Tag: berkley romance

Book Review: Technically Yours by Denise Williams

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Denise Williams
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: December 5th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Seven years ago, he fell in love with a stranger he couldn’t have—today, she’s back in his life and the sparks between them threaten to set her career on fire.

Pearl Harris has learned the hard way to be careful in work and in love. When she is appointed acting director of OurCode, a nonprofit aimed at inspiring high schoolers to code, she has a chance to make lasting change for the organization, but a scandal has put their reputation at risk. Further complicating matters, Pearl didn’t expect the one man she hasn’t stopped thinking about in seven years to be the newest member of her board of directors.

Cord Matthews fell for Pearl when they met in an elevator seven years ago. She’s just his type: smart, capable, and makes him laugh, but when she broke his heart, he decided love wasn’t for him. After five years with no contact, their connection is immediate despite the many roadblocks in their way and Cord must consider breaking his ban on serious relationships. But going public with a romance between them might derail Pearl’s career and the progress she’s made at OurCode. 

Pearl and Cord both are hesitant to trust their feelings and take a risk as they grow closer, but it becomes impossible to keep ignoring the electricity between them. Cord is a skilled programmer, but a workplace romance might spell disaster for both of them, and love isn’t easily debugged.

NOT MY FAVORITE.

I kept wanting to love this book and then I kept struggling with the FMC. My biggest hold up is this idea that a woman can’t handle being in a relationship (that she wants to be in) AND have the career she want too. So when the inevitable third act breakup happens I get cranky. Are you truly not able to balance both things? It’s okay to be in love!

Cord was a golden retriever gem though. I loved his unwavering support and the fact that he was just gone for Pearl from the get go. I thought the flashback chapters did enhance the story and we got to see this fated side of their romance. Though I could have done without the benefits vibe for most of the book.

It’s a very quick read, there’s some good themes (and as mentioned, frustrating ones). Not my favorite book by this author, but I am hopeful about the next!

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: 3-4 open door
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: brief mentions of pregnancy

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Book Review: Better Hate than Never (The Wilmot Sisters #2) by Chloe Liese

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Rating: ★★★★
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 360 pages
Author: Chloe Liese
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: October 10th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Childhood enemies discover the fine line between love and loathing in this heartfelt reimagining of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.

Katerina Wilmot and Christopher Petruchio shared backyards as kids, but as adults they won’t even share the same hemisphere. That is, until Kate makes a rare visit home, and their fiery animosity rekindles into a raging inferno.

Despite their friends’ and families’ pleas for peace, Christopher is unconvinced Kate would willingly douse the flames of their enmity. But when a drunken Kate confesses she’s only been hostile because she thought he hated her, Christopher vows to make peace with Kate once and for all. Tempting as it is to be swept away by her nemesis-turned-gentleman, Kate isn’t sure she can trust his charming good-guy act.

When Christopher’s persistence and Kate’s curiosity lead to an impassioned kiss, they realize “peace” is the last thing that will ever be possible between them. As desire gives way to deeper feelings, Kate and Christopher must decide if it’s truly better to hate than to never risk their hearts—or if they already gave them away long ago.

I THINK I LIKED THIS.

I will say what I loved the most in this would be the mental health rep, and the migraine rep. Those both stood out to me as well written and I deeply connected with many facets of that storyline.

And I will say, this was absolutely enemies to lovers. THE HATE Y’ALL. But alongside that was some great angst and tension. I loved the dancing and paint ball and taking care of each other when sick. Many delicious moments that ramped things up.

I struggled in the second half where I felt the plot was kind of dropped to the side and the spice took over the story. It went from 0-100 real fast and then never stopped.

Honestly though, I did enjoy this. It had a fantastic fall atmosphere and all of these soft nuggets that I love about Chloe Liese’s storytelling.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: strong
  • Romance: 4+ open
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: chronic migraines, death of parents recounted

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Book Review: Guy’s Girl by Emma Noyes

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Emma Noyes
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: October 24th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The boy who couldn’t love and the girl who wouldn’t.

Ginny Murphy is a total guy’s girl. She’s always found friendships with boys easier to form and keep drama-free – as long as they don’t fall for her, and she doesn’t fall for them. She and her best guy friends have stuck to that. But then she meets Adrian Silvas, the only one who’s ever made her crave more, and Ginny begins to question her own rules.

Piece by piece, Ginny and Adrian begin to fall into something intoxicating, something dangerous. Ginny threatens to destroy the belief Adrian’s held ever since witnessing his own mother’s heartbreak: that love isn’t worth the risk. For Ginny, the stakes could be even higher. Letting Adrian get close could mean exposing a secret she’s long protected: her disordered eating.

Ginny isn’t looking to be saved by someone. But maybe she and Adrian can help each other – if they don’t destroy each other first.

Heartfelt and evocative, Guy’s Girl is a powerful story about true love, self-love, and growing up.

THIS BOOK.

Oh my gosh this book about took me out. It was an very hard book to read, and a very good book too. The eating disorders are a present theme throughout and are written in the rawest form. It pulled at every muscle in my soul and had me teary eyed at the gym finishing it.

I loved the romance. It also about broke me too. The struggle and push and pull between Ginny and Adrian was dramatic chaos in the best ways. I was anxiously waiting for them to find each other again and again and again.

There are so many hard hitting moments about not feeling good enough, the journey to finding your worth and being healthy too. I appreciate the reality of the roller coaster of a journey. Many things aren’t linear and this was balanced beautifully. Gosh I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary + Romance
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: 2-3 brief open door
  • Content Warnings: graphic depictions of multiple eating disorders, grief and depression

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Book Review: Mrs. Nash’s Ashes by Sarah Adler

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Rating: ★★★★☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 352 pages
Author: Sarah Adler
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: May 23rd, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A starry-eyed romantic, a cynical writer, and (the ashes of) an elderly woman take the road trip of a lifetime that just might upend everything they believe about true love.

Millicent Watts-Cohen is on a mission. When she promised her elderly best friend that she’d reunite her with the woman she fell in love with nearly eighty years ago, she never imagined that would mean traveling from D.C. to Key West with three tablespoons of Mrs. Nash’s remains in her backpack. But Millie’s determined to give her friend a symbolic happily-ever-after, before it’s (really) too late—and hopefully reassure herself of love’s lasting power in the process.

She just didn’t expect to have a living travel companion.

After a computer glitch grounds flights, Millie is forced to catch a ride with Hollis Hollenbeck, an also-stranded acquaintance from her ex’s MFA program. Hollis certainly does not believe in happily-ever-afters—symbolic or otherwise—and makes it quite clear that he can’t fathom Millie’s plan ending well for anyone.

But as they contend with peculiar bed-and-breakfasts, unusual small-town festivals, and deer with a death wish, Millie begins to suspect that her reluctant travel partner might enjoy her company more than he lets on. Because for someone who supposedly doesn’t share her views on romance, Hollis sure is becoming invested in the success of their journey. And the closer they get to their destination, the more Millie has to admit that maybe this trip isn’t just about Mrs. Nash’s love story after all—maybe it’s also about her own.

THIS WAS SO GOOD.

I didn’t really have plans to pick this up and a friend’s raving review convinced me to give it a go. AND I LOVED IT. I’m so happy I read it!

THE EMOTIONS. I felt them all throughout. The flashback chapters hurt my heart and when a reveal happened that I wasn’t expecting I was almost in tears. The writing just brought out all of the feels.

The romantic banter was amazing. I was laughing and swooning Hollis and Millie. They really had this enigmatic chemistry and the road trip antics were well placed. I’m not usually a road trip fan, but I love the way this story worked in its favor. I do think the physicality of their relationship surpassed what I love seeing, that’s a me thing though.

It’s a wonderful audio book. A deeply heartfelt story and I was in love from all sides.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: 3-4 open door
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a loved one

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