Dr. Perfect

Dr Perfect is out today in KU! I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. This is a fun, lighthearted, snowed in boss/employee romance! It’s a quick but an enjoyable read.

Dr Zach Cove, of the famed Cove family of medicine, is starting a private practice and hires Ellie to manage it. Zach is struggling with the weight of his family’s legacy while wanting to switch careers. Ellie is trying to escape her past decisions and hit her goals for the future so she is determined to be the best office manager she can be, even if that means transporting papers to her new boss at his holiday cottage in Scotland. The two are unexpectedly snowed in together for a few days and boy do sparks fly.

It’s a quick moving story on the insta-love side, and I enjoyed how easy reading it was. Sometimes it’s nice to read a quick getaway story, you know? It’s not angst heavy but does pack in some emotion. I enjoyed seeing the Cove family all together and am looking forward to the next story! 

The Summer We Fell

The Summer We Fell is out today and I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. This is an angsty new adult romance told in dual timelines, about Juliet and Luke who obviously share a troubled history that is unveiled as the story progresses.

If you love:

-new adult

-love triangles

-single POV

-who did this to you?

-pining

– a hero ready to burn down the world for the heroine

Then you will love this! 

It’s a little messy at times, as all love triangles are, but at its core it’s about two lost souls finding their way to each other when everything is stacked against them. It’s full of sacrifices, emotion, trauma, and honestly it made my tummy hurt because I am too soft for all that but I know a lot of people love this kind of hurt!

Now, I do have to say – I would have loved to see a little more of the present day. The past was kind of instalove, which I can forgive because they were teenagers, but we didn’t see much connection other than physical in the present day. 

If you love your romances to be beautifully written, full of heartbreak and devestation, with a whole lot of angst and longing, then this is definitely for you! It’s out now and in Kindle Unlimited. 

CW: rape (past), child molestation (past), depression, drugs, grief  

Yours Truly

Yours Truly is out in one week! 🙌🏻 I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review and I’m so glad I did because this is one of the easiest five stars I’ve ever given (and I am stingy with 5s).  

Every Abby Jimenez book I read is my new favorite, but I really think this one is my favorite favorite. The author has such an incredible way of balancing humor and emotional elements, I know every time that I will be laughing and crying within the same page. 

This is Bri’s book, who we met in Part of Your World (but this can 100% be read as a standalone), and Jacob, the new ER doctor who seems to be in competition for a promotion Bri is seeking. They have a terrible start to their relationship, but that quickly turns around when Bri receives a letter from Jacob, who is better at arranging his thoughts on page than verbally. The epistolary elements here were some of my favorite parts of this, they were so funny and heartfelt without stopping the flow of the story.

I love that these were adults dealing with adult issues. Yes, there is some miscommunication happening, but for the most part they were mature adults who were just doing the best they could when life didn’t turn out like they expected. Bri is recently divorced from her husband of a decade, her best friend moved away, and her brother is in kidney failure needing a transplant. Jacob’s recent ex-girlfriend is marrying his brother and his whole family is looking at him for his reaction. I think this book will give a lot of hope to readers whose lives also didn’t turn out as expected. 

I also especially loved the mental health aspects of the book. Mental health rep is never a one-size fits all endeavor because we of course all experience things differently but I have never seen such an accurate representation of MY anxiety as I did in this book. I am Jacob. He is me. I have never related to a MMC so much, or really any character. 

Thank you to Abby for writing this and thank you to Forever for publishing it. The author’s note at the end really adds another dynamic layer to the story. 

CW: miscarriage (past), anxiety, panic attacks

Bad Mother

Happy Tuesday! Bad Mother by Mia Sheridan releases today. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

First thing I need to say- Mia Sheridan has written a lot of romances and romantic thrillers in the past & Montlake had this categorized as romance on NetGalley – it’s not. At least, while there is a romance, it’s a subplot to the thriller plot, not the main event. That’s totally okay,  but was not what I was expecting based on the categorization on NetGalley. 

What it actually is though is a suspenseful thriller, a cat and mouse game from a possible serial killer who enjoys toying with Detective Sienna Walker as she and her partner race to discover what’s going on before more people die. It genuinely kept me guessing who the bad guy was. While I did have some suspicions around certain characters, I had no idea how it was going to play out and certainly couldn’t have guessed how it was going to end. 

Sienna is the new cop in town after getting in some trouble as a NYC detective. She’s sent back home to Reno where she has to readjust to life in the city with a lot of bad memories for her, including those around her ex-fiance Gavin. Gavin broke her heart years before so it’s difficult for her when the clues on the case force her to work side by side with him (this is where the romance comes in). 

Overall a compelling and compulsive read! Just don’t expect it to be a romance

Black Rose

Happy Sunday! Black Rose by Karina Halle released today in KU. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review, and whew what a wild ride! This is book two in the Dracula Duet, which must be read in order. 

This one is definitely for my dark romance loving friends. This duet has been absolutely bananas and I love that it kept me on my toes. It’s very bloody, very violent, and very sex-filled, sometimes all three at once.  If you’re into that, you might love this! If you have triggers, I’d go into it with extreme caution. 

After the shocking end of Blood Orange, I really wasn’t sure what the heck was going to happen to this destined/cursed couple and I enjoyed all the twists and turns. It’s moody, gothic – borderlining on horror at times-  and packed to the brim with steam. 

Aside from all the sex- and I can’t under emphasize just how much sex there is – there is also transformative love, grief, heartache, and a fair bit of humor, too. To be fully honest, I hated Valtu in this one but Rose loved him and that’s all that matters. Love can overcome a lot and she just kept believing which is great. I love an epic romance, and this one definitely stretched across lives and decades for the couple to find their HEA.  

