spicy romance

Unfortunately Yours

Unfortunately Yours by Tessa Bailey is out today! Thank you Avon for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

I loved this enemies to lovers marriage of convenience romcom. I will admit I didn’t exactly love Secretly Yours so I was a little nervous, but this had all the humor and heart and dirty talking fans of Tessa Bailey would expect. We met both Natalie and August in Secretly Yours, but I think you’d be okay reading this one as a standalone. 

Natalie has returned home to Napa after losing her high powered career and fiance all with one bad business decision. She needs her trust fund in order to start a new company, but the terms of the trust say she must be married in order to inherit. August Cates is a former marine, new to the winemaking industry, but has sunk all his money into a vineyard that keeps producing terrible wine. The two strike an agreement, they’ll marry in order for her to receive her trust fund and him to make the connections needed in Napa to secure a business loan. 

August is one of my favorite Tessa heroes, just totally dumbstruck by his feelings and attraction for Natalie. He’s one part golden retriever, one part Marine veteran dedicating his life to fulfilling his fallen brother’s dream. He’s large and strong with a totally soft and gooey middle and I just love when the guy falls first.

Natalie was also a great character, everyone underestimates her and still thinks of her as the wild child teen she once was and I loved how she proved herself capable. 

Natalie and August constantly butt heads, leading to some truly excellent banter and the forced proximity leads to a lot of sexual tension (though, technically, this is sort of a slow burn).

I really had a great time reading this! This was exactly the book I want from the author. If you are a Tessa Bailey fan don’t hesitate to pick this one up despite your feelings about Secretly Yours.

Melanie Harlow

Melanie Harlow is one of the authors that got me into indie romance and I can honestly say I wouldn’t be the romance reader I am today without her books. I bought Frenched in March 2016 and never looked back. Her books strike the perfect balance of humor, heart, and heat for me. They’re exactly what I want in contemporary romance.

The steam is impeccable and plentiful, but there are also more emotional and romantic elements, alongside banter that makes me laugh every single time. The majority of the stories take place in Michigan and I love a Midwest setting.

And as of writing this, they are all in Kindle Unlimited!

Her books can really be read in any order, though I would recommend reading the individual series in release order (then again I recommend this for all series 😉).

🍷If you’re looking for small town, family oriented romance with lots of heart, start with Cloverleigh Farms.

🚜If you’re looking for a little more emotion, start with the After We Fall series.

⚾️If you’re looking for more lighthearted romcoms, start with Bellamy Creek.

If you want the full experience, which is not at all necessary to enjoy her books but will help you get every cameo and easter egg, go chronological release order.

Good As Gold

Good as Gold by Sarina Bowen is out today! I received an eARC in exchange for an honest review and loved it so much I ordered the paperback immediately. 

Man it’s good to be back in Vermont! Returning to this world felt like a warm hug. It doesn’t hurt that Matteo Rossi is one of my favorite heroes the author has ever written!

Matteo is the slightly mysterious brother who was missing from his sibling’s books, and he has returned home for a family wedding and to make amends for all the time he’s missed. Coincidentally, the girl he loved as a teen has recently divorced his former best friend and is looking to make a baby. What better dad than her old friend Matteo?

I actually loved this premise, I know a lot of people hate accidental pregnancy trope but this was the exact opposite of that. Leila was taking control of her life and trying to get what she’s always wanted. Matteo was willing to do anything to make Leila happy, even before things turned romantic between them.  These characters were slightly older than what we often see (they were around my age, I’m not calling them old) and I appreciated the maturity that came along with that.

Matteo and Leila were friends first, romantic second, and I really enjoyed their easy going respectful relationship. I liked how they progressed from friend to lovers and while I am not always a fan of flashbacks, they were used well here to explain the past relationship.

It was great to be back in Vermont and see some old favorites, and I’m excited for more! Nash’s story already has me intrigued. 

Resisting the Grump

This one has been on my TBR since I saw this gorgeous cover last year! I finally made time to read it and I’m glad I did. 

It’s a small town, age gap romance between Rae, who returns home after college to help at her parent’s business, and Davis, the town recluse who Rae had a huge crush on as a teen but who barely knew she existed then. 

It’s a little messy and a little angsty. They both make a lot of mistakes and they’re both kind of mean to each other at times, and I was here for that! 

For my steam loving friends, I would say this book is pretty darn spicy and had me blushing at times.. 

I saw a lot of mixed reviews for reasons that I can’t explain without spoilers but I enjoyed it and apparently don’t have the same set of standards as those people. I’ve been slumpy recently and I was still able to read this all in one sitting because I wanted to know how it would play out.

If you are looking for a spicy, dramatic,  small town romance this one is in KU! 

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.