Tag: contemporary romance

ARC Book Review: Book Boyfriend by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

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Rating: ★★★★
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
Publisher: Berkley Romance
Release Date: February 25th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Devoted fangirl meets hesitant fanboy in this swoony contemporary love letter to readers who adore fantasy worlds, from the beloved authors of The Breakup Tour.
 
Jennifer Worth lives to escape into the world of her favorite romantasy series Elytheum Courts, where the romance is sweeping and the men are brave, chivalrous . . . and winged. Newly single and craving connection,she travels to an immersive fan experience celebrating all things Elytheum, only to see the last face she expected—Scott Daniels, her work nemesis, whose disinterest in Jennifer’s favorite series and standoffishness have made their publishing jobs feel like a feuding fae court.
 
Except the Scott she encounters there, in his secondhand cosplay outfit, is . . . different. Swaggering, flirtatious, confident. Unlucky in romance himself and inspired by Jennifer’s love for the swoonworthy men of Elytheum, Scott is determined to remake himself into the perfect book boyfriend.
 
Jennifer has no interest in helping the man who vexes her every workday and dismisses her fictional fantasies, but as the immersive convention activities force them together, they’re surprised to discover magic like none Jennifer has ever read about. But is enemies-to-lovers romance only for books, or can Jennifer and Scott bring the trope to life?

Thank you to Berkley Romance for the eARC and PRH Audio for the gifted audiobook.

WELL.

Alright, I’ve been a pretty steady fan of EW & ASB adult romance books. They usually cover some good themes and have a swoon factor I enjoy. It’s also nice that they are on the lower end of the spice scale so it’s not in your face throughout.

I loved the initial idea with this book and how it felt like a love letter to fantasy books (and readers in general). I loved the immersion set up and I would absolutely attend one of these events if I could.

What kind of lost me was that it didn’t feel romantic. For a book centered around a fantasy romance and finding romance, etc. I did not feel that from the characters. The clue hunting plot (+ some side characters) was very much center stage and I wish it would have focused more on Jennifer and Scott. Not to mention, the third act was ridiculous.

I did love the audiobook and thought that the production and narration was great. If you want to read this book, definitely recommend that route.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: mild
  • Romance: 2 open door

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Book Review: Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Jenny Holiday
Publisher: Forever Books
Release Date: January 30th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A charming and heartfelt romance about a woman who comes face to face with the fake Canadian boyfriend she made up as a teenager.

The fake Canadian boyfriend. It’s a thing. The get out of jail free card for all kinds of sticky social situations. “I can’t go to prom; I’m going to be out of town visiting my boyfriend in Canada.” It’s all over pop culture. But Aurora Evans did it first. Once upon a time she met a teenage hockey player at the Mall of America. He was from Canada. He was a boy. She may have fudged the “friend” part a little, but it wasn’t like she was ever going to see him again. It wasn’t like she hurt anyone. Until she did—years later—on both counts.

 When pro hockey player and recent widower Mike Martin walks into the dance studio where Aurora Evans teaches, he’s feeling overwhelmed with the fact that his wife may not have been exactly who he thought she was and the logistics of going back to work. As one of the few people his angry, heartbroken daughter connects with, Aurora agrees to be a pseudo nanny to help him navigate the upcoming school year and hockey season. To his surprise, she turns out to be the perfect balm for him as well. Aurora gets him. The real him underneath his pro jersey. And yet, he still finds himself holding back, unable to fully trust again—especially when he finds out the secret Aurora’s been hiding from him.

SO CLOSE.

I have found myself disappointed again, and this started off so strong?! I was smitten with the plot set-up and characters. I always love a hockey aspect and this was giving me everything I was looking for…until it didn’t.

This book felt way too long. Every time I thought we were getting closer to those ending moments I would check and still have way too much time left in my book. And the third act (that came at 90%+)??? Are you kidding me??? Mike got way too upset about what happened and blew everything so out of proportion. For being so endearing for the majority of the book this was not it.

Also, WHY DID AURORA ONLY CALL HIM MIKE MARTIN? Why the entire dang book did she use his full name? Drove me nuts.

