Tag: contemporary romance

ARC Book Review: Well Traveled (Well Met #4) by Jen DeLuca

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Rating: ★★★★☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 336 pages
Author: Jen DeLuca
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: December 6th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The Renaissance Faire is on the move, and Lulu and Dex are along for the ride, in the next utterly charming rom-com from Jen DeLuca.

A high-powered attorney from a success-oriented family, Louisa “Lulu” Malone lives to work, and everything seems to be going right, until the day she realizes it’s all wrong. Lulu’s cousin Mitch introduced her to the world of Renaissance Faires, and when she spies one at a time just when she needs an escape, she leaps into the welcoming environment of turkey legs, taverns, and tarot readers. The only drawback? Dex MacLean: a guitarist with a killer smile, the Casanova of the Faire… and her traveling companion for the summer.

Dex has never had to work for much in his life, and why should he? Touring with his brothers as The Dueling Kilts is going great, and he always finds a woman at every Faire. But when Lulu proves indifferent to his many plaid charms and a shake-up threatens the fate of the band, Dex must confront something he never has before: his future.

Forced to spend days and nights together on the road, Lulu’s interest in the kilted bad boy grows as he shows her a side of himself no one else has seen. The stresses of her old lifestyle fade away as she learns to trust her intuition and follow her heart instead of her head. But when her time on the road is over, will Lulu go with her gut, or are she and Dex destined for separate paths?

Thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for an eARC.

ADORED.

Good heavens, I LOVE THIS SERIES. I flipped out when my ARC approval came in and it did NOT disappoint.

I looooooved Dex. He was a rake with a soft side. There were perfectly well written moments of the way he looks at Lulu. The many times he leaned in to give her little forehead/hair kisses. How he pulled her into him anytime Lulu was near just to have her close. I CAN’T HANDLE THESE SITUATIONS. I am a puddle. It was the SWEETEST. What really makes a romance for me are all of those subtle moments. The moments where a character is saying you’re mine, I’m yours in that tender, loving way that encompasses all they’re feeling.

My tiny tidbit would be that there wasn’t very much romantic development until the halfway point. I would have even been cool with some good flirting and banter. But I gotta give it up to that second half. It really sealed the deal on this relationship.

I also really liked the journey that Louisa went on. From a mental breakdown at a Ren Faire, to finding a balance between work she was actually happy about doing and life around her, it was everything I love in a female main character. Going off the grid was a fun concept and I love how she just went for it. Lulu was all in for her summer fling and everything it came with.

I’m realizing I could just keep going with everything I loved, so I’ll say it again now, READ THIS SERIES [note*: not necessary to read the others, but it does help you get good background because all previous couples make an appearance here!!]. This book had it all and gave me the best feelings.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: 1-2 open door; low explicit, light innuendo
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: anxiety depiction

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ARC Book Review: Cabin Mate (Under Kansas Skies #4) by Leah Brunner

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Holiday Romance
Length: 251 pages
Author: Leah Brunner
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: December 1st, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

When the woman of my dreams finally becomes available, all bets are off.

I lost a bet to my older brother. My evil, life-ruining older brother. (Okay, maybe that’s a little over-dramatic).

Now I can’t go on a date for FOUR months. I can’t even touch a woman. No hand holding. Forget kissing.

I’m walking the straight and narrow (AKA dateless and lonely) just fine. Until my best friend (the woman I’ve been pining over since college) gets her heart broken.

How can I say no to those big, gorgeous blue eyes when she asks me to fly to Vermont to attend her sister’s wedding with her? As her fake boyfriend.

Yeah, all bets are off. (Don’t tell my brother).

It’ll be easy… pretend to be my best friend’s boyfriend without holding her, kissing her, or falling even more in love than I already am.

But when we end up having to share a room at her family’s cabin, the line between real and fake becomes very blurry…and very tempting.

This closed-door romantic comedy contains mild language and references to alcohol. This is book four in the Under Kansas Skies Series, and will be most enjoyed if read after Check Mate.

Thank you to the author for an eARC.

ADORED THIS.

Do you ever spend a whole day reading a book and just love it? That’s how I felt here. This was a fast paced read filled with lots of friends to lovers angst that I have been waiting to read for months. I loved Brooks and Molly’s story. They ended this series beautifully!

I loved Molly’s character arc. I tend to struggle with ridiculously dramatic, wealthy type family backgrounds and while yes I did have to push past that a time or two, I thought overall it was written well. Molly learned to find her own ground and when she stood up for herself (and Brooks) it made me want to give her a high five. YAY for boundaries!

Brooks is the goofy guy we’ve seen across all of these books and I enjoyed getting his POV this go around. His personality is so fun and let me tell y’all I was straight swooning at all of the little things he did for Molly. I love little gestures and they’re plenty here to melt your heart.

The faking dating, one bed, and friends to lovers tropes were all highlighted well. I did notice a few repetitive inner monologue scenarios, but in the end. I truly loved reading this and it was the best book for me to pick up.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Holiday Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Trigger/Content Warning: fatphobia, discussion of weight and food restriction, emotionally manipulative parent

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Book Review: How the Grump Saved Christmas by Claire Kingsley

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Holiday Romance
Length: 339 pages
Author: Claire Kingsley
Publisher: Always Have, LLC
Release Date: November 17th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Hardworking Isabelle Cook has a serious problem. Her family farm, site of Tilikum’s Christmas Village, is in trouble. Big trouble. And worst of all? The man trying to buy it is none other than the grumpiest, grinchiest man of them all—Elias Stoneheart.

That’s a big nope. She’s not letting him get involved. Not with his heart made of coal.

Elias Stoneheart is in the business of making money, not friends. Especially when his boss is promising a long-awaited promotion. All he has to do is convince one struggling family to sell their farm.

The problem? It’s Cook Family Farm. And Isabelle Cook is his ex.

He might have history with Isabelle, but this is just business. A Christmas-loving farm girl is not going to come between him and his ambition.

And Christmas? He hates it. Christmas Village needs to go.

But as Elias spends time in the small town, holiday spirit—and Isabelle—get under his skin. And she might be the only one who can melt the ice around his heart.

Author’s Note: a sassy farm girl takes on a grumpy businessman in this stand-alone, snowy, small-town Christmas romance. Saucy banter, a guard donkey, plenty of holiday cheer, and a heartwarming happily ever after that will make you believe in the magic of Christmas.

WORKED FOR ME.

I knowww some people will find this too Hallmark adjacent for them, but it hit all the right notes for me so I am here for it and here to recommend this one for romance lovers who want a dash of spice alongside their Hallmark movies [books].

We’ve got the small town, the millionaire coming home to see an old flame, a cute Christmas farm that needs saving and more. I enjoyed all of these tidbits and how the author put them together. Elias is written as a really great grump. I felt his Grinchyness and you could easily see the slow thawing of his heart.

I didn’t love how Elias and Isabelle re-started their relationship (benefits moments are never my thing) buuut I do admit that this worked out well enough that I had few complaints past that. They actually worked on their relationship and opened up about the past. There were a few key flashback moments that helped the details connect too.

Romantic and simple, with a level of spice that I prefer, definitely pick this one up for the season!

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Holiday Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: 2-3 brief open; low explicit
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: miscarriage (recounted briefly)

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Book Review: The Twelve Dogs of Christmas (Pine Hollow #1) by Lizzie Shane

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Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 357 pages
Author: Lizzie Shane
Publisher: Forever
Release Date: September 29th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A delightful holiday romance about a small-town single dad and an animal rescue owner as they try to find forever homes for a dozen lovable pups before Christmas.

Pine Hollow has everything Ally Gilmore could wish for in a holiday break: gently falling snow in a charming small town and time with her family. Then she learns some Grinch has pulled the funding for her family’s rescue shelter, and now she has only four weeks to find new homes for a dozen dogs! But when she confronts her Scroogey councilman nemesis, Ally finds he’s far more reasonable — and handsome — than she ever expected.

As the guardian of his dog-obsessed ten-year-old niece, Ben West doesn’t have time to build a cuddly reputation. But he does feel guilty about the shelter closing. So he proposes a truce with Ally, agreeing to help her adopt out the pups. As the two spend more time together, the town’s gossip is spreading faster than Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve. And soon Ben is hoping he can convince Ally that Pine Hollow is her home for the holidays… and the whole year through.

DID I JUST READ A HALLMARK MOVIE?

The answer to that question would be a resounding YES. That was a positive and a negative for me.

Positive wise it was exactly what I expected and knew going in would bring out all of the Christmas romance vibes. I did like the main characters. There’s even a really cute niece involved. Not to mention, there really were A LOT of dogs and I loved meeting all of them too. I adore a small town set-up and Pine Hollow was what I was looking for.

On the flip side, being Hallmark-esque meant there’d be some come on now issues. One of those being how clueless our love interest was. Ben could not see past his nose about too many things and I wish that hadn’t dragged out so long. JUST KISS HER ALREADY. And the drama was ramped up towards the end when it could have ridden off into the sunset.

The cute pups made me smile and I did enjoy how fast I flew through it. Perfect for the holiday season, and a sweet romance to boot.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: orphaned child (parents died off page, recounted), single guardian

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