spicy romance

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!

He Sees You When You’re Sleeping

He Sees You When You’re Sleeping is out today! Thank you to Valentine PR for the ARC. 

This was a surprisingly cute romance! I saw ‘stalker’ and was expecting it to be darker but the romance was actually quite adorable, other than the whole stalking thing. It was more of a darkish romcom than a dark romance.

Jack is a fireman obsessed with Chloe, a woman he rescued years before. He’s obsessed with her safety and will go to any length to protect her. I loved that he’s really conflicted about his behavior, he knows stalking isn’t okay but he just can’t quite bring himself to stop and things start to escalate the more he gets to know her in person.

Chloe was a bit of a scrooge and I loved that about her. She’s torn between two men – the sweet fireman who keeps showing up and the masked man she’s talking to online. She has some darker fantasies and they were explored in a way that prioritized consent. It was high heat by my standards!

I also really enjoyed how their relationship progressed, Jack was so obsessed with her and I love when he falls first. It did start to get pretty repetitive, which made me lose interest by the end.

Overall though it was a cute romance, especially if you are looking for a pretty lightly dark spicy holiday romcom!

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!

December Midnights

This magical holiday romance releases today on audio! Thank you to the author for the ALC. The ebook is also available in KU.

This is a small town romance set at an inn in Maine during the winter solstice. A matchmaker has told Aurora she will meet her soulmate this solstice, but the only man she’s drawn to is Gray, a former baseball player, now investor at the Inn where she works. He’s leaving town soon to pursue a new career so this can’t be the man for her, right?

Full of magic and whimsy and spice, this is a quick reading and unique novella.  

I eyeball read this last year and was happy to reread it again this year on audio. The MMC, Gray, is a bit grumpy and growly, and Tor Thom’s narration fits that perfectly, especially during the dirty talk scenes. Savannah Peachwood was also perfect for Aurora’s whimsical and hopeful nature. The duet narration between them was just a delight, and I recommend checking this one out on audio if you can!

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!

Under The Mistletoe

Under The Mistletoe Collection is out today! Thank you to Amazon for the early copy in exchange for an honest review. 

Similar to the Improbable Meet Cute collection released earlier this year, this is a collection of five short romances from popular romance authors so I was excited to dig in! I was surprised by which ended up being my favorites (and least favorite 😬)

These are all available now in both ebook and audio in Kindle Unlimited (Read and Listen)!

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!

Holidating

Holidating is out today, thank you to the author for the ARC.

This is a collection of three standalone holiday stories, two previously released and one brand new novella, bound into one edition. I’ve already previously read Boyfriend and Blonde date so I’ll just share quick reviews and focus on Crossroads here.

This is a new novella following Damien, the final Rossi sibling from the True North series. Though this can be read as a standalone, it sure was nice to see the Rossi family again. Damien is a taxi driver with a crush on one of his fares, Nicolette. This follows them over the course of 15 years as he gives her rides at Christmas.

They’re quite young when they meet and the plot takes them far apart from each other at times, but I loved following their journeys and how they were eventually brought together. There is a certain sadness to their stories which I love – not everyone is happy at Christmas and I think it’s good to recognize that. 

There could be some triggers for people in here so be careful but I really really enjoyed this story! It was so great to be back in Vermont and I just can’t get enough of this world.

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!