Book Review: The Neighbor Favor by Kristina Forest

April 17, 2024March 27, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 416 pages
Author: Kristina Forest
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: February 28th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In this heart-fluttering romance by Kristina Forest, a shy bookworm enlists her charming neighbor to help her score a date, not knowing he’s the obscure author she’s been corresponding with.

Shy, bookish, and admittedly awkward, Lily Greene has always felt inadequate compared to the rest of her accomplished family, who strive for Black excellence. She dreams of becoming an editor of children’s books but has been frustratingly stuck in the nonfiction division for years without a promotion in sight. Lily finds escapism in her correspondences with her favorite fantasy author, and what begins as two lonely people connecting over e-mail turns into a tentative friendship and possibly something else Lily won’t let herself entertain–until he ghosts her.

Months later, still crushed but determined to take charge of her life, Lily seeks a date to her sister’s wedding. And the perfect person to help her is Nick Brown, her charming, attractive new neighbor, whom she feels drawn to for unexplainable reasons. Little does she know that Nick is an author–her favorite fantasy author.

Nick, who has his reasons for using a pen name and for pushing people away, soon realizes that the beautiful, quiet woman from down the hall is the same Lily he fell in love with over e-mail months ago. Unwilling to complicate things even more between them, he agrees to set her up with someone else, though this simple favor between two neighbors is anything but–not when he can’t get her off his mind.

MEH.

This got off to a slow start for me. I usually love epistolary romances but these emails went on a bit long for me and the abrupt ending made my head tilt. When Lily and Nick run into each other again I was hoping to vibe off of their chemistry, and I’m not sure that I ever did.

There’s some cute scenes and it’s a good slow burn. I liked Nick helping Lily find a date and the fun things they went and did together to. Yet Nick, CONTINUALLY kept pushing Lily away and I got CONTINUALLY frustrated that it kept happening for the sake of stretching out the plot.

I did like the meddling sisters and their books are something I’m somewhat interested in giving a go (I’m hopeful we get those stories too!). I loved that Lily worked in publishing and enjoyed seeing her pursuits there and finding the niche she could settle in long term.

Kind of meh for me, but I do see that it could be a hit for others.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Lanugage: some strong
Romance: a couple open door; moderate explicit
Violence: low
Trigger/Content Warnings: cheating (side character), alcoholism mentioned, car accident mentioned

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ARC Book Review: Happily Never After by Lynn Painter

March 14, 2024March 13, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 304 pages
Author: Lynn Painter
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: March 12th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Their name? The objectors.

Their job? To break off weddings as hired.

Their dilemma? They might just be in love with each other.

When Sophie Steinbeck finds out just before her nuptials that her fiancé has cheated yet again, she desperately wants to call it off. But because her future father-in-law is her dad’s cutthroat boss, she doesn’t want to be the one to do it. Her savior comes in the form of a professional objector, whose purpose is to show up at weddings and proclaim the words no couple (usually) wants to hear at their ceremony: “I object!”

During anti-wedding festivities that night, Sophie learns more about Max the Objector’s job. It makes perfect sense to her: he saves people from wasting their lives, from hurting each other. He’s a modern-day hero. And Sophie wants in.

The two love cynics start working together, going from wedding to wedding, and Sophie’s having more fun than she’s had in ages. She looks forward to every nerve-racking ceremony saving the lovesick souls of the betrothed masses. As Sophie and Max spend more time together, however, they realize that their physical chemistry is off the charts, leading them to dabble in a little hookup session or two—but it’s totally fine, because they definitely do not have feelings for each other. Love doesn’t exist, after all.

And then everything changes. A groom-to-be hires Sophie to object, but his fiancée is the woman who broke Max’s heart. As Max wrestles with whether he can be a party to his ex’s getting hurt, Sophie grapples with the sudden realization that she may have fallen hard for her partner in crime.

Thank you to Berkley Romance for the eARC.

HILARIOUS.

This book made me LAUGH and I love when that happens. Lynn Painter hands down writes some of the BEST banter and that was still prevalent here. I really loved the chemistry between Max and Sophie. And the shenanigans they found themselves wrapped up in were charming.

I did think this book had a LOT of language (especially for it being only 300 pages). It started to take me out of the story, as did the extra romance scenes towards the end. I would have rather seen more relationship development other than physical because Sophie made me want to shake her a few times.

I love how fast these books are and that they bring joy to my day. I thought the objector idea was hilarious. And I adored Sophie’s roommates. They were the perfect snarky addition. There were a lot of fantastic swoony moments and the kissing scenes were some of my favorite. There was plenty of goodness here and I will keep waiting to hear about Painter’s next book.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: very high
Romance: 3+ open door; moderate explicit
Trigger/Content Warnings: cheating

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ARC Book Review: The Catch (The Influencer #3) by Amy Lea

February 13, 2024February 13, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 416 pages
Author: Amy Lea
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: February 13th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A grumpy lobster fisherman tosses a fashion influencer’s impeccably curated life overboard in the next romantic comedy from international bestselling author Amy Lea.

