Book Review: Complete (The Sweet Rom”Com” #3) by Kortney Keisel

March 21, 2023August 27, 2022 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 315 pages
Author: Kortney Keisel
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: August 24th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Ben and I are just friends.

We’ve tried to be more, but it never works. There’s no chemistry between us.

At least that’s the story I tell everyone.

Truth is, I’m pining for Ben. HARD. Like Taylor Swift, You Belong With Me, hard. I don’t know what happened. Suddenly, his casual touch is fire, and his easy smile stops my heart.

But Ben has put me in the friend zone. Permanently. His supermodel girlfriend and him setting me up with a pro football player confirm this.

It’s time to bury these feelings. Lock them up. A famous pro athlete is exactly what I need to get over my infatuation. Except Ben isn’t making things easy. He’s leveled up his touching and flirting—all good stuff unless you’re trying to move on with your life.

So what’s a girl to do? Confess my feelings and risk losing my best friend? Or keep on pretending and end up with the wrong man?

Complete is a friends-to-lovers, laugh-out-loud love story that keeps the romance closed-door. It’s book three in The Sweet Rom “Com” Series but can be read as a standalone.

GOOD HEAVENS.

I am a puddle after this one y’all!! Let me era of friends to lovers romances commence. This is one of the best renditions of this trope I’ve read.

Ben was such flirty hot mess and I loved it. I actually burst out in true laughter multiple times (aka the yacht scene IYKYK). There were many genuinely funny scenes that are the reason I love this romcom genre. Keisel did an amazing job at creating a book filled with serious subjects combined with the happiness I need when I read. I loved seeing Ben work through his parent issues. He definitely needed shaken a bit to get the point across, but when that aha moment hit you here the chorus shouting, FINALLY.

I adored Brooke!! She was a fantastic FMC that was filled with love and hope and I want to be her friend. The subplot with Trey actually worked out better than I could have hoped for. I was nervous that he’d get tossed aside, and I love how Keisel handled that. Not to mention, I am so here for the jealousy. I realized that I do love some jealous aspects (on both sides) to really push those feelings, when you know they are just IN LOVE.

Clearly I loved this. It’s my new favorite Keisel book and makes me excited for whatever she has in store next.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: none
Romance: kisses
Trigger/Content Warnings: death of a parent mentioned, recounting of home life (with yelling and indifferent parents)

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Book Review: How to Kiss Your Best Friend by Jenny Proctor

January 10, 2023May 28, 2022 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 288 pages
Author: Jenny Proctor
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: May 24th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

He’s a hot high school chemistry teacher living in a small town. She’s a globetrotting journalist running from her past. They used to be best friends. Then one kiss changes everything.

*******

Kate Fletcher is my kryptonite.

She’s also my best friend. Former best friend?

I’m not sure what you call it when we grew up attached at the hip and then she left Silver Creek (and me) to travel the world.

The important thing is: Kate is back. (Temporarily.)

And I’m still in love with her. (Permanently.)

But something is different now. The attraction doesn’t seem one-sided. I don’t think I’m imagining the heat in Kate’s eyes or the chemistry crackling between us.

But will that be enough to keep Kate here, when, for as long as I can remember, all she’s wanted to do is leave?

I’m determined to give her a reason to stay. Family. Connection. Roots. And me. I’ll have to start with sparks and fire, but if I take this step, there’s no turning back to simple friendship. And if she doesn’t feel the same way, I might lose her again—this time for good.

How to Kiss Your Best Friend is a full-length sweet romantic comedy, with all the crackling chemistry you want in a closed-door romance and sizzling kisses only.

ADORBS.

Jenny Proctor is an auto-read author y’all. She has cemented this for me and I am HERE FOR IT.

I adored this sweet friends to lovers. It got off to a slow start with not enough page time between Kate and Brody. And I also wasn’t loving the way Kate was treating Brody. It didn’t come off as intentional, but I do wish she was more cognizant of her use of Brody.

BUT ENTER CHARACTER GROWTH. My favorite thing to look for in my reads. Kate gave me just what I needed. I loved that the third act “break-up” was more of a very needed introspection on both parties. Brody’s brother’s were fantastic about talking to him and Kate got the story she truly needed from her Dad to make big decisions in her life. It worked.

Plus the second half was filled with so much more sizzling chemistry between these two that I was swooning plenty. I love that this felt intense but remained very much closed door (both can be done folks!). Love the writing, love the story, I hope to get the other brother’s next!!!

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: none
Romance: make-outs
Trigger/Content Warnings: difficult parent relationships, divorce

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Book Review: Holiday Romance by Catherine Walsh

December 27, 2022November 4, 2022 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Holiday Romance
Length: 354 pages
Author: Catherine Walsh
Publisher: Bookouture
Release Date: October 4th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

She’s meant to be catching flights, not catching feelings…

Molly and Andrew are just trying to get home to Ireland for the holidays, when a freak snowstorm grounds their flight.

Nothing romantic has ever happened between them: they’re friends and that’s all. But once a year, for the last ten years, Molly has spent seven hours and fifteen minutes sitting next to Andrew on the last flight before Christmas from Chicago to Dublin, drinking terrible airplane wine and catching up on each other’s lives. In spite of all the ways the two friends are different, it’s the holiday tradition neither of them has ever wanted to give up.

Molly isn’t that bothered by Christmas, but—in yet another way they’re total opposites—Andrew is a full-on fanatic for the festive season and she knows how much getting back to Ireland means to him. So, instead of doing the sane thing and just celebrating the holidays together in America, she does the stupid thing. The irrational thing. She vows to get him home. And in time for his mam’s famous Christmas dinner.

The clock is ticking. But Molly always has a plan. And—as long as the highly-specific combination of taxis, planes, boats, and trains all run on time—it can’t possibly go wrong.

What she doesn’t know is that, as the snow falls over the city and over the heads of two friends who are sure they’re not meant to be together, the universe might just have a plan of its own…

A totally gorgeous and escapist friends-to-lovers festive romance with a swoon-worthy hero. Perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella, Mhairi Macfarlane, and Christina Lauren.

ABSOLUTELY LOVED.

This one took me by surprise and I am so happy it did. WHAT A GEM. This is a must read for my holiday romance fans!!

The angst between these two friends as they turned to lovers was immaculate. I felt the tension from the get go and within a few chapters I was completely wrapped up in watching these two fall in love. I loved the brief flashback moments that recounted all of their plane rides together. It set the stage well for where things landed in the end.

And OHMGEE SWEET ANDREW. I was very much misty eyed when I got to some of those later chapters. Straight PUDDLE. Andrew was amazing and I love him and couldn’t get enough. I really liked Molly as the FMC too. She was realistic yet willing to do what she could for her closest friend. I loved the whirlwind of an adventure they went on, literally around the world to get home for Christmas.

I loved all of the Christmas and holiday spirit, the families were stellar. Always love a supportive and loving family as side characters. The ending was all the best things and now I want to read this author’s other books.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Holiday Romance
Language: Some strong
Romance: 2ish open door; low-med explicit
Trigger/Content Warnings: pregnancy (side character), childbirth, mentions of alcoholism

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Book Review: What Are Friends For? (Love in Fenton County #1) by Sarah Sutton

October 3, 2022November 12, 2021 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 308 pages
Author: Sarah Sutton
Publisher: Golden Crown Publishing
Release Date: January 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

FALLING IN LOVE ISN’T COMPLICATED…UNLESS IT’S WITH YOUR BEST FRIEND.

A close, easygoing friendship can all change with just one kiss. Seventeen-year-old Remi Beaufort learns this the hard way when she plays a blindfolded kissing game at a party.

She thinks she’s kissing Jeremy, the totally hot basketball player she’s been crushing on. And the kiss…it’s amazing. Heart-stopping, world-changing, toe-curling. The kiss makes her forget about her overbearing mother, the next-door neighbor’s drama, and the probability that she’ll fail her senior year. The best kiss of her life makes all that fall away.

Until her blindfold falls off, and she realizes that instead of kissing her crush, she’s kissing Elijah, her best friend since third grade.

Though she manages to convince Elijah that he was kissing his girlfriend, Remi can’t get the thought of his lips on hers out of her head. As things between them grow more and more complicated–because it turns out her fantasizing about his mouth is more of a problem than it sounds–Remi has to make a choice: does she live the rest of her life loving her best friend in secret? Or does she tell the truth and risk ruining their friendship forever?

THAT’S GOING TO BE A NO FOR ME.

This was a whole big YIKES book for me. Kept hoping things would change and I’m glad it was a quick read so I can write this review and move on.

Emotional cheating is a thing. And this entire read was exactly that. The main love interest Elijah has a girlfriend the ENTIRE book but spends his time pining for Remi (as Remi pines for him). They do have a kiss where, fine, I can let that go based off of some surrounding circumstances, but past that point, why did his relationship have to go on that long? It was unnecessary and ruined this for me.

It’s fast paced. That’s a positive. Uhm, and the few little moments between Elijah and Remi at the end were good too. But that’s all I can really pull out because I’m too upset over the plot. Anywho, that’s it.

Overall audience notes: