Romance

Muffin But Trouble

From Smartypants Romance… Muffin But Trouble, an all-new opposites attract small-town romance from Talia Hunter, is now live in #kindleunlimited!

★ ★ BLURB ★ ★

New Yorker, Magdalena Solis, is a city cynic to her core. But when she’s threatened by a thug who demands she pay her absent boyfriend’s debts, she flees to Green Valley, Tennessee. Bewildered by her rural surroundings, and harboring a serious aversion to beards and flannel, Mags is horrified when the first local she encounters is the scruffiest brute she’s ever seen.

Cy Baxter has a tortured past, a bad reputation, and facial hair like a tumbleweed in a dust storm.

With troubles of his own, Cy vows to keep clear of the rude stranger who does nothing but insult him. But he has a heart as big as the wide-open countryside, and when an adorable stray dog brings the two together, sparks fly in the most unexpected ways.

Desperate to pay off her pursuer, Mags starts work at the Donner Bakery. And as Cy becomes a regular customer, his sweet tooth turns into a longing for something spicier.

But with the relentless thug hot on Mags’ trail, can these city-meets-country misfits find common ground? Or will their love story be as impossible as square dancing in stilettos?

‘Muffin But Trouble’ is a full-length contemporary romance, can be read as a standalone, and is book #4 in the Donner Bakery series, Green Valley Chronicles, Penny Reid Book Universe.

My Take:

This is book four in the Donner Bakery series, featuring Magdalena, who is the sister to Carla from Tough Cookie. She’s in Green Valley to hideout after her boyfriend’s drug dealer threatens her. She gets a short term job at the Donner Bakery, and has a series of run ins with Cy, her bearded neighbor which eventually turns into a romance.

I loved Cy! His dad was a bad guy so everyone in town expects him and his family to be bad as well but he’s a really upstanding, kind hearted guy. He’s temporarily raising his niece while his sister gets medical help, and I loved how hard he tried to be there for her. 

Magdalena I did not like as much. I genuinely hate leaving a review saying something about an unlikable heroine because everyone is too hard on FMCs but I really did not like her. She constantly judged and insulted people directly to their faces and didn’t care, even when they pointed out she was being rude. She was a mean girl which is different than just “unlikable.”

Overall though it was great to be back in Green Valley and I loved Cy!

Just This Once

Well, I guess I’m a King girlie now! (Fictional) bad boys are more fun anyway.

If you’ve read the Sullivan family series, you know the King family has had a long standing rivalry with the Sullivans, and now it’s the King’s time to shine.

Whip King has a steamy one night stand with a stranger at a bar, only to later find out it’s his boss’s daughter who just moved to town. He’s trying to impress his chief to get a promotion so canoodling with his precious daughter isn’t the best way to go about that. Emily is new to town, starting over, and doesn’t need a cocky (& pierced!) firefighter sniffing around her, but the two are unable to stay apart and boy did I love their chemistry.

Their relationship is full of secret encounters and stolen moments, and I just loved how they supported and brought out the best in each other as they slowly brought their walls down. 

It was great to be back in Outtatowner and see glimpses of the Sullivans and other townies, and I’m so looking forward to more Kings! 

I Wish We Had Forever

Happy Thursday! I Wish We Had Forever released today. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. ⁣
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I really enjoyed this small town, brother’s best friend, fake marriage romance! ⁣
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We found out at the end of I Wish You Were Mine that Jen and Abel had eloped and now we get to see what happened from their point of view. I was so excited to find out what happened and it did not disappoint! ⁣
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Abel’s my favorite kind of MMC, he’s grumpy, broody, protective, and a bit broken but still soft for his lady. And man did he have a dirty mouth on him! Jen was a great FMC, she’s strong and I loved watching her to learn to stop people pleasing and ask for what she wants.⁣
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They were such a cute couple, I loved how supportive they were of each other, and I loved all the chemistry between them after years of longing and pining. It’s a Jessica Peterson book so of course it’s super spicy, with lots of food and friendships as well.⁣
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I’m sad this series is over, I’ve loved every book including this one! ⁣

Wild Card

Wild Card is out today and I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Staci Hart has written pure romcom gold here and I loved it.  This book is so horny! 

It’s a small town, forced proximity, opposites attract, fake dating romance between Jessa, who’s in town for her best friend’s wedding, and Remy, her best friend’s cousin who is forced into hosting Jessa at his house when all other beds fall through. Jessa’s been in love with a childhood friend Henry her whole life, so Remy agrees to fake date her to make him jealous, only things turn real pretty quickly. 

