Book Review: Falling for Your Best Friend (Love Cliche #5) by Emma St. Clair

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 348 pages
Author: Emma St. Clair
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: May 14th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

I know how this story ends. And it’s NOT with the best friends falling in love.

Even if Chase checks all my boxes–and then some.

He’s the perfect guy, and he deserves the perfect girl. Which, to be clear, is not me.

I knew one day I would have to let him go. I just didn’t know it would be so soon.

Or that my traitorous friend would be the one setting him up with a string of potential girlfriends.

Now, I have an impossible choice to make…

I can watch Chase find love with someone else.

Or I can throw my hat in the ring and face my biggest fear, one not even he knows.

One that might make him run for the Texas hill country.

But if I don’t make a play, I might lose my best friend and my only chance at love.

LOVING THIS SERIES.

These books just bring out the smiles. Enjoyable quick reads with predictably that feels like a comfort and balm to a bad day. I’m so glad I started reading them!

Diving into this one, my favorite part was the growth in Harper. I loved watching her make mistakes, learn about herself and love who she is. I loved even more the support around Harper. I think a lot of the situations were handled well and you could see the love through her family and friends. Harper found her true identity and that was the best part of the story.

I adored Chase and thought he was absolutely precious. I thought some of his inner monologue became repetitive. I knew he loved Harper, but I also didn’t need it repeated 100 times to get the picture. Chase and Harper had some great banter and I love the soft flirtations between them.

The only other thing that bugged me was one of Harper’s friends, Sam. I don’t like the role she played in this book and it felt forced. I actually haven’t loved her character over the whole series so I’m curious how her book will play out next.

Another great story set in Austin, Texas. I love this cast and how each story feels different and really gives a new side to each character. The humor is great. And goodness do I love the super sweet epilogues every time!!

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: brief sexual harassment (including on social media)

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Book Review: Falling for Your Fake Fiance (Love Cliches #3) by Emma St. Clair

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary romance
Length: 312 pages
Author: Emma St. Clair
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: February 6th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

What happens when the man I love to hate becomes the man I must pretend to love?

I can’t seem to escape Thayden Walker and his infuriating charm.

Even his mother and his Great Dane seem bent on playing matchmaker.

But I’m totally immune.

Until I’m presented with an offer that puts my ability to withstand him to the test.

If I marry Thayden, all my student debt goes poof, and he’ll take over the family firm.

There’s so much more at stake than money or a job, especially when I start to see the man beneath the mask.

Playing house with Thayden is the most dangerous game of all.

And we’re both set up to lose more than we could ever win.

Unless we’ve been on the same side all along.

BEST OF THE SERIES [SO FAR].

I loooooooved this! Especially Thayden, who was hot dang precious. I love how he took the time and effort to show Delilah what kind of life she deserved. He’s very much the best part of this book. I couldn’t get enough of him. Thayden and Delilah’s chemistry was spot on. The banter was on fire and I love the way that steam is added without being steamy. It’s fantastic and now I’m even more hyped for the last two books of this series.

And by the title you can see it had one of my favorite tropes, fake fiance! I love how it played out. I didn’t realize until the end how short the timeline was, but that’s what was magical. The romance was choreographed beautifully and by the end I was begging for the actual marriage to happen.

The conflict was luckily not over the top. From what I could see coming I was hoping it wasn’t going to lead to some big roll-my-eyes miscommunication. Aaaand it didn’t. Which is fantastic. I’m grateful all parties knew what was a lie and it made me love Delilah and Thayden all the more.

These are quick, romantic reads. I love how easy they are to follow and getting everyone’s story.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary romance
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: kisses/make-outs; light innuendo
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: manipulative parents

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Book Review: Falling for Your Boss (Love Cliches #2) by Emma St. Clair

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 277 pages
Author: Emma St. Clair
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: December 19th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

I am not that woman.

The one who falls for her much older, extremely handsome, and totally unavailable boss.

That’s what I keep telling myself, anyway.

I’ve watched the other women in the office fawn over Gavin, who just so happens to be one of Texas’ richest and most desirable bachelors.

But I’m interested in business. Totally professional.

Which is why Gavin has helped me so much in my career … right? Not because he’s attracted to me.

But when his past slams into his present, the lines between business and personal suddenly become very hazy.

Now all my carefully crafted plans are totally destroyed, and I have to decide what I want most: my career or the man who has helped me build it.

CHARMED.

I felt charmed by the end my read. I liked this one much better than the first. Took out some of the uncessary hoopla and added it a lot more tension. Yesssssss.

I gotta say, age gap is usually not my trope. I love the way this was written! It was romantic and endearing. I wanted Zoey and Gavin to be together. I felt it. All the chemistry. All the vibes. What I was worried might make me cringe was incredibly well developed that I through any initial issues out the window. You find love at any age, whatever works…works.

This was easy to fly through and kept my attention. I was reading a second book at the time but kept coming back to this because I wanted to know what would happen next. I am soft for taking care of a love interest when they’re sick. And Zoey and Gavin hit those scenes perfectly. I love the adaptable nature of Zoey (and Gavin now that I’m considering the scenario). There was a lot to take on and move forward with and they handled it pretty well.

I didn’t love a particular moment nearing the end, but I am so glad it didn’t last long so my opinion of the overall book wasn’t wholly affected. I wish the ending wasn’t wrapped up so quickly because I wanted more of them after the inital on fire kissing scenes. There’s a really cute epiloge though which I am always here for!

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary romance
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: kisses/make-outs
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: divorce (cheating spouse), remembrance of a loss of a parent

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