ARC Book Review: The Love Wager (Mr. Wrong Number #2) by Lynn Painter

March 9, 2023January 16, 2023 GoodeyReads2 Comments

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Lynn Painter
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: March 14th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Two people make a wager on who can find love first, not realizing what they should be betting on is each other, in this new romantic comedy by Lynn Painter, author of Mr. Wrong Number.

Hallie Piper is turning over a new leaf. After belly-crawling out of a hotel room (hello, rock bottom), she decides it’s time to become a full-on adult. She gets a new apartment, a new haircut, and a new wardrobe, but when she logs onto the dating app that she has determined will find her new love, she sees none other than Jack, the guy whose room she snuck out of.

After the joint agreement that they are absolutely not interested in each other, Jack and Hallie become partners in their respective searches for The One. They text each other about their dates, often scheduling them at the same restaurant so that if things don’t go well, the two of them can get tacos afterward.

Spoiler: they get a lot of tacos together.

Discouraged by the lack of prospects, Jack and Hallie make a wager to see who can find true love first, but when they agree to be fake dates for a weekend wedding, all bets are off. As they pretend to be a couple, lines become blurred and they each struggle to remember why the other was a bad idea to begin with.

Thank you to Berkley Romance for the eARC.

ON FIRE.

That’s how this book made me feel. The banter was immaculate perfection and every single interaction made me giddy and weak in the knees. While I was initially hesitant from the one night stand starting point, I LOVE the way Lynn Painter turned this. One of the best strangers to friends to lovers book I have read to date.

Hallie is my favorite type of contemporary main character. A little rough around the edges but wholly understanding of who she is and being that person always. She was pure fun and light, while maintaining that sense of realness. JACK, stop right now, he was the swooniest and sweetest guy EVER. I loved how he just there. The texts, phone calls, showing up to help, traveling, you name it, Jack made an effort to be apart of Hallie’s life. I thought they had fantastic chemistry and I could feel the tension from miles away. The slow burn will absolutely put you in a chokehold. Everything was ramped up in harmony waiting for that final breaking point and ohhhh how I loved it.

There’s a small dash of miscommunication that surprisingly didn’t bug me all that much. It’s moved through pretty quickly and is overall reasonably dealt with. I actually thought it made those last few scenes even more rom-com magnificent.

THIS BOOK WAS JUST SO GOOD. READ IT.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: strong throughout
Romance: light innuendo; 2-3 brief scenes (low-medium explicit)
Trigger/Content Warnings: brief mentions of a loss of a loved one

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ARC Book Review: Faking Christmas (Christmas Escape #3) by Cindy Steel

November 2, 2022November 4, 2022 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Holiday Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Cindy Steel
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: November 2nd, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

One little white lie.

That’s all it took. Now I’m suddenly having to fake-date my work nemesis to get me through a week at a Vermont Christmas lodge with my family.

The problem? I can’t stand Miles Taylor. Not only that, but I don’t date people I work with. But I can handle it. I’ve had practice faking my emotions for years. So it shouldn’t matter that Miles never lets me get away with anything. And that he happens to boil my blood hotter than a steaming pot of wassail. So when he throws his annoying grin my way or forces me on dates he knows I’ll hate, I’ll just grit my teeth and smile.

Or maybe not. Did I mention that Miles is the one person in the world I can’t seem to fool?

When my emotions begin feeling less like a sham and his arms feel way too comfortable, it makes me think that maybe Miles had a plan of his own. And I’m starting to like it a lot more than mine.

★ Faking Christmas is a sweet, closed door romance full of sizzle, witty banter, and chemistry, but without explicit content.

Thank you to the author for an eARC.

NEW CHRISTMAS ROMANCE FAVORITE.

I am a flat puddle of emotions over this book. It is a new favorite and I want to read it every Christmas now. I AM IN MY FEELS. I don’t think I’ll be able to accurately convey how much I adored it so please GO READ IT.

ALL OF THE KISSING. There was so much and I loved every single moment. Ohhhmygosh Cindy Steel knows how to bring the heat without bringing the spice and it is impeccable. Miles and Olive were perfect for each other. It was always you is strong in this book.

The flirting and banter was flawless. I loved that Miles was relentless and so dang kind is in his pursuit of the fake dating scheme. All of the Christmas activities were wonderful and I now would like to plan an immediate trip to Vermont for the winter break.

There was a natural flow to everything happening and the third act was handled AMAZINGLY. It was charming and had me just as giddy as Miles and Olive.

I also loved the discussions about grief and valid emotions. Everything was handled beautifully and I got misty eyed with the impact of the story.

I am in bookish heaven over this book y’all. It is a MUST read for anyone needed something to bring them joy this holiday season.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Holiday Romance
Language: none
Romance: kisses
Violence: low
Trigger/Content Warnings: depictions of grief, loss of a girlfriend (recounted), loss of a parent (from cancer, recounted), snowmobile crash

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Book Review: Adorkable by Cookie O’Gorman

January 11, 2021August 27, 2020 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 332 pages
Author: Cookie O’Gorman
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: March 31st, 2016
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Adorkable (ah-dor-kuh-bul): Descriptive term meaning to be equal parts dorky and adorable. For reference, see Sally Spitz. Seventeen-year-old Sally Spitz is done with dating. Or at least, she’s done with the horrible blind dates/hookups/sneak attacks her matchmaking bestie, Hooker, sets her up on. There’s only so much one geek girl and Gryffindor supporter can take. Her solution: she needs a fake boyfriend. And fast. Enter Becks, soccer phenom, all-around-hottie, and Sally’s best friend practically since birth. When Sally asks Becks to be her F.B.F. (fake boyfriend), Becks is only too happy to be used. He’d do anything for Sal–even if that means giving her PDA lessons in his bedroom, saying she’s “more than pretty,” and expertly kissing her at parties. The problem: Sally’s been in love with Becks all her life–and he’s completely clueless. This book features two best friends, one special edition Yoda snuggie, countless beneath-the-ear kisses and begs the question: Who wants a real boyfriend when faking it is so much more fun?

CUTE AND QUIRKY.

A quick young adult contemporary romance. Filled with friends to lovers and fake dating.

I found this to be a really easy and fast read (I listened to it as an audio book). The characters were fun, definitely high school, and made me laugh and roll my eyes.

The romance was without a doubt my favorite part. It’s usually hard for me to be smitten with a friends to lovers trope, but I adored Becks. He was precious, angsty, and I love a soccer player so all good things. I thought Sally was a mostly charming heroine. A bit aloof and clueless at times, but didn’t find her overly annoying or anything of that nature.

What I did find annoying was Sally’s best friend, Hooker. Holy cow, she would NOT leave Sally alone and it was infuriating. I would hate to be continually put on dates, at 17, JUST because I haven’t dated anyone yet. Who cares? Maybe Sally didn’t want to date? Nobody, especially her best friend (and also her Mom was in on the blind dates) should be forcing her to meet all of these guys. It’s her choice and I couldn’t handle how ignorant Hooker was.

There were a lot of pop culture references. A lot. Most landed well, but at times I felt they were forced and putting them in didn’t enhance the story. A cute, and quick read, and at least a nice change of pace from the heavy books I’d been reading.

Overall audience notes: