pining – Romance Reviewed

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!

The Best of All is out today!

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.

I loved it!