enemies to lovers

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!

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year

This was so fun! 

It’s a murder mystery rom-com between two rival authors who are invited to an English country estate at Christmas under mysterious circumstances when (gasp!) their hostess goes missing. They have to work together to solve what happened which leads them right into danger (and, perhaps, into each other’s arms). 

It was honestly just thoroughly entertaining, it was very quickly paced and I raced through to find out what happened. The MMC is a charming golden retriever who was very easy to fall for, while the FMC is more of a black cat but her walls are up for good reason and I just really loved how their relationship unfolded. 

It was twisty and turny and really just a lot of fun! The blurb mentions Knives Out, which I haven’t actually seen, but I definitely got modern Agatha Christie vibes, and also Clue (the movie), but set in a closed door rom-com. 

Definitely recommend it if you’re looking for something fun & light & easy reading in the best way!

Cash – Jessica Peterson

This is exactly what I want in a cowboy romance!

Give me a grumpy cowboy, a fish out of water city girl, and an enemies to lovers plot where the MMC thinks he was supposed to get the ranch the FMC inherits and now they have to work together side by side by side and I am a happy girl but throw in Jessica Peterson’s signature charm and steam and I am ecstatic. 

Cash was on the surface a stoic, grumpy cowboy, but at heart he was actually quite sweet and very caring for those he loved. He gave up basically everything for his younger brothers after his parents passed away and has devoted his adult life caring for them and Lucky Ranch, so he doesn’t appreciate this city girl coming in after she inherits the property. Also, he has a great mustache and isn’t afraid of being vulnerable and sharing his feelings. 

Mollie was a great character too, she was strong willed and determined but also willing to admit she didn’t know what she was doing. She stepped in and really tried to learn the business and I love how she stood up to Cash with no hesitation. 

The banter between them was excellent and the sparks were intense from the get go, and when they finally give into that chemistry it gets to be melt-your-kindle hot. No location is off limits to these two! I’ve never considered the phrase “mustache ride” hot before but my worldview has been shaken and I’m re-evaluating everything. 

I also loved the setting and side characters. Every small town cowboy romance needs a local dive bar, a close knit group of cowboys, and brothers who interfere with your life choices. I’m so excited to get the rest of these brother’s stories and get more from this world!

I’ve loved every Jessica Peterson book I’ve read and given her combination of southern gentleman (except in the bedroom) mixed with sassy, smart heroines, I feel like she was made to write cowboy romance! 

I just really had a great time reading this! 

The Ride of Her Life

The Ride of Her Life releases today! Thank you to the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

I’m a big Hallmark fan and the plot of this sounded very Hallmark to me in the best way – city girl Molly inherits a horse farm and goes there with the intent to fix up the farm to sell – only to be met by a hot farrier who doesn’t want her to sell and clashes with her at every step. Only in this one, it’s a sapphic enemies to lovers between Molly and Shani, the hot tenant who knows everything about horses. 

I had mixed feelings about this one. I loved the premise, the setting, Shani, and all the supporting characters at the farm. They have such a great found family centered around the stable where they board their horses. There was a lot of humor and a bit of steam and I loved that we got a character who is a farrier, which is a career I’ve never read about in a romance novel before.  

Molly, on the other hand, was a bit of a struggle for me. When you watch a Hallmark movie, you’re rooting for the small town to win, for the developer to go away, for the festival to raise enough money to save the library or whatever. In this, she’s the only POV and she was the city girl who came to ruin everything which made it hard to root for her. She only cared about her best interests and I just never warmed up to her. 

Overall though it was a cute read! I was curious to see how it would all unfold and work out between them, and like I said I did enjoy the rest of the characters. The writing was light and enjoyable so if sapphic hallmark sounds good to you I do recommend it!

The Best Laid Plans

The Best Laid Plans releases tomorrow, thank you Montlake for the ARC.

This was such an enjoyable romance! It was perhaps a little more grief heavy than I was anticipating, but I enjoyed how emotional it was.

Burke is recently retired from the NFL due to an injury when he gets the news his best friend has tragically passed in a car accident and left him his grandparent’s mansion which is in massive need of a renovation. All Burke wants to do in his unplanned forced retirement is relax with his family in Florida, so a stressful project halfway across the country doesn’t appeal to him.

The house comes with a project manager in charge of the renovation who convinces him to keep the house and oversee the reno in honor of his best friend who wanted the house returned to its former glory. Burke and Charlotte temporarily move in together in the carriage house on the property and immediately butt heads. I enjoyed the sparks and banter between them and their slow burn relationship.  I also really enjoyed their families and the set up for the next book sounds great!

Overall it was a good read, I really enjoyed the setting and the home preservation and I look forward to the next book!

Tempting the Neighbor

Tempting The Neighbor is book two in the Mount Macon series by Ashley Munoz. You could read it as a standalone if you wanted, but the couple from the first book are in this one quite a bit. 

Similar to the first book in the series, it’s a little messy but very entertaining. It’s also spicy and dramatic (especially the 3rd act conflict 🙄) 

Nora and Colson are next door neighbors who don’t get along very well to begin with when a fallen tree during a winter storm pushes them both past the edge. Nora has a big huge crush on Colson, who happens to be her father’s right hand man at his construction company. Colson has been warned to stay away from Nora, but eventually finds the temptation of his next door neighbor too much to resist.

When I say it’s spicy, I mean it’s SPICY (at least by my standards.) There’s also some excellent caretaking, some forbidden romance vibes, family dramatics, and laugh out loud banter.

I didn’t really like either of the main characters here much at all (she was bratty and he was a weenie), so I can’t say this was a new favorite but I still enjoyed the book overall and look forward to the next book in the series which is set up really well in this one!