In a last-ditch effort to rescue her brand from the brink of irrelevance, Boston fashion influencer Melanie Karlsen finds herself in a rural fishing village on the east coast of Canada. The only thing scarier than nature itself? The burly and bearded bed-and-breakfast owner and fisherman, Evan Whaler—who single-handedly disproves the theory that Canadians are “nice.”

After a boating accident lands Evan unconscious in the hospital, Mel is mistaken for his fiancée by his welcoming yet quirky family, who are embroiled in a long-standing feud over the B&B. In a bold attempt to mend family fences, Mel agrees to fake their engagement for one week in exchange for Evan’s help with her social media content.

Amid long hikes and campfire chats, reeling in their budding feelings for each other proves more difficult by the day. But is Mel willing to sacrifice her picture-perfect life in the city for a chance at a true, unfiltered love in the wild?

Thank you to Berkley Romance for the eARC.

NEW FAV.

Officially my new favorite book by Amy Lea. What a gem.

I was iffy initially on Mel being a fashion/lifestyle influencer. But I really liked how this was approached and it wasn’t heavy handed. Nor did she act ridiculous about getting content and such. I loved watching Mel realize disconnecting from her phone was doing her soul a lot of good.

And Evan was hella swoony. I adored him. That grumpy fisherman has all of my attention. I loved the opposites attract and the slow burn that ignited between them. I was smitten with all of the little smiles and looks and cute things Evan would do to show he cared and how Melanie learned to being open to and reciprocating those feelings and intentions.

The third act could be a little anger inducing but the longer I sat on it the longer I felt it fit the story. It wasn’t an overblown miscommunication. It was an honest to goodness adjustment that needed some thought before big changes. And I liked that both Evan and Mel had the time to process those ideas.

There were major The Proposal and While You Were Sleeping vibes. I also think if you enjoyed The Simple Wild this would be a winner too. A great fish out of water, broken down inn, rediscovering yourself, spicy read.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: some strong
Romance: 3-4 open door
Violence: low
Trigger/Content Warnings: recounting loss of loved ones, near drowning

AUTHOR BIO:

Amy Lea is the international bestselling author of romantic comedies for adults and teens, including Mindy Kaling’s Book Studio selection Woke Up Like This. Her acclaimed works have been featured in USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, Cosmopolitan, Elle Magazine and has been long listed as a CBC Canada Reads finalist. They have also been optioned for film and sold to over a dozen foreign territories.

When Amy is not writing, she can be found fan-girling over other romance books on Instagram (@amyleabooks), eating potato chips with reckless abandon, and snuggling with her husband and two goldendoodles in Ottawa, Canada.

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ARC Book Review: The Breakup Tour by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

January 23, 2024December 8, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 352 pages
Author: Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: January 23rd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A rising-star musician has a second chance at love with an old flame she remembers all too well in this swoony romance from the acclaimed authors of The Roughest Draft .

Riley Wynn went from a promising singer-songwriter to a superstar overnight, thanks to her breakup song concept album and its unforgettable lead single. When Riley’s ex-husband claims the hit song is about him, she does something she hasn’t in ten years and calls Max Harcourt, her college boyfriend and the real inspiration for the song of the summer.

Max hasn’t spoken to Riley since their relationship ended. He’s content with managing the retirement home his family owns, but it’s not the life he dreamed of filled with music. When Riley asks him to go public as her songwriting muse, he agrees on one he’ll join her in her band on tour.

As they perform across the country, Max and Riley start to realize that while they hit some wrong notes in the past, their future could hold incredible things. And their rekindled relationship will either last forever or go down in flames.

Thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for the eARC.

THERE WAS A LOT OF MUSIC.

And I totally get it, that’s the theme of the whole book. But dare I say, I felt like there were too many musically related things? I felt like every page was dedicated back to some song lyric Riley had written or how the day felt lyrical or about every little thing involving the tour. The whole vibe SCREAMED at you (and maybe that’s your thing??).

There were some solid second chance romance things though. I liked the bit of push and pull and there were tension filled moments too. I could truly feel the bond between them and that we’ll find out way back to each other-ness that I adored. Max was a lovable quiet guy who finally took the big shots he deserved.

Riley was a bit up and down for me. She frustrated me and I also saw her thought process. I think I was hoping for a turnaround about song writing in this book and not just one brief moment towards the end. The grand gesture deserves a star on its own though. I thought it was perfect, well placed and balanced for the story. Loved that so much!

Overall audience notes: