach her the ins and outs of independence in Boston—but not inside his bedroom. They both know there can never be more than friendship between a famous hockey player and his high-society, soon-to-be stepsister. But keeping their relationship platonic grows harder amid the developing family drama, especially knowing they were meant for so much more…

 

NEW REVIEW: Catch and Keep by Erin Hahn

OUR REVIEW:

I have really enjoyed every book in these interconnected stand alone novels featuring the three friends who love each other like sisters. In the other two we got to know a former child/teen star turned homemaker over star, a country music star, and now we get to know Maren-a former YouTuber known for her fishing prowess. Seriously, how unexpected is that? A woman who is known for her superior fishing skills?! Awesome. Love it. And even more than that, I love that her love interest is someone she's known forever, has crushed on forever, and is divorced and available. I even love how she ends up there--not the terrible former boyfriend part, but the part that sends her running home to her favorite place...the place that her dreams were really made of. So we have Maren, this super smart, super pretty, and super wonderful woman and we have Joe--her brother's best friend, divorced father to two awesome kids, and also wonderful human being. What a pair!

I loved their story because it was filled with so much kindness. She needs the kindness of him and his family to help her find her footing after leaving a great job and a less than great boyfriend. He needs her kindness to help him with the chaos of single parent life. They both instinctually know how to help each other and care for each other and love each other. Because they've known each other for so long, they're getting to know each other as adults and while there are definitely obstacles to them reaching their HEA, there are more good moments than bad. (I'll just say, thank god Joe finally said something to her brother because that guy was THE WORST for a good portion of the book). 

Loved the romance and their story, loved the autism representation, loved the cameos by her friends, and really, just loved the whole thing. Sign me up for the next Erin Hahn book, I'm ready!

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/3xrMxe3

SYNOPSIS:

In Erin Hahn's latest cozy, swoony romance, Maren Laughlin has been fishing her whole life, but she’s finally ready to be caught.

At thirty-three, Maren Laughlin's just turned down her boyfriend’s proposal, walked away from her decade-long position as a park ranger, and returned to her childhood playground in Northern Wisconsin to accept her inheritance: a decrepit waterfront bait shop. After a lifetime of letting things happen to her, she’s ready to start making her own moves, even if everyone else thinks she’s making the wrong ones. Well, not everyone—at least the local heartstopper and resort owner is on her side.

Josiah Cole has made some missteps in his life, but he’s proud of what he has: two awesome kids and the keys to the kind of getaway spot that has families coming back every summer– their up north home away from home. After his marriage dissolved, leaving him a single dad, he feels he’s the last person to judge Maren for her recent transformation (even if his best friend, her brother, wants him to feel otherwise). Besides, he genuinely likes having her around. She’s a breath of fresh air, his kids adore her (not to mention her dog, Rogers), and it doesn’t hurt that she’s beautiful.

Things between Maren and Joe are easy. So easy, they’re fully immersed in the middle before they even decide to begin. It’s not a question of should they, but rather can they make it last? Are things too easy, or is this just how real love works? In Erin Hahn’s heartwarmingly sexy Catch and Keep, Maren and Joe have to be brave enough to find out.
 

REVIEW: Embracing the Change by Kristen Ashley

 

OUR REVIEW:

I've been waiting for this book for what seems like forever...or, ever since Nora and Jamie showed up on the page together and every single character in this series has been dying for them to get together. Nora and Jamie did not disappoint and Kristen Ashley did the best job of making their romance completely over the top in every single way. From their extreme wealth, their forced proximity on a yacht, their housing, clothing, and accoutrement to the dramas that filled their days and the page, I was hooked the first scene and didn't blink until I was done. I loved escaping into their lives, lives so far removed from mine that it felt like fantasy. I loved catching up with all of the other characters from the previous books in the series. And I loved that even though Nora and Jamie live a life I'll never live, I found them to be likable and genuine and characters you couldn't help rooting for. 

Of course it doesn't hurt that Kristen Ashley is like my own personal catnip; I am addicted to the worlds she creates. I'm almost finished rereading all of her previously released novels and it's honestly ruined me for so many other reads because these characters just feel like home.

All of this to say: Embracing the Change was another 5 star Kristen Ashley read for me and, of course, I cannot wait for what she releases next. 

BUY HERE: https://amzn.to/3MZixKA

SYNOPSIS:

That Kiss…

Gorgeous New York socialite, Nora Ellington has been waiting a very long time for her happily ever after.

So long, she’s given up on it and has decided, even though she’s the plus-one friend without benefits to a man she’s head over heels in love with, an HEA will forever be out of her reach.

Handsome billionaire Jamie Oakley thought he’d had two happily ever afters in his life. However, neither lasted long, and both ended in tragedy. He’s not about to try it again or put his children through the trauma Jamie has learned from experience undoubtedly will come their way.

And he’s made this decision even if the woman who’s become his constant companion is a woman he loves straight to his soul….and wants with everything that is him.

But then, one night, Jamie loses control and kisses Nora.

He can’t go there.

She can’t go on without it.

They’ll never be the same.

Or will they?

REVIEW: The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez

OUR REVIEW:

The Next Best Fling had a cute premise--two people in love with other people who help each other out when the people they're in love with become engaged to each other. Did you catch all that? 

Marcela and Theo have been in each other's circle of acquaintances for a while but get to know each other when Theo's brother (Marcela's original love interest) and his girlfriend (Theo's original love interest) become engaged, much to their chagrin. Marcela and Theo become each other's plus one to all sorts of events and it's through these dates that they get to know and care for each other. It becomes clear, from early on, that Theo's brother is a complete douche and Theo is the superior brother of the two. Thankfully, Marcela picks up on that sooner than later.

While I enjoyed the idea of this novel, some of the execution didn't work for me. Something was a little off with some of the dialogue, which I found distracting. I also thought it went on a little long and so I found my interest waning. That being said, there were some cute scenes and a lot of potential for future books in this series. 

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/4dfatQW

SYNOPSIS:

Two broken hearts decide that the best way to get over their first loves is with a no-strings-attached relationship in this spicy and charming debut romance.

Librarian Marcela Ortiz has been secretly in love with her best friend for years—and when he gets engaged, she knows it’s long past time to move on. But before she gets the chance, she has a bigger problem to contend with in the form of Theo Young, ex-NFL player and older brother of the man she’s in love with. When she discovers Theo's plans to confess his feelings for his brother’s fiancée at their engagement party, Marcela is quick to stop him—despite how tempting it is to let him run away with the bride-to-be. She manages to convince Theo to sleep off his drunken almost-mistake at her place and when they arrive at a family brunch the next day together, everyone wrongly assumes they hooked up.

Since Theo needs a cover for his feelings for the bride and Marcela needs a distraction from her unrequited feelings for the groom, they decide to roll with the lie. Until one late night at a bar, they take it a step further and discover a layer of attraction neither realized existed. Soon, they find themselves exploring the simmering chemistry between them, whether in library aisles or Marcela's bed. There are no boundaries for the rebound relationship they form—just a host of complicated feelings, messy familial dynamics, and uncovered secrets that threaten to tear them apart before they can even admit to themselves that their rebound is working. Maybe a little too well.
 

REVIEW: The Au Pair Affair by Tessa Bailey

REVIEW:

I loved the first book in this series and I f-loved this book too. What can I say, I'm a sucker for a good sports ball romance and while this was more focused on the relationship between Tallulah and Burgess, there were some good diversionary hockey-focused scenes. 

Tallulah and Burgess were fun to read in a very opposites attracts way. He's a broody, single father, hockey player, who has the biggest heart. She's a sunny, smart, bubbly graduate student who has been burned so badly by her ex-boyfriend that she has isolated herself for years in order to protect herself from that ever happening again. When he hires her to be a nanny to his young daughter, Tallulah definitely questions her choices and almost backs out, but his obvious care and love for his daughter, and willingness to do anything to make Tallulah feel safe and comfortable wins her over. As the spend more time together, they discover that they're good for each other. She nudges him into living more of his life and he nudges her into doing the things her previous isolation had prevented her from doing. Pushing those boundaries created the opportunity for their attraction to build and grow and before you know it, they were falling for each other. Things were going so very well until they weren't and dang, it hurt to see them hurt, as they were both such likable characters, but it definitely made that HEA that much sweeter at the end.

