Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. To Woo & To Wed is the third Martha Waters book I’ve read & I really love the humor, heart, & mild absurdity of them. The last one—where the heroine tries to stage a haunted house—is particularly inventive. This one is a bit more conventional, hinging around a fake engagement between two people who were close to being engaged seven years earlier. Sophie & West have had quite the journey to a HEA. First derailed by his tyrannical duke father & a horrible curricle accident, Sophie and West are additionally hindered by Sophie’s feelings regarding the obstacles they face. But the attraction between them holds steady, as does West himself, who has pined hard for our girl Sophie. You know how I am about second chance & the execution of this one doesn’t quite win me over. The flashbacks feel kind of inserted into the narrative without the glue to bring it all together for me seamlessly. I felt like I was missing some of the emotional nuance necessary to really fall for the second chance arc. But the characters are entertaining, & I love Martha Waters’ writing style, which is shiny & bright & witty. To Woo & To Wed isn’t my fave of this series but I rec this author in general & really look forward to reading more of her books. They’re adorable. 3.5⭐️. Out 02/06.Please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.
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Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC and the publisher for the complimentary hardcopy. All opinions provided are my own.Funny story: I was supposed to post about this book on October 26th, not the November 26th I had written in my notes. So it’s November 27th & here we go ;). The (Fake) Dating Game by Timothy Janovsky has a little bit of everything, from the aforementioned fake dating to madcap antics on a reality tv show to grief over losing a parent to a surprising amount of steam given what I’ve previously read by the author. Holden James is coming out a longtime relationship when he meets concierge Leo at the hotel he’s staying at while in town for what should have been his fabulous shot at Madcap Market. He & Leo hit it off & the pieces end up coming together: they’ll pretend to be a couple for the show. They can both get something by competing & hopefully winning. Feelings turn real & that’s when things get both simpler & more complicated. This book has good communication between leads, a character struggling to process his grief, & a striking scene with a fruit I won’t soon forget. While the pieces are there for everything I adore in a romance, it doesn’t totally come together for me, but it is charming & bright while also dealing with hard topics that can be challenging for so many of us. 4⭐️. Out 01/23.CWs: previous death of mother. Cancer reference. Leo was the other person in a marriage that wasn’t officially open (without his knowledge). Loss of job.
Hi and welcome to my blog tour stop for Ashley Herring Blake's Iris Kelly Doesn't Date! I've been loving the Bright Falls series and this is such a good conclusion. Summary.Everyone around Iris Kelly is in love. Her best friends are coupled up, her siblings have perfect partners, and her parents are still blissfully married. And she’s happy for all of them, truly. Iris doesn’t want any of that—dating, love, romance. She’ll stick to her commitment-free hookups…Except no one will just let her be. Everyone wants to see her settled down, but she holds firmly to her no dating rule. There’s only one problem—Iris is a romance author facing an imminent deadline for her second book, and she’s completely out of ideas. Perfectly happy to continue ignoring her problems, Iris goes to a bar in Portland and meets a sexy stranger, Stefania. A night of dancing turns into the worst one-night stand Iris has had in her life. To get her mind that terrible night, Iris tries out for the lead role in a local play, a queer retelling of Much Ado About Nothing, but comes face-to-face with Stefania, whose real name turns out to be Stevie. Desperate to save face in front of her friends, Stevie asks Iris to play along as her girlfriend. Iris is shocked, but when she realizes the arrangement might provide her with some much-needed romantic content for her book, she agrees. As the two women play the part of a happy couple, lines start to blur, and they’re left wondering who will make the real first move.... [ID: Jess, a white woman wearing a blue sweater with embroidered flowers on its sleeve, holds the ebook in front of a screen painted blue & white with a pink flower on a panel.]My review.I’ve been such a fan of Ashley Herring Blake’s Bright Falls series & Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date offers more time with the wonderful group of friends we met in book 1 & in particular irrepressible, vibrant Iris. But despite her passion & her confidence Iris can still be hurt & that’s something that’s definitely explored in this book, as Iris navigates expectations from her family & friends & meets & falls for Stevie, an actor who’s been struggling to get her big break & has problems with her own confidence. Fake dating shenanigans followed by the leads trading lessons in sex & romance ensue & of course added to all of this is the fact that our leads are catching feelings for each other even as they’re starring in a play together. There’s a nice amount of tension in this book as Stevie & Iris wrestle with those aforementioned expectations & how they butt up against their own desires, wants, & needs. The steam is also balanced by the sweetness of their relationship, their moments of bravery balanced by their moments of vulnerability. Stevie’s Generalized Anxiety Disorder is also beautifully explored & something that as an anxious person I’m always excited to see. Though I wish that at one later point of the plot Stevie takes more initiative, overall both leads end up taking a risk in this book & you love to see it. The ending wraps everything up very sweetly with this group of loving friends together again, doing what they do: being there for each other & appreciating each other. 4.25⭐️. Out 10/24.CWs: Iris has some trauma surrounding an ex who lied to her about being married & having a family. She runs into that previous lover on page. Have you read any other books in this series? Let me know and thanks for stopping by!
Hi and welcome to my blog tour stop for Andie J. Christopher's Unrealistic Expectations! I'm excited to feature this romance--out today--and to share an excerpt! Summary.UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS follows relationship therapist Jessica Gallagher after a sudden break-up with her long-term boyfriend turns into a PR nightmare. How will she be able to sell her newly releasing dating handbook as someone who failed to make her only serious relationship work? At first, all Jessica wants is to return to the comforts of a stable relationship, even if the spark fizzled out a long time ago. But when she unexpectedly runs into her old crush, Galvin Baker, Jessica is presented with the opportunity to not only bring some spice back to her life, but also save face with a fake relationship. Luckily, Galvin seems game. Excerpt."What the fuck is going on?" That startled Luke out of his furious packing. He turned, and his normally pale skin was tomato red. Probably because Jessica rarely yelled, but she was yelling now. "I . . . uh . . . I was going to tell you-" "Tell. Me. What?" She'd managed to quiet her voice, but she knew there was still rage in her tone. "Because it looks like you are moving out of our home. And that seems weird to me, because you haven't said anything about us moving somewhere new together. So this must mean that you are moving someplace else on your own. Which is also weird, because you haven't mentioned anything about wanting to break up. But of course this means we're breaking up. People don't just live together for a decade and then not live together but remain romantically involved. Especially when they've been talking about having a baby." Jessica took a step toward Luke, and he wouldn't meet her gaze. "Do they?" Everything below her neck was cold and numb, and she couldn't hear anything but her own thoughts screaming at her. "Listen-" "That's all I do, all day. I listen to people." For some reason, him telling her to listen to him, when she'd been his steady confidant for the majority of his adult life, made her want to scream. She'd often felt a little superior, despite herself, during sessions with clients who talked about having screaming arguments with their partners. She and Luke had never had a screaming argument. They had discussions and made agreements. They-well, she-expressed feelings and needs, and Luke tried to meet them. They'd never been the kind of couple to make rash decisions or even the kind of couple who went to bed angry. Because they never made each other angry. Irritated-yes. So angry that she wanted to drag him out of the closet by his receding hairline and demand answers-no. "I was going to tell you last night, at dinner." "You were going to tell me that you were moving out and abandoning our relationship last night, at dinner? The special dinner that we were having to celebrate the release of my book?" Luke flinched. "You just seemed so excited about your little book, and I couldn't stand to see you upset." He made a lame hand motion at her. "Like this." "I'm not upset right now that you're moving out. I'm glad you're moving out. If you weren't moving out right now, I would be tempted to kill you and then retile the bathroom with your rotting bones behind the new tile." "That would really start to stink after a while . . . the decomposition." "I would dissolve your flesh with lye." This was probably not the time to make jokes about murdering him, but that had always lightened the mood before. He'd joke about giving her an air embolism in her sleep. She'd imply that she could deadlift his body easily enough to hide it-all the while knowing that they were adults, and they'd made a commitment to one another. "You really do watch too much true crime." "You mean that I watch too much television, when I'm at home, waiting for you." The only reason that she'd ended up writing the book was that she had most of her evenings and weekends on her hands and shows about murder had started to give her nightmares. Luke put his hands on his hips and looked down at his feet. They'd had this conversation before, but the stakes had