Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. Clare Gilmore’s Love Interest dazzled me. I adore this contemporary—it has everything I want. Like: —a rivals to lovers workplace sitch where he doesn’t realize that he got the job she applied for. Her dislike of him is further fueled by the fact that he’s the board chairman’s son & she smells nepotism. —a spectacles-wearing hero. Need I say more?! —a financial analyst heroine who worries about her legacy as the daughter of creative-minded parents & who wants to be scared/excited again when it comes to putting herself out there —humor. There’s an only one bed line that really cracked me up. —so much heart & realness. References to previous “gastrointestinal turbulence” & needing deodorant (for those who appreciate things like that) & also the sweetest moments where she has to continually extricate herself from his warm snuggles & pee in the middle of the night & he teases her & she’s like “I have a small bladder.” These characters are so well-developed & not only the central relationship between Casey & Alex shines, so do the secondary ones. I love the portrayal of friendship & the queer rep, & basically everything about this authentic-feeling, fresh, intimate, & joyous story. 5⭐️. Out 10/10.CWs: Sexual harassment. Grief. Emotionally negligent parent. Reference to past chlamydia.
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Hi and welcome to my blog tour stop for Jenna Levine's My Roommate is a Vampire! A big thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. Summary.True love is at stake in this charming, debut romantic comedy. Cassie Greenberg loves being an artist, but it’s a tough way to make a living. On the brink of eviction, she’s desperate when she finds a too-good-to-be-true apartment in a beautiful Chicago neighborhood. Cassie knows there has to be a catch—only someone with a secret to hide would rent out a room for that price. Of course, her new roommate Frederick J. Fitzwilliam is far from normal. He sleeps all day, is out at night on business, and talks like he walked out of a regency-romance novel. He also leaves Cassie heart-melting notes around the apartment, cares about her art, and asks about her day. And he doesn’t look half bad shirtless, on the rare occasions they’re both home and awake. But when Cassie finds bags of blood in the fridge that definitely weren’t there earlier, Frederick has to come clean... Cassie’s sexy new roommate is a vampire. And he has a proposition for her. [ID: Jess, a white woman wearing a yellow skirt with white flowers, holds the ebook in front of a white bookcase.]My review.This is the first book I’ve read with a cinnamon roll vampire lead & I was immensely charmed. He is so considerate & formal in his speech & has beautiful stationary. I didn’t think I was looking for the two latter things in my romance heroes but I guess I am. Jenna Levine’s My Roommate is a Vampire is adorable, with a roommate romance between Cassie, an artist who initially feels like a failure, & her kind of strange, rich roommate Frederick who turns out to be a vampire who’s been in a coma-like state for decades. They begin to send letters back & forth to each other & after she learns what he is, agree that she will help acclimate him to modern life by giving him tutelage. There are some funny misunderstandings, a kissing for science plot point, & even a “who did this to you?” moment so basically a cornucopia of awesome things. Balancing the sweetness & the adorability is Cassie’s growing self esteem which Frederick helps along by helping her see how wonderful she is & how talented she is. And I never knew I was missing a reference to MFA student loan debt in romance but I loved it here. This book is quick & winsome & exactly what I needed in that moment. Super cute & I can’t wait to see what Levine writes next! 5⭐️. Out today!Please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.About the author.By day, Jenna Levine works to increase access to affordable housing in the American South. By night, she writes romance novels where ridiculous things happen to beautiful people. When Jenna isn't writing she can usually be found crying over k-dramas, starting knitting projects she won't finish, or spending time with her family and small army of cats. Do you like cinnamon roll heroes? Let me know what you think about this one and thanks for stopping by!
Happy reading! Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. From beginning to end The Blonde Identity by Ally Carter is pure fun: MCs dangling underneath bridges, playing fake marriage on a river cruise ship, trying to solve the mystery of who the amnesia-stricken heroine is. It’s a rom com with the com—so many moments are madcap & funny & the book (and reader) delight in all of it. The heroine is quirky imaginative sunshine & she shakes our unflappable operative/spy hero Jake Sawyer down to his sexy feet. Books where the leads are out being badass—making plans to take down baddies, essentially Home Alone for adults, I’m realizing right now —win my adoration & this one is just C U T E while it does it. Mal @talesofabookbug shared in her review that this is Fade to Black. I’m glad I had that insight & when the moment came I was just happy with how things were moving between them & that they were sated & also ready for more if you know what I mean . This one is so great & it was perfect for my mood. Check it out! 5⭐️. Out now!CWs: Attempted murder; murder; previous heart surgeries. Lies.
Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.I love how KJ Charles doesn’t shy away from introducing ethical conflicts between her leads & how usually both leads—the righteous one & the scoundrel—realize they have something to learn by the end . In the case of A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel, said scoundrel is helping said nobleman work through his disheveled mess of ledgers & records, all the while deceiving him as to his deeper reasons for being there. (I love this kind of deception btw bc of the promised grovel that happens later & that scene is so touching in this book.) That’s the surface plot of this book &—minus one minor-ish element I’m still a bit confused about —it’s great. But where the book really gets to me is in its tender moments, the steam, the way that KJ Charles infuses her characters with nuance & appeal. These leads really come to life in this book, they shine & their HEA is one I was so delighted to watch. Happiness-inducing & sweet as candy (with a dastardly relative or two thrown in the mix to add a little trouble.) 5⭐️. Out 09/19.CWs: past parental abandonment; reference to a lead’s mother being raped in past; a lead is a former POW; one lead has difficulty reading & has been made fun of for that & feels ashamed. Attempted murder.
Hi and welcome to my blog stop for Alicia Thompson's With Love, From Cold World! A big thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.Summary.Lauren Fox is a glass-half-empty kind of girl who is very content with her life. One could argue maybe too content. She may be the bookkeeper at a theme park, but she doesn’t find her work experience nearly as fun as those around her. She much rather hide in her office then have to socialize with customers—or worse, her co-workers. Specifically, Asa Williamson. Ever optimistic Asa loves finding ways to brighten his days at Cold World—whether that means organizing the Secret Santa or playing Snow Globe Guard. He also happens to be super attractive—something Lauren annoyingly can’t seem to ignore. But as glass-half-full as Asa may appear to Lauren, he has every reason to be jaded—his uber religious family disowned him for being bisexual and he hasn’t spoken to them since. When Cold World’s owner calls Lauren and Asa into a meeting to tell them that the theme park is in trouble, the last thing they want is to work together to come up with a solution. It turns out a winter wonderland in a summer destination is quite niche, and it’s becoming increasingly harder to compete with the major amusement parks down the road. But because the situation is dire, they must put their feelings side and find a way to save Cold World. As these polar opposites work together to save the day, things start to heat up. If Asa thought Lauren didn't know how to enjoy herself, he's surprised by how much he enjoys spending time together. And if Lauren thought Asa wasn't serious about anything, she's surprised by how seriously he seems to take her. ID: Jess, a white woman wearing a beach hat and a red vintage-style bathing suit, holds the ebook while standing in front of some palm trees.My review.That exciting moment when you find a new author whose book you love… Alicia Thompson’s With Love, From Cold World masters that mix of components in my favorite reads: emotionally striking, great tension between leads, & (a bit rarer) moments of humor/eccentricity that make the book distinctive. I adored this book for many reasons, including: ❄️the enemies to lovers arc, which felt realistic given how seemingly different each lead is & their various insecurities/challenges/personality habits. ❄️a locked in scene, where both MCs are locked in at their attraction & where things really progress emotionally & physically in their relationship! ❄️ found family rep. Talk about getting to your heart…I love how friendship is portrayed in this book & Lauren’s efforts to put herself out there more. ❄️bisexual rep. I’ve only read a few books where the hero is bisexual & the other lead is a female. Asa has a backstory that I think will be meaningful to many readers. (Please check out trigger warnings). This book has steam and poignancy, & I had such a great time on the journey. Love these characters—do I relate to the self-conscious heroine or do I relate —& the happiness they find with each other. 5⭐️. Out 08/01.CWs: references to foster care experience, parental drug use. Asa’s parents made him leave their home when someone outed him without his consent. He is estranged from his parents for much of the book.Is this one also on your TBR? Are you as much of a fan of found family romances as I am?Let me know what you think and thanks for stopping by!
Thanks to the author, publisher, & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. If you say Prohibition-era romance I’m there, not to mention when a book balances steam & sweetness & care like Allie Therin’s Once a Rogue. OAR is book 2 in the Roaring Twenties Magic series, which is a spin-off of the Magic in Manhattan series. You absolutely have to read book 1, Proper Scoundrels, which focuses on the same couple as OAR, but I don’t think you have to start at the beginning of the Magic in Manhattan series if you don’t want to! (check out my Stories & I’ll try to explain this better!) With all of that being said, OAR & the first book Proper Scoundrels focus on grumpy/rude Lord Wesley Fine (no magical abilities) & the “dangerous marshmallow” Sebastian (magical abilities). This book builds so beautifully on their relationship! The sweetness of grumpy/rude Wesley slowly & so deliberately trying to be sweet & caring with Sebastian. Allowing himself to be soft! There are several moments in here that had me all up in my feels & the steam! Yummmmmmmm on all levels. Highly recommend both series but this one in particular is a fave! 5⭐️. Out 08/22.Please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.
Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. There’s been a real trend in my reading lately of emotional contemporary romances that deal with grief & general life uncertainty & it makes me happy & sad. Happy for all of us that we’re living in a time when these topics can be discussed with gravity & often humor & always understanding & that there can be so much joy interwoven in those stories too—the joy of falling in love. Sad because books about grief & loss are that too, of course, & Ashley Poston’s The Dead Romantics & Sarah Adler’s Mrs. Nash’s Ashes & now Jessica Joyce’s YOU, WITH A VIEW really make their departed characters come across the page—their hopes & dreams & most importantly, their love—even as those characters are no longer physically present within the book itself. YOU, WITH A VIEW is just a stellar book in general, merging a rivals to lovers story with an emotional epistolary-laden road trip with splashes of humor so well. Not only is the book about an ending—the loss of Noelle’s grandmother & best friend—it’s also about beginnings: giving life to professional hopes & dreams, making new friends, seeing more to a high school rival than you thought was there, seeing everything. What else can I say about this book except that I loved it, it’s beautiful & sad & hopeful & romantic, I loved the steam, I want to go on an adventure with someone who will kiss me in a hotel room (ie my husband), & you should read this book? 5⭐️. Out 07/11.[ID: Jess’s white hand holds the ebook in front of the ocean. In the background is her husband Daniel, a white man wearing a hat, a light colored shirt, & blue swimming shorts.]Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.I’ve read romances before where I thought that the leads didn’t actually seem to get to know each other that much throughout the book. That is not the case with Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon AT ALL. The conversations between leads Chandler Cohen & Finnegan Walsh are magnetic & revealing, & there’s an openness to what they say & how they respond to each other that is also present in Chandler’s relationship with her BFF & cousin. Great communication & willingness to accept constructive feedback all around . This book immediately made me adore it—I mean a heroine with a pixie cut who feels confused about what she should be doing career-wise to feel fulfilled *and* fed & sheltered etc & a hero who learned LOTR Elvish & blushes & has a “soft” stomach & graying hair at his temples? Give me more *any swooning GIF. This book has steam & it is great. But where it really gets to me is just that willingness of the MCs to hear someone out, to think I don’t have to get defensive about this, I can sit with what this person is saying for a minute, & I can change if I want. That & there’s so much softness in this book. Finn & Chandler’s sensitivity & care for each other is really beautiful. The stellar OCD rep—something that’s really important to me—anxiety rep, & forthright conversations about a past abortion, make this book—like Finn’s—one that has the potential to help & uplift people *&* to make them swoon. 5⭐️. Out 07/04.CWs: Past abortion. Anxiety & panic attack on page. OCD.