Lately I've needed these easy, fun reads and The Au Pair Affair definitely was that--it practically read itself. So, if you're looking for something quick and fun and romantic, check this one out.

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/4g5ra3R

SYNOPSIS:

A sports rom-com about a burly, surly, single dad who falls head-over-hockey-stick for his quirky live-in nanny...

Tallulah is smart, vivacious, and studying to be a marine biologist. She’s also twenty-six and broke. So when Burgess, a battle-scarred hockey veteran and newly single dad, offers her a job as his live-in nanny, she jumps at the opportunity to get paid while living in a super fancy neighborhood and being around Lissa, his cool but introverted tween.

Her tween charge isn’t the only one who could use some help fitting in, though. According to…well, everyone except Burgess, he needs to get back on the dating scene, and adventurous Tallulah is just the girl to show him how. But as boundaries are slowly crossed and Burgess finds himself pulled between his daughter, who wants her parents back together, and his insane chemistry with Tallulah, a huge rift is formed, and Tallulah does the “right” thing—breaks her own heart and walks away.

Though Burgess knows it’s for the best—he’s too jaded, with too much baggage—a chance meeting, and a new push from his daughter, forces him to put everything on the line and fight to prove he learned his lessons well and is worthy of a happily ever after with Tallulah. 

 

REVIEW: James by Percival Everett

 

OUR REVIEW:

As you know, we're normally a romance focused blog, but every once in a while we'll branch out to something else and feel compelled to share. Today you need to know more about James a look at Huck Finn's adventures from the point of view of Jim (James). 

To be honest, I wasn't sure if I wanted to read it at first. These days I read to escape and I wasn't sure if I wanted to escape into something that would feel heavy but my curiosity about the rave reviews urged me on and I'm so glad I did. I've told all of my friends who read lit fic to try it because it was such a great read. While it did most definitely delve into really heavy, despicable things in our American history, it also had an undercurrent of hope. I loved James's voice, his conversations with philosophers, his sharp, witty, poignant, striking inner monologue, and his empathy and compassion. Percival Everett gave me a novel I didn't know I needed and I'll be recommending it to all those who will listen. 

Please pick up this novel and then let me know how much you love it, because I think you will. 

Happy reading!

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/3YFP4fN

SYNOPSIS:

A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , both harrowing and ferociously funny, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view.

When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.

While many narrative set pieces of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remain in place (floods and storms, stumbling across both unexpected death and unexpected treasure in the myriad stopping points along the river’s banks, encountering the scam artists posing as the Duke and Dauphin…), Jim’s agency, intelligence and compassion are shown in a radically new light.

REVIEW: Look on the Bright Side by Kristan Higgins

OUR REVIEW:

I've never read a Kristan Higgins novel before so I had no idea what to expect and I have to say I actually had low expectations. That was dumb. This novel was such an easy, cute, clean romance that I devoured in a matter of hours. It follows the story of Lark, with a few chapters dedicated to Ellie (Lark's mom), and Joy (Lark's landlord). Lark is this super kind and empathetic resident who has just been kicked out of her oncology residency because she's too teary. She's moved to the ER, with the hopes she'll toughen up and perhaps be able to join the oncology department later. As all of this is happening, she's asked to pretend date the biggest a-hole doctor on the hospital's campus, by said a-hole doctor, and somehow she winds up saying yes. It's through her interactions with him and her work at the hospital that we learn more of her tragic past and how's become who she is. And while her past is truly tragic, her present is quite delightful. She has a full life, a lovely family, and she's quite unafraid to give the a-hole doctor some hard truths. Interspersed between her life at the hospital, and her fake dates, we learn about Ellie and her current marriage struggles and Joy and her hurtful past. All three narratives work well together to show a variety of women's experiences and the importance female friendships. They also show the power of all types of love.

