brothers best friend

Forever The Highlands

Happy Thursday! Forever The Highlands is out today! Thank you to the author for the ARC. 

It’s always great to be back in Scotland with Samantha Young. This is the final book in The Highlands series, which is a spin off of the Adairs, so this is book number 11 set in this world.

This is Eilidh and Fyfe’s story, which is a brother’s best friend, single dad romance. We’ve known Eilidh since the beginning of the Adairs and watched her grow up over the course of the series so it was nice that she finally got a turn to shine.

I thought both characters were really interesting. Eilidh is struggling, she sacrificed everything for a career she hates. She doesn’t know who she is anymore or what she really wants, other than her brother’s best friend. Fyfe has had a troubled life and doesn’t think he has the capacity for love until the daughter he didn’t know existed is dropped on his porch unexpectedly.

I loved how these two broken people finally found each other after years of tension and pining. I’m sad to see this series end, but look forward to what the author will bring us in the future!

PS I Hate You

PS I Hate You is out now! Thank you to Berkley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an emotional and heartfelt journey between Maddie and her brother’s best friend Dom to spread her brother’s ashes at eight specific locations across the US as designated by her brother in his will. Dom is her nemesis (in her head) so this is extra hard for her, but the two start to form a begrudging friendship which turns to more as they go about carrying out these tasks. 

Though it is emotional and grief heavy at times on this journey, there was also a lot of laughter amongst the tears.

Maddie was a bit immature, but to be fair, she had no good role models growing up and she is actually quite young still. So, it was reasonable she would be a bit bratty at times but it did get a bit tiring. This didn’t make me dislike the book at all, but I do think it stopped it from being as emotional of an experience for me because I just wasn’t feeling sympathetic. 

However, I loved taciturn Dom, the caretaker, the big brother, the serious accountant who carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. He was so worried about Maddie’s health and safety, even when she was rebuking him at every step.  

This is a single POV, so we only see what Maddie thinks of things but I thought the author did a good job letting us know what Dom was thinking, even Maddie couldn’t understand it. The single POV also made it Maddie’s journey rather than Maddie & Dominic’s, so it felt more like women’s fiction than a romance to me. 

Overall though I thought it was a well written exploration of grief, one I definitely recommend to those who like emotional stories that border on women’s fiction!

Forever Starts Tonight

Forever Starts Tonight is out now! Thank you to the author for the ARC. ⁣
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Oh my word, I loved this book so much.⁣
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We’ve seen Poppy pine for Jax throughout the series and I was so excited for it to be their time to shine.Our girl has finally had enough of Jax avoiding her and decides to confront him once and for all. A drunken night together leads to an unintended pregnancy and the book follows the fall out from that.⁣
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I’m an unapologetic accidental pregnancy lover and I loved how this story unfolded. (If you don’t love accidental pregnancy, that’s fine but no need to comment to tell me 🙃) It’s an emotional journey for the two of them, and I just loved how they went from avoidance to one night stand to so much more.⁣
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Jax has some trauma to overcome but he wants to be there for Poppy, at least in support of the baby if he can’t be there for her romantically. His backstory made me cry and I felt like his struggle to open up to anyone was so believable as a result. ⁣
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Poppy was a really great character, we’ve seen her grow up throughout this series and always be there for everyone else so I loved that she finally got to stand on her own. She’s so loving and caring and just wants to find her own person like her siblings all have. ⁣
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I loved the Wilder family’s various reactions to what happened. Jax knocking up his best friend’s little sister caused quite a stir and I gobbled the drama up. They are also supportive and loving and just one of my favorite fictional families around right now. ⁣
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Overall I just really loved this! I laughed, I cried, I swooned. An easy five stars! ⁣

Fragile Sanctuary

One word review – Unputdownable. 

A new Catherine Cowles series feels a bit like the first day of school. Excitement, wonder, new friends, and a little bit nervous because you don’t know what’s going to happen. And boy was this an excellent new beginning. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

This introduces us to Rhodes and her found family in Sparrow Falls. She finds herself growing closer to her brother’s best friend Anson, the grumpy, broody, mysterious fire restoration specialist helping rehab her childhood home. When a series of “accidents” happens to Rhodes, Anson is just the man to help protect her, but Anson is a man full of secrets and those secrets might be the most dangerous of all. 

Both have painful pasts and watching them comfort each other and help bring each other’s (especially Anson’s) walls down was just beautiful. The sexual tension between them built masterfully and when it finally snapped whew it was hot. 

There’s an excellent cast of supporting characters. Rhodes and her siblings and grandma were an amazing found family. They are mostly not blood related but they are a true family nonetheless and I loved their interactions and group texts. I’m looking forward to their stories and already have guesses about who their future love interests will be!

The romantic suspense kept me guessing and I was totally fooled this time. I’m usually great at guessing the “bad guy(s)” in romantic suspense but I didn’t put it all together this time and I love that!  I rarely read a book in one sitting anymore, but I could not put this baby down once I started because I just had to find out what was going on.

I loved loved loved it! I loved it so much I read it first with my eyes then a week later listened to the audio as well which was also amazing and I thought both narrators did a great job!

The Brood

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.


Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited


Amazon: https://bit.ly/46vWzrg
Amazon Worldwide: https://mybook.to/TheBrood

Glimmers of You

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!

Done and Dusted

Done and Dusted by Lyla Sage was such a pleasant surprise for me! I’ve seen it around since it made its debut a couple weeks ago but I didn’t really know much about it other than it has a unique cover. I read the first couple lines to see if it would draw my attention and the next thing I knew I was 20% in without realizing it. 

It’s a small town, brother’s best friend story about Emmy, who has returned home after an injury on the barrel racing circuit has left her shaken. She runs into Luke, her oldest brother’s best friend, who is surprised to find she’s all grown up.

They become friends as Luke helps her regain her confidence on horseback and the tension grows between them. There’s good steam, good banter, and he totally falls first which is the best since he’s a former bad boy/current playboy turned absolute cinnamon roll for her. 

I loved Emmy’s family and while brother’s best friend is not my favorite trope, I really enjoyed that dynamic here. We also get ADHD rep and no third act break up!

This did not read like it was the author’s debut at all which made it all the more impressive that it was. It made me want to listen to Brooks and Dunn and learn to ride a horse and I’m so excited for more from this series!