Tag: contemporary romance

ARC Book Review: Beg, Borrow, or Steal (When in Rome #3) by Sarah Adams

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Sarah Adams
Publisher: Dell Romance
Release Date: January 7th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Two feuding second-grade teachers (and neighbors) find themselves teaming up in this rivals-to-lovers romance by the New York Times bestselling author of The Rule Book and Practice Makes Perfect.

Emily Walker hates having her carefully crafted world disrupted by anyone, most of all her legendary nemesis, Jack Bennett. He’s the opposite of the wonderful heroes she dreams up in her double life as a romance writer, which is why Emily was perfectly happy when Jack left Rome, Kentucky, mid-school year, with his fiancée. The last thing Emily saw coming was Jack’s return at the start of the summer after calling off the wedding and ending his relationship, but he’s here to stay—as her colleague and her neighbor.

Jackson Bennett is glad to be back, eager to renovate his house and work on the next mystery novel under his bestselling pen name. But when he realizes he’s now neighbors with the one woman who has always pushed his buttons, he discovers something he’s even more excited for—thwarting Emily and her petty plans to sabotage his return.

With their chemistry-fueled animosity at an all-time high, Emily accidentally sends an email to their school’s principal that could reveal her secret literary side hustle. She needs to steal back her manuscript, and Jack—she hates to admit—is just the man to help her. Surprisingly, Jack agrees. Will their unlikely alliance put an end to their rivalry? Or could it lead to a steamy plot twist they never saw coming?

Thank you Dell Romance for my gifted ARC!

LOVE LOVE LOVE.

I sat down with the attention of reading a few chapters and then proceeded to stay up until 1 AM and found myself 220 pages in. That’s the kind of hold Sarah Adams and Jack and Emily’s story had on me. Oldest daughters unite because this spoke to my battle weary soul.

I loved the chemistry between Jack and Emily. Good heavens it leapt off the page. I could not get enough of the banter. It’s the level of snark and I hate you but I really don’t that plays so beautifully off of each other. The slow burn and heated moments and those walls come crumbling down. I thought this was utterly romantic and filled with swoon.

BUT ALSO, the growth and love between Emily and her siblings was beautiful. Some hard conversations were had, but ALWAYS such love and support. I adore this family dynamic and the way they all lean on each other in the good and the bad. Seeing all of these characters and the shenanigans of Rome, Kentucky again were worth the wait.

(and let it be known I am begging for details about book four….)

Overall audience notes:

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

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Book Review: Better Hate than Never (The Wilmot Sisters #2) by Chloe Liese

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Rating: ★★★★
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 360 pages
Author: Chloe Liese
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: October 10th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Childhood enemies discover the fine line between love and loathing in this heartfelt reimagining of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.

Katerina Wilmot and Christopher Petruchio shared backyards as kids, but as adults they won’t even share the same hemisphere. That is, until Kate makes a rare visit home, and their fiery animosity rekindles into a raging inferno.

Despite their friends’ and families’ pleas for peace, Christopher is unconvinced Kate would willingly douse the flames of their enmity. But when a drunken Kate confesses she’s only been hostile because she thought he hated her, Christopher vows to make peace with Kate once and for all. Tempting as it is to be swept away by her nemesis-turned-gentleman, Kate isn’t sure she can trust his charming good-guy act.

When Christopher’s persistence and Kate’s curiosity lead to an impassioned kiss, they realize “peace” is the last thing that will ever be possible between them. As desire gives way to deeper feelings, Kate and Christopher must decide if it’s truly better to hate than to never risk their hearts—or if they already gave them away long ago.

I THINK I LIKED THIS.

I will say what I loved the most in this would be the mental health rep, and the migraine rep. Those both stood out to me as well written and I deeply connected with many facets of that storyline.

And I will say, this was absolutely enemies to lovers. THE HATE Y’ALL. But alongside that was some great angst and tension. I loved the dancing and paint ball and taking care of each other when sick. Many delicious moments that ramped things up.

I struggled in the second half where I felt the plot was kind of dropped to the side and the spice took over the story. It went from 0-100 real fast and then never stopped.

Honestly though, I did enjoy this. It had a fantastic fall atmosphere and all of these soft nuggets that I love about Chloe Liese’s storytelling.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: strong
  • Romance: 4+ open
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: chronic migraines, death of parents recounted

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Book Review: A Sugar Creek Christmas (Sugar Creek #1) by Jenny B. Jones

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Holiday Romance
Length: 196 pages
Author: Jenny B. Jones
Publisher: Sweet Pea Productions
Release Date: December 1st, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Sometimes all love needs is a second chance.


Morning television show darling Emma Sutton has just been fired. The only way to get her job back is to find a holiday story to warm the coldest heart. So when her hometown of Sugar Creek, Arkansas, needs a Christmas event planner, Emma moves back, sure her story lies in the town’s desire to become a tourist’s holiday wonderland. The plan is perfect—until Emma meets her new boss.

Charming, handsome Noah Kincaid isn’t just Sugar Creek’s newest mayor. He’s also Emma’s ex-fiancé. Ten years ago Emma left Noah her ring and a goodbye note, but it’s haunted her ever since. The last thing Noah wants to do is work with the woman who broke his heart, but Emma’s desperate to prove to him that her bah-humbug ways won’t interfere with her work.

Emma finds it’s more than the mistletoe drawing her back to Noah. Whatever they had is clearly not over, but Noah’s kisses can’t protect Emma from a past that won’t leave her alone. As the snow falls and the trees glisten, love will come to Sugar Creek. But will it come in time to make all of Emma’s Christmas dreams come true?

TOO FAST.

I know this was a short book, but things can still be well paced. And this one left me reeling with how quickly things were moving. I don’t feel like the relationship had the necessary communication it needed before they got back together. Emma LEFT and Noah welcomed her back so dang quickly.

There’s lots of holiday cheer and a few quirky grandma’s to boot. If you’re looking for something quick, that has a light faith vein and a second chance romance, maaaybe this is for you!

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Holiday Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: mentions of losing a mother to cancer

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Book Review: On a Flight to Sydney (Love Along the Way #1) by J.A. Forde

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 367 pages
Author: J.A. Forde
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: August 19th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

What if the very last thing you’re looking for turns out to be exactly what you need?

Joss Morgan is perfectly happy with her life in Sydney, thank-you-very-much. She may be single, have only one true friend, and live alone… but she doesn’t need a man… or more friends… or anything at all.

Wes Anderson boards a flight to Sydney intent on escaping the cinders of his life—the dreams that have all gone up in smoke. One year. One year of freedom to be anyone he wants; that is, anyone but the man he always thought he’d be.

When Joss and Wes’s worlds collide, he steals her breath—in more ways than one—and she seems to steal all the space in his already full head. Now, life is determined to throw them together and what starts as an awkward dance of unlikely friendship—each trying to contain their own emotional landmines—turns into something they never saw coming.

But can two people with enough baggage to bring down a plane help each other heal? With their pasts lurking around every corner like airport security, Joss and Wes must decide:

Is it safer to fly solo or would a life together be worth all the risk?

On a Flight to Sydney is the first book in the Love Along the Way series. It’s a swoony, laugh out loud, tug on your heartstrings, romance filled with friendship, surfing, and two people doing their best to navigate this thing called life.

I WILL READ MORE.

This (I believe) is a debut romance and y’all, I will absolutely pick up the next book in this series. I really enjoyed this one and found myself continually wanting to pick it back up.

Now, there were some writing quirks in the first half, that are hard to describe, but weren’t clicking for me. And then I did notice in the second half that seemed to have settled a bit. I could feel the progression of the writing and story as the book went on which makes me excited for future stories.

I liked Joss and Wes a lot. They were easy characters to fall for and their heated but sweet story was swoony and deep. There were many good themes and quotes throughout that I resonated with and I liked how the situations were handled.

There isn’t a third act break up (yay!) but I did feel like the last quarter dragged a little bit into this awkward extended epilogue rather than closing the story out. Kind of like it was setting up for book two more than tying up the ends to book one first. My enjoyment levels were still there though for the overall book.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: low – moderate
  • Romance: heated fade to black
  • Violence: low
  • Content Warnings: panic/anxiety attacks, mentions of PTSD due to a plane crash (recounted), emotionally manipulative mother, absent father, brief scene of attempted assault

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