If you love dark, tortured, emotionally starved heroes who eventually recognize that they’ve fallen HARD for the heroine then may I rec Kerrigan Byrne. I wasn’t sure what to expect from her latest release, All Scot & Bothered, but I really enjoyed it, barring a couple of reservations. More on that later. Cecelia Teague is a mathematician, spinster, & Red Rogue. She unexpectedly inherits a school from her aunt & learns that it’s funded by gambling. Chief Justice Cassius Ramsay, an unforgiving Judgy McJudgerson, believes that the school is actually a front for kidnapping & human trafficking. In his raid of the school Cecelia adopts the disguise of The Scarlet Lady. Our hero has very reluctant pants feelings for both women, Cecelia & The Scarlet Lady, not realizing that they are one & the same. He’s also been celibate for 7+ years & has no plans of changing that, especially because women are the worst yada yada yada & The Scarlet Lady is the worst of them all. This book has a few things you might love- She’s soft; he’s hard (lots of jokes we could make there). A misogynist hero who comes to some big realizations, though I wanted them to go even further since they’re so tied up to how amazing Cecelia specifically is. What about other women, pal? A spectacles-wearing, plump heroine who doesn’t like confrontation but stands up for herself w/ him. The # of times said heroine stares at how his muscles move under his clothes. But I do think there’s a convo romance could have about how the Italian Count is described, & race & ethnicity in general in this book, my overall reading of which was indirectly informed by a series of Tweets by a romance reader who had issues with a lot of the book, including how it handles the topics of misogyny & race. If you’re thinking about picking this one up I definitely rec that you read reviews written by POC. With that being said overall for me this is mostly another transporting book written by a master at pulling heartstrings. But is anyone else hoping for a KB book w/ a heroine who goes scorched Earth on the hero for a sec? 4 ⭐️. All Scot & Bothered is out now. Thanks to St. Martin's Press & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC & finished copy. All opinions provided are my own.
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5⭐️. Q: who is your fave uptight hero? All the praise hands to books that make us happy during this time and Alexis Hall’s Boyfriend Material is one of them for me. I love this book so and it’s going on my shelves as soon as I can get my grabby hands on it. Luc is the son of two 80s rockers, one of whom abandoned him when he was 3. As a minor celebrity he garners his fair share of paparazzi coverage & it’s always negative. But one particular article puts his job at a charity in jeopardy & to save it he asks an uptight barrister with a good reputation to be his fake boyfriend. Oliver is said barrister. And *be still my heart* because I am a fiend for an uptight hero. You know the type: they’re so proper and often seen as stiff, condescending, & judgmental (and sometimes they are!) but they’re also—at least in Oliver’s case—protective & loving & find it difficult to express their feelings. Ahhhhh! I’d also like to take this opportunity to say that Luc is *not* uptight but he is so yearning & he loves his mother; he’s often snarky & not always the nicest, even to his friends, but he has a big heart & does some hard emotional work & deserves a million Oliver snuggles, okay?! Boyfriend Material is so so so funny and Alexis Hall’s portrayal of friendship is divine. I love when friends are loving & supportive and also not 100% perfect. Even the loveliest of friends don’t always say or do the right things (and can sometimes push on our bruises unintentionally). But they can also read your heart & accompany you on road trips so you can chase your heart’s desire. As funny as this book is it’s also not afraid to explore hurt and insecurity, but in a way that didn’t leave me feeling emotionally devastated. In closing I’d like to say again: I love this book so much. I do wish there had been a (totally) on the page love scene and an Epilogue because as a previous review established, my soul is thirsty, but this book is also so wonderful as is & I would like to hug Luc and Oliver forever. Boyfriend Material is out on 07/07. Thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own. |
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