Tag: contemporary romance

ARC Book Review: A Very Merry Bromance (Bromance Book Club #5) by Lyssa Kay Adams

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Rating: ★★★☆
Audience: Contemporary Holiday Romance
Length: 336 pages
Author: Lyssa Kay Adams
Publisher: Berkley Romance
Release Date: November 1st, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Tis the season for a Bromance Book Club matchmaking mission! This time, they’re pulling out the mistletoe for everyone’s favorite country music star, Colton, and his second chance at love.

Country music’s golden boy Colton Wheeler felt the most perfect harmony when he was with Gretchen Winthrop. But for her, it was a love him and leave him situation. A year later, Colton is struggling to push his music forward in a new direction. If it weren’t about to be the most magical time of year and the support of the Bromance Book Club, he’d be wallowing in self-pity.

It’s hard for immigration attorney Gretchen not to feel a little Scrooge-ish about the excess of Christmas when her clients are scrambling to afford their rent. So when her estranged, wealthy family reaches out with an offer that will allow her to better serve the community, she’s unable to say no. She just needs to convince Colton to be the new face of her family’s whiskey brand. No big deal…

Colton agrees to consider Gretchen’s offer in exchange for three dates before Christmas. With the help of the Bromance Book Club, Colton throws himself into the task of proving to her there’s a spark between them. But Gretchen and Colton will both need to overcome the ghosts of Christmas past to build a future together.

Thank you to PRHAudio for the gifted audiobook.

WISHING FOR MORE.

This is the first in the Bromance series that didn’t quite hit for me. And it’s a Christmas book?! I was hoping for a home run.

I did adore Colton. He was the perfect sunshine MMC and had me straight SWOONING. I loved many of his sentiments towards Gretchen and trying to help her see the greener side of the life she’s been through. The holiday vibe isn’t as heavy here, but is present enough for me to say it is good for the season.

My personality clash with Gretchen was the downfall. I struggled with some repetitive notions that constantly spiraled to the same basic story. I could understand why she was making those decisions but it got old and I got frustrated.

I did adore all of the cameos from the Book Club. I love how tight know and found family they all are with each other. It’s the kind of group I’d love to be apart of too.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Holiday Romance
  • Language: strong
  • Romance: open door; med-high explicit
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: emotionally absent parents, physical altercation, sibling abuse

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ARC Book Review: Faking Christmas (Christmas Escape #3) by Cindy Steel

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Holiday Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Cindy Steel
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: November 2nd, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

One little white lie.

That’s all it took. Now I’m suddenly having to fake-date my work nemesis to get me through a week at a Vermont Christmas lodge with my family.

The problem? I can’t stand Miles Taylor. Not only that, but I don’t date people I work with. But I can handle it. I’ve had practice faking my emotions for years. So it shouldn’t matter that Miles never lets me get away with anything. And that he happens to boil my blood hotter than a steaming pot of wassail. So when he throws his annoying grin my way or forces me on dates he knows I’ll hate, I’ll just grit my teeth and smile.

Or maybe not. Did I mention that Miles is the one person in the world I can’t seem to fool?

When my emotions begin feeling less like a sham and his arms feel way too comfortable, it makes me think that maybe Miles had a plan of his own. And I’m starting to like it a lot more than mine.

★ Faking Christmas is a sweet, closed door romance full of sizzle, witty banter, and chemistry, but without explicit content.

Thank you to the author for an eARC.

NEW CHRISTMAS ROMANCE FAVORITE.

I am a flat puddle of emotions over this book. It is a new favorite and I want to read it every Christmas now. I AM IN MY FEELS. I don’t think I’ll be able to accurately convey how much I adored it so please GO READ IT.

ALL OF THE KISSING. There was so much and I loved every single moment. Ohhhmygosh Cindy Steel knows how to bring the heat without bringing the spice and it is impeccable. Miles and Olive were perfect for each other. It was always you is strong in this book.

The flirting and banter was flawless. I loved that Miles was relentless and so dang kind is in his pursuit of the fake dating scheme. All of the Christmas activities were wonderful and I now would like to plan an immediate trip to Vermont for the winter break.

There was a natural flow to everything happening and the third act was handled AMAZINGLY. It was charming and had me just as giddy as Miles and Olive.

I also loved the discussions about grief and valid emotions. Everything was handled beautifully and I got misty eyed with the impact of the story.

I am in bookish heaven over this book y’all. It is a MUST read for anyone needed something to bring them joy this holiday season.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Holiday Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: depictions of grief, loss of a girlfriend (recounted), loss of a parent (from cancer, recounted), snowmobile crash

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Book Review: Kiss the Girl by Melanie Jacobson

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Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Holiday Romance
Length: 277 pages
Author: Melanie Jacobson
Publisher: Four Petal Press
Release Date: November 3rd, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Not even the hottest teacher in town can convince Grace to date a small-town guy.

