Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. Grumpy & a supposed Ice Queen. Yes please. Elena Armas’ The Long Game plays with those tropes, beginning with an unfortunate case of “oops I ran over you with my car & maybe killed your chicken” (spoiler alert: she did not). Adalyn Reyes, the daughter of a soccer franchise owner, has been exiled by her father to the wilderness of NC after she becomes viral on social media for assaulting their mascot. She’s supposed to take on a philanthropic project. Only that’s made more complicated when she realizes the head coach of said philanthropic team is the grumpy former soccer pro Cameron Caldani & their initial interactions show that they’re oil & water. Forced to work together &, thanks to their own machinations, to spend free time together too, our leads have plenty of opportunity to let the attraction between them build. If you’re looking for a gruff man letting his nurturing, peaceful side loose, you might enjoy this one. Cameron uses his approval words to great effect during a yoga goat scene; there’s even sexy pottery-making, without the murder plot (thanks, Ghost). But I have to be honest, & maybe I’m revealing how unreasonable I am because of it: the middle of this book starts to feel one-note for me because Cameron is aggressively patient & doggedly persistent in being there for her & Adalyn just kinda loses her fire & the book just starts to flatten a bit. I don’t know—it just wasn’t totally working for me. Not only that but—& again, this might sound bad—but if Adalyn has to go after anyone to spur on her exile, I wish she had selected the actual person responsible—her dirtbag ex—instead of a random mascot. That just made the whole incident less sympathetic for me. 3.5⭐️. Out 09/05.Please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.
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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 Ashley Poston's The Seven Year Slip! A big thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. Summary.An overworked book publicist with a perfectly planned future hits a snag when she falls in love with her temporary roommate…only to discover he lives seven years in the past, in this witty and wise new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Dead Romantics. Sometimes, the worst day of your life happens, and you have to figure out how to live after it. So Clementine forms a plan to keep her heart safe: work hard, find someone decent to love, and try to remember to chase the moon. The last one is silly and obviously metaphorical, but her aunt always told her that you needed at least one big dream to keep going. And for the last year, that plan has gone off without a hitch. Mostly. The love part is hard because she doesn’t want to get too close to anyone—she isn’t sure her heart can take it. And then she finds a strange man standing in the kitchen of her late aunt’s apartment. A man with kind eyes and a Southern drawl and a taste for lemon pies. The kind of man that, before it all, she would’ve fallen head-over-heels for. And she might again. Except, he exists in the past. Seven years ago, to be exact. And she, quite literally, lives seven years in his future. Her aunt always said the apartment was a pinch in time, a place where moments blended together like watercolors. And Clementine knows that if she lets her heart fall, she’ll be doomed. After all, love is never a matter of time—but a matter of timing. [ID: Jess’s white hand holds the ebook in front of a peacock mural painted on a slate colored wall. The peacock’s feathers are blue, orange, red, yellow, & green.] My review.Approximately 30 seconds into The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston & I had immediate feelings. I just knew it was going to be one of those books & it was, it was. Poston offers a book that had me on a knife’s edge between sadness & the lovely certainty that a HEA was coming. A HEA that *has* to happen despite the fact that our leads meet in a magical apartment but outside of that apartment, they’re living seven years out of time from each other. Grief is a part of this book, as well as career aspirations & personal happiness & how people change. Is it possible to love someone as they change / after they’ve changed, the book explores, & the answer is of course a resounding yes. While this book is a rich & decadent consideration of feelings & of life in general, & while the characters are adorable, I wanted more from their current, present-day relationship. And overall, the book has a definite HEA & and ends wonderfully on all fronts, but it remained a bit too sad for me. I closed the pages feeling happy but also with a lingering feeling of wistfulness & contemplation. Not a bad thing, but maybe not quite the light feeling I was hoping for. Still, this is a lovely book & I’m entranced by Poston’s writing. 4.5⭐️. Out today!CWs: grief, suicide. Is this one on your TBR? Did you also fall hard for The Dead Romantics? Let me know what you think and thanks for stopping by!
Happy reading! Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.Hello Stranger by Katherine Center is one of those books where I really like some things but don’t like others & feel like I could talk at length about both. There was one part of this book that had me teary eyed—& I’m RARELY like that while reading—but then there are parts that had me internally going like this . So maybe a mixed bag response ;) . What I love most about Katherine Center’s writing is how direct & approachable the narration style is & also how it isn’t afraid to delve into emotions. Sadie, the protagonist of this book, has a lot of emotions to parse through—she’s a portrait artist who is close to estranged from her father and who has to have a brain surgery that results in her having face blindness for the foreseeable future. Sadie’s journey has moments that really work for me, that feel as luminescent as Sadie herself, & then moments in the plot that I didn’t totally buy, that aren’t convincing to me. So in the end I’m giving this one 3.5 ️⭐️ & calling it a day ;). 3.5⭐️. Out 07/11.CWs: Grief over loss of mom. Toxic stepsister. Basically estranged from father & she learns that at one point he blamed her for her mother’s passing. Nonconvulsive seizure; recovery from brain surgery; face blindness.
Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC and the publisher for the complimentary hard copy. All opinions provided are my own. Unfortunately, Yours has: golden retriever & cat energy an MC defending another MC him panicking over the possibility of her being in present danger or past Some steam Comfort After not loving Secretly Yours, Tessa Bailey’s upcoming novel UNFORTUNATELY, YOURS out tomorrow, feels like a return to the hotness & the infatuation & the pure goodness of a TB dirty sex, he-will-love-her-to-the-end-of-time story. I adore August Cates. Like in a way as big as the man himself. I love his golden retriever energy, which gives me Brent from Asking for Trouble vibes. I love when Natalie gets pissy with him, how she calls him bonehead, & how he’s basically like “I know but you want me so what does that make you” in return. I love that you just know they will be in each other’s corners forever, defending the other from anyone else. It’s opposites attract, class difference, marriage of convenience, dislike-ish to love, and total wish fulfillment for someone who just wants a fast, low angst, ticks all the boxes, hot read. 4.5⭐️. Out now!CW: Heavy alcohol use. Reference to rehab, which her parents made her go to when she was younger.
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. All opinions provided are my own.Damn if small town life doesn’t seem so charming in the pages of a Jill Shalvis book . In The Sweetheart List Harper Shaw chooses a small town—Sunrise Cove—that’s from her memories of her beloved mother & moves there to start over with her dog. Right away she meets mysterious, gruff hottie Bodie Campbell (I mean don’t you know he will be hot based on his name?). She impresses him (read: annoys him) with her refusal to let him help her. But they come back into contact soon after & then another mysterious person is thrown into the mix, a runaway teen named Ivy who has her own reasons for being in Sunrise Cove. Sweet & adorable & heartwarming are all words I would use to describe this one. My fave moments are when Harper & Bodie comfort each other—they start building emotional intimacy early-ish in the book & that’s something both leads really need, coming to each other with their respective painful pasts. Not only is there is romantic navigating to do in The Sweetheart List—Ivy becomes someone who is important to the development of Harper & Bodie’s relationship too, adding complexity in ways I both enjoyed & also didn’t wholeheartedly love (sometimes I just want my romances to be child-free . Don’t the leads have enough to worry about? ). Though the book started dragging for me a bit in the end, the beginning is strong & reminded me of what drew me to Shalvis’s books in the first place. 4⭐️. Out 06/13.CWs: Previous death of parents. Previous death of work partner, of brother (overdose). I think it’s odd that pot is referred to as a gateway drug for his brother.
Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC and the publisher for the complimentary hard copy. All opinions provided are my own.Christina Lauren’s The True Love Experiment is so funny & effervescent & charming & hot & then BAM comes a twist & then it hurts for a bit & then it’s soft & fun & adorable again. The end. But seriously, Fizzy’s book is great. The premise of this book is that Fizzy feels like she’s lost some of her mojo & some of her certainty about what she’s doing career-wise & maybe even life-wise & she signs on to be the star of a reality tv show that she—a famous romance novelist—will help design. The producer of the show is Connor, a hot British single dad. Though they don’t get off on the best foot, soon after they’re friends & that friendship helps sustain them through the ups & downs & explosive attraction between them. This book has some real funny moments, like when Fizzy gives a list of the romance hero archetypes she wants to date on her show & Connor is befuddled by how to cast “vampire.” Not only is the relationship between Fizzy & Connor like warm golden sunshine but I absolutely love what the book has to say about the romance genre & its readers & just how important respect is for people’s various interests. Even “nice,” hot guys can be condescending about romance… The twist genuinely surprised me & I’m still not quite sure how I feel about it as a reader. I’m guessing the people who read this book will have lots of thoughts about it & my DMs are open. DMs are also open for any squeeing or mutual chuckling. I’m really glad I read this one. 4.5⭐️. Out 05/16. CWs: Fizzy was the other woman in a previous relationship without her knowledge & that man’s wife publicly confronted her before the book began. Connor cheated on a previous partner.
Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.I’ve found one of my new fave ways for the brother’s best friend trope to develop: basically the siblings just wait & watch the slow burn happening before their faces & by the end THEY are the ones trying to move things forward. Spoiler alert: that’s what happens in Chloe Liese’s If Only You. This contemporary sports romance featuring two pro athletes, both of whom want &/or need an image overhaul, is a lovely slow burn with a round of secondary characters who also had me feeling the love. If Only You is about people deciding to be something else & the decisions they choose to make to do it. It’s also a story about true friendship, great hugs, patience, & unconditional love (of the friend & partner variety). There’s a lot of pining, the hero Sebastian gives off lots of “I don’t deserve her” energy, & a heroine, Ziggy Bergman, who’s tired of sitting at the kiddie end of the table, literally, & wants to be acknowledged for the person she currently is. I love that message & that idea. If you’re looking for a book where the feelings are on the table (even if the pining itself is hidden from the other lead), where the characters make space for others’ authenticity, check this one out. I will admit, that same earnestness doesn’t always come across as natural to me in the dialogue, but for the most part, I love how openly this book shares its feelings. This is a really sweet, lovely book with a reforming bad boy & a reforming ultra good girl, & just lots of love all around. 4.5⭐️. Out now!CWs: Sebastian’s dad left him & he has trauma surrounding his ultra-critical stepfather & emotionally negligent mom. Ziggy is autistic & describes how she experiences social interactions. Sebastian experiences pain & is diagnosed as having Celiac’s Disease in the book.
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