Northern Twilight is out today! Thank you the author for the ARC.
I always love returning to Ardnoch!
In this we get Lewis and Callie’s story, who we first met in their respective parents’ stories, and now it’s their turn to shine. This is a second chance romance, they were childhood friends to teenage lovers, but wanted different things post school. They reunite briefly and their one night stand results in an accidental pregnancy.
This was very much an “it’s always been you” kind of romance, you just knew these two were meant to be and I loved all the angst and longing this brought. They’ve had seven years apart, and neither managed to quite move on successfully so suddenly being back in each other’s lives is quite an adjustment – at least for Callie.
Lewis was more all-in, and what’s not to love about a tatted, man bun wearing, motorcycle riding architect who knows what he wants (and has quite a dirty mouth on him!)
I loved how their relationship progressed and that we got flashbacks to where it all went wrong. It was sweet, it was steamy, there was some angst, and we got to revisit some of the other characters from previous books, so I loved it!
Bananapants is out today! Thank you the author for the ARC.
Whew this book surprised me in the best way! It starts off very rom-commy, with lots of jokes and lightness, but eventually it hits you with all the emotion and you find yourself crying on a plane next to a stranger (that might just be me??)
This features next-gen characters from the author’s Knitting In The City series, our FMC is Greg and Fiona’s daughter and the MMC is Janie and Quinn’s son, so our KITC favorites do show up here as supporting characters.
Desmond, the MMC, has bipolar and ADHD, currently under control, but it has caused a lot of problems for him in the past. There’s exploration of how this affected his relationships, first with Ava, but also with his family and that’s what had my heart breaking.
It was really interesting to read about, and I feel like I learned a lot. It did not shy away from the realities of living with mental illness so please check out the trigger warnings if needed. However, it also was a good message that everyone is deserving of love, regardless of what your brain tells you.
Ava is a bit of a quirky girl, she’s a straight laced tax attorney but is quite naive about life. She never quite got over her childhood bestie leaving her and moving away at 15, and never managed to find that connection with someone else again. Though it’s never explicitly stated I think she’s demisexual and it was nice to read about that.
I loved them together, they accidentally run into each other again after a decade apart and both immediately have big feelings again. Once Des realizes Ava might be into him too, the entire course of his life changes and I just love how all in he was.
It was funny, it was tender, it was smart, it made me cry. I loved it!
Crossroads is out today! Thank you to the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
She’s done it again! Devney Perry yet again has me packing my bags because I’ve decided to move to Montana, get a job at a resort, and find myself a cowboy.
Crossroads brings us the story of Indya and West, a love story spanning years between these childhood friends who turn into so much more. Each summer, Indya and her parents visit West’s family’s ranch/resort in Montana and we follow as they grow up and fall in love. With dual timelines, the present day story brings us Indya’s return to the ranch with the bombshell news that she’s bought the ranch from West’s dad.
The two butt heads as Indya makes changes to the resort and I was living for their banter and tension. They were immediately both drawn into each other again and it was just a delight. Their story packed a real emotional punch as well, there is a lot of grief and loss Indya especially has to work through but West does as well.
I loved the setting, the side characters, and it sets up really well for book two which I’m already ready for!
I loved this beautiful story! One thing about me is I take my bedtime very seriously and the fact that I stayed up until 1 am to read it, on a work night, basically in one sitting, tells you how much I really really loved it! It’s easily one of my favorite books by the author and definitely one of my favorite books of the year.
This was a cute romance about two Gen X introverts who meet online while playing a RPG together. Due to assumptions made on each side, they don’t realize they’re talking to someone their own age but they form a friendship regardless while going on quests together with the rest of their guild. Eventually they realize the truth but both are romantically cautious due to their pasts so the friendship continues to grow. I loved Aiden so much. He’s a cinnamon roll good guy who gave up everything to try and take care of his aging parents without much support. He hasn’t had much of a romantic history outside of a few relationships when he was young and I loved the journey he went on to discover why that is (hint: he’s not straight). I love how clearly written and well explored his demisexuality is, a lot of times this is just hinted at or skirted around but it was a major plot point here, integral to his story. Also, he’s described as chunky and PLEASE I am begging you give us more big boy MMCs because I love it. I loved how unapologetically grumpy Maggie was. She was completely out of fucks to give and it was honestly so refreshing to read a character who didn’t care what people thought about her. She was a borderline hermit, leaving her house only when truly necessary and mostly avoiding other people (I can relate). She was also so supportive and accepting of Aiden when not a lot of people in his life were. I really enjoyed this but at times it was a bit too much of a slow burn for me personally because not a lot of tension was being built. Some of the game stuff was also boring for me but I can see that being interesting if you’re into gaming! Overall though I thought it was a good story with great representation and it was a great change of pace to read about characters that skewed older than we normally see in romance! I did the audio on this one, I liked the flow but didn’t think either narrator’s accent was a great fit for the characters. The male narrator especially has a southern twang which didn’t fit the MMC who was born and raised in Washington. This isn’t a huge issue but it is enough to pull me out of the book!
Promise Me This releases tomorrow! I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Another winner from Karla Sorensen! I love this world and this family and am always so happy to return. This is Ian Wilder’s story, the grumpy & slightly mysterious brother who’s mostly been in the background of the other sibling’s books. He’s back in town for good, settled down with a house and job at his family’s construction company, when suddenly his childhood best friend shows back up in town and needs a place to stay. He offers her and her daughter the spare rooms in his house and she reluctantly agrees. Harlow is a writer with a serious case of writer’s block and just needs a comfortable place to land for a while. Ian and Harlow were truly always just friends, from kindergarten on up but they fell out of touch after high school and are now rediscovering each other in their mid thirties. The close proximity of living together eventually works its magic and they start to see each other in a new light. When I say eventually, I mean WHEW it’s a slooowwwww burn but that just means the payoff is that much sweeter. I loved both characters, Ian is so grumpy with everyone in his life except Harlow, and even when he is she calls him out for it. I loved how they were each other’s person, they were such good friends first and they found comfort and a sense of home in each other. I loved how they both fought so hard not to have Feelings for each other and I loved when they had their fuck it moment. If you couldn’t tell, I loved it!
Happy Thursday! I Wish We Had Forever released today. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed this small town, brother’s best friend, fake marriage romance! We found out at the end of I Wish You Were Mine that Jen and Abel had eloped and now we get to see what happened from their point of view. I was so excited to find out what happened and it did not disappoint! Abel’s my favorite kind of MMC, he’s grumpy, broody, protective, and a bit broken but still soft for his lady. And man did he have a dirty mouth on him! Jen was a great FMC, she’s strong and I loved watching her to learn to stop people pleasing and ask for what she wants. They were such a cute couple, I loved how supportive they were of each other, and I loved all the chemistry between them after years of longing and pining. It’s a Jessica Peterson book so of course it’s super spicy, with lots of food and friendships as well. I’m sad this series is over, I’ve loved every book including this one!
I really enjoyed Done and Dusted but I loved Swift and Saddled. I thought this was delightful. I find Lyla Sage’s writing to be so charming and easy reading in the best way. It’s easy to pick up her book and read the whole thing without moving or even realizing time has passed.
This returns us to Rebel Blue, and this time it’s Wes’s turn to fall. Wes is the easy going Ryder, the middle child peacekeeper who finds his match in Ada, the interior designer he hires to make over the house he’s turning into a guest ranch.
I loved their golden retriever/black cat vibes. Wes is so laid back and kind, while Ada is not quite as easy going. She’s had a rough patch and needs to take this job and herself seriously.
Wes falls first and hard and I loved how he carefully won Ada over. He was so patient and loving and supportive. Ada had a journey to go on to accept love and friendship into her life, and I appreciated that we really got to know the characters and their motivations so it was easier to understand why she struggled so much.
I loved being back in this world and seeing all the Ryders and Teddy and Luke and I’m dying for books three and four!
Ready or Not is out now! Thank you to the publisher for the ARC.
Well, this was a delight. I know surprise pregnancy is a controversial trope but I actually love it and this was such a good spin on it.
Eve discovers she is pregnant after a one night stand and everything in her life begins to change (as pregnancy is wont to do). Her best friend is taking the news weird, her baby daddy is torn, and her best friend’s brother starts showing up for her when no one else is. The story carries us through her pregnancy as all these relationships start to grow and change.