All in all a really solid read. 

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/3WvsJ1N

SYNOPSIS:

Lark Smith has always had a plan for her life: find a fantastic guy, create a marriage as blissful as her parents’, pop out a couple of kids and build a rewarding career as an oncologist.

Things aren’t going so well.

For one, the guy didn’t work out. Theoretically, she’d love to find someone else, but it hasn’t happened. Two, she’s just been transferred out of oncology for being too emotional. (Is it her fault she’s a weeper?) Three, her parents just split up.

Deviating from the plan was…well, not in the plan. A potential solution comes from the foul-tempered and renowned surgeon Lorenzo Santini (aka Dr. Satan). He needs a date this summer for his sister’s wedding. His ancient Noni wants to see him settled. In exchange, he could make a few introductions and maybe get Lark back into the field of her choice.

As a sucker for old people and fake relationships, Lark agrees. Teeny problem—she instantly falls for his big, warm family. Especially his estranged brother.

Meanwhile, Lark’s mom has moved in with Lark’s flamboyant landlady, Joy, and an unlikely friendship blossoms. The three women have a long summer and a big beautiful house on the ocean to figure out what’s next…and quite possibly learn that the best things in life aren’t planned at all.
 

REVIEW: Business Casual by B.K Borison

 

OUR REVIEW:

It's been a while since I've come across a new to me author that I instantly want to read their entire backlist but B.K. Borison has definitely done that for me. I grabbed Business Casual on NetGalley (thank you NetGalley!) on a whim and I'm so glad I did. It was evident within the first pages that Borison loved the characters and the town she placed them in. Nova was so adorably snarky and snappy and Charlie was so adorably adorable.

Their entire book was just so fun. All romance readers know resistance is futile and yet it's so delightful to read a well written romance where both the characters try their damnedest to resist each other, resist what they truly want. Both Nova and Charlie thought they were doing the 'right thing' by keeping things casual, while secretly wanting things to be way more serious than they were. Their journey to get from nothing to everything was playful and sweet and cute and sexy and just so much fun to read. I had a smile on my face the entire time I was reading and by the time I got to the end, even though I knew a lot about the other couples, I still knew I would be picking up the first books in the series. 

Love this couple, this town, the residents of this town, and everything about it. 5 fun stars!

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/3y6kFwn

SYNOPSIS:
Two opposites decide to test their chemistry with one steamy night together. But will once be enough?

Nova Porter isn’t looking for love, and she certainly has no explanation for her attraction to buttoned-up, three-piece-suit-wearing investment banker Charlie Milford. Maybe it’s his charm? Or maybe it’s his determination to help her fledgling business however he can. Either way, she’s distracted every time he’s around. With her new tattoo studio set to open in her hometown of Inglewild, she doesn’t have time for frivolous flirtations. 

In an effort to get Charlie out of her system once and for all, Nova offers a proposition. One night. No strings. They’ll kick their uncomfortable attraction to the curb and return to their respective responsibilities. But their explosive night together scatters their expectations like fallen leaves. And with Charlie in town as the temporary head of Lovelight Farms, Nova can’t quite avoid him. 

And Charlie? Well, Charlie knows a good investment when he sees one. He’s hoping he can convince Nova he’s worth some of her time.

REVIEW: This Used to Be Us by Renee Carlino

OUR REVIEW:

Renee Carlino does this to me EVERY TIME! She sucks me in and then plays with my heart. In the case of Alex and Danielle, we follow a two decades long love story. Sure there's a divorce thrown in there (and it's a significant part of their journey) but throughout it all, what you see is love despite all of the frustration, annoyance, and hurt feelings of it all. I liked how we got to see it all--all the love and all of the things that make marriages so difficult. We saw the goodness in them and the not so good things about them, which made for fully developed characters. Neither Alex or Danielle were wholly good or bad, just regular, flawed humans that got to the point where they didn't *think* they loved each other anymore. Tricks on them, they really did love each other, they just couldn't stand each other sometimes and they beauty of this book is that we get to see why. We see how the small things become really annoying things they can't get past. We see the real and perceived burdens they each felt. And we get to see what happens when you don't communicate well...and we see it all through flashbacks and present day events. 

As Renee Carlino is known to do, she reels you in, gives you hope, and then hurts your heart. This Used to Be Us is no different. The ending was just so bittersweet...and that's all I'll say about that. It's been way too long since we've had a new read from Renee Carlino and I hope this means she's back in writing mode and working on something new for us. 

BUY IT HERE: https://amzn.to/3VXHRoB

SYNOPSIS: 

There are two sides to every love story—and every breakup. Get ready for an emotional roller coaster of family, marriage, and divorce that will have you both laughing and crying, from the bestselling author of Before We Were Strangers.

After twenty-two years together, Danielle and Alex are getting a divorce. Once fiercely in love, they can barely stand the sound of each other’s voice. Instead of shuffling the kids between two broken homes, Alex and Danielle decide to share a nesting apartment while swapping days with their two teenage boys at the family home.

In the apartment, Dani and Alex, on their own, begin to reflect on the last two decades—why they fell in love, and why the marriage fell, spectacularly, apart. With the newfound space and time, they are given a chance to find their autonomous selves again. They both get back in the dating pool, Dani finds major success at work as a showrunner on her own TV project, while Alex faces the challenges of a new relationship.

Still, they find they just can’t stay away from each other, and somehow, the distance allows them to remember (for the first time in years) what they used to love about one another. When a family crisis draws them back into each other’s orbit, Danielle and Alex are, once again, put to the test, which leads to a dramatic conclusion that will have readers weeping.

 

NEW REVIEW: The Woman by the Lake by Kristen Ashley

OUR REVIEW:

Everyone knows that when Kristen Ashley comes out with a new novel, we read it. No questions asked, we grab it and start because we know, with rare exception, that we will pick it up and love it. In the Misted Pines series, we cannot seem to escape the psychopaths and The Woman by the Lake definitely shows us that. In this novel we have a new transplant, Nadia, living next door to the only other person who lives on the lake, Doc Riggs. Their first two meetings don't go very well, and honestly, he kinda came off as a douchebag. But as we all know KA will do, she shows us that even someone who comes off like that can be so much more than that. In the case of Doc Riggs, as soon as he finds out who Nadia is (member of an uber wealthy family) and why she's there (to recover from the vicious murder of her mother), he quickly gets his shit together and becomes the good guy he had the potential to be. Now could we blame Nadia for not really caring for him at first? After his initial smug/annoying behavior? No. But, as he steps up to take care of her and she learns more about why the cute cabin she's renting is really never rented, she relents and becomes fast friends with him. And of course, that friendship quickly becomes more, just as the weirdness on the island amps up.

The Woman by the Lake may be the eeriest yet of this series. Some of the things that happened while she was staying there were truly creepy and amped up the suspense of who was behind all of the things happening. As you should expect, I enjoyed this new novel by KA and am once again looking forward to what she releases next.

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/4bhD9rg

SYNOPSIS:

Nadia Williams needs somewhere peaceful to sort through her grief after her mother is brutally murdered. She finds a cozy cabin at the side of a tranquil lake in the quaint town of Misted Pines in the Pacific Northwest.

The minute she arrives, she knows it’s perfect.

The very night of her arrival, however, someone—or something—is scratching at her window.

The next morning, she meets her one and only neighbor, Doc Riggs. He’s a rough, good-time guy who rubs Nadia wrong immediately. They clash, and neither of them are happy to be sharing their lake.

But soon, Nadia learns the lore around her cabin, and how the townsfolk are certain it’s haunted by the ghost of the man who was murdered there fifteen years before.

Riggs and Nadia are suddenly thrown into a tangled web of history, betrayal, grief, secrets, with only one thing certain.

Someone—or something—wants them off that lake.

 

NEW REVIEW: Not Another Love Song by Julie Soto

OUR REVIEW:

Once again, Julie Soto knocked it out of the park. In Not Another Love Song, we get to meet two talented musicians: Gwen and Xander (Alex). She's a talented violinist who plays with the Pops Orchestra and he's a talented cellist who also plays in the Pops but is also uber famous for the band he's in. She knows who he is because she's crushed on him for a while....he has no clue who she is until they meet at a wedding. He quickly becomes enamored with her, while she's nothing but flustered, and bam! one brief post-wedding meeting where he insults her and she gets her feelings hurt and we're off to the land of romance. 

Over the course of months we get to see him fall for her, see her try to reject him, see him continually put his foot in his mouth, see her mistrust and doubt throw them curveballs, and see his mistrust do the same. We get to see him realize how truly talented she is, to see her get to shake him up out of his protective bubble, and see them merge into what could be a musical super couple. Of course nothing is ever that easy. There are bad guys, past histories that mess with their heads, and yet....and yet they have people hoping and rooting for them to figure it out.

I enjoyed Not Another Love Song so much. I loved being in the world of orchestral music and all of the intrigue there could be there. I'm so glad I found Julie Soto and I just am so very eager to see who/what she writes next. 

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/3xvmKlh

SYNOPSIS:

Two string players fight their attraction for each other as they compete for center stage in this spicy and emotional romance.

Gwen Jackson and Xander Thorne are both musical prodigies, but each has had very different paths to success. Xander was born into classical music royalty, while Gwen had a natural ear for music that was nurtured by a kind shop owner.

After Gwen performs at his friend’s wedding, she’s mortified when she realizes Xander has no clue who she is—despite having worked together for a year at the Pops Orchestra. But she’s more furious that he arrogantly critiques her performance.

When Gwen is offered the role of First Chair of the orchestra, something Xander had secretly coveted for years, their existing hostility goes up a notch. But their respect for each other's music is undeniable, and their onstage chemistry off the scale. As they begin to explore their feelings for one another, suddenly they're box office dynamite and the fragile romance that's growing between them is in danger of being crushed beneath a publicity stunt...

 

REVIEW: The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren

 

OUR REVIEW:

It's been a while since I've read a Christina Lauren novel and this one just struck me as a little different than what I've read from them in the past so I decided to give it a try. I'm so glad I did. Anna and West (aka Liam) were interesting characters to read. They were the epitome of opposites attract: she was a starving artist, he came from money. She was had a loving relationship with her father, he was avoiding his family at all costs. Despite all of that, when he needed her to fulfill an obligation as his "wife"...an agreement they entered into years ago as college students who needed to be married in order to get into cheaper housing...she agreed, for a price. He'd pay her for playing his wife and he'd get his family off of his back. 

From the moment they boarded the plane, I knew they'd be fun. He was so anxious and she was so free-spirited that the mixture of two was fun to read. As they got to know each other on the plane, and then on the days following, you could see that there was no way they weren't going to end up together because while she may have needed his monetary donation, he needed her far more than either of them could know. I loved that she supported him and took his back, and suffered the uncomfortable situations that she was thrown in so that he could get through a tough ten days. I loved that he was not an elitist jerk, that he recognized his role in the drama of his family, and that he also had her back. And when all hell broke loose and the truth of everything was revealed, I loved the resolution of it all, especially the very end. 

Easy, cute read that will leave you feeling good. A definite great summer read. 

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/4c0DYp7

SYNOPSIS:
Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam “West” Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she’d signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways.

Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There’s just one catch.

Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather’s will, Liam won’t see a penny until he’s been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he’s in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has no choice but to turn to the one person he’s afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents—his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife.

But in the presence of his family, Liam’s fears quickly shift from whether the feisty, foul-mouthed, paint-splattered Anna can play the part to whether the toxic world of wealth will corrupt someone as pure of heart as his surprisingly grounded and loyal wife. Liam will have to ask himself if the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie.

REVIEW: Game Changer by Lana Ferguson

 

OUR REVIEW:

Lana Ferguson, I love you. Your novels always entertain me, making anything but reading impossible. I find that when I'm reading your characters I'm Lol-ing, cheering them on, or fanning myself from the heat level. Game Changer continues that trend. 

In this novel we have Lila and Ian--two people who've known each other since their childhood--thrown together by their PR people to try to improve his image and her show ratings. No biggie, right? Wellllll, for Lila, she's had a massive crush on Ian for forever and for Ian, he's her brother's best friend....and the Lila he knew when she was much younger has grown into an attractive, funny, and smart woman. So while both of them agree to do this faux dating thing, they both figure out really quickly how hard it's going to be. Neither of them can seem to stop obsessively thinking about the other and are worried about ruining things, but once they figure that out, it's game on. They flirt and make out and fall hard for each other, with the only obstacle being Lila's brother Jack. Fortunately, Lana Ferguson takes it easy on us and doesn't make us die before we get to their HEA. Like my reading of The Nanny, I'd love to return to this world and get to know more of the other characters, but I don't think that will happen, so I'll just happily wait for the next thing that Lana Ferguson gives us.

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/4b0Tdyk

SYNOPSIS:

A hockey player and a baker shoot their shot in this steamy new romance by Lana Ferguson, USA Today bestselling author of The Nanny.

When a very public breakup becomes a PR nightmare for Ian Chase's team, he hopes to focus on his game, but that suddenly seem less likely than a hat trick. With his career and the team’s image in jeopardy, Ian is surprised to find a solution through none other than Delilah Baker, his best friend and teammate's little sister…who isn’t so little anymore.

Delilah Baker is known as “the darling of baking” on her local cable show, and being in the public eye is her bread and butter. But with her numbers dwindling and her producers turning up the heat, Delilah offers up the half-baked idea to collaborate with her brother’s team to entice the hockey fans of Boston to tune in to her show. Delilah thinks it will be a piece of cake—until the team sends Ian Chase, her brother’s best friend and the object of a decade-long crush that she’s never quite gotten over. 

REVIEW: Dishonestly Yours by Krista and Becca Ritchie

 OUR REVIEW:

It's been a while since I've read a Ritchie sisters' novel, but I remembered enjoying their writing and thought I'd try out Dishonestly Yours when it popped up in my NetGalley feed. I went into the novel totally blind and, honestly, it took me a few chapters to settle in and feel like I understood my surroundings. Another bit of honesty? I found this cast of characters to be pretty unlikeable at first...but I think that's what they wanted us to feel...like who the heck are these people and why are they so scammy? If you're feeling like that, I would suggest that you keep reading. Phoebe and Rocky and their gang of misfits (aka, their siblings) start to become people you like, as you get to know and understand how and why they are the way they are. As a matter of fact, I became so absorbed in their story that the ending (that ending!) snuck up on me and I felt really very disappointed that I'd have to wait to get more of their story. I felt like I was just getting to know them and like them and then BAM! the last word is there and I'm just like dammit! I need more! 

I love it when that happens; when a novel that I feel a little uncertain about turns into a page turner that I can't put down. I need more Phoebe, Rocky, their siblings, and this dysfunctional town ASAP, Ritchie sisters!

BUY IT: https://amzn.to/4cNmM84

SYNOPSIS:

Starting fresh is the only way Phoebe can escape a life of crime, but her best friend's older brother complicates honest dreams in this gripping new series from the authors of the Addicted series.

Phoebe Graves grew up in a family where deception and seduction are as commonplace as breathing. The Graves and her best friend Hailey’s family have been on the run their whole lives, but after a high-stakes con job goes south, Phoebe and Hailey decide to run away and start over. The small Connecticut town they settle in seems too good to be true.

The biggest flaw in their plan is Hailey’s frustratingly handsome brother, Rocky, who insists on coming with them. Living honestly isn’t in his DNA, and his past with Phoebe is downright messy. He’s everything she wants, but nothing she can have.

Phoebe worries that Rocky will tempt them back into their old ways, where lying is second nature. She doesn’t want Rocky to mess up the new life she’s begun for herself. The longer she stays in town, the more she realizes what it means to have a reputation—and what a normal life with the man she loves could look like.