Hi and welcome to my blog stop for Sarah Adler's Mrs. Nash's Ashes! A big thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. Summary.Just in time for summer, MRS. NASH’S ASHES takes us along for two romantic journeys set decades apart: a laugh-out-loud road trip romance and, a moving 1940s-set sapphic love story. In present day, former child-star Millicent Watts-Cohen is on what she believes to be simple a mission: hop on a flight from Washington, D.C. to sunny Key West and deliver the ashes of her elderly best friend to a long-lost lover. But when every flight in the airport is suddenly cancelled, Millie’s only hope at keeping her promise to dear Mrs. Nash is the insufferable—and ridiculously attractive—Hollis Hollenbeck. As the frenemy of Millie’s ex and a perpetual grump, the last thing Hollis wants is to travel all the way to Florida with Miss Ball of Sunshine, Millicent Watts-Cohen. But eventually, Hollis lets Millie hitch a ride with him, and the two embark on the adventure of a lifetime, one which will challenge every belief they’ve ever had about true love. As they contend with peculiar bed-and-breakfasts, unusual small-town festivals, and a deer with a death wish, Millie begins to suspect that her reluctant travel partner might enjoy her company more than he lets on. Because for someone who supposedly doesn’t share her views on romance, Hollis sure is becoming invested in the success of their journey. And the closer they get to their destination, the more Millie has to admit that maybe this trip isn’t just about Mrs. Nash’s love story after all—maybe it’s about her own. Alongside Millie and Hollis’s hilariously chaotic and deliciously steamy journey—yes, your favorite romance tropes like “there’s only one bed” and “quick, pretend we’re married” are in this one!—Adler takes us back in time to witness the love story that inspired Millie’s mission. Sparks fly in the past and present as two stories of true love weave together into a funny, heartfelt novel that hits the sweet spot between elevated romance and women’s fiction. My Review.Opposites attract road trip romance = love for me & Sarah Adler’s Mrs. Nash’s Ashes did not disappoint. This author is so funny, you all. I was cracking up reading some of the heroine’s lines & the banter is a grumpy & the sunshine delight. The book opens with Millie beginning a trip to Florida to bury part of her elderly best friend’s remains. Her flight plans fall through but luckily for her, Hollis Hollenbeck, who she vaguely knows through her ex, allows her to ride with him. Hollis is by turns exasperated, bewildered, & turned on by Millie or Millicent, as he calls her. That is my favorite combo . I adore Millie, whose heart is wide open. & then I adored Hollis for adoring this about her in a confused, curmudgeonly, & fiercely protective way. This book will grab hold of your heart & the dual storylines, telling Millie & Hollis’s story & Mrs. Nash & her lover’s, are done so well, pacing-wise. The only thing that bothered me a bit about the book is the conflict, which really does go for the jugular, as Millie describes that type of fight. But I love how it wraps up & how they got there, & this is one of those books that gives all the feelings a la The Dead Romantics. A lovely & celebratory portrayal of weirdness & love. 5⭐️. Out tomorrow, 05/23!Please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs. Are you planning on checking this one out? Let me know what you think and thanks for stopping by!
Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC and the publisher for the complimentary galley. All opinions provided are my own.Cat Sebastian is a master at wrenching emotions out of some poor unsuspecting reader’s heart (joking) & it can be from romantic declarations but also little acts. From the first pages of We Could Be So Good I thought *swoon.* That’s when we meet news reporter Nick Russo who—against his very best efforts—immediately has feelings for Andy Fleming, the son of the publisher & a new employee at the paper. Nick wants to take care of Andy. He wants to keep him safe & smooth his way. He wants him to be happy. Friends & then best friends & then roommates & then lovers, the journey between these two is wonderful & a bit angstier than I’m used to from Cat Sebastian. It’s actually marketed as a rom dram on the back of the galley. There are external obstacles & a minute or two of miscommunication & this book very much deals with homophobia & police corruption & the dangers Queer people faced (/face) & how that fits with falling in love & choosing love in the face of it all. There’s a beautiful message here & one that I think will resonate with many readers who have been scared/are scared to love in a tumultuous world, particularly one where certain demographics continue to be discriminated against & targeted. Romantic & true & sad & soft & hopeful, this book is another Cat Sebastian hit for me. 5⭐️. Out 06/06.CWs: Homophobia; Nick’s previous arrest for “vagrancy”; blackmail attempt; fear & lingering trauma.
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