Remy is totally outrageous- an unrepentant flirt, cocky and full of southern charm but also sweet to his mama and hiding his soft side. Jessa starts as a prim and proper lady and quickly devolves into playing horny games with Remy and I loved watching her let loose. 

The banter between them had me cackling, the spice had me sweating (this is SERIOUSLY spicy), and the romance had me swooning.

Staci’s back and her books are hornier than ever and I’m here for it! I can’t wait for more from this world because that last epilogue had me gasping and clutching my pearls. 

Swift & Saddled

🤠 R E V I E W 🤠

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! 

Only and Forever

Only and Forever is out today! Thank you to the publisher for the advanced review copy.

Can you believe it? The final book in the Bergman Brothers series is here and I am distraught that it’s over 😩

For four years we’ve laughed and cried along with this family as they’ve grown up and fallen in love. 

This time it was sweet Viggo’s turn, our ultimate cinnamon roll romance lover. We’ve seen him interfere in his sibling’s lives throughout the series, always pushing romance novels and rooting for their HEAs. He’s been waiting for a real life romance like he reads in his romances, but that doesn’t seem to be working for him. It’s okay because he’s busy opening a bookstore, being the best uncle ever, and adopting a whole lot of animals.

His life is shaken up when Tallulah Clarke, the girl he once had a big crush on, re enters his life and the two make an agreement. Tallulah needs help with her latest thriller from a romantic perspective, and Viggo needs help with his new bookstore. They agree to live together and exchange their skill sets, just as platonic friends, of course.

The forced proximity does as it always does and the roomies start to feel more, but both have a lot of baggage to work through. It was a slow burn, and the tension built most excellently.

I loved Viggo, he’s always been one of my favorite Bergmans and I loved getting to know him better. Tallulah was a little harder for me, not necessarily because she’s a ‘chilly cynic’ but because she was kind of mean to Viggo and since I already loved him, it felt kind of like she was being mean to my friend.

She comes from a toxic family with a lot of drama, but I felt like we never really got to understand what that drama was. We’re told her parents were bad, but I didn’t understand why. Her brother is a handful and enters rehab, but that happens in the background. I guess I just felt like her family stuff could have been expanded on so we could see it instead of just telling us they were toxic.

Another thing I felt like could have been explored more was Viggo’s ADHD. We know he has it but it doesn’t really seem to affect his life all that much, at least not that we see on page.

Overall it was a good read and ending to the series, just one I felt needed to be fleshed out a little more in some parts so we are shown more than told.

The Other Side of Disappearing

This was a soft and gentle story that I don’t quite know how to categorize. It’s an intriguing family drama, interwoven with a mystery, but it’s also a tender romance. The prose is beautifully written, quietly beautiful in a way that had me pausing often to reread.

The family drama is the main event to me, and I loved the relationship between Jess and her sister and how it grew and changed over the course of the book. My heart broke for them both, the walls they’ve had to build and how complicated their relationship had become. 

Though it’s somewhat the background story, I have to rave about the romance between Jess and Adam. Adam is such a gentle giant, so fully committed to supporting Jess however he can. Their relationship unfolded so softly, so gently, so tenderly. I just loved Adam so much!

All that being said, it was a little on the slow side for me. The mystery unfolded slowly, the romance developed slowly, I was ready for something, anything, to happen. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it, because I did! I’m not sure the story would have worked as well at a faster pace anyway. I realize this is contradictory. 

Overall though I thought it was really good, especially if you love more of a quiet, understated, thoughtful story!

