Tag: emma st. clair

ARC Book Review: Izzy and Her Off-Limits Love (Oakley Island #3.5) by Jenny Proctor and Emma St. Clair

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Christmas Romance Novella
Length: 121 pages
Author: Jenny Proctor & Emma St. Clair
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: December 3rd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Getting over your childhood crush is never easy. Especially when your family is full of meddling matchmakers.I’ve tried my whole life to curb my feelings for Liam, who is NOT my cousin, even if our family is like, well, family.

After he brought a girlfriend home for the holidays last year, I decided it was high time for my crush to finally die. And since we haven’t run into each other at all since then, it’s been easy. (If not altogether effective.) Even our family stopped trying to push us together.

But then Liam walks into my office just before Christmas and I find out he’ll be working here as a consultant. Oh—and he got special permission from my boss to have me directly under him.

Then, when my building suddenly (and somewhat suspiciously) has to undergo emergency fumigation and I need a place to stay, Liam offers me his guest bedroom.

Oh, joy and holiday cheer.

But finding out Liam is single and not practically engaged—it changes everything. Is it possible I just might get my longest-held Christmas wish?

Izzy and Her Off-Limits Love is a second-gen novella in the Oakley Island Romcom Series. Books in the series are full of sizzling chemistry and tension with just kisses.

Thank you to the authors for an eARC.

LOVED BEING BACK.

Gosh dang I loved being back in this world. I didn’t realize how much I missed these characters until the surprise announcement that we were getting a Christmas novella, and it’s second generation!!! I have always wanted more second generation moments and I’m so happy to get one on Oakley Island.

The holiday spirit is there, and so are the meddlesome parents and sneaky raccoons. This was light and made me smile and was exactly the joy I was after. I adored both of the main characters (dual POV!) and how sweet and heated the reconnection was. Izzy and Liam’s romance is perfect for the season!

Overall audience notes:

  • Christmas Romance Novella
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses

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ARC Book Review: Runaway Bride and Prejudice (Appies) by Emma St. Clair

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Sports Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Emma St. Clair
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: August 28th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

There’s one rule smart hockey players know not to never, and I mean, NEVER date the coach’s daughter. But no one ever accused Van of being smart.

When the mouthy bad boy of the Appies catches the groom cheating on the coach’s daughter, he can’t just walk away. Not on her wedding day.

Maybe his own relationships are casual, but he would never cheat and never treat wedding vows so carelessly. Not after he and his sisters watched their divorced parents cycle through marriage after marriage.

But forcing the groom to come clean sets off a chain reaction Van couldn’t have expected.

Ending with a black eye, an unexpected trip to Florida with one runaway bride, and a secret bargain struck with Coach.

A bargain that may just jeopardize the very real and very inconvenient feelings he’s developing for the very last person he ever should.

Runaway Bride and Prejudice is a closed door hockey romance featuring the team bad boy and a very good girl who also happens to be the coach’s daughter. It’s a sports romance with all the sizzle and swoon, but no spice.

This is part of the Appies hockey romance series, featuring Just Don’t Fall, Absolutely Not in Love, a Groom of One’s Own, and Romancing the Grump. These books are standalones but may be best read in order.

Thank you to the author for an eARC!

HI, I LOVE THIS BOOK.

It was absolutely everything I could have hoped for when I was thinking about Van’s story. I devoured this read. And I feel like it’s hard to even put my words down because I don’t want to spoil a thing about this book. This is truly a best read blind book and trust me, it will DELIVER.

I loved getting Van’s perspective. A character I have been waiting to know and understand better. I loved the layers and journey. He’s such a charming man and I could not get enough of his heated and swoony actions. His love language is physical touch, and you. can. tell. Also I got a jersey moment which is one of my favorite tropes in sports romance so of course I went feral when that happened.

And I liked Amelia a lot too. She was slightly frustrating but in that way that is totally relatable and had me sitting there going, yeah I’d respond the same way too. I loved that she found her courage and voice in the end and got a chance to live her love story.

I’m always obsessed with any interactions involving the Appies and the text threads were *chefs kiss*. One of my forever favorite fictional hockey teams. I LOVED Van’s sisters too. They were the perfect balance for him and I loved seeing them take Amelia into their family.

I honestly could just keep going. I loved this book. It’s always hard for me to choose a favorite Emma St. Clair book but this definitely ranks up there.

Overall audience notes:

  • Sports Romance
  • Language: low
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low
  • Content Warnings: physical altercations, loss of a parent (recounted from past), divorce, cheating (not between the two leads in any way)

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ARC Book Review: Royal Gone Rogue (Sweet Royal RomCom #2) by Emma St. Clair

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 345 pages
Author: Emma St. Clair
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: February 28th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

I need to find the perfect woman to be my queen. Love was never supposed to be part of the arrangement.