At 26, Grace Winters must her promising career on pause to run her dad’s hardware store. She can’t wait to leave Creekville again, and she’ll keep everyone at arm’s length until she’s out of there. That especially means the new high school coach…no matter how cute and charming he is.

Noah Redmond knows Creekville is just a detour for Grace, the funniest—and sexiest—woman he’s ever met. He even joins forces with her to defeat the matchmaking schemes of . . . well, just about everyone trying to get them together. But when he and Grace must also tackle building a Christmas booth for the town’s biggest event of the year, he sees his chance for escape from the friend zone.

When Grace agrees to a fake relationship to convince Noah’s boss he’s ready for a promotion, the plan works perfectly until they share an unplanned kiss that changes everything. With the lines between friendship and romance blurred, is their undeniable chemistry worth risking their friendship when their future is anything but certain?

NOT MY FAVORITE.

I really wanted to love this, and I thought I might, but many things held me back.

What I did like was the fake dating trope. Always a good one that guarantees some forced proximity moments I’m not mad about. There’s a lot of holiday spirit to go around here and those vibes were alive and well too.

I almost hated the way the male love interest, Noah, was written. I cringed multiple times at how he described Grace and would have DNF based off of that alone if I wasn’t finishing this for a buddy read. Noah had a few good, sweet moments, but holy cow, he needed a major rewrite.

Grace was cool! I liked that she worked as an engineer and was well versed in wood working and other hardware based activities. She’s a pretty well rounded character and I enjoyed her much more than Noah.

There’s sweet moments between the two and some good swoony kisses. I liked how things worked out in the end for them. The plot made things way too easy at times and random scenes truly felt like filler rather than part of the flow of the story. Not to mention, Grace’s Mom and Sister drove me up a wall. Another holiday let down for me.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Holiday Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: make-outs
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: Noah is an orphan, loved one with a terminal illness

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ARC Book Review: The Last Encore (It’s Always Been You #1) by Elodie Colliard

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Rating: ★★★☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 366 pages
Author: Elodie Colliard
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: November 1st, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

What if love is the key?

Avery Clark needs a break. Between her photography business not doing as well as she’d hoped and incessant family drama that does nothing to ease her spiking anxiety, she needs something to go her way.

And that was even before her ex-best friend, and talented pianist, Joshua Harding, ran into her during an event in Toronto, after he left her suddenly ten years ago, breaking the only promise he had swore he wouldn’t.

When an opportunity to grow her business falls into her lap, Avery decides to put her doubts and resentment aside and agrees to photograph Josh’s sister’s upcoming wedding.

As they spend more and more time together, rediscovering each other and the people they turned into, Avery realizes that maybe, the spark she felt ten years ago wasn’t just a fleeting teenage phase.

But the past is never far away, and an unknown future is terrifying. Could Avery take that leap of faith?

There is nothing that screams romance more than two childhood best friends who haven’t spoken in years and suddenly bump into each other ten years later with all the possible longing, aches and hurt this time apart created. Filled with Canadian vibes, The Last Encore is a heartwarming, friends-to-lovers and steamy slow-burn romance that explores the themes of friendships, woman empowerment, identity, loss and learning to trust yourself.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC.

EBB AND FLOW.

I wish I had loved this a little more but there was a lot of goodness within this story too. Let’s get into it.

Romance wise. I thought Avery should have been upset much longer than a few hours when she saw Josh again? It went from I can’t believe he left me, to are we about to kiss? waaaaay too fast. It made me take a lot longer to catch up with them and appreciate other aspects of their story. I did enjoy many of the quiet moments. The necessary and deep conversations and seeing some of that spark reignite. Spice wise (this did not affect my rating but I wanted to note) was much higher than I anticipated in the explicit column. If you love that though, this is one to note for a 3-4 level spicy read! I found it mostly easy to skip over.

I adored Avery’s friend Brooke. She was the right kind of charming and fun edition. I loved how supportive she was and was truly a great person to be around. Brooke was the only super prominent side character (which was fine) so I love how well rounded she was and apart of the momentum for the story.

There seemed to be a lack of dialogue too. I found the pacing slowed an incredible amount with big paragraphs of day to day and Avery’s inner monologue. I would occasionally skim over sections that weren’t highlighting anything new to get to more prominent pieces.

I loved the multiple mental health discussions surrounding many of the characters. The importance of acknowledging how you’re doing, if you need help and how others can be of assistance to you. Many of these conversations made me feel seen in my own battles. There is a major trigger warning for a descriptive rape scene that Avery went through (in the past, but the full scene is recounted). I appreciated the author’s note in the beginning about this and the dialogue about how women handle these abhorrent situations. I especially loved how Josh helped Avery through many of these moments when memory reared it’s head.

An enjoyable read overall even if I had some issues here and there with pacing and general set-up. I LOVE this cover and look forward to checking out the next story in this series!

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: multiple open door – high explicit; mild innuendo
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: rough parent relationships, a recounted rape and sexual assault scene, depictions of anxiety and panic attacks, grief, loss of a mother from cancer (mentioned often)

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