Category: Romance Reads - thenaptimewriter

Review: Sloane Steele's IT TAKES A THIEF.

4/10/2021

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

This rule follower loves the thrill of a heist romance so I grabbed It Takes a Thief by Sloane Steele as soon as I read the description. While I have some quibbles with the execution of this one the steam is applause-worthy & I see potential in the series, particularly for fans of authors like Katie Reus.

Jared Towers is a wealthy, sort-of fixer, and also the son of a Ponzi scheme runner who fled the country after stealing from people. Jared & his cousin Mia—whose father is also guilty—come up with a scheme to steal artwork that their fathers own before their fathers can liquidate them.

So Jared hires “Data," a hacker he's worked with in the past, who turns out to be Audrey. Audrey knows nothing about Jared's real identity or his motivations behind the theft & she has her own reasons for wanting to be involved.

Fast forward to sparks between them erupting into flames & Audrey finding out Jared’s secrets...

The premise of this one is intriguing, the steam is delightful, & Jared is a devoted hero.

On paper everything is there for me, but the romance loses a lot of power after the conflict, which seems to drag on for a considerable amount of the book & which I didn’t entirely understand (or maybe buy?) the reason for. Some aspects of their relationship also feel rushed to me, particularly at the beginning, when I would have enjoyed more build-up.

Overall the romance could have been tighter but It Takes a Thief is a fun read.

3 ⭐️. Release date: 04/27

Review: Alexis Hall's ROSALINE PALMER TAKES THE CAKE.

4/7/2021

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

My feelings for Alexis Hall’s Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake are complicated: some really cool things are happening but it just doesn’t totally engage my heart.

Single mom Rosaline Palmer feels like she hasn’t lived up to her parents’s goals & isn’t providing the life she wants for her daughter.

But she loves baking & though she isn’t fully confident in her decision she signs up for a baking reality tv show a la GBBO.

The blurb clues you in to this dynamic, but on the way to production she meets Alain, a witty landscape architect. Soon after she meets other contestants, including Harry, a ripped electrician who calls her “love” until she asks him to stop & whose grammar grates on her.

This is a spoiler alert but for much of the book Rosaline is interested in & involved in a relationship of sorts—including sexually—w/ Alain, when he is not, of course, the one she will end up w/.

Throughout RPTTC we get glimpses that Alain isn’t the nicest person, which helps me w/ the love triangle-ish aspect.

We *also* see moments when Rosaline isn’t the *nicest* person; when she shows some of her least attractive & yet also some of her most relatable qualities: her strong desire to please & to judge.

While I’m a proponent of an imperfect heroine Rosaline’s portrayal doesn’t totally work for me, mostly bc I don’t think there’s enough self-awareness & reflection. That includes her snobbery...her awareness of which feels kinda surface level to me even when she’s apologizing to Harry.

Still, throughout RPTTC Rosaline grows in major ways & I cheered along.

In addition to Rosaline’s journey, I really like RPTTC’s wit, its gentle moments, its consideration of how others respond to Rosaline’s bisexuality, the intimacy in the sex scene b/t Rosaline & Harry. The way he encourages her to say what she wants & she encourages him to share his feelings throughout is lovely—though I yearned for more of a romantic declaration at the end.

I can’t wait to see what Hall writes next, obviously. But this one just doesn’t always work for me.

4 ⭐️. Release date: 5/18.

CW:

sexual assault, biphobia

Review: Julie Anne Long's I'M ONLY WICKED WITH YOU.

3/30/2021

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

If emotionally stunning, poignant stories w/ steam are your jam please read Julie Anne Long’s Palace of Rogue series & prepare to fall in love. Often.

I’m Only Wicked with You is 3rd in the series & it’s a somewhat circuitous journey to love that had me emotionally invested—stressing at moments & swooning at the end.

When the book opens, American Hugh Cassidy, a self-made man visiting London, has recently tattled on his fellow guest at The Grand Palace on the Thames, Lady Lillias Vaughn, resulting in her being effectively grounded. Lillias, a beautiful, ice cold queen, was smoking a cheroot, something that an Earl’s daughter does not do.

The tension between Hugh & Lillias, the acrimony & the sexual attraction, is strong & both leads feel the latter’s pull even as they acknowledge the former.

But when they’re caught together, these enemies must marry unless they come up with another plan.

