Book Review: Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan

August 17, 2024July 2, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Annabel Monaghan
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s
Release Date: June 4th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Benefits of a summer romance: it’s always fun, always brief, and no one gets their heart broken.

There aren’t enough labeled glass containers to contain the mess that is Ali Morris’s life. Her mom died two years ago, then her husband left, and she hasn’t worn pants with a zipper in longer than she cares to remember. She’s a professional organizer whose pantry is a disgrace.

No one is more surprised than Ali when the first time she takes off her wedding ring and puts on pants with hardware—overalls count, right?—she meets someone. Or rather, her dog claims a man for her in the same way he claimed his favorite of her three children: by peeing on him. Ethan smiles at Ali like her pants are just right—like he likes what he sees. The last thing Ali needs is to make her life messier, but there’s no harm in a little Summer Romance. Is there?

JUST WHAT I NEEDED.

I haven’t been getting along with contemporary romances lately and this was the gem I needed to remind me of the goodness they can bring. I loved this book so much!! It was full of heart and doing the hard things and breaking off what isn’t working anymore to find what could be.

The romance had me absolutely smitten. This is how you craft a summer romance. I loved Ethan, he was such a sweetheart and was so KIND. Gosh it was soul melting. And I loved seeing Ali grow and expand and realize how confined she had been for too long. I loved the motherhood aspects as well as the acknowledgement of what she needed as a person to be the best Ali.

There were so many lovely moments throughout. It’s a fast read and an amazing one. I think this is my new favorite from Monaghan. It is a must for summer TBRs!!

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: low-moderate
Romance: fade to black
Content Warnings: loss of loved ones, depictions of grief, FMC is going through a divorce

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Book Review: The Deal (Off-Campus #1) by Elle Kennedy

August 16, 2024July 7, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: NA Sports Romance
Length: 360 pages
Author: Elle Kennedy
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: February 24th, 2015
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The international bestseller! A standalone novel* from New York Times and international bestselling author Elle Kennedy!

She’s about to make a deal with the college bad boy…

Hannah Wells has finally found someone who turns her on. But while she might be confident in every other area of her life, she’s carting around a full set of baggage when it comes to sex and seduction. If she wants to get her crush’s attention, she’ll have to step out of her comfort zone and make him take notice…even if it means tutoring the annoying, childish, cocky captain of the hockey team in exchange for a pretend date.

…and it’s going to be oh so good

All Garrett Graham has ever wanted is to play professional hockey after graduation, but his plummeting GPA is threatening everything he’s worked so hard for. If helping a sarcastic brunette make another guy jealous will help him secure his position on the team, he’s all for it. But when one unexpected kiss leads to the wildest sex of both their lives, it doesn’t take long for Garrett to realize that pretend isn’t going to cut it. Now he just has to convince Hannah that the man she wants looks a lot like him.

IT WAS ADDICTIVE.

I binged this sucker in under a day. And it DELIVERED. Definitely by no means a perfect book and I could easily pick out a few things I didn’t love, but it gets all the points for wrapping up my attention and delivering me Garret Graham.

Garrett Graham is going to be living rent free in my mind for the foreseeable future. I LOVED him. He was a nice balance of being the cocky all-star hockey player while also being respectful and protective of Hannah and her needs. The longer this book went on the more smitten I became. And that ending?? I’m a sucker for grand-ish gestures like that and I adored it.

I also loved Hannah. She was incredible and was such a light. I liked that she bantered so beautifully with Garrett. But was the shoulder to lean on and the support he needed through his issues too. I just loved them both.

The drama of this new adult romance + college life seemed a little far fetched at times, but lets face it. I didn’t really care. This was an escape. I’m obsessed.

Overall audience notes:

NA Contemporary Sports Romance
Language: strong
Romance: 5+ open; high explicit
Violence: moderate
Trigger/Content Warnings: multiple mentions of rape (recounted from Hannah), child and domestic abuse (physical and emotional, recounted by Garrett), slut-shaming, alcohol consumption, death of a parent (off page)

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Book Review: The Hollywood Assistant by May Cobb

August 15, 2024July 26, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Thriller
Length: 416 pages
Author: May Cobb
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: July 9th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Offered a dream job in Hollywood with a famous director and his actress wife, an insecure woman becomes their personal assistant where their secrets and lies place her in the crosshairs of a murder investigation.

Cassidy Foster is heartbroken, stuck in life, and getting a little too obsessed with plants. Then when a well-connected friend becomes sick of Cassidy’s moping and gets her a gig with famous Hollywood couple, Marisol and Nate Sterling, Cassidy jumps at the chance to move to sunny L.A. The Sterlings are warm and welcoming. A perfect couple. All Cassidy has to do is be available a few hours a week for errands. In return, she has access to luxury. Designer clothes. A sparkling pool. Great pay. When Nate takes interest in her, asking her to read scripts he’s written, Cassidy thinks this could be the key to kickstarting her writing dreams. As their business relationship grows, so does their attraction. Nate is sexy, talented, and Cassidy can’t believe her luck. Clearly, Marisol doesn’t know what she has. Maybe that’s why the two are always fighting when they think Cassidy isn’t around. But Cassidy learns she was hired for a different purpose. The Sterlings aren’t the perfect couple. Marisol isn’t the perfect wife. And when one of them is found dead, Cassidy becomes the perfect suspect.

Thank you to Berkley for the finished copy.

WELL.

Do thrillers and I not compute? I want to love them. For whatever reason I now struggle. I think the fact that every main character and the bigger side characters are all just people doing bad things, until one of them dies, and then it’s figuring out who finally snapped. While I love a formulaic romance, it’s not working for me in this genre.

I was only surprised by one thing and it was one of the twists towards the end. I thought it was a good moment and saved me from giving this two stars. I also would like to know why so much of this book was our FMC sneaking around watching people bang? It happens WAY too often and it was weird and awkward and cringy.

The audiobook was well done and I’m not upset I tried this author, I just also think this won’t be an author I pick up again.

Overall audience notes:

Thriller
Language: moderate
Romance: multiple brief voyeur type scenes
Violence: moderate
Content Warnings: murder, stalking, infidelity recounted

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Book Review: Will They or Won’t They by Ava Wilder

August 14, 2024July 2, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Ava Wilder
Publisher: Dell
Release Date: June 27th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

On screen, they’re in love. Off screen, they can’t stand each other. Two co-stars with a complex history reunite to film the final season of a beloved paranormal drama in this tension-filled will they won’t they romance from the author of How to Fake It in Hollywood.

Lilah Hunter and Shane McCarthy are madly in love— at least, their characters are. As the stars of the hit paranormal TV show Intangible, they spent years pining for each other on-screen… until Lilah ditched the show at the end of season five in hopes of becoming a film star. With no such luck, she’s back to film the much-hyped ninth and final season, in which their characters will get together at last.

But coming back means facing one of the biggest reasons she left: Shane. Ever since their secret behind-the-scenes fling imploded at the end of the first season, the two of them have despised each other.

Now back on set together for the first time in years, with the world’s eyes on them and their post-show careers on the line, they’ll have to grit their teeth and play nice. But under pressure to give Intangible’s fans the happy ending they’ve been waiting for, Lilah and Shane are forced to get closer than ever. And if they’re not careful, they just might get blindsided by one final twist: a real-life happy ending of their own.

LIKED IT.

I was up and down and all around on how I felt about this book. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Hollywood romances are a hard sell, but I enjoyed Wilder’s last book and wanted to give this a go.

For second chance romance I thought it was a good execution. I liked that therapy was a part of working through things and there were some choice forced proximity moments to remind Lilah and Shane just how much of a connection they still have. I really liked both characters. Even with flaws and mistakes, the relationship and growth felt true.

I absolutely loved the audiobook and dual narration. And I will keep my eye out for Wilder’s next book! If you enjoy Hollywood/Actor romances, definitely give this one a try!

Overall audience notes: