Tag: contemporary romance

Book Review: Not That Kind of Proposal by Victoria Lavine

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Rating: ★★★.5
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 352 pages
Author: Victoria Lavine
Publisher: Simon Audio
Release Date: July 21st, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From the internationally bestselling author of Any Trope but You comes an enemies-to-lovers rom-com about a hopeless romantic wedding planner and the cynical divorce lawyer forced to help her plan her ex’s wedding.

Gracie Holland lives for Happily Ever Afters—just not her own. After a crushing breakup, she’s thrown herself into planning weddings at Larkwood, the ivy-covered Rhode Island estate where she also lives in the guest cottage. But when her beloved boss passes away and leaves the estate to her grandson, Gracie’s carefully rebuilt life is suddenly on the line. Jude Larkwood is everything she’s sworn ruthless, practical, and immune to romance—he’s a divorce lawyer, for crying out loud! Worse, he plans to sell Larkwood by the end of the summer.

Jude has spent his life cleaning up other people’s romantic disasters—and he has no interest in watching another love story fall apart on his family’s lawn. But inheriting Larkwood comes with one its maddeningly optimistic wedding planner. Gracie’s sunshiney faith in love unsettles Jude almost as much as her ability to push through his defenses. He’s built a life on keeping emotion out of the equation—but something about her keeps slipping past his guard.

When Gracie’s ex calls out of the blue asking her to plan his wedding, she sees an unexpected opportunity. Jude reluctantly agrees to give her until the wedding to change his mind, and in exchange, she drags him into a two-month crash course in love to make even the most hardened cynic start to wonder if love might not be such a scam after all.

But as cake tastings and vendor emergencies give way to late-night confessions and undeniable chemistry, Gracie and Jude must confront the fears they’ve spent years avoiding. But can a hopeless romantic and a confirmed cynic find a future they both believe in?

Thank you Simon Audio for the gifted audiobook.

HONESTLY, BUGGED.

I super liked Any Trope But You so color me disappointed because this one fell flat. I don’t think it helped that I read two back to back romances with a pushover FMC + wedding crap I hate, but that was the luck of the draw here.

I am 100% not a fan of weddings involving one of the MC’s exes. It’s old. It does nothing for me and makes me cringe. I wish the plot didn’t have this story line whatsoever.

I didn’t mind the enemies to lovers vibes and the banter and tension between Jude and Gracie. I could feel that and it worked well for the chemistry between them. I also liked the plot surrounding the estate and Jude’s lawyer related things too.

What I did not like was the sub plot involving Jude’s best friend. This was another thing that rubbed me the wrong way and could have been left out. Also, some of the romantic scenes were cringy. Bleh.

This didn’t turn me off from trying VL’s next book, but things feel on thin ice.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary romance
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: 4ish open door
  • Violence: mild
  • Content warnings: discussions surrounding domestic abuse (recounted too), loss of a loved one

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ARC/ALC Book Review: Lost and Found (Spunes, OR #3) by Tarah DeWitt

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 352 pages
Author: Tarah DeWitt
Publisher: Platkus / Macmillan Audio
Release Date: August 4th, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A stunning novel of romance and redemption filled with heartbreak and hope from the ‘master of emotion’ (Rachel Lynn Solomon) Tarah DeWitt

Bea always wanted to be a mom, but she never expected she’d have to lose her best friend to do it. Armed with nothing but her best friend’s eggs and a bucket list to complete, Bea’s world is a sea of changes.

When Silas steps in to give her a place to live when she needs it, Bea is half-relieved she has a longtime friend in her corner. A firefighter living in the wake of an accident, Silas has his own challenges to work through that have left him cautious and vulnerable in equal measure. At first, they expect nothing. But as these two former sunshines knit together in a love that has been unfulfilled till now, a new beginning comes out of the ashes of the past. One that will lead to a love that can withstand all the slings and arrows, joys and triumphs, that life can throw.

Thank you MacMillan Audio for the audiobook and St. Martin’s for the ebook.

HOW DO I CONVEY MY LOVE.

Oh gosh y’all. This one had me BROKEN UP. AND THAT EPILOGUE? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Honestly this book consists of MULTIPLE triggers that make my anxiety spiral and give me a case of the hives, but for Tarah DeWitt I had to try. And grateful I stuck it out!! Please be mindful of the content warnings though before going in. This is on the heavier side.

Any who. I am obsessed with Silas and Bea. I loved the long time friends to lovers trope mixed in with grief and pain and hope and pockets of joy. It’s the definition of how life isn’t linear and it’s okay to take a few steps backward before being able to move forward. I think there were a lot of difficult conversations and character relationship themes that were approached well and felt realistic and vulnerable. The banter was playful and sweet and oh my goodness is Silas just a smitten man. I liked the flashback chapters too and loved that they moved the plot forward in meaningful ways.

I adore this whole family and loved getting a bunch of glimpses of them throughout too. The Byrd’s added that layer of compassion and humor as the siblings took care of each other. Even if the focus was on Silas and Bea this go round.

I really just can’t recommend this book enough. Or any of Tarah DeWitt’s books. They are beautiful and full of genuine characters making mistakes, and falling in love, and living life. Another favorite!!

🎧: The audiobook is STELLARRRRR. I listened and eyeball read this one but you can’t go wrong with the narrators!!

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: 4ish open door
  • Violence: mild
  • Content warnings: grief/depression depiction, losing a loved one to cancer, IVF journey, panic attacks (on page), mentions of body injury (from a fire)

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Book Review: Anywhere With You by Ellie Palmer

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Rating: ★★★.75
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Ellie Palmer
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s
Release Date: August 5th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From the beloved author of Four Weekends and a Funeral, a nostalgic, heartwarming romance about a Type-A woman who road trips through the Minnesotan woods with her non-committal childhood best friend . . . only for their long-suppressed sparks to burn like wildfire.

Twenty-nine year old Charley Beekman is thriving. Is she financially strapped, languishing in her legal career, and very likely the youngest divorcee at the Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse on a Friday night? Yes. But, now that she’s accepted the inherent flaws that lie in all romantic relationships, she finally has life all figured out! She’s definitely due for an upswing.

So when her free-spirited sister announces her plan to elope with her messy on-again-off-again childhood sweetheart, Charley knows she has to stop the wedding, even if it means road-tripping into the northern woods of Minnesota in a camper van with her childhood best friend, Ethan, who’s as gorgeous as he is chronically unreliable.

But when their cozy journey ignites a spark she’s tried to ignore for years, Charley tries to write off her feelings as fleeting. Because after failing at marriage so spectacularly with the most responsible man she’s ever known, Charley definitely shouldn’t risk it all for her non-committal, nomadic, musician best friend . . . right?

TIS A BIT FRUSTRATING.

I LOVED Ellie Palmer’s previous book so I knew I had to read this one, and I while I did like it (I did, promise), there were a few more frustrating things in here that I can’t move past. The way Charley treated Ethan rubbed me the wrong way a few times. When he was clearly trying to have a conversation and she was clearly trying to run away, it got old quickly.

There were a lot of good scenes and moments though. I loved the soft wilderness adventure, it felt very summery in all the best ways. And I liked the inner monologue from Charley [mostly]. It was humorous and sassy and hit those type-A personality moments well. I enjoyed the quibbling sibling dynamic and both of them coming to understand each other.

It was a quick read and I’ll still pick up EP’s next book!!

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: mild
  • Romance: 2-3ish open door
  • Violence: low
  • Content warnings: divorce

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ARC Book Review: Daybreak (Sorrowsong University #2) by Autumn Woods

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Rating: ★★★.25
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 416 pages
Author: Autumn Woods
Publisher: Slowburn
Release Date: July 28th, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Alex’s Corbeau-Green’s world is burning down around him, and Ophelia Winters is desperate to prove she didn’t light the fire.

When Ophelia first accepted a scholarship from Sorrowsong, an elite university in the Scottish Highlands, she wanted nothing more than to destroy Alex and his family at any cost. But that was before she knew him, before they became each other’s everything. Now, after an unthinkable betrayal and the disappearance of his father, Alex is forced to return to New York, desperate to forget what they had, and salvage the damage done to his family. In Scotland, Ophelia is left reeling, alone . . . and watched.

With a new anonymous tormentor threatening to release evidence that Ophelia and Alex committed a murder on campus, it’s clear that they’re going to need each other once again. But can they find a way to trust each other, and repair the love that they had? And even if they can—will it be enough this time to keep them alive?

Thank you to the publisher for an eARC.

BUT.

I’ll tell y’all the good things first. i think the writing is perfectly fine. it’s an easy story to consume and not bogged down by too much prose OR dialogue. Loved that. Even when the cast was frustrating, I still did like them. Alex’s family is high on that list. I think the yearning was good. The love between Alex and Ophelia is very present and that’s all fine too. It just didn’t outweigh the plot issues.

Alright, so.

I feel like nothing happened. Two of the big plot points from book one were both taken care of in two chapters (one in the middle and one towards the end). Other than that…it was a round and round discussion of if Ophelia and Alex would have a happy ever after. Ophelia kept being wishy washy and Alex kept saying, girl I love you, and that was the book.

I really wish that the plot was more developed. I would have loved more suspense, honestly even more drama between Alex and Ophelia. It almost gave me the vibes that book one could have been a standalone with very few modifications.

I’m quite confident I WOULD pick up another book by this author. I’m curious about new stories (maybe from the same universe??). I do enjoy the vibes of this book if anything.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary romance
  • Language: moderate – high
  • Romance: explicit fade to black
  • Violence: high
  • Content warnings: murder, gun violence, mentions of past abuse, grief, depression, loss of loved ones

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