Tag: closed door romance

Book Review: Mr. Gardiner and the Governess (Clairvoir Castle Romances #1) by Sally Britton

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Regency Romance
Length: 228 pages
Author: Sally Britton
Publisher: Pink Citrus Books
Release Date: November 25th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A duke’s governess, a gentleman entomologist, and a castle full of flowers is the perfect setting for a summer romance.
As the new governess to the duke’s family, Alice Sharpe must learn to control her impulsiveness. Employment in the duke’s household is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and could mean living in comfort the rest of her days. Unfortunately, her first encounter with the duke’s houseguest, a handsome gentleman obsessed with insects, proves she may not be ready for the austere role of governess.

Rupert Gardiner has one goal: to have his work in entomology and botany published by the Royal Society. He is fortunate that the Duke of Montfort, believes in him and enlists Rupert to make a record of all the flora on the castle grounds. But Miss Sharpe’s spontaneity and continual appearance during his work is an annoying distraction. At least, that’s what he tells himself.

While Alice struggles to adapt to her new role, constantly striving to go unnoticed while still being herself, she cannot help but admire Rupert’s intelligence and focus. The more often they fall in together, the more her admiration deepens. But could a gentleman such as he ever fall in love with the governess?

As the first stand-alone novel in a new series by author Sally Britton, this story begins the Clairvoir Castle romances. This is a light-hearted series set in the Regency period.

THIS WAS CUTE.

What a quick and delightful read I got to listen to today. I adored the fact that this had unique jobs for both characters! Well, I know governess is pretty common, but paired with an entomologist?? In the regency period? YES. I thought it was so fun (even if bug creep me out). There was a different flair to the whole story having both of them as part of the working class and it was probably my favorite aspect.

The romance was adorable. A very low angst, slow build full of good moments. It’s gentle for the soul and something I would easily recommend if you’re needing a pick me up. I loved watching Alice grow over the book and learn that she has value and deserves to be loved just as much as anyone else.

And can we talk about the Duke?? I know he was an older side character but it was my absolute favorite little tid bit that he was so incredibly kind!! He cared for his children, looked after the main characters and I thought that was a great addition to the story as a whole.

Overall audience notes:

  • Regency Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: none
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: attempted assault (very brief unwanted wrist grab), loss of parents (off page)

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Book Review: The Chemistry of Love by Sariah Wilson

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Rating: ★★★☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 347 pages
Author: Sariah Wilson
Publisher: Montlake
Release Date: February 1st, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

True love requires a little research and development in a funny, heart-racing romance by Sariah Wilson, the bestselling author of The Paid Bridesmaid.

How can Anna Ellis, a geeky, brilliant, and hopelessly smitten cosmetic chemist possibly win over Craig Kimball, the man of her dreams—who also happens to be her boss? The answer is Craig’s empathetic (and handsome) CEO half brother, Marco. The makeup mogul knows Craig for the ridiculously competitive rival he is. Whatever Marco has, Craig wants. That can be Anna, if she’s game to play.

All Anna and Marco have to do is pretend they’re falling in love and let the rumors begin. If the experiment in attraction works, a jealous Craig will swoop in and give Anna her happily ever after—if it weren’t for one hitch in the plan. There’s more to Marco than meets the eye. With every fake date, Anna’s feelings are starting to become dizzyingly real.

Blame it on chemistry. It’s unpredictable, exciting, and occasionally combustible. If Anna and Marco are really falling in love, who are they to argue with science?

SO CLOSE.

Okay. I legitimately loved a lot of this book. I read it in a day. Kept going back to it kind of enjoyed. I thought the premise was fun and unique. I liked the cosmetics and chemistry combination and it made for a lot of great dialogue and witty puns. The love interest, Marco? FIRE. He was a super swoony gem. Just the sweetest and I loved all of the fake dating aspects that arose too. And the kisses were perfectly fiery which sells me on a fantastic book too.

BUT BUT BUT

There’s only so much obliviousness I can take from a FMC. Her best friend having to tell her multiple times that Marco was in love with her, refusing to believe that Craig could be anything but a perfect angel and not ever learning how to accept a compliment bugged me. It was 90% through the book and all of this was still happening in one capacity or another.

If Anna had been even a little more self aware I would have bumped this higher.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: make-outs
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of parents (car wreck & complications from anorexia)

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Cait’s Greats 2023: Contemporary Romance

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I’m actually surprised by how many I loved this year from this genre. I’m notoriously cranky about reading them. BUT HEY. That means that these truly are top notch. I hope you find a book for your TBR next year.

