Secret Haven is out now! Thank you to the author for the gorgeous trope ARC.
Oh, my heart. Love love loved this! Definitely my favorite of the series and a top all time fave from the author.
This is book six in the series, and the clues have been laid out through the series for this couple. Man, did I love them! We’ve seen the connection between them but I loved getting to know their real backstory. The love, the sacrifice, the yearning, all chef’s kiss perfection.
I don’t want to say too much because some of the elements of the book surprised me and I want the same for you but I will say I just loved everything about how this story unfolded. And as always, I did not properly guess who the bad guy(s) was/were and especially not the why.
I loved this whole series but Catherine really saved the best for last here! Love!
Chasing The Sun is out today! Thank you to the author for the ARC.
This is the first book in a charming new small town romance series by Lena Hendrix – you can totally read this as a standalone from her other series.
This is a single dad, neighbors, rivals to lovers stories about two people who both want the property next door to our MMC. Callum is looking to expand his inn and add a farm to table restaurant, while Elodie is looking to transform the farm to a tourist destination. Lots of banter and bickering ensue which leads to a lot of chemistry and sexual tension!
I had a lot of fun reading this one! I loved the new town and its legends, and look forward to learning more about them as the series progresses.
Happy Monday! Just Between Us releases tomorrow. Thank you to the author for the ARC.
I’ve been looking forward to Royal’s story since the Sullivans (I’ve included the quote that won me over) and it did not disappoint! Our tattooed golden retriever King finally meets his match in Veda, the black cat consultant his brother hires to dig deeper into their father’s business holdings.
I loved their opposites attract relationship, they played off each other perfectly and I loved the exploration of their soft dom/sub relationship. Royal just wants to make her feel good and I loved that she finally got to relax a little with him. It was a bit forbidden considering Veda was working for his brother and I loved the secret element to their relationship.
The subplot of taking down Russell King has been building throughout the series and there are definitely major developments here so I do recommend reading this in order, this won’t work as well as a standalone. In fact, go ahead and start with the Sullivans because I love them too.
I loved being back in Outtatowner, back with the Kings and the Sullivans, and I just love this world so much! I’m dying for JP’s story next, which is not something I thought I would have said earlier in this series.
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!
I really enjoyed this! This is book two in the series though I think it could totally be read as a standalone.
This follows Liam and Zoe, who are named co-guardians to their best friends’ daughter Mira after their best friends tragically pass away. Zoe is immediately there for Mira, moving her in and accepting this adorable toddler into her life. Liam struggled a bit more, he never felt he should have a family or children after his own terrible childhood so a lot of the growth in this story is his, to accept love and family into his life. I loved watching his walls eventually fall down, all due to the little girl who melted his heart.
Liam is a grump, football is his life and he doesn’t need any other distractions, especially living with the woman he’s pined for for a decade. The forced proximity works its magic and the sexual tension between the two of them was intense, though this is a sloooowwwww burn.
Zoe was an easy character to love, she’s wanted her fairy tale ending ever since she was a kid and though this certainly didn’t follow the traditional path I love that she found her HEA in that broody football player who has secretly had feelings for her for years.
Much like book one, this is a story of grief alongside the romance, though this one didn’t feel as heavy to me. Both Liam and Zoe (and Mira) were grieving the loss of their best friends but they had Mira to look after which helped keep them afloat. I’ve been looking for a good romance like Life As We Know It and this is the first one I’ve ever read that I thought really worked.
Happy Tuesday! Golden Touch is out today, I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I love going back to Vermont! This is book two in the Giltmaker series, which is a spin off of the True North series, but tbh I think you could read this one as a standalone with no problem.
This brings us Livia and Nash’s story, and it was such a fun close-proximity, opposites attract romance. Nash is back in town to keep his father’s brewery afloat while his dad is in the hospital, while Livia is his dad’s right hand woman. They end up bunking together so both can be close to the brewery and while they’ve met before and had a brief flirtation, their second meet cute doesn’t go quite as well and I do love a meet disaster.
I loved them both. Livia is a total black cat heroine, which is my fave. She’s super competent at her job but doesn’t always make the absolute best choices in her personal life so her walls are up. She’s on the run from a bad ex which brought an element of suspense to the book I wasn’t expecting (but obviously loved.) Nash was such a fun MMC, he’s so charismatic and flirty.He was very very into Livia and I loved his confidence in trying to win her over. The chemistry between them was so great.
The book overall was pretty lighthearted and funny and I really enjoyed myself while reading it! This is easily one of my favorite fictional worlds and I just loved being back. So so good!
Side note – I reread Good as Gold in preparation and still really loved it! I did the audio and Jason Clarke is forever my favorite male narrator.
Oooh did I love this book! This is my first by the author but it certainly won’t be the last. This cover is stunning and what initially drew me to the book but the contents were just as good.
It’s a forced proximity romance between Laney, a woman on the run, and Grant, the youngest son of a bourbon distilling family dynasty. She needs a safe place to hide out for a while and Fiasco, Kentucky is just that place.
I loved both of them individually and together. Grant has suffered a lot of loss in his life which has led him to become somewhat of a recluse, cut off emotionally from his family if not physically. He’s very grumpy about this woman who showed up out of nowhere who he can’t seem to avoid. Laney was so resilient and I love that she did not take Grant’s shit at all, and threw it back at him even harder. They were such a great match! And WHEW the sparks were flying between them from the get go.
This was such a sexy book. The writing, the scenery, the descriptions, all sexy (also, you know, the sex was sexy too). There’s also a bit of suspense which I love! I loved the small town and supporting characters and I’m genuinely so excited to get to read more from this world.
This is easily my favorite book I’ve read in June and it’s on my top reads of 2024 list!
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!
Late Bloomer is out today! Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC.
This was an easy breezy sapphic romance between two women who both think they’re the rightful owner to the flower farm. Opal, the chaotic artist who buys the farm after winning the lottery, and Pepper, the serious woman who thinks she’s inherited the farm from her grandma. They agree to live there together while they work out a solution and you already know how that goes.
It was an easy listen, the tone was light and the characters were endearing, if not a little young feeling. I really enjoyed Pepper’s character, the autism rep was great and I loved her character arc. I also really enjoyed the side characters and what a great support system they were for our FMCs.
There was a lot of focus on their inner monologues instead of a complicated plot or them actually communicating with each other. If you love character driven stories with lots of exposition on inner thoughts maybe you’ll love this part of it! I loved the spice level but I could have personally also used more swoons and romance between them.
Overall though I thought it was great and I was entertained by the audio. The audio performance was great, I could easily tell the difference between the FMCs and the side characters. I do recommend it if you’re looking for something sapphic and bubbly and easy reading and full of pop culture references!
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!
Romance Reviewed 