Today kicks off a new Smartypants launch and starting it off is Peaches and Dreams by Juliette Cross! I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I thought fall started today which is why I took this autumnal colored picture but it turns out it starts Saturday. Regardless, this is a great fall read!
This was such a sweet (and spicy) small town romance! This is technically book four in the Green Valley Heroes series but could absolutely be read as a standalone, or even just after Parks and Provocation also by Juliette Cross.
Marly, also known as Mad Marly for her wild and sometimes crazy behaviors, meets her match in Wade, a very grumpy rule following single dad(dy bear.) Their opposites attract grumpy/sunshine dynamic was a joy to watch as they balanced each other out.
I loved how supportive and caring Wade was. Such a dad in the best possible way! I also loved how great Marly was with Wade’s son Jake, they had such a cute relationship.
Overall a great low drama read and great addition to this universe!
The Brood is out today and I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This is book six in the series (though you could absolutely read this one as a standalone) which follows Wilder, a grumpy high school teacher, and Iris, his best friend’s little sister. Wilder begrudgingly lets Iris stay with him for a couple months as she visits Calamity for her travel IG blog as a favor to his bestie.
If you like …
-forced proximity
-age gap
-brother’s best friend
-grumpy/sunshine
-opposites attract
-steam!
-widowed, broody MMC
-younger travel influencer FMC
-tension
-banter
Then check this one out! TBH I can’t say it’s the most complex plot, but I mean what more do you need? Look at everything on that list, it was a very enjoyable read.
Blurb:
A small town, forced proximity, age gap romance from Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author, Devney Perry.
The last thing Wilder Abbott needs is a houseguest. Solitude has been his stoic companion for nearly a decade. He prefers to brood over his mistakes in seclusion. Besides, he gets enough social interaction as a high school science teacher in Calamity, Montana.
But when his oldest friend calls, begging for a favor, Wilder begrudgingly agrees. For the next two months, he’ll give up his guest room to his friend’s little sister.
Iris Monroe isn’t the girl Wilder remembers. Gone is the shy, quiet mouse ten years his junior who always had her nose in a book. Grown-up Iris talks too much and asks too many questions, especially about his past. And her bright smile and clear blue eyes are hard to ignore.
Two months. He just has to survive two months. Except Iris is as nosy as she is beautiful. And his secrets prove hard to hide when she’s living under his roof.
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Well, KA Tucker has done it again. She’s masterfully woven a complex and magical tale that is both epic and intimate at the same time, full of love and war, twists and turns, and enough intrigue to keep you guessing.
This book picks up right where book two left off, but with the addition of the POV of more characters. The stakes are as high as ever, the opposing kingdoms are on the brink of war yet again, and everyone can feel the electricity of change in the air.
This book made me laugh, cry, and had me on the edge of my seat. Though their reality is a bit dark and scary, I still appreciated that love could still find a way (and not just Romeria and Zander this time). There was humor in the face of danger, and Jarek has cemented himself as my favorite character of the series.
Though this did start off a little slowly for me, I thoroughly enjoyed it once I remembered what was going on and the plot hit its stride. I hate to be the person that begs for the next book before the current book has had its chance to shine but I’m dying for book four now! I can’t wait to see where this stunning series goes.
Happy Tuesday! The Love Plot by Samantha Young is out today, thank you to the publisher for the early review copy.
This was such a fun opposites attract fake dating romcom!
Rafe needs a fake girlfriend to get his family off his back about settling down, so he makes a deal with Star, the character actor hired to dress up at his niece’s birthday party. She’ll pretend to be his girlfriend, while he’ll pay her a large sum to be at his beck and call for the next six months.
The two are opposites in almost all ways, Rafe is grumpy and reserved, from a rich traditional family while Star is the easygoing daughter of two hippies, content to live her life flying by the seat of her pants.
Rafe is a new favorite of mine, he came across as Darcy-like at the beginning, so reserved and standoffish but I really really loved him as we got to know him. Star was so sunshiney and I loved how she didn’t take anything too seriously. I can’t say she didn’t frustrate me at times, but that’s all part of the character arc, right? Sometimes they have to make mistakes in order to learn from them and grow.
Overall this was a very funny and charming romance about two polar opposites finding their way together with a good amount of steam and emotional moments for balance. I definitely recommend for my romcom loving friends!
BLURB:
There’s a magnetic attraction when a happy-go-lucky gig worker agrees to a fake relationship with a rich, uptight New Yorker in this steamy romantic comedy from New York Times bestselling author Samantha Young.
Star Shine Meadows is all about freedom, thanks to the hippie parents who raised her. Juggling her jobs as a professional costume character actor and a line sitter, she believes in no expectations, no stressful ambitions, and no-strings-attached relationships. So when she meets a birthday girl’s grumpy uncle while working a princess party, she can’t help but needle him. She’ll never see him again, and honestly, he’s pretty hot.
Rafe Whitman may be a veterinarian with a great bedside manner, but that doesn’t mean his patience extends to anyone with opposable thumbs. His family will not stop nagging him about finding “the one,” so when he runs into obnoxiously cheery Star again, he makes her an offer: He’ll pay her more than she would make doing her odd jobs if she’ll pretend to be his girlfriend at family gatherings. She can stop sitting in line waiting for someone else’s new phone, and he’ll get his family off his back.
When the tension between them heats to a breaking point, Star’s desire for “no strings” is tested against Rafe’s staunch stability. They say opposites attract, after all….
Samantha Young is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the On Dublin Street series, including Moonlight on Nightingale Way, Echoes of Scotland Street, and Fall from India Place, and the Hart’s Boardwalk series, including Every Little Thing and The One Real Thing, as well as the standalone novels Fight or Flight and Much Ado About You.
Happy Tuesday! Hideaway Heart released yesterday and I received an eARC in exchange for an honest review. Even more exciting, the human covers are now live on Amazon as well and I don’t think I’ve ever ordered anything so quickly in my life.
This was such an entertaining read! It was high heat and low angst with plenty of funny moments and endearing main characters.
Kelly wants to spend her vacation feeling like a normal person instead of her stage persona, country superstar Pixie Hart, so she’s not happy when her brother sends his former SEAL buddy to watch over her. Xander is out of the private security business but can’t turn down his friend so he shows up to her vacation cabin rental only for her to fire him. They finally reach an understanding and sparks start to fly pretty immediately.
A good portion of the book is them in the forced proximity of the cabin and boy was it spicy. The two were pretty feral in bed together and I was blushing. Outside of the bedroom I really liked their dynamic. They had really fun banter and I love that neither took it easy on the other.
I also enjoyed getting to spend time with the Buckley family and I look forward to more from the series!
I’m not always into office romance probably because all my years working in an office but sometimes it works! Especially if it’s an author I already like, I will still pick it up.
And look, I get it. The late hours, the forced proximity, the power dynamics, it’s hard to resist (fictionally)! Here are some that I’ve really enjoyed.
I really enjoyed this fake dating small town romance!
This is book three in the Lost & Found series which brings us Grae, the youngest Hartley sibling, and Caden, her brother’s best friend who offers to fake date her in order to protect her from an ex who won’t leave her alone. In exchange, having a girlfriend will make him look more reliable to his company and get his dad off his back.
Caden has rubbed Grae the wrong way ever since she received her type 1 diabetes diagnosis as a teen and he basically disappeared on her but she needs her ex to stop bothering her so she puts her annoyance aside, at least in public.
Caden is a bit broody, his family sucks and he lost his sister years ago to cancer and never really recovered. Grae is tired of everyone treating her like she’s made of glass due to her diagnosis, and just wants to prove she’s a capable adult. The two had obvious chemistry and while brother’s best friend will never be my favorite trope, it didn’t bother me here.
It’s a Catherine Cowles book so of course there is suspense and danger and I loved that it kept me guessing. Overall a great addition to the series and I’m so freaking excited for the next book!
Books like this are why I’m scared to DNF! At first I wasn’t feeling the humor in the book and wanted to give up but then somehow it turned into a moving, tender, gorgeous romance and I’m so glad I didn’t quit.
It’s an accidental pregnancy story between two virtual strangers who hook up at a halloween party, only to discover they’re pregnant a couple months later. They move in together (just as friends of course) so he can support her during her pregnancy and they can get to know each other better since they will be forced to interact for at least the next eighteen years.
As this is a single POV, this is mostly Win’s story. She’s been burned before so has trouble letting Bo in and sets boundaries left and right so she won’t be hurt again. She finally finds the love and acceptance she desires in Beau, and the way the two love each other is just beautiful. Also, her lifelong friendship with her bestie was a delight to read about.
The disability rep (she has an underdeveloped hand, he is an amputee and uses a prosthetic) is outstanding. It’s an own-voices story and you can really tell how personal this is for the author and it was pretty eye opening to me about things I had never considered.
It wasn’t a 100% perfect read for me but I’m not going to nitpick because overall though those things didn’t matter to me by the end. The love story was so dreamy and tender and was a great read I’ll be thinking about for a long time.
We met Luca and Angel in A Merry Little Meet Cute. They had a passionate affair while in Christmas Notch, but Angel ghosted Luca after filming ended to go to Paris with his ex boyfriend (or did he? 🤔)
It’s now summertime and Angel is back in LA, where the two keep running into each other. Will the forced proximity of a Pretty Woman inspired adult film set be too much for them to resist?
It was so fun and quick paced it almost made my head spin. They definitely had a physical attraction (with lots of steam packed into this short book!) but I could have used a little more emotion – however, that’s pretty common for a novella.
Overall though a good time if not an in depth emotional romance! I’m really looking forward to more in this series.
Forget Me Not by Julie Soto releases tomorrow! Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.
Well this was an amazing debut!
It’s a second chance romance between Ama, an up & coming wedding planner, and Elliot, her ex boyfriend and the florist already contracted to do the wedding Ama has just signed on to plan. It’s a well known influencer’s wedding that could launch her wedding planning career, so she’s forced to work beside the man who she shares a history with, which is unraveled through flashbacks as the book progresses.
Both characters were interesting and I liked Ama’s growth throughout the book, but the real winner for me here was Elliot. He comes across as grumpy and maybe a little rude but he’s so soft and gooey on the inside. He’s absolute book boyfriend material and I’m still swooning over the deliberate way he took care of Ama, even after she broke his heart. Also, he has a thigh tattoo.
Look, I’m not a fan in general of dual timelines (I lose interest when the timeline changes and I never feel like we get enough of them together in the present day because so much time is spent in the past) but I did appreciate that the past chapters were told from Elliot’s POV. He’s an outwardly stoic character so it was a much needed insight into what he was thinking.
The writing is light and funny but still emotional at times when it needed to be and it was honestly hard to believe this was a debut. There’s a good bit of steam, excellent supporting characters (I’m going to need Mar’s story next, thx), and a fun plot set around planning a splashy wedding.
Overall this was a really great read! Especially if you like dual timelines!
Romance Reviewed 