Scroll down to see which books are open, closed or sweet romances!

Note: I didn’t count any rereads on this list.

adult Romance

Open Door:

  • Whispers of You
  • The Love Wager
  • Final Offer
  • Wing and a Miss
  • Echoes of You
  • Finding Gene Kelly
  • If Only You
  • Pier Pressure
  • The Seven Year Slip
  • A Little Magic
  • Things We Left Behind
  • Shadows of You
  • The Right Move
  • A World Without You
  • The Takedown
  • Last Call at the Local
  • The Catch

Closed Door

/Fade to Black:

  • Speechless
  • Desire or Defense
  • Practice Makes Perfect
  • The Blonde Identity
  • Flirtation or Faceoff
  • I Got You
  • The Last Love Note

Sweet:

  • Eloise and the Grump Next Door
  • Merritt and Her Childhood Crush
  • First to Fall
  • Royal Gone Rogue
  • Betting on the Boy Next Door
  • Juniper Bean Resorts to Murder
  • Kissing for Keeps
  • A Class of Her Own
  • How to Kiss Your Enemy
  • Hello Stranger
  • One Last Play
  • American Gauntlet
  • The Pocket Pair
  • The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley
  • Upping the Ante
  • How to Kiss a Movie Star
  • Just Don’t Fall
  • But He’s My Grumpy Neighbor
  • Can’t Help Falling
  • Heidi Lucy Loses Her Mind
  • Absolutely Not in Love
  • Cabin Crush
  • Emergency Contact
  • The One with the Kiss Cam
  • The Christmas Letters
  • The Duet
  • The Golden Goal

young adult/new adult Romance

Open Door:

  • The Deal

Closed Door/Fade to Black:

  • Tilly in Technicolor
  • Check & Mate
  • Even if it Breaks Your Heart

Sweet:

  • Running Barefoot
  • Safe Harbor
  • All Alone With You
  • The Getaway List

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ARC Book Review: Just Don’t Fall (Sweater Weather #1) by Emma St. Clair

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Sports Romance
Length: 300 pages
Author: Emma St. Clair
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: August 31st, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Before Logan Barnes was hockey’s hottest bad boy, he was my brother’s best friend … and my first crush. Oh, yeah–and the guy who ghosted me and broke my teenage heart.

Now Logan is back in Harvest Hollow, but not willingly. Recovering from an injury (and some bad press), he’s stuck playing for our minor league team. Which means I’ll be working with him almost daily. As the hockey team’s social media manager, it’s my job to wrangle all the guys into filming TikTok trending videos. But Logan doesn’t want to be wrangled. Turns out … neither does my heart. Because my old crush never died.

And when Logan becomes my accidental fake boyfriend, those old feelings flare hot enough to melt the ice. But this is all totally one-sided. Totally fake. Isn’t it? No matter what signals he seems to be giving me or how real things start to feel, I know Logan’s not home for good. I survived Logan leaving me once. But this time, I’m not so sure my heart will recover …

Just Don’t Fall is a small town, closed door hockey romcom with all the fake dating, brother’s best friend vibes. You’ll get smoking chemistry and characters to root for but NO spice. (Yes, you read that right–a low spice hockey romance.) Perfect for fans of sports romance who want a less heat.

Thank you to the author for an eARC.

THE SWOON.

I NEED MORE closed door sports romances. Oh my goodness this was so good. Binge in a day, go to bed too late, GOOD.

First and foremost I have got to say that I read the hottest no kissing scene I have ever [potentially] read. GOOD HEAVENS. The heat, I was BURNING (I feel like I need to reiterate again that there is no spice in here, Emma St. Clair does an incredible job of writing steam without it being spicy). ANYWHO. I loved it. The slow burn, fake dating romance had me begging for the real thing and it delivered.

I adored Logan and Parker. Both on their own and separate. I loved seeing the character progression for Logan. He’s rough and protective, but also comes to a lot of realizations about his life and how he wants to move forward. And Parker is a beautifully strong woman who knows how she wants her life to look. I loved that she was flexible without compromising. And them together just brought all of the sparks and chemistry of an old unrequited crush.

There’s definitely some hockey aspects, some goofy TikTok dances and a grand gesture [or two]. It is light, filled with depth, will make you smile and bring all of the fall vibes.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Sports Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: strained parental relationships

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