romance recommendation

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. ⁣

Forget Me Not

Forget Me Not by Julie Soto releases tomorrow! Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review. 

Well this was an amazing debut!

It’s a second chance romance between Ama, an up & coming wedding planner, and Elliot, her ex boyfriend and the florist already contracted to do the wedding Ama has just signed on to plan. It’s a well known influencer’s wedding that could launch her wedding planning career, so she’s forced to work beside the man who she shares a history with, which is unraveled through flashbacks as the book progresses. 

Both characters were interesting and I liked Ama’s growth throughout the book, but the real winner for me here was Elliot. He comes across as grumpy and maybe a little rude but he’s so soft and gooey on the inside. He’s absolute book boyfriend material and I’m still swooning over the deliberate way he took care of Ama, even after she broke his heart. Also, he has a thigh tattoo. 

Look, I’m not a fan in general of dual timelines (I lose interest when the timeline changes and I never feel like we get enough of them together in the present day because so much time is spent in the past) but I did appreciate that the past chapters were told from Elliot’s POV. He’s an outwardly stoic character so it was a much needed insight into what he was thinking. 

The writing is light and funny but still emotional at times when it needed to be and it was honestly hard to believe this was a debut. There’s a good bit of steam, excellent supporting characters (I’m going to need Mar’s story next, thx), and a fun plot set around planning a splashy wedding. 

Overall this was a really great read! Especially if you like dual timelines!

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

Things We Never Got Over

At a very high level, this is a book about Naomi (the good twin), who finds herself stranded in a small town after her sister (the bad twin) steals her car, her money, and leaves her with an 11 year old niece she never knew about. Grumpy and emotionally shut off Knox, the tattooed local business owner who finds out and helps her, can’t stay away from his new neighbor despite his better instincts.

This is a romance of course, but it’s also a story of family (found and blood), a story of finding yourself when life doesn’t turn out as expected, a story of community and letting new people in.

The author has a way of creating these believable characters and realistic settings that it feels like you could really wander into Knockemout and get a coffee at Cafe Rev from Justice. Is Knox the perfect man? No. Of course not, because he’s wonderfully flawed as all humans are and I appreciate that.

I was sucked in from the very beginning and read it in less than 24 hours. This was a read while you’re cooking dinner, stay up too late reading, cancel your Sunday plans ‘cause you’ve got a book to binge kind of read for me. Rock Bottom Girl will always have a very special place in my heart, but objectively I think this is the best book Lucy Score has ever written.

It made me laugh, it made me cry, but most importantly it left me feeling happy and hopeful. I highly, highly recommend this one, I read it nine days into the year and it’s already on track to be my 2022 favorite.