Storms and Secrets

Happy Thursday! Storms and Secrets is out today and I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. ⁣
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What a sweet small town romance! This is book two in the Haven brothers series, and unlike book one, this isn’t so much a romantic suspense as it is a romantic domestic thriller (is that a thing??)⁣
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We’ve seen Marigold in other books as the best friend, the girl who’s waiting on her own HEA while all her friends all fall in love. She’s secretly been crushing on Zachary Haven, her best friend’s older brother, but he doesn’t seem to notice her existence, or worse, bolts from whatever room she’s in. After a near death experience, Zachary realizes he’s actually in love with Marigold, but the timing is off as she’s just started dating a handsome new-in-town stranger.⁣
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Zachary is determined to win her over and I love a determined man! They were so cute together, it felt almost like young love even though they’re in their 30s. Marigold was a sweetheart of a character, always helping everyone else out so I loved watching her finally get her HEA. Zachary made some mistakes along the way but I loved how he learned and grew and became the man Marigold needed. ⁣
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This is an odd thing but I loved that they had normal jobs – he’s an electrician and she’s a salon owner/hair stylist. It fits the small town setting so well, and of course it was great to be back in Tilikum. ⁣
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There is a bit of a love triangle but not one where I didn’t know exactly who she’d end up with. There’s also a secondary plot of a local girl gone missing and we do get to see what happened to her and how it comes around full circle to Marigold and Zachary’s doorstep. While it wasn’t a really suspense filled whodunnit type story, it was interesting to see it all unfold.⁣
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Overall this was a cute, sweet, easy reading romance that I read in one sitting because I couldn’t put it down! ⁣

This Could Be Us

This Could be Us is out today! Thank you to the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

I have said it before and I’m sure I will say it again, Kennedy Ryan is one of the most gifted storytellers I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Her writing is lyrical and tender and emotional and always transports me to another place.

Though there is dual POV, this is Soledad’s story. We first met her in Before I Let Go, though you could definitely read this as a standalone. After a series of devastating betrayals from her husband, she has to find a way to stand on her own for the first time in her adult life. She has three daughters to support, a career to build, and needs to find herself outside of married life. She finds herself very attracted to Judah, a man who for a lot of reasons she shouldn’t be with. 

Because the majority of the story is Soledad finding herself, this was definitely in the women’s fiction territory. There is a romance for sure but it’s not the primary focus. Soledad’s journey was a great one and I loved watching her figure her place out. The way she cared for her girls, her friendships, her sisters, it was lovely. 

Judah was an excellent character, so steady and sure in liking of Soledad. He’s a man who knows what he wants and is willing to be patient and play the long game to win. He wasn’t afraid to admit his feelings, or engage in a little light internet stalking to learn more about her and honestly, it was so great. What’s better than a man who shows he cares and is interested?

He’s a father to neurodiverse twin sons and their story was so beautifully told. I think the rep was so important and it was so interesting to read about how autism presents itself differently in his boys. 

The two had such great chemistry from the beginning, I would have loved to see more of them together. They had an immediate attraction, then they’re not together for most of the book, then together just at the end – again, I think it’s more of a women’s fiction book so that makes sense but it did make it a little slow for me in parts. 

Overall though this was such a great book from one of the best! It’s definitely going to stick with me for a long time. 

Ready or Not

Ready or Not is out now! Thank you to the publisher for the ARC.

Well, this was a delight. I know surprise pregnancy is a controversial trope but I actually love it and this was such a good spin on it.

Eve discovers she is pregnant after a one night stand and everything in her life begins to change (as pregnancy is wont to do). Her best friend is taking the news weird, her baby daddy is torn, and her best friend’s brother starts showing up for her when no one else is. The story carries us through her pregnancy as all these relationships start to grow and change.

Eve was an excellent heroine. She didn’t always get it right but it was admirable how she kept picking herself back up and trying. Life was not going the way she expected, she didn’t have her dream career and then to be impregnated by a bartender she hooked up really wasn’t in her plan but I loved how she just kept going. It’s told only in her POV so it’s really her story, and one I thoroughly enjoyed. 

Shep might have been the most perfect MMC I’ve ever read. I loved Shep. He is everything I don’t normally love in a MMC – blond, golden retriever, good guy. Such a good good guy. He has pined for Eve for years, so when his chance came to be there for her he took every opportunity to grow closer to her but also to be there for the baby. 

The way their relationship progressed had me downright giddy. It wasn’t all that steamy, but it was intimate and adorable. It’s a relationship of small touches and acts of service. There’s a scene where he massages her hand that made me take a sip of water because I was getting overheated. I just loved them!

I loved not just Eve and Shep but also the supporting characters. Willa is the best friend anyone would want, she would do anything for you even if it was hard for her. Ethan, the baby daddy, was struggling in such a very realistic way. He didn’t handle everything perfectly but in such a real feelings way.

I will say there were parts that felt perhaps a bit over the top about motherhood and how magical it is (one of the side characters, to summarize, said you’re self centered until you become a mother, then you become other centered and care about other people once you have children which had me blinking in confusion) but I tried not to let that bother me. 

Overall though, I loved this book. I loved it so much. It’s a top read of the year for me and I know these wonderfully flawed characters will stick with me for a long tim