 Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.My heart . Before starting 10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall I saw a few things that kind of set my expectations accordingly: (1) similar-ish in style to Boyfriend Material, (2) really good, (3) & Alexis Hall shared that this is grumpy & the sunshine if the sunshine is reckoning with trauma (or something like that. My apologies if I’ve twisted that in any way!). That’s all so true. This book is charming, it’s so funny, & I got Office vibes from the office scenes in the book & While You Were Sleeping vibes from any scenes featuring prickly boss Jonathan Forest’s family. So it’s very endearing, in short. As is protagonist Samwise “Sam” who kind of stumbles, kinda dives into a fake amnesia situation with his horrible boss Jonathan Forest in an effort to save his branch from being fired. But after he’s made to live with Jonathan for a while—he has to, given his presumed injuries—he realizes that Jonathan is grumpy but that’s not all of him & also grumpy is kind of attractive on him. I adored this book, these characters, this family. Watching Sam & Jonathan engage with others & seeing their very obvious discomfort & yearning & their wrestling with their insecurities is sad & heartwarming. The deception reconciliation feels a bit skimpy to me—but overall I just wanted these two leads to be together & for them to get back to the family unit they had made. Ahhhhh! Also I wanted two epilogues instead of one because my heart wanted more . Such a great book; I loved it; I hope the two of them are living the happiest of lives with their ugly cat in Croydon. 5⭐️. Out 10/17.CW: previous death of family members, including parents.
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 Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. A road trip romance with some let’s-snuggle-to-stay-warmer & mutual rescuing moments?!?! One Night in Hartswood by Emma Denny is a character-driven romance with some big moments at the end that really amp up the action & the dramatic gesture quotient for each lead. The book opens with Raff, the son of an Earl, traveling to the home of his sister’s intended, William, who is a nobleman she will soon marry to shore up an alliance between their families. But William leaves before the wedding, before Raff and his family even meet him, & when Raff is tasked with tracking William, he enters Hartswood Forest and finds only the servant Penn that he met in the forest a day or so before & kissed. Seeing that Penn needs assistance with his own escape from the keep, Raff says Penn can accompany him on his journey North & find another way home & employment on the way. So, in short, Raff & Penn are on a journey away from the keep together, both of them keeping secrets that will soon blow up in their faces. This book is soft, with several moments where the leads try to protect each other. Both leads are loyal, steadfast, & brave, and both show how they’re willing to face pain for the sake of the other. Moreover, there’s an emotional consideration to the protection too, as Raff worries about the social dynamics between him & Penn, the man he believes to be a servant. ONIH is a great historical romance & I adore how these two are able to make a happy, safe life together because they made it happen. 4.5⭐️. Out 11/07. CWs: Penn’s past abuse. Reference to death, family exile.
 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.
 Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC and @harlequinpublicityteam @harlequinbooks for the complimentary galley. All opinions provided are my own.How much of this book did I read with a smile on my face? Impossible to know but Time to Shine by Rachel Reid is *adorable* (asterisks for emphasis) & I highly recommend it when you want an extra dose of sweet sweet sunshine. Like the Game Changers series, TTS features pro hockey players but this one has an added layer of suspense bc goalie Landon is temporarily filling in on other lead’s Casey team. The professional stakes for him are huge & it really ramps up the romantic and emotional tension too. Moving from a roommates to friends to lovers arc, this romance is sweet & soft like advertised in the first paragraph, with a golden retriever & terse hero pairing that really got to my heart. In a change from hockey romances I’ve read before, the team Landon joins is aware and accepting of Casey’s bisexuality & various team members pop in & even encourage them (however indirectly) on their romantic journey. Time to Shine is a feel good book that pleases on so many levels: sports romance, friends to lovers, pro therapy, great communication between leads. Give it a try & then come shout about it my DMs! 4.5⭐️. Out 09/26.Please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.
 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 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.
 Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. I’m a simple soul & when I saw some positive buzz for Dominic Lim’s All the Right Notes I decided to check it out—despite the fact that there’s a second chance romance & in my mind that is just inviting pain into your life ;). This contemporary brings back together Emmett Aoki—now a famous movie star—with Quito Cruz, a pianist who’s returned home to take care of his ailing father. Emmett & Quito were once best friends & for one night, went tiptoeing into something more before their relationship imploded. All the Right Notes is a rich story with so many heartwarming themes & tropes woven into the past & present storylines. Quito & his father offered Emmett a loving home when he didn’t have one, & the Filipino food the family cooks cements their bond & the feeling of home in a concrete way. But let’s talk the second chance arc, shall we? Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work for me. The miscommunication trope is big in this one, people, & the pacing of some things didn’t satisfy. With that being said, I did like a lot about this book, including that one of the leads isn’t movie star perfect when it comes to appearance, that music is something that unites people, & that the leads make support more than a word during their respective performances. In the end, though, the found family & friendship elements are stronger for me than the romance. 3⭐️. Out 06/06. CWs: previous loss of mother. Publicly called a homophobic slur after a musical performance. Fatphobic language. “Spaz” reference. Quito’s dad is sick & then dies during the book. Reference to drug use. Quito is cheated on. Emmett is outed.
 Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. Dislike(-ish) to friendship (& a small moment of more) to dislike(-ish) to love. So many parentheses, but to me KD Casey’s writing is filled with nuance & subtlety & feelings that aren’t always straightforward, especially when our leads don’t communicate with each other for YEARS even though we all know they belong together (second chance mini emotional explosion over ;)). Ok so I am still working through my emotions about KD Casey’s upcoming book, Diamond Ring, out tomorrow. But in short, KD Casey is one of my favorite writers & this book is amazing & 5 ️stars, & I want you to read it . Alex Angelides & Jake Fischer both make the same Majors team at the same time. In the beginning, Jake is the player to watch, the golden pitcher. That season, Alex & Jake’s friendship grows & before the end, they’ve become intimate in another way. But after Jake has a career-sidelining injury, he & Alex start imploding, & the best friends turned lovers aren’t communicating anymore. In the current storyline, they’re reunited on the same team with their baseball career expectations changed & all the memories of the past they keep holding onto. Anxiety & depression rep are a big part of this novel & it’s emotionally affecting & inspiring to see a lead who not only uses therapy & meds as resources (& talks about them) but also shares how he has difficulty orgasming as a result of taking them. I love how Alex & Jake’s sexual relationship plays out in the book & how pleasure, understanding, & patience is such a big part of their physical dynamic without those things being absolutely predicated on orgasms every single time they engage in intimacy. Besides that, there’s such a fun blip of anonymous date app texting, & the grumpy & the sunshine vibes are delish. This is such a great book & if you haven’t read KD Casey’s books yet please do so & then message me to discuss! 5⭐️. Out 04/11.CWs: Previous death of father. Reference to antiSemitism. Mother worried about Jake self-harming. Panic attack. Compulsive tidiness. Difficulty getting aroused.
 Thanks to the author & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. I can’t even imagine how awkward I would be on a reality tv show (let’s just say very awkward) but it’s something the drama- & spectacle-loving part of me loves from a tv or book distance. Courtney Kae’s In the Case of Heartbreak has a relatively peripheral reality tv situation with bakery owner Ben Parrish on a baking show trying to win the prize with his family’s cinnamon roll recipe. But on the initial reality tv filming day, the man he’s had feelings for forever, his friend Adam, seems to firmly establish them as “just friends” in front of thousands of viewers. Visiting family & planning his beloved grandma’s bday bash seems like a good way to get away, & then Adam shows up there, Ben learns things in his family aren’t quite what he thought, & he’s dealing with his narcissistic dad. This small town romance has leads who are open & vulnerable with each other, slowly looking toward each other as confidants for their greatest fears & insecurities. There’s a lot of beauty in the kind of vulnerability that Ben in particular offers, in the relatable fears he shares about failure & being the person someone gives up their career aspirations for & the responsibilities he feels weighing him down. Therapy & meds are part of the storyline & though the starts & stops in the initial part of their storyline annoyed me a bit, on the whole the leads’ open-ish communication is something I love to see represented in romance. This romance is for all the lovers of soft stories, lots of emotion, loving families (as well as some family baggage), & positive mental health rep. 4⭐️. Out 07/25.CWs: Ben was a former missing child & has trauma surrounding media attention regarding that incident. His dad left the family. Narcissism & emotional abuse exhibited by dad. Financial stresses. Adam has a recovering alcoholic father; he was abandoned by his mom.
 Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.I’m a sucker for a foodie or fake dating romance & lucky me, Fake Dates & Mooncakes by Sher Lee has both. Dylan Tang works at his aunt’s Singaporean Chinese takeout & dreams of winning an upcoming moon cake competition so he can drive more customers to his aunt’s business. Using a family recipe for the mooncake is also a great way to remember his mother, who passed away one month ago, & possibly to get to know Theo Somers, a handsome, wealthy charmer who Dylan has a crush on immediately after meeting. Though they don’t have the most auspicious beginning, Dylan & Theo help each other out through a business grant-wedding date exchange. This cute book explores the importance of Chinese culture to both characters & how that’s tinged by their own respective losses. Family support is huge in this book with Dylan’s family banding together to help him the same way he tries to help them. Though the drama feels a bit odd to me, Theo makes a great gesture for Dylan’s sake, & it all wraps up with a heartwarming & satisfying ending. 4⭐️. Out 05/16.Please check out a trusted reviewer's list of CWs.
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