First, this book—like the others in the series—is full of beautiful language & humor & warmth, & also lines that bring a flush to my cheeks. Like a line about Hugh wanting to pin her down on a mattress. The lust is top-notch, urgent.

Both leads are imperfect (bc of course!); they aren’t always likable, sunshine & rainbows, & I liked that too—even if it sometimes made me a little uncomfortable (bc I have some long-held beliefs about how women “should” act that I’m still working through.)

But the nuance to them both is beautiful; also their guardedness & the ways they’re affected by the vulnerabilities in the other.

Though the wait for them to admit feelings was a little challenging for me (I could have used some more softness, earlier), the payoff is huge. The sweet moments between Hugh & Lillias are lovely & the epilogue is *chef’s kiss.*

IOWWY is powerful & sexy & I can picture Hugh & Lillias running the world & falling more in love w/ every milestone. Though the dynamic between them isn’t my fave couple dynamic of the series, the whole lot is stellar & I am a huge huge fan.

4.5⭐️. Release Date: 08/24.

Review: Xio Axelrod's THE GIRL WITH STARS IN HER EYES.

3/28/2021

Thanks to Sourcebooks Casa & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

Q: If you were in a rock band what would you want to play? Or would you rather be the lead singer?

Xio Axelrod’s The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes is fantastic storytelling plain & simple.

Second chance-ish romance; a searingly good rock band; female empowerment: it’s all here. I was completely immersed in this story about a woman who takes chances, who feels music in a way that leaps off the pages.

Antonia Bennette, stage name Toni B, was best friends with Sebastian Quigley growing up. She had unexpressed romantic feelings for him but one day he just left. Town; her.

Despite all the grand plans they made, they haven’t talked in almost a decade, both keenly aware of his betrayal. But the rock band that he manages, The Lillys, is looking for a temporary guitarist replacement & Toni gets the job, only realizing later that she’ll be working in close contact with the man who broke her heart.

The language used for music in this romance is sensational; you can hear the mesmerizing notes of the singer; you can see Toni B totally lighting up the stage in one of her many stellar displays of talent. It’s charismatic. Toni has to deal with the stigma that women can’t rock but every time she & The Lillys take the stage they’re thundering proof of the opposite.

Though this book is more about Toni’s journey for me, the slow burn romance between Toni & Sebastian is overall satisfying. Despite the fact that I don’t swoon *completely* for Sebastian —he does something that bothers me in the present-day—there is eventual combustion & I really like their dynamic at the end.

Featuring complicated characters who make mistakes; who are trying to find their way & sometimes stumble, but in Toni’s case, majorly shine too, The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes is a romance that feels almost cinematic to me. Though the hero is a *bit* of a disappointment in my eyes, Toni is all that & more (& so are the rest of The Lillys!).

4.5 ⭐️. Release date: May 4, 2021

CW:

parental abuse & neglect; drug abuse

Review: Katee Robert's NEON GODS.

3/20/2021

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

🪑 Q: do you have a fave Hades & Persephone romance re-telling?

I was expecting Katee Robert’s Neon Gods—a Hades & Persephone re-telling—to be H O T. I wasn’t expecting it to be so sweet & romantic. (Waves at Hades hiiiii.)

Olympus is ruled by the 13 gods. In theory. In actuality, the last Hera is suspected to have been murdered by her husband Zeus—who rules the Upper City—& they say that Hades—once ruler of the Lower City—died some time ago.

The River Styx divides the two cities & no one crosses it.

Until the night “obedient” Persephone Dimitriou runs across the bridge, desperate to escape the forced engagement her mother Demeter has arranged between her & Zeus.

A man is on the other side. He’s frightening in some ways, seems safe in others, & after he doctors her wounds he’s revealed to be Hades.

Persephone strikes an arrangement between them: if he harbors her for the winter & keeps her safe from Zeus she’ll sleep with him (something she wants to do regardless) & facilitate his revenge against Zeus, who murdered Hades’s parents years earlier.

Wow 🤩. This book is a cheek-flushing, butterfly-swooping confection. Greek mythology is re-worked in a fascinating way; I cannot tell you how much sexy potential I see in every character in this book .

Hades is absolutely delicious: he is a scarred, forbidding presence who starts to occasionally laugh around Persephone; he worries about her; & the emotional intimacy he is willing to wade into with her is beautiful.

