Book Review: Clean Out of Luck (Only Magic in the Building) by Carina Taylor

April 24, 2025April 4, 2025 GoodeyReads3 Comments

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance + Magical Realism
Length: 264 pages
Author: Carina Taylor
Publisher: Lit and Write LLC
Release Date: April 2nd, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Six months to find love. One overprotective menace (who’s way too handsome for his own good). And a building that might have the final say.

Scarlett Fernsby holds the world record for shortest relationships. Mostly thanks to overprotective parents and an interfering brother, every attempt at dating has been a disaster.

When her whole family is out of town for six glorious months, she knows it’s time to find love.

What she didn’t count on was Wade Hendrix. Her older brother’s best friend.

He’s even worse than her brother. He’s soon crashing every date of hers, and Scarlett’s beginning to wonder if he’s made it his life’s mission to annoy her.

Wade is a firefighter with a hero complex; she doesn’t want to be his pity problem. Especially when she’s starting to misinterpret those fiery looks of his.

Scarlett doesn’t know what to do with this newfound attraction to him, and though she’d like to scrub him out of her life, the building she lives in has a very different plan.

Wade Hendrix has a problem. His best friend asked him to keep an eye on his little sister. But Wade has trouble keeping his eyes off of her.

What starts out as a favor for his best friend soon turns into pure torture: watching Scarlett date other men right in front of him.

Wade would love to tell her how he feels—but he knows she doesn’t feel the same.

Or does she?

After an especially disastrous date that Wade ruins—and with the help of a very special mop that likes to grant wishes—Scarlett tells Wade that he owes her a goodnight kiss.

But one kiss isn’t enough. Wade wants forever. Now he just has to convince Scarlett that just maybe, love has been right in front of her all along.

SO FLIPPIN’ CUTE.

This book just made me happy. I had a giddy little smile on my face because I was smitten with Wade (who’s a firefighter, you can’t resist) and Scarlett. They had insane chemistry and the banter was incredible. It’s cheeky and humorous while also being laced with attraction and heat.

My one small thing is the plot lacked something more. It was basically Scarlett going on a bunch of dates…that’s it. Minus that, I was charmed. There’s many swoony moments and the kissing scenes will light your kindle on fire.

I also loved all of the friendship moments too. I loved the sense of kindness and helpfulness that was woven throughout. It’s a short read and will absolutely brighten your day!!

(And if you’re not a big magical realism fan this book of the series had the least amount so far, the *mop* in question was barely mentioned/used).

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary romance + magical realism
Language: none
Romance: kisses
Content warnings; mentions of a past car accident

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: Easy as Pie (Sweater Weather #5) by Carina Taylor

November 12, 2023October 1, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 243 pages
Author: Carina Taylor
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: September 28th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

My best friend is back in town—and I refuse to let my pesky attraction to him ruin our friendship.

Tripp Sharpe and I have been best friends since middle school. And when he moved away to go to medical school and become a doctor? We’ve kept up by texting, phone calls, and every funny reel we come across. I have one simple rule for protect our friendship at all costs—even from myself. But when Tripp moves back to town, I can’t ignore the attraction I feel. If it were anyone else, I’d just avoid him. But it’s hard to avoid a guy who thinks we’re still the same ol’ besties we’ve always been. Or are we? It turns out some things have changed for him too. Maybe I’m imagining the long stares, the lingering touches, or the flimsy excuses to spend time together, despite his ridiculous schedule. And when Tripp asks me to show him how I like to kiss? It seems like I’m not the only one blasting through our friendship rules…

FLIPPIN’ CUTE.

That’s the vibe of this whole book. It put a smile on my face and I adored Tripp and Hazel. There’s all of that easy banter that comes with having a best friend plus the slow realization that those best friend vibes have turned into something deeper.

The flirting was top notch and I loooved all of the micro tropes. Taking care of someone when they’re sick is always a romantic highlight. And the jealousy? I’m not sorry that those scenes turn me into a PUDDLE. THE TENSION. I loved the doctor and mechanic careers and how those played into the story. I loved the side characters and the absolute it’s always been you moments.

It’s a short, read in a day kind of book. It’s light and loving and easily one I would recommend for the fall.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: none
Romance: kisses
Trigger/Content Warnings: mentions of loss of a parent due to cancer, neglectful parents

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: Mr. HOA (Fake It #1) by Carina Taylor

January 23, 2023April 3, 2022 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 216 pages
Author: Carina Taylor
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: June 30th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Bane Fox knows exactly what he wants in life: financial stability.

He does not want to be homeless.
He does not want to be the president of an HOA.

It’s rather unfortunate he is both of those things.

Oh, and did I forget to mention he has a fake wife?
Yeah, that’s me.

MOSTLY CHARMING.

All signs pointed to this being my kind of read, fake marriage, forced proximity, and more. And I did enjoy a lot of it, just had some missed connections.

Bane and Nola were super sweet together. Definitely had the instant chemistry. The banter really held the torch between them. I loooove that they were stuck in a house together and the slow movements that brought them to a real relationship. While all of that was good, I also felt like I never fully got on board with them. Maybe a lack of more moments between them or a bit more angst, I’m not sure, but something was missing.

The plot was fun too! I liked the setup. Different scenarios made me laugh. Though, SO MANY of the neighbors really irked me. I did not like their antics and it seemed really forced.

Not my favorite of Taylor’s, hoping to try another at some point.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: none
Romance: kisses

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: World’s Worst Boyfriend (Fake It #3) by Carina Taylor

May 13, 2021 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary romance
Length: 263 pages
Author: Carina Taylor
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: April 7th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A romantic comedy adventure

Fletcher is the “World’s Worst Boyfriend” and I have the trophy to prove it—along with the consolation gift card I’ve already spent.

Entering him into the anonymous contest was cathartic and eye opening. It’s obvious I need to end this farce of a relationship… so, I do.

Too bad I’m still comparing every man I meet to Fletcher.
Too bad I can’t get him out of my mind—or my house, for that matter, with the way he’s always stopping by to ‘fix’ something.
And it’s especially too bad that I’m learning not everything is as it seems, and that maybe, just maybe, Fletcher had a good reason for his actions. (Although, there is no justification for the moldy laundry.)

What’s a girl to do? He says he’ll explain everything soon. But am I ready to face that explanation? What if he’s really not the worst—what if I am?

A romantic comedy adventure to make you laugh out loud!

A FUN ROM-COM.

Trope: disgruntled couple finding the love again.

Not usually my jam, but I really liked and appreciated the way that this one was accomplished! It’s a very quick read, I never felt like I wanted to put it down and enjoyed the humorous storytelling.

I like that this all felt legitmate. Saidy had concerns that I completely understood and I get why she was upset and frustrated. Since there is ALSO the point-of-view from Fletcher, you get his side of the story too. I love dual POV’s in romance books. It adds so much more.

This is a light-hearted book that had lots of good relationship nuggets. About not letting others dictate your relationship. Learning to listen and communicate. And what I love espcially is when the truth came out (and to me, it was a reasonable reason) neither party dragged it out. There was clearly love there and a commitment to their future.

It could have used maybe a bit of lengthening to deepen these characters and their arcs. I would have loved to have more of them on screen, with some angst. It felt that way towards the end, but not enough overall.

I like that the sub-storyline (which I’m not mentioning because it’s a minor spoiler) was wrapped up simply. Since the focus is on Saidy and Fletcher, I’m glad Fletcher’s side drama wasn’t a huge ordeal.

Overall audience notes: