romance novel

Forever The Highlands

Happy Thursday! Forever The Highlands is out today! Thank you to the author for the ARC. 

It’s always great to be back in Scotland with Samantha Young. This is the final book in The Highlands series, which is a spin off of the Adairs, so this is book number 11 set in this world.

This is Eilidh and Fyfe’s story, which is a brother’s best friend, single dad romance. We’ve known Eilidh since the beginning of the Adairs and watched her grow up over the course of the series so it was nice that she finally got a turn to shine.

I thought both characters were really interesting. Eilidh is struggling, she sacrificed everything for a career she hates. She doesn’t know who she is anymore or what she really wants, other than her brother’s best friend. Fyfe has had a troubled life and doesn’t think he has the capacity for love until the daughter he didn’t know existed is dropped on his porch unexpectedly.

I loved how these two broken people finally found each other after years of tension and pining. I’m sad to see this series end, but look forward to what the author will bring us in the future!

Broken Harbor

Broken Harbor is out now, thank you to the author for the ARC. 

I’m so happy to be back in Sparrow Falls! This is Sutton and Cope’s story, both of whom we’ve met previously.

Sutton is a single mother bakery owner with a young son and a past she’s hiding from. Cope is a NHL star, in town to coach a kid’s camp and rehab his image a bit. When Sutton loses her place to live, Cope invites her and her son to stay with him.

There’s forced proximity goodness, suspense that keeps you guessing, and a swoony romance. The relationship between Cope and Sutton’s son is also very cute. 

I really enjoyed this! I also listened to the audio and thought it was well done, especially Connor Crais as Cope. 

Lost and Lassoed

I love this world so much! It’s always lovely to return to Rebel Blue, and I was especially excited to get Gus and Teddy’s story after seeing the animosity and banter between them during the first two books of the series.

This is a single dad/nanny, enemies to lovers, forced proximity romance that I absolutely loved. I’m a sucker for those tropes, but it also could have been really easy for this to feel trite and overdone. Instead, it felt fresh and exciting due to the author’s easy-reading writing and excellent world building.

I really loved Gus and Teddy, separately and together. Gus is the oldest Ryder, a single dad with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Teddy is his younger sister’s feisty best friend and her chaotic vibes don’t mesh well with Gus’s more structured life. 

The two start out with true dislike between them, but the forced proximity of Teddy living with him works its magic and they start to see each other in a different light. I thought the pacing of enemies to lovers felt believable and I really enjoyed watching them fall.

Overall, it was an excellent addition to the Rebel Blue Ranch series and i’m very excited for the fourth book!

Mistletoe & Mine

Mistletoe and Mine is out now! Thank you to the author for the ARC.

This is a fake dating holiday romance set in small town England, between a grumpy single dad and the grinchy woman running the local year round Christmas shop. He needs a fake girlfriend so his grandmother will stop trying to set him up, so he teams up with Sasha to try to help her regain her Christmas spirit through a series of Christmasy and regular dates.

It’s a warm and soft story, full of cozy holiday vibes. If you’re looking for a low angst but still spicy holiday romcom with a big boy MMC and a curvy FMC, this one is out today in KU!

The Co-Op

The Co-Op just re-released recently, thank you to the publisher for the early copy in exchange for a review. It sounds like it’s been re-written a bit so I’m not sure how it compares to the original!

This is a second chance marriage of convenience romance between two people who inherit a house together and have to rehab it in order to get it on the market. 

LaRynn and Deacon were great characters, they’re both big people with big personalities and big opinions. They have excellent banter and they’re kind of mean to each other (LaRynn especially, but Deacon likes that) which I really enjoyed, and it felt realistic especially with their history. I loved the setting and the construction details, though I really could have used more of those to be honest.

It was a very character driven story, these two are orbiting around each other in a close space with a lot of hurt feelings from the past, and it felt a bit slow at times for me because of this. That being said, again, it did feel realistic to me. Working through the past takes time, I’m just impatient!

Overall though I thought it was a great story, especially if you love character driven plots with a crap ton of banter!

Love In Bloom

Love In Bloom is out now! Thank you to the publisher for the ARC.

I was so intrigued by this premise (city girl inherits her grandparents’ farm only to discover it’s hiding a secret) and I love any kind of “city person inherits a (building/business/etc) in a small town” kind of plot. 

It was a cute low angst romcom. The FMC and MMC are into each other right away, and are together most of the book. The plot was more focused on her adapting to country life, uncovering the farm’s secrets, and planning a local festival rather than the romance, so it did border on women’s fiction for me, but that’s not a bad thing! Just depends on your preference. 

Overall it was very cute if you’re looking for a low-angst romcom!

My Favorite Holidate

My Favorite Holidate is out now, thank you the author for the ALC!

This was such a fun holiday romcom! It’s a fake dating romance between a billionaire who wants his aunt to stop trying to set him up on dates, and his employee who needs to prove to her ex she’s over him so they pretend to be together at a wedding of mutual friends. It was the perfect storm of fake dating, holiday activities, and close proximity/only one bed as they attend the wedding weekend. 

Both characters were great – I’m not drawn to billionaires in general but Wilder was kind and generous and so thoughtful- gift giving is his love language and he was so good at it. He was also such a good single dad, I loved him! Fable was also a good character, spunky and kind hearted and not afraid to give her boss shit. Their banter was great and the chemistry between them was intense and this was pretty high heat for a holiday romance!

The full cast audio (11 narrators!) led by Jason Clarke and Samantha Brentmoor in duet was phenomenal, I loved all the different voices and it made it feel like a movie. 

That being said – it was awfully long for a holiday romcom (500 pages) so it started to get a little repetitive for me. You definitely get your money’s worth if you grab the audio though!

Overall I thought it was a cute romcom with an excellent audio production and definitely recommended grabbing it on audio if spicy romcoms are your jam!

Heat and Run

Heat and Run is out now! Thank you to the author for the ARC. This is a standalone novella, though it does tie into the author’s Toy Runners series. 

Whew this baby was spicy! Honestly all the Toy Runner novellas have been super spicy but I think this one wins for spiciest. It’s cover to cover spice, with a bit of plot thrown in. It was probably bordering on too much spice for me personally but it’s good to push ourselves out of our comfort zones sometimes. 

It’s a F/F/F omegaverse story and I have to say I think this was my first omegaverse but I was able to follow the lore with no problem. It was a good introduction for me because it was all easily understandable. 

If you are looking for a high heat sapphic holiday romance this one is out now!

Bull Moon Rising

What a fun new world from Ruby Dixon! Thank you to the publisher for the ARC. 

I’ve got to be honest, I thought this was just going to be minotaur romance and didn’t think too much deeper about it but it turns out it’s one part fantasy, one part romance, and one part adventure which adds up to a pretty exciting new series!

It’s a fantastical world, full of magical artifacts and those that hold them are like the aristocracy of the world. Aspeth is the sheltered daughter of a holder on the brink of ruin. She decides to join the Royal Artifact Guild to hunt down more artifacts to save her father and their land, but it’s not as easy as she assumed it would be and ends up marrying a minotaur teacher who will sponsor her going through Guild training.

I really enjoyed it! It took me a little bit to get into which is true of all fantasy (especially when I didn’t realize it was fantasy going into it) but I finally got into it and really enjoyed both Aspeth and Hawk. Aspeth was a bit chaotic, she had a lot of spunk and a can-do attitude without a lot of street smarts or practicality, while Hawk was starchy and buttoned up and super competent. 

I also really enjoyed the side characters and there was a real found family between them all that I loved. You get action, adventure, and a slow burn romance that leads to some heat so I was very pleased!

I look forward to more from this world!

All Folked Up

Happy Thursday! All Folked Up is out today. 

This is book three in the Good Folk series, which is a spin off of The Winston Brothers, featuring important side characters finding their HEAs.

There is nothing I love more than returning to Green Valley with Penny. The way she writes, the unique turns of phrase, the thought and care that goes into every word, I just want to wrap myself in the pages and never leave.

We start off with possibly the most awkward meet-cute result of all time, which leads to an undercover investigation at the strip club our FMC Hannah manages. Hannah and Isaac have to work together so Isaac can investigate a frequent customer, but due to their terrible meet cute it’s quite awkward for a while. 

I’ve been wondering what Isaac’s deal was since I read Beard Science in 2016 so it was wonderful to get some answers. He started off a bit rigid and icy, but as the story moved on he started to thaw for Hannah and I grew to understand him better. 

Hannah was the kind of FMC I really enjoy – totally competent but underestimated and she proved how strong and worthy of love she is. 

It was heavy on the Green Valley cameos, especially Cletus & Hank, and my surprising new favorite Tina, which I loved! This gave me all the answers I’ve been wanting and it is always a true delight to return to my favorite fictional town.