kate canterbary

In A Second

Happy Saturday! In A Second released this week, thank you to the author for the ARC. 

Ohhhhh boy did I love this. You may have heard my talk about my love of In A Jam (or not, I’ve been very subtle hehe) but this is a worthy successor and if you know me you know what high praise that is. 

Audrey and Jude had such a delicious second chance romance. It has so many elements I love- fake engagement, road trip, forced proximity, only one bed, devoted single dad. It’s more than a list of tropes though, it’s a deep and emotional story of these two love birds finding their way back together after her family drove them apart years ago.

I truly loved them both, together and separately. Their journey is not an easy one, they really have to work through their past and present-day troubles. They both make mistakes, especially Jude, but in a way that felt so realistic to me. The journey is also not a short one but I love a long book that keeps me invested in all 500ish pages. I would have gladly read another 500 pages of their love.

I also of course loved revisiting the other characters from this series and broader world. I love that the author’s books have me like Charlie Day in front of his serial killer board. I do think you could read this as a standalone, though I of course recommend reading In A Jam as well  😉

In A Rush

Happy Tuesday! In A Rush is out today, thank you to the author for the ARC. 

If you know me, you know my unrelenting love for In A Jam, the first book in this series (though either can 100% be read as a standalone) so I was so excited to get more in this world! This was a laugh out loud romance, filled with long term pining (from him), a fulfilled marriage pact, and revenge against a two-timing ex. 

I love a marriage of convenience romance but a revenge marriage is even better. Emme recently found out her ex was cheating on her, and the two have to be in a wedding party together very soon. Her old BFF Ryan reminds her of the marriage pact they made in high school – they’re both 30 and unmarried, so they elope in order to make her ex feel bad and also to clean up Ryan’s reputation. 

Ryan and Emme are both flawed characters, which I loved even if they were at times frustrating (just like real people are!) There were a lot of genuinely hilarious moments, and it was so wonderful to see characters we’ve met in previous books but also meet new ones. I especially loved Ryan’s teammates! 

Though I really did find this enjoyable, there were perhaps too many similarities plot wise to In A Jam for me  (marriage of convenience, high school friends, he’s secretly pined for her for years, she’s a teacher who recently got dumped and is feeling adrift, same female friend groups, etc) which made it hard not to compare the two. It didn’t quite stack up as well for me or have the same heart as In A Jam. I also found Shay and Noah to be way more likable than Emme and Ryan. 

Overall though I did like it and enjoyed my time back in this world!

Change of Heart

Change of Heart is out today! I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

I loved this so much! 

Change of Heart brings us back to the Vital Signs world but with a new cast of main characters so you can absolutely read it as a standalone – that being said, if you’ve read certain Walsh and Vital Signs books, you’ll surely enjoy their coworkers. 

Whitney is a talented surgeon who recreationally crashes weddings with her bestie as a stress reliever. She has a steamy one night stand with the best man at a wedding in California, only for him to show up as a resident in her program at the hospital she works at in Boston. Henry hasn’t gotten over their night together so this is excellent news to him but she is technically supervising him and working on strengthening her hospital’s ethics policies so she has to be appropriate. He quietly woos her as they wait for his time in her program to be over and man it was a delight to watch the tension build between them.

There’s not much I love more than when he falls first and Henry is all in. I just loved him and how far gone he was. I love how Kate Canterbary writes a pining man and Henry gives Cal and Noah a run for their money. He’s such a good guy, so easy going in life but determined to win his lady over. 

Whitney was also a great character, she’s super competent and talented in her field but that hasn’t left a lot of room for a personal life outside her best friend so it was great to watch her try to find more balance.

I love their relationship, I love this world, I love Kate Canterbary’s words, I just loved it all. A top read of 2024!

In A Jam

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 🥵)⁣
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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.”⁣
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My review from last year still holds true – ⁣
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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. ⁣
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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.⁣
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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.⁣
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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.⁣
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I love this book. ⁣

Mid Year Favorites

Whew can you believe this year is halfway done already? Like what?? 🤯

I’ve read 180 books so far this year (which I fully acknowledge is a silly amount) and here are my favorites so far! Ten 2023 releases and two backlist reads. The awesome thing is that I got to meet six of these authors this year (Lucy, Teagan, Abby, Karla, Sarina, and Christina Lauren) and hang out with book friends! How cool is that? 

Let me know if we have any in common, or if none, let me know what your favorite read(s) of the year so far!

In A Jam- Kate Canterbary 

Things We Hide From The Light – Lucy Score 

Moth – Lily Mayne (really the whole series)

Glove Save – Teagan Hunter 

R’jaal’s Resonance – Ruby Dixon

Yours Truly – Abby Jimenez 

One and Only – Karla Sorensen 

Good as Gold – Sarina Bowen 

Georgie All Along – Kate Clayborn 

Crimson River – Devney Perry 

The True Love Experiment – Christina Lauren

Berries & Greed – Lily Mayne

10 Road Trip Romance Recommendations

One of my favorite forced proximity micro tropes: Road Trip romances. The ultimate forced proximity , with bickering over playlists and snacks. 

Here are some recs and some on my TBR!

On The Way to You– Kandi Steiner 

The Mother Road – Meghan Quinn 

The Romantic Pact – Meghan Quinn 

A Week to Be Wicked – Tessa Dare 

Cocky Bastard – Penelope Ward

Quarter Miles – Devney Perry 

Too Hot to Handle – Tessa Bailey *

Unraveling Him – Claire Kingsley 

Professional Development – Kate Canterbary *

Along for the Ride – Mimi Grace *

Love & Luck – Jenna Evans Welch (YA)

*On my TBR

15 Single Dad Romance Recommendations

Happy Father’s day! In honor of the holiday, here are some of my favorite fictional daddies. I am such a sucker for this trope, especially if you throw in a small town setting and a blue collar profession.

Do you have any favorites? I need all the recommendations.

Ignite – Melanie Harlow

Broken French – Tasha Boyd

One Hot Italian Summer – Karina Halle

Single Dad Seeks Juliet – Max Monroe

In A Jam – Kate Canterbary

The Least Amount of Awful – Jennifer Millikin

There With You – Samantha Young

Flirting With Forever – Claire Kingsley

The New Guy– Sarina Bowen

Heartless – Elsie Silver

The Last One You Loved – LJ Evans

Make Me Yours – Melanie Harlow

Until You – K. Bromberg

Wrong For You – Harloe Rae

One Look – Lena Hendrix

In A Jam

Do you ever want to kick yourself for waiting so long to read a book? To be fair this only came out about three months ago but that’s three months I’ve lived without Daddy Bread Baker in my life which is tragic.

To say I loved this book is an understatement. It’s truly everything I love in a romance – small town, pining, marriage of convenience, a grumpy awkward & blushing single father hero, friends to lovers romance that had me laughing and swooning in equal parts.

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 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 really this was all about Noah (and Gennie) for me. 

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.

This was my first read of 2023 and I can’t imagine a higher note to start off the year, I already know this is on my 2023 favorites list.