small town

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! 

Ashes of You

Hey! Happy Thursday. Ashes of You is out today. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

I loved this addition to the Lost & Found series! Lawson is officially my favorite Hartley (sorry Roan). I am forever a sucker for the single dad/nanny trope. The forbidden vibes are just the best, along with the close proximity and throw in an age gap and I am a goner!

Lawson is the oldest Hartley sibling, a single father with his hands full not only with his three boys but also as a small town chief of police. He finally agrees to hire a nanny to help out at home, but he didn’t expect his best candidate to be someone he helped rescue years ago. 

Hallie has a lot of trauma in her past and is trying to live her life again unafraid, and I loved her relationship with Lawson and how supportive he was, but I also really loved her relationships with his boys.  Lawson fights the good fight to ignore his attraction to his much younger nanny, but eventually the close proximity wins (though this is definitely a slow burn!) and the two can’t fight their feelings anymore.

The romance was so well developed and the suspense portion will have you thinking everyone is a suspect! I loved this book, I love this series, I love the Hartley family. I’m so sad it’s over but can’t wait to see what comes next!

Through The Glen

Happy Thursday! Through the Glen released today into Kindle Unlimited. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

In Through the Glen, we return to the (unfortunately) fictional Ardnoch, the member’s only club set in a castle deep in the Scottish Highlands, where shy housekeeper Sarah asks worldly aristocratic television producer Theo to work on her screenplay with her. Struggling with writer’s block on his own, he eventually agrees and the two shut themselves away in Sarah’s cottage to work on the project together. Their close proximity does its magic and the two start to have feelings that surprise them both. 

They’re opposites in almost all ways – Sarah is extremely shy and sheltered in her small town, she has lived a quiet life but really comes into her own in this book. She’s secretly a bestselling author under a pen name, and she goes through a lot of growth to accept her success and also to accept new friendships and experiences in her life. Theo is a swaggering playboy, the son of a British Viscount, one who’s vowed never to settle down after his first relationship imploded spectacularly. 

The two find comfort and acceptance in each other and it was lovely to watch their respective walls start to fall. The sparks between them were intense and the author always brings the spice which I love.

I can’t say either MC is my favorite of the author’s, but that’s okay. They can’t all be my favorite! They loved each other and Sarah is a lot more forgiving than me, so that’s what matters.

I love being in this world and am so glad we still have more books to come! I can’t get enough.

Head Over Heels

Happy Wednesday! Head Over Heels is out today I received an eARC in exchange for review and ordered the paperback as soon as it was available because, spoiler alert, it’s my favorite read of 2024 so far!⁣
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This is book two in the Wilder Family series, between middle brother Cameron Wilder and the woman with whom he gets stuck on an elevator.⁣
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Cameron and Ivy are strangers with an immediate attraction (I was sweating a little at their interaction) but are quickly rescued from their predicament, only for her to reappear in his life as a much needed client of his family’s construction company. The two are forced to spend time together as her family’s home is remodeled and soon their initial attraction sparks right back up again.⁣
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I loved both characters separately and together. Cameron is the good guy brother, the nice one, the one who fixes all the problems.He’s just so capable and emotionally mature and GAAHHH I loved him. Ivy is much more reserved thanks to her upbringing and I love that we got a slightly icy heroine! Cold girls need love too and it was a delight to watch Cameron purposefully and masterfully melt some of those walls. Their small town boy/city girl opposites attract vibe was excellent and boy did they have a lot of chemistry! ⁣
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I loved being back with the Wilder family, whom we’ve met through both this series and another, though things have definitely taken a sad turn as their father’s health continues to decline. Anticipatory grief is a hard thing to deal with and I loved that Ivy could be there for Cameron, who’s always there for everyone else. Also I sobbed like a baby. ⁣
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This was such an excellent, sexy, emotional, heartfelt small town romance. Karla’s long been a favorite author of mine but I feel like she’s entered a new era with these past few releases and I’m so glad I get to go along for the ride! ⁣

I Wish You Were Mine

Happy Thursday! I Wish You Were Mine by Jessica Peterson is out today 🎉  I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

This is book two in the Harbour Village series but can easily be read as a standalone.

I loved this! It’s got all my favorite things including:

*single dad/nanny

*age gap

*surprise pregnancy

*close proximity 

*small town

*all the spice

Maren is hired to be nanny to Tuck’s young daughter, and the two are immediately attracted to each other. I loved how their relationship progressed. Tuck tried not to be a creeper to his much younger nanny but the lust eventually won out. It wasn’t an easy path to HEA for them but I’m always glad when a book discusses mental health issues and therapy. 

It was sweet, it was spicy, it was charming, it had a cute kid, and all my favorite tropes! I really enjoyed it.

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. ⁣