Robert complicates Persephone in a stunning way: I love how Miss Sunshine has teeth & daggers when she travels to the Lower City.

Their sex scenes—both the private ones & the public ones in his dungeon—are stupendous. The discussions of comfort & consent, the way they look out for each other, is just another hot part of this romance.

I can’t wait to read the next book in this series!

5 ⭐️. Neon Gods is out on 06/01.

Review: Talia Hibbert's ACT YOUR AGE, EVE BROWN.

3/16/2021

“‘What are you doing?’ he demanded, mostly because he couldn’t fucking wait to hear it. He wanted inside her confetti-strewn head every chance he got. It was the only foreign country he could remember wanting to visit.”

Well if this book isn’t a gosh darn delight. Act Your Age, Eve Brown had me smiling & even LOLing on a family road trip; it’s winsome, quirky, & sexy & on a *totally* unrelated note I just bought some unnecessary glasses for my husband (jkjkjkjk).

At the beginning of the novel Eve Brown is staring down another career that didn’t work out. Her stunned parents issue some tough love: Eve won’t receive any more trust money until she satisfies some employment conditions & she must find a new place to live.

She takes off for the countryside where she meets rude, supremely starchy Jacob Wayne, owner of a Bed & Breakfast, at a job interview he’s hosting for a chef position.

When Jacob follows her to offer her a chance to show off her skills—after initially blowing her off—she accidentally runs over him & yada yada yada, winds up with the chef job.

If you’ve been reading the Brown Sister series you want to read this latest electric installment. & if you haven’t then you’ll want to read it too . It’s grumpy & the sunshine, starchy & the charmer, forced proximity, opposites attract fantastic-ness & I laughed internally & got other major feels all the way through.

I love how Eve and Jacob find friends (& lovers) in each other, how neither one of them has to change to entice the other into tolerating or wanting them.

A big hurrah! for Eve, who learns so much about herself (her awareness that she is on the autism spectrum like Jacob—and how we see his thoughts about it too—feels particularly lovely) & for Jacob, both of whom take brave steps toward each other.

I felt like I could have used a little more time with Jacob’s breakthrough but really he is working toward it through the whole book & can you blame him for realizing how foolish he’s been almost right away? (<—talking to myself.)

This book is a joy-filled (maybe it would be more accurate to say joy-inducing) ending to a great series.

5 ⭐️

Review: Kate Clayborn's LOVE AT FIRST.

3/14/2021

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

It’s been about a month since I read & reel-ed about Kate Clayborn’s Love at First & its shine has not diminished. I LOVE THIS BOOK, its leads, its small moments of care that also feel like big moments of care, how it made me feel.

This is a true stunner & I highly highly recommend it & her other works if you haven’t read it yet.

As a teen Will Sterling first hears & sees the girl he later realizes to be Nora Clarke standing on a balcony of an apartment in Chicago. Before he can see hi his life is blown off its hinges & he doesn’t see her again for years & years.

Doesn’t recognize it’s her until he also realizes they’re on opposite sides of a battle to determine the future of the apartment building they’ve both inherited parts of. In essence, as the book makes it clear, the apartment building is a source of joyful memories for her & the most painful for him.

THIS BOOK IS SO SPECIAL & now I’m just going to throw some moments out there I love in an effort to entice you to read it if you haven’t already:

—It’s so sexy & tender. By the end of it my feelings (and my thoughts about life!) were so soft & loving.

—Some gentle enemies to lovers hijinx.

—Will wears glasses & Nora sometimes has to adjust them for him.

—Will’s use of the endearment “baby.” I L O V E how sweet it is & their mutual awareness of the fact that he used the word!

—She’s sick & he takes care of her. She takes care of him w/ her homemade spaghetti sauce.

—Hero leaning!

—Nora says “well!” when someone does something discourteous while driving. (I think that’s adorable.)

—Found family

—Will actually sometimes rubs his chest in emotional response to Nora. Ahhhh.

—There’s poetry, I LOLed in at least one moment, enough steam to fog up my glasses, & a freaking romantic declaration of love.

5 HUGE ⭐️ from this Kate Clayborn superfan. Love at First is available now.

Review: TJ Klune's THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA.

3/10/2021

Q: what’s a much hyped book that’s been on your TBR for a long time?