I’ve always done things by the book–that’s the burden of being the heir to the Elsinorian throne. So when my father grows ill and my coronation seems imminent, I intend to find my future queen the same way … with logic and a list of eligible women who fit a detailed set of data points.

My brother agrees to cover for me at the court, and I set out to offer a common woman the chance to be something more.

Only … nothing goes according to plan.

Alessia is far more than she seemed on paper, and she stirs feelings I never imagined having. The next thing I know, I’m washing dishes in her grandfather’s restaurant, hoping to win her hand and her heart.

Meanwhile, my absence in Elsinore has been noticed and the whole kingdom is wondering if I’m abdicating the throne. Though I love the simple village life, I need to return home, and I won’t do so without Alessia.

The only problem: I might not have mentioned the fact that I’m the crown prince of Elsinore.

Royal Gone Rogue is the second in the Sweet Royal RomCom series with laugh-out-loud humor, heart-warming love stories, and sizzling chemistry that keeps the bedroom door closed.

Thank you to Emma St. Clair for an eARC.

CLASSIC.

Ohhh I needed this read. I ADORED IT. It very much has that classic fairytale vibe that used to be super popular and that was easily one of my favorite aspects of it. The commoner and the royal getting a whirlwind romance and all the goodness in-between.

There’s an undeniable connection between Phillip and Alessia from the get-go. I thought it was just the SWEETEST. Hanging out in a small town, sea-side, talking late into the night and falling in love? Absolutely smitten over here. They had some ups and downs (of course) but I appreciated the way you could see the growth in both of them as each had to cope with a different life before them.

The side characters made this book. I loved them all. All of the close sibling dynamics, the group of grandpa’s, even the Queen played her part well too. Everyone was well written out and only added to how much I was enjoying reading this.

I am always here for forced proximity and lots of kissing, and oh there was LOTS of kissing. This whole book was incredibly romantic. I’ll be here swooning for the foreseeable future.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: a father with liver failure, loss of parents (off-page)

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ARC Book Review: Merritt and Her Childhood Crush (Oakley Island Romcom #2) by Emma St. Clair and Jenny Proctor

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 340 pages
Author: Emma St. Clair and Jenny Proctor
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: TBD 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

I said I’d never set foot on Oakley Island again. Not so long as HE lived there. But after my life implodes, I’m reconsidering EVERYTHING. Including my reasons for avoiding the first—and only—man I’ve ever loved.

I’m a high achiever. Driven. Maybe a little TOO driven.

So when my boyfriend confesses to cheating AND steals the promotion I’ve been working toward for years, I do the unthinkable for someone like me.

I break.

But the timing couldn’t be better for me to fall apart—I can escape to the idyllic Oakley Island and oversee the renovations on my late grandmother’s estate.

There’s just one tiny, massive, little problem: no one told me the contractor is the grown up version of the boy I fell in love with years ago.

He was my first love. My first kiss.

My first heartbreak.

Now, I’m faced with seeing Hunter daily. Being his boss. Forging a new dynamic that fits our adult selves.

Hunter is bigger. Bearded. Talks in grunts rather than words.

And has just as much hold on me as he ever did.

Trouble is, Hunter’s life is on Oakley. His daughter is on Oakley. And it was never my plan to stay here permanently.
Do I really want to risk having my heart broken a second time? More importantly, do I want to risk breaking his?

Merritt and Her Childhood Crush is a second chance at childhood first love romantic comedy. The Oakley Island Romcoms follow three very different sisters as they renovate the house they inherited and find love on the island along the way. The stories are standalone, but if you like continuous stories, we recommend reading them in order. Each book is closed door, with sizzling chemistry but no spice.

Thank you to the authors for an eARC.

DEEPLY LOVED.

This feels exactly like that the type of books I have come to expect (and love) from these authors. BUT this one also had this extra layer of deep that really resonated with the story and the character dynamics. Merritt and Hunter are both in lower places than they expected when they meet again and that takes time to crawl out of and see the future before them.

There’s definitely still some comedic antics that had me smiling and chuckling along. Though I keep turning back to all of the meaningful conversations that were brought to the table. I loooove that both of them worked hard on trying to communicate with each other. There’s past grievances, many questions, and a sense of will they stay? that bring out the feels as the pages go by.

Merritt was a fantastic FMC and very much relatable to my modus operandi. The oldest child seeking constant perfection and an escape from her parent’s divorce. WOW THAT HITS. Slowly and surely she connects back with her true self and acknowledges that she can be a combination of all the Merritt’s she’s tried to be and I LOVE THAT. + the addition of a super swoony Hunter who is short on words and big on trying. He makes mistakes too and finding that I need to set boundaries moment was critical to the story.

I loved this story and could continue gushing about it. It was everything I hoped for and my excitement for book three is off the charts.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: make-outs
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: mentions of childbirth, divorce, loss of a grandparent, cheating (recounted – NOT between main couple)

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