Just a note – If you haven’t read the Dark Eyes duet and Nightwolf. I think you’d be okay reading this one if you wanted. However, if you have any plans to read those, I would start at the beginning with Black Sunshine because there are definite spoilers in the Dracula duet for the other books.

Flirting With Forever

What a sweet ending to this series! I have thoroughly enjoyed this romcom series about a group of ladies brought together by their love of running and dirty martinis. 

This one is an opposites attract/neighbor/single dad romance between Nora, the last single member of the dirty martini running club. Though all her friends have recently fallen in love, Nora isn’t looking for that in her own life. She wouldn’t mind a fling with the hot tattooed single dad next door, though. Dex doesn’t need the complication of a fling, not while he’s raising his impressionable teenage daughter alone, but his attraction to Nora is too much to resist – however, he wants more than a fling.

Nora was a strong,confident, independent woman and I appreciated the way she stood up for what she believed in. I love when the heroine is the commitment-phobe! Dex is a dream – gruff, but with a heart of gold. He’d do anything for his daughter and there’s nothing hotter than that for me. He’s also not afraid to put himself out there and make a grand gesture (swoon.) The chemistry between them was fiery melt-your-kindle hot and I couldn’t tear my eyes away to see how they were going to work out their differences. 

I loved Nora and Dex together but even more I loved each of their relationships with Dex’s daughter Riley! The tween years can be rough and we should all have been so lucky as to have Nora Lakes on our side at that time.

This one is perhaps less of a romcom and more of a regular contemporary romance than the others in the series, which is totally fine, just worth mentioning that the tone is a little more serious I think. 

Overall a great end to a great series that I’m so sad has come to an end!  

R’Jaal’s Resonance

Have you taken the plunge and read any of Ruby Dixon’s Ice Planet Barbarian series?

No spoilers, I just want to say how much I loved this book and its cover. 

This is book one in Ruby Dixon’s newest Ice Planet Clones series (which takes place in the same planet as IBP and Icehome). The events of what happened here are set up in Flor’s Fiasco, though it didn’t go in the direction I thought it would! Instead we get something new and fascinating. 

I love that I can still be surprised 35 books later but this one was really great. I loved  R’jaal (no surprise) and am really looking forward to more from this series!

The New Guy

Happy Tuesday and final day of February! The New Guy is out today, and I was lucky to receive an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. 

This was a sweet somewhat forbidden m/m hockey romance that I really enjoyed!

Gavin and Hudson are both the new guys to the Brooklyn Bruisers, though in different capacities. Gavin is a recently widowed single father who signs on as an athletic trainer, and Hudson is an often-traded player who’s trying his best to find a team that will keep him. Both need to not make waves, but when they find out they are neighbors their attraction is too much to resist.

Their relationship was so sweet and I loved how they took care of each other in different ways. Both had difficult pasts that made it hard to believe in the future and at one point I really wasn’t sure how it would all work out and I love that it kept me on my toes.

I always love returning to the world of the Brooklyn Bruisers, though I do think this was more of a set up to a new series rather than a strong part of the Bruisers world. I look forward to seeing where this will take us! (Update from when I wrote this review- it’s now listed as book one of a new series called Hockey Guys so it all makes sense)

Glove Save

Is there anything better than hilarious banter? For me, no. 

I’ve really enjoyed this series and this might be my favorite one yet! (Ok, maybe it’s still Blind Pass). I honestly can’t remember the last time I grabbed a book on its release day then sat down and actually read it the same day instead of letting it languish on my kindle for weeks to years before picking it up, but I was so excited for this one I read it all in one sitting that evening! Then ordered the paperback!

Greer is the goalie for the Carolina Comets, and while I didn’t love him in the previous book, I ended up loving him here because he was an absolute grump in the best possible way (but also kind of a momma’s boy.) Stevie is a single mom who gets along with everyone, except Greer, so I loved how he kept pushing her buttons and causing the sweet woman to snap. 

Their banter was amazing, I genuinely laughed out loud so many times. Greer also had a hilarious relationship with Stevie’s daughter, and I loved that he was kind of grumpy with her as well but she wasn’t having it. 

There’s plenty of steam, lots of cameos from the characters of books past, and I’m excited for more from this series! It’s really snuck up on me to become a favorite and I can’t wait for more.

Only You

Happy Tuesday! Only You is out today and I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is book five in the Adair Family series, and brings us the story of the final Adair sibling, Brodan. He is a Hollywood star, the prodigal son returned home to his small Scottish village after becoming disillusioned with his glamorous actor life. He quickly runs into Monroe, his former childhood best friend with whom his friendship ended spectacularly twenty years ago..

Brodan still isn’t over the hurt of the past and lashes out at Monroe over and over again, and to be honest for the first half of the book I really kind of hated him. He was immature and cruel, but I was glad Monroe didn’t make it easy on him and just accept her fate. 

Monroe hasn’t had the best life and would rather be anywhere but their hometown. She’s forced to stay there due to her ailing mother and limited employment options, so  she doesn’t need the complication of her former best friend whom she was desperately in love with before their friendship blew up. 

Overall, I did enjoy being back in Ardnoch and seeing how the rest of the Adairs were getting along. The setting is stunning, and I love the tone of the series, even if I do struggle with some of the characters. The author is definitely talented at bringing out my emotions!

With this, the Adair Family saga has come to an end, though with the set up for the spinoff series I have to assume we still get to see them in the background of other stories.