I’ve seen so many people describe TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea as a warm hug (or an equivalent) & tell me I should read it. Well I finished it yesterday & YOU WERE RIGHT, this book is so special & it made me feel HAPPY & HOPEFUL.

It’s a gentle fantasy with a light, slow burn (kissing only!) that also manages to tackle weighty topics like discrimination & how it’s codified & perpetuated in bureaucratic Rules & Regulations. THitCS is also about the power of “soft” people who get things done & it was so funny that I giggled out loud at least twice.

Linus Baker is a caseworker for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. He’s sent to investigate living conditions at the Marsyas Orphanage for magical youth—a case designated at level 4, the highest—& to assess the leadership of Arthur Parnassus, who runs it.

The children there form an intimidating, vicious-sounding group & they include amongst their numbers Lucifer “Lucy,” the Antichrist. But they’re hilarious & loyal & sometimes kind & sometimes mischievous & Linus finds himself starting to ignore his department dictates & fall under their spell.

& Arthur isn’t what Linus expects either: he’s a splendid man who makes Linus feel things & who guides his charges wisely & w/ a sense of humor.

But Linus is supposed to return home, back to the day to day work of achieving his Department’s objectives...which don’t happen to be entirely compatible with Arthur’s views.

This book is luminous & sparkling & irreverent & bold & it’s no exaggeration to say that I loved every chapter. Both leads won me over & I adore the idea that anyone has the potential to do the right thing, to, as the book says, help re-make the world into a place that’s safe for everyone. To find a home & keep it.

5 ⭐️ from me. What a read!

Review: Adrienne Young's NAMESAKE.

3/3/2021

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

In prep for reading my ARC of Namesake I re-read Fable & I was struck again by how lush & gorgeous it is. It’s a thrilling adventure.

Namesake picks back up with Fable, West, the rest of the Marigold crew, Saint, et al. & it’s another wonder-ful offering from a prodigious talent. I’m so excited by Adrienne Young’s writing—what stories she’s already put into the world & what will come—but Namesake doesn’t quite live up to Fable in my heart & imagination.

Hopefully I won't spoil too much of Namesake’s plot in this review but it feels more circuitous to me—as does Fable & West’s romance, which is tested by the same mistakes they make over & over again.

While Fable often questions West’s decision-making in this book—she considers how far he’s gone, how far he’s willing to go—there’s a moment where I feel like he goes too far & Fable kinda drops it. He crosses too big of a line for me.

Like Fable, Namesake has beautiful, evocative language & moving storylines about family & place in the world. I love its moments of tenderness & Young’s writing can stop me in my tracks. But overall I have some issues with Namesake that leave me having enjoyed it but not falling in love as I did with the first book.

4⭐️. Namesake is available 03/16.

Review: Kristen Callihan's MAKE IT SWEET.

3/2/2021

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

Q: did you watch GOT? Love it, like it, dislike it?

I’ve seen Kristen Callihan share that her latest release Make it Sweet is a “healing” book & that felt right as I read. If you need something tender & protective & SEXY, with a grunting chef & a confident, kind former star of a GOT-like show, then read away, my friends, you will love it.

Luc Osmond is a retired hockey player of great renown who was diagnosed with Concussion Syndrome & left the sport to save his own life. But he’s grieving something that’s so important to him, that he feels was stolen from him without warning, & it’s a huge huge loss.

Emma Maron is gorgeous, talented, & vibrant, & she’s recovering at the same estate as Luc after being unexpectedly killed off her show. & cheated on.

They’re both at career & personal impasses, both smarting a little from bad ends to their last relationships. But the attraction between them blazes pretty much immediately, despite the fact that they’re both aware of how it could screw everything up.

The sizzling attraction between Luc & Emma is a little too insta-love-y for me; it feels a little too tender (for me) almost off the bat. But wow, it’s hard to argue with smoking hot characters wanting to kiss one another, make each other happy, & care for one another—desires the book references time & time again.

The amount of care in this book feels so good & the sex scenes are at holy smokes! levels. The pool scene. Oh my.

The bottom line is that Kristen Callihan is a fantastic writer & she knows exactly what I want: sensuality & tenderness, emotion, complicated characters who feel so much, kindness.

4.5 ⭐️. Make it Sweet is available today.

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