never been this high. Even though she'd had her moments of feeling lonely with him, their relationship had never been about their passion for each other-she'd thought that they were both passionate about the life they'd built together. He might have chosen her because she was convenient, but she'd chosen him because he'd never once made her worried that he would abandon her. He'd never given any indication that he wasn't ready to stick around for the long haul-not until now. But here she was, standing in her half-empty closet, looking at a man that she'd spent almost her entire adult life with become someone she didn't recognize-someone who would leave her without warning. She'd been grateful at the beginning of their relationship that he'd been kind and friendly and it seemed to come from a place of wanting to get to know her, not from any compulsion to see what he could get from her. "Is this because we haven't been having sex?" Their sex life had never been bad, but it also hadn't rocked her world at the very beginning-or the very end, it seemed. Over the last fifteen years, they'd gotten into a good rhythm. And most long-term couples didn't have much sex. That aspect of their relationship had never been the most important thing to Jessica, and she hadn't thought it was that important to Luke, either. But the way his skin flushed, when she asked him that, told her that she'd been making assumptions about their sex life, too. Luke finally met her gaze again. "I care about you, and I want you to be happy." "So, you were planning to disappear without telling me?" Jessica was shrieking again, and Luke looked a little befuddled. But that didn't stop him from pulling the few articles of clothing he hadn't packed off the rack. "You think I'd be happy about you leaving without a word? Without a discussion? Without even trying to work out whatever is making you unhappy?" "I knew that if we had a discussion, you'd get me to go to couples counseling, and we'd talk things out like logical adults. And I'd never really leave, but neither of us would ever be happy." Luke sounded so defeated, and Jessica started shaking. Her body literally could not hold on to the shock. "It almost sounds like you feel like a prisoner . . . in our life." Luke stepped toward her with his hands outstretched, as though he was going to pull her into a hug. As much as she could use a hug right now, she couldn't accept one from him. Not right now. Not ever again. Excerpted from Unrealistic Expectations by Andie J. Christopher Copyright © 2023 by Andie J. Christopher. Excerpted by permission of Berkley. [ID: Jess's white hand holds the ebook in front of a weathered gray and white barn wall.]Praise for Andie J. Christopher.“Thank You, Next is snarky and sharply funny but with a rich, tender heart. Andie J. Christopher is a master satirist of the absurdities of modern womanhood even as she renews our faith in the power of love.”—Jenny Holiday, USA Today bestselling author of Duke, Actually “A wild and delightful ride from start to finish. Christopher delivers a stern, grunting hero, wildly sexy chemistry, and an alpha heroine that owns every page.”--Mazey Eddings, author of A Brush with Love “As witty as it is sincere, Thank You, Next is the most refreshing take on second chance love I’ve read in a long time. Alex’s journey to self-love is perfect—and Will’s unconditional acceptance of his fierce and wonderful woman is everything I want to read in contemporary romance.”--Therese Beharrie, author of And They Lived Happily Ever After About the author.USA Today bestselling author Andie J. Christopher writes sharp, witty, sexy contemporary romance about complex people finding happily-ever- after. Her work has been featured in NPR, Cosmopolitan, The Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, and New York Post. Prickly heroines are her hallmark, and she is the originator of the Stern Brunch Daddy. Andie lives in the nation’s capital with a French bulldog, a stockpile of Campari, and way too many books. Who's up for a fake dating romance? I love that trope. Let me know what you think if you check this one out!
