Tag: new adult romance

Book Review: Roomies by Christina Lauren

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Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Christina Lauren
Publisher: Gallery Books
Release Date: December 5th, 2017
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From subway to Broadway to happily ever after. Modern love in all its thrill, hilarity, and uncertainty has never been so compulsively readable as in New York Times bestselling author Christina Lauren’s romantic novel.

Marriages of convenience are so…inconvenient.

For months Holland Bakker has invented excuses to descend into the subway station near her apartment, drawn to the captivating music performed by her street musician crush. Lacking the nerve to actually talk to the gorgeous stranger, fate steps in one night in the form of a drunken attacker. Calvin Mcloughlin rescues her, but quickly disappears when the police start asking questions.

Using the only resource she has to pay the brilliant musician back, Holland gets Calvin an audition with her uncle, Broadway’s hottest musical director. When the tryout goes better than even Holland could have imagined, Calvin is set for a great entry into Broadway—until his reason for disappearing earlier becomes clear: he’s in the country illegally, his student visa having expired years ago.

Seeing that her uncle needs Calvin as much as Calvin needs him, a wild idea takes hold of her. Impulsively, she marries the Irishman, her infatuation a secret only to him. As their relationship evolves and Calvin becomes the darling of Broadway—in the middle of the theatrics and the acting-not-acting—will Holland and Calvin to realize that they both stopped pretending a long time ago?

CONFLICT ISSUES.

The crux of any good romance is the conflict. That thing that dives into the couple’s lives and either brings them together or makes us all roll our eyes shouting, COMMUNICATE.

I felt COMMUNICATE was the fatal flaw the last 25%.

I’ll move with some positive details first. I really adored this plot and initial set-up. A marriage of convenience? Heck to the yes. I thought that Holland and Calvin had some solid chemistry and cute banter. Things get heated pretty quickly, and I didn’t love the spice. But the flow of the relationship moved with the story and I liked the fast paced nature of it all. Even if some of the stalker portions had my eyes widening.

Baaaaack to my COMMUNICATE rant. The main character, Holland, even acknowledges she’s acting ridiculous, but instead of saying, Hey Calvin, this is how I’m feeling. She goes in the complete opposite direction and I couldn’t believe what I was listening to. By the time the “grand gesture” rolled around I was glad that this was almost over because I was through myself.

The writing as usual, was great, even if I struggled with different aspects. There was a lot of research done to put this book together and I appreciate that as well. Though frustrating, I had a hard time putting it down because it’s easy to get wrapped up in a CL novel.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: kisses to multiple open door scenes
  • Violence: being pushed onto a subway rail

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Book Review: Reckless Memories (Wrecked #1) by Catherine Cowles

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 330 pages
Author: Catherine Cowles
Publisher: Pagesmith LLC
Release Date: May 12th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

I loved him before I knew what the word meant.
From skinned knees to first dates and everything in between.
But he was never mine to love.
I settled for friendship, even though I always wanted more.

That was before.
Before he ripped my world apart and didn’t bother sticking around to help me pick up the pieces.
I knit every last shred back together all on my own.
And I’ve all but forgotten his name.

Now, he’s back, and everything is torn apart once more.
But he’s not the only one doing the tearing this time.
And there might be no stopping the person who has it out for us both.

THE SUSPENSE.

This was a pretty good read! A new small town romance series to me. It’s set on an island in the Pacific Northwest so if you’re looking for small town, but not on a ranch, this might be for you!!

I didn’t know how I would feel about the relationship based off of the first few chapters. Over the book I felt there was a nice progression with some necessary conversations to help ease the transition. There’s a lot of talk about processing grief and the non-linear format it resides in.

Bell and Ford were definitely a match for me. I’m soft for a protective love interest and For was that for me. I liked the heat between them and the slow burn romance. I enjoyed the side characters that I know we’ll see in future books so I’m excited for their stories as well.

The suspense aspect was a bit…odd? Out of place? I don’t know why it necessarily needed to be there. I will say it did keep me on my toes, and I didn’t guess who it was going to be until just a few pages before (but I think that’s because I thought they were a random choice……). ANYWAYS. It’s well written, a bit darker, but also full of a lot of hope and light for the future.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: kisses to brief open door scenes
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: car wreck resulting is loss of life, losing a sibling, stalking behavior, break-in and physical altercations, attempted murder, parental neglect

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Book Review: Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 335 pages
Author: Colleen Hoover
Publisher: Montlake
Release Date: January 18th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A troubled young mother yearns for a shot at redemption in this heartbreaking yet hopeful story from #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover.

After serving five years in prison for a tragic mistake, Kenna Rowan returns to the town where it all went wrong, hoping to reunite with her four-year-old daughter. But the bridges Kenna burned are proving impossible to rebuild. Everyone in her daughter’s life is determined to shut Kenna out, no matter how hard she works to prove herself.

The only person who hasn’t closed the door on her completely is Ledger Ward, a local bar owner and one of the few remaining links to Kenna’s daughter. But if anyone were to discover how Ledger is slowly becoming an important part of Kenna’s life, both would risk losing the trust of everyone important to them.

The two form a connection despite the pressure surrounding them, but as their romance grows, so does the risk. Kenna must find a way to absolve the mistakes of her past in order to build a future out of hope and healing.

COHO HAS DONE IT AGAIN.

Not even surprised I loved this. LOVED IT. The hype is completely warranted and this is the type of classic Hoover read that I have to emotionally prepare for knowing it’s going to destroy me before