Eve was an excellent heroine. She didn’t always get it right but it was admirable how she kept picking herself back up and trying. Life was not going the way she expected, she didn’t have her dream career and then to be impregnated by a bartender she hooked up really wasn’t in her plan but I loved how she just kept going. It’s told only in her POV so it’s really her story, and one I thoroughly enjoyed.
Shep might have been the most perfect MMC I’ve ever read. I loved Shep. He is everything I don’t normally love in a MMC – blond, golden retriever, good guy. Such a good good guy. He has pined for Eve for years, so when his chance came to be there for her he took every opportunity to grow closer to her but also to be there for the baby.
The way their relationship progressed had me downright giddy. It wasn’t all that steamy, but it was intimate and adorable. It’s a relationship of small touches and acts of service. There’s a scene where he massages her hand that made me take a sip of water because I was getting overheated. I just loved them!
I loved not just Eve and Shep but also the supporting characters. Willa is the best friend anyone would want, she would do anything for you even if it was hard for her. Ethan, the baby daddy, was struggling in such a very realistic way. He didn’t handle everything perfectly but in such a real feelings way.
I will say there were parts that felt perhaps a bit over the top about motherhood and how magical it is (one of the side characters, to summarize, said you’re self centered until you become a mother, then you become other centered and care about other people once you have children which had me blinking in confusion) but I tried not to let that bother me.
Overall though, I loved this book. I loved it so much. It’s a top read of the year for me and I know these wonderfully flawed characters will stick with me for a long tim
I love this book. I loved it last year when it was my first read of 2023, and I loved it this year as my first read of 2024. I did it on audio this time around and it was so so so good (Jason Clarke 🥵) It’s easily become an all time favorite for me. It has literally everything I love in a romance – small town, marriage of convenience, a grumpy MMC who falls first and hard, pining (my GOD, the PINING). It had me laughing and swooning in equal parts. Even the tagline makes me swoon – “She was the one who got away. She just didn’t know it.” My review from last year still holds true – Noah, Daddy Bread Baker for those in the know, is a serious dreamboat. He’s pined for his former neighbor/high school crush for years, so when she shows up back in town to claim an inheritance, he immediately throws out a marriage proposal to help her out – despite the fact that he’s very grumpy she left him behind in the first place. He’s raising his niece all on his own and doesn’t really have time for a marriage, what with single handedly saving his family’s farm, helping out everyone in town, and perfecting his jam recipes but he just can’t help himself. His niece was an absolute hoot- I want to be Gennie when I grow up. Even though he’s grown up physically since high school, he can’t help but blush and panic when Shay gets close, which of course makes him even grumpier. Shay is a bit lost, her seemingly perfect life has come crashing down around her and she doesn’t know who she is or what she wants anymore. She was an interesting if not a bit frustrating at times character, but I think I actually understood her more the second time around. It’s so obvious Noah is gone for her, but she just got out of a really long and toxic relationship so immediately jumping into something new can’t be easy. The sparks between Shay and Noah were immediate, and though it was a slow burn, when things got physical oh boy did dirty talking Noah have me blushing. I loved how these two balanced each other out. I love this book.
Happy Monday! One Chance by Lena Hendrix is out today. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
It was so good to be back in Outtatowner and with the Sullivan family. We’ve seen playboy firefighter Lee and his bestie Annie circle around each other in previous books, and this was their time to shine. I don’t love the friends to lovers trope in general but I have to say – what an excellent friends to lovers romance!
The two have been friends for a long time, continually insisting they’re just friends to everyone, until the town’s Matchmaker Gala inspires Lee to bid on a series of dates with Annie. It starts off as sort of fake dating but quickly turns to more as Lee tries to prove to Annie it’s been real between them all along.
There were some angstier elements to this one that I wasn’t expecting but loved. The two have a somewhat complicated history and I was curious how that would play out. It’s all mixed in with lots of humor and I love that quirky town and its residents.
This has quickly become one of my favorite small town series and I’m so looking forward to Duke’s story! And then hopefully the Kings’ stories!
Romance Reviewed 