Hi and welcome to my blog tour stop for Kerry Winfrey's Faking Christmas! A big thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.Summary.Laurel Grant works as the social media manager for Buckeye State of Mind, an Ohio tourism magazine and website. She most definitely does not run a farm . . . but one tiny misunderstanding leads her boss, Gilbert, to think she owns her twin sister Holly’s farm just outside of Columbus. Laurel only handles the social media for the farm, but she’s happy to keep her little white lie going if it means not getting fired—she cannot be jobless again. And keep it going she must when Gilbert, recently dumped by his wife, invites himself over for the farm’s big Christmas Eve Eve dinner (as advertised on Meadow Rise Farm’s Instagram, thanks to Laurel herself). Laurel immediately goes into panic mode to figure out how she can trick Gilbert into thinking she’s basically the Martha Stewart of rural Ohio and keep her job in the process. Laurel and Holly come up with the perfect plan—all Laurel has to do is pretend to own the farm for one dinner. But Laurel shows up at the farm to find an unwelcome guest is waiting: Max Beckett, her nemesis since Holly’s wedding. The annoyingly attractive man she hates will be posing as Laurel’s husband just for the evening, but when a snowstorm traps them all for the entire weekend, Laurel is going to have to figure out how to survive with her job and dignity intact. Whatever the case, this promises to be the most eventful Christmas in ages. . . [ID: Jess’s white hand holds the ebook in front of a red-orange sunflower.]My review.If I were in a deception plot romance I would crumble into dust the minute anyone tried to test my fake relationship but Laurel Grant…Laurel is pulling off the sweet-hearted scam of the year by convincing her boss that she is married, has two kids, & lives the farm life she acts like she does in the column she writes at the magazine they both produce. She’s pulling off this scam at Christmas & with the help of her beloved twin, her brother-in-law, & her nemesis, Max Beckett, the man she’s hated since her sister’s wedding. That means this fake scam is pretty low-angst, friends—sure, the boss might be an issue, but Laurel has the loving support of her family as she stumbles her way through acting married & parental etc . A fake marriage, a snowy setting, some revelations, two enemies who end up looking up at Christmas tree branches from below… Faking Christmas by Kerry Winfrey is charming & sweet & I could totally envision it on a screen somewhere, making people feel those holiday + let’s fall in love vibes. Also those let’s-respect-people’s-unique-interest vibes. I adore what this book says about not denigrating people’s joys—whether it be animal communicators, romance novels, Lego, whatevs…just let the people be happy . I wish I could have *felt* this opposites attract romance a bit more—it isn’t effortless for me to see that at the end, & that’s what I want—but I did appreciate that their relationship isn’t super hasty at moving to any *big* declarations & Max’s assertion that Laurel is *enough,* is everything & more, is lovely. 3.5⭐️. Out 09/26.CWs: Max had a toxic childhood & doesn’t have a positive relationship with them in the present.Are you in the holiday romance mode yet? Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. Whew, Stars In Your Eyes by Kacen Callender hurt. But it’s also a really good adult romance with so many wonderful things about how it’s written & what it has to say about self-love & loving others. Logan Gray & Mattie Cole are costars in an upcoming queer romcom. Their director & others ask them to engage in a fake dating romance to drive up positive press & attention for their movie & both agree, thinking it will help their reputations. Logan is known publicly as a Bad Boy. IRL he doesn’t have any friends & he’s living with trauma from childhood as the son of a Hollywood Important Person & a child actor in his own right. Mattie has a rep as being so nice that he’s seen as boring. Despite neither of them liking the other, they engage in a fake dating romance, both learning along the way that there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to their costar. Be advised that this book deals with heavy topics including sexual abuse, & specifically sexual abuse that’s been permitted & even facilitated by a parent. Understandably, that gives a very sad tone to the book & as the narration makes clear, that is not trauma that disappears immediately, even after falling in love. In addition to the emotional strength of this book, Callender writes it so well, using what the characters are doing/thinking in the film Logan & Mattie are acting in to mirror & help explain what they might be feeling IRL. Both characters grow so much throughout the book but like I said, it’s not an easy read. But that’s part of the point: like Callender writes in one moment, people who are living with trauma can fall in love & be loved & love themselves & be part of healthy relationships, too. They shouldn’t be excluded from stories of finding Their Person. 5⭐️. Out 10/10.Please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.