There were some good thoughts and themes I appreciated throughout. Some tough conversations and therapy positivity. I enjoyed much of this but was letdown too.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: 3+ open; moderate explicit
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a spouse (theme throughout), discussions of eating disorders, panic attacks, anxiety

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Book Review: The Rom Con by Devon Daniels

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Rating: ★★★★☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Devon Daniels
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: November 7th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A modern battle of the sexes about a journalist who hatches an elaborate plan to take down her industry adversary, from the author of Meet You in the Middle.

After a particularly brutal breakup, Cassidy Sutton has had it with dating. So when her grandmother gives her a 1950’s dating guide entitled 125 Tips to Hook a Husband, she decides to turn the retro advice into an ironic “What not to do” article for Siren, the popular online women’s publication she writes for. And who better to secretly test the old-fashioned tips on than Jack Bradford, chauvinistic creator of rival men’s site Brawler? She’ll write an article that will entertain female readers everywhere and embarrass their sexist nemesis at the same time. Two birds, one stone.

But her perfect plan soon proves to be anything but. Those vintage courtship tips Cassidy was so quick to poke fun at? They actually seem to work, calling her most closely-held beliefs into question. Even worse? Jack isn’t falling for any of her tricks—and it’s not long before their ‘fake’ relationship starts to feel like the realest one of her life. As her cat and mouse game starts to spiral out of control, Cassidy has to decide if she’s playing to win, or if she’s willing to lose it all for love.

INCREDIBLY CHARMING.

I was swept away by this book y’all! It was my first by this author and will not be my last. I loved how swoony this was and the 50’s lifestyle nonsense that came into play. I thought it was done in good humor and not overly in your face. It made the whole plot clever and sweet.

Jack was the best. Goodness gracious, he’s one of the those fantastic love interests that you can’t get enough of. He was kind hearted and loveable and really looked out for Cassidy and WANTED to be with her, and that’s my favorite kind of vibe. This also had my favorite level of heat with low, slow burn spice.

There was one small issue I had with the third act conflict that made me cranky. I just couldn’t follow the thought process. But I will say the reunion and communication (at last) that came later was wonderful.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: low-moderate
  • Romance: 1-2 open; low explicit

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ARC Book Review: You Between the Lines by Katie Naymon

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Katie Naymon
Publisher: Forever
Release Date: February 18th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A former sorority girl starts a prestigious poetry MFA program only to discover that one of her fellow grad students is her high school crush-turned-nemesis—​who can’t stop writing about her.

No one’s more surprised than Leigh when a prestigious MFA program in North Carolina accepts her. A former sorority girl, Leigh’s the first to admit she knows more about the lyrics of Taylor Swift than T.S. Eliot, and she’s never been able to shake the “all-style-no-substance” feedback her high school crush made in their poetry workshop. Bad enough that her tattooed, New Yorker tote bag-carrying classmates have read all the right authors and been published in the country’s leading literary journals, Leigh’s insecurities become all too real when Will, that same high school crush-turned-nemesis, shows up at orientation as a first-year in the program, too. And now, he’s William, exactly the kind of writer Leigh hates, complete with his pretentious sweater vests and tattered Moleskine.

Leigh’s determined to prove herself—and William—wrong by landing the program’s highly-coveted fellowship. But Will’s dead-set on it, too, and in a small cohort, they can’t keep apart for long. When Will submits an intimate poem (that’s maybe, probably, definitely about Leigh) to workshop, they’re both forced to realize there’s more to the other than what’s on the page. And what’s between the lines may be even more interesting.

Thank you to Forever Publishing for the gifted ARC.

I TRIED Y’ALL.

This was high on my release list radar and I was so excited to have received an ARC, and now I’m sad that this didn’t all pan out. There are some good moments between Leigh and Will and different scenes and pieces were perfectly fine. I’ll even go on record that I would try another book by this author, even with my issues with this debut.

Leigh had no character growth. It didn’t show up until the last 30 pages and by that point I had already hit a level of frustration with waiting for her confidence to show and to learn to communicate. I also feel like I handled my parent’s divorce at age 11 better than she did at 27.

And it just didn’t feel romantic. I wanted the swoon factor and never felt that. Many of the moments of closeness between Will and Leigh were fueled with alcohol and that’s not my favorite vibe.

There were a few small plot points that were throw in, forgot about for long stretches of time and then added back in at the end. I think figuring out the continuity more would have helped too.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: mild
  • Romance: brief open door
  • Content Warnings: loss of a parent (recounted), divorce

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