Hi and welcome to my blog tour stop for Tori Anne Martin's This Spells Disaster! A big thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.Summary.Morgan Greenwood may be an incredible potion maker, but she’s convinced she was hexed at birth. A self-proclaimed “messy witch,” it comes as no surprise when she finds herself drunkenly offering to fake date the woman of her dreams for the biennial New England Witches’ festival. Enter Rory Sandler, a spellcasting champion and brilliant elemental witch, who just so happens to accept the offer for reasons unbeknownst to Morgan. All those good luck spells must have worked after all! But as Morgan and Rory prepare to fool everyone at the festival, their relationship starts to feel very real—that is until Morgan realizes she might have screwed up the common relaxation potion she made for Rory and given her a love potion instead, breaking one of the most sacred Witch Council Laws. To fulfill her promise to Rory, Morgan must somehow keep playing pretend while under the watchful eyes of Rory’s family and legion of fans. But to break the love potion, she’ll also have to prove how incompatible she and Rory really are. For a screwup like herself, ruining their relationship should be easy—except every day, Morgan is becoming more bewitched by Rory herself. [ID: Jess’s white hand holds the ebook in front of a garden of zinnias. Trees & a yard are on the right side of the image.] My review.An unrequited crush, a coven, a newt festival, a fake dating situation, a love potion… Wait. Recently I posted about tropes I’m weird about & one of them is love potion—a plot point in This Spells Disaster. With that being said author Tori Anne Martin addresses the lack of consent with those in the author’s note & one FMC’s awareness of it prevents her from moving physically forward with the other lead so it worked a-okay for me. This sapphic witchy romance is ca—ute! (Is that how you spell it if you say it like that?) The book is set in a cozy town in Maine (never been but it makes such a great romance backdrop!), there’s queer rep, that aforementioned consideration of consent & love potions, a fun newt festival (can I go?). Morgan is a potions-witch at her family shop; Rory is a very well-known witch who abruptly left the spotlight to become a bartender at Morgan’s small town. When Rory’s parents try to pressure Rory to return to the spotlight, she & Morgan begin a fake dating situation that gets complicated by their real feelings & also the love potion Morgan accidentally made that she thinks Rory has ingested. On one hand I grew a bit frustrated with how lead Morgan was trying to “How to lose a guy in 10 days” Rory because of the accidental love potion she made & gave to Rory, but on the other the conflict kind of made sense given how everything was set up for & about the characters earlier in the book. Witchy reads are the bomb.com & this is a fun one. 4⭐️. Out now! Please read a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.How do you feel about a love potion read? Let me know what you think about this one and thanks for stopping by!
Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. One of my fave *fave* romance things is when a lead finds a home by the end of the book & that journey for Ves in Wrapped With a Beau is so heartwarming. I’ve never actually watched a Hallmark holiday movie but the vibes of this book felt similar to what I imagine with the very welcome addition of steam. From Elisha & Ves’s inauspicious meet-cute when she assumes he’s a burglar & threatens him with a candy cane yard decoration to their fake dating / just for the holidays romance to his big gesture at the end, it’s charming & sweet. Not to mention Elisha’s adorable town which celebrates the holidays in a very big way. This book is just cute & also emotional in some ways, like when Ves contemplates his past & the found family he has now. Other things of note? A book-loving hero who is at times self conscious (very refreshing IMO), a heroine who gets things done , and a welcoming community. There’s at least one spot where it verges on being a bit too cutesy for my taste but overall, this is a lovely book that made me feel those warm & happy sensations. 4.25⭐️. Out 09/26.CWs: loss and grief; references to parental manipulation, parental fighting, parental emotional neglect, parental cheating.
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’ve long waited for Matthias & Pet’s book & Codename Charming has some great moments that pulled at the ole heartstrings. Starting with the fact that Matthias is a security guard for royals & becomes VERY protective of Pet, their royal assistant, & including the fact that to everyone else, their romance is beauty & the beast but to Pet, he is beauty & strength & dependability. & it didn’t quite pull at my heartstrings that Matthias has chest hair but I liked it, okay? Codename Charming also has a fake dating, opposites attract (but really they have compatible backgrounds) premise, a slooooow burn, some humor, & a story of two people creating this world where they can feel comfortable, together. Add to that an investigation into Pet’s father’s family & a meddling set of Royals & you have a cheery romance that is—as the title says—charming. 4⭐️. Out 08/15.CWs include: an emotionally abusive father; knife attack flashback; attempted knife attack in current book. Death of friend & feelings of responsibility. An unknown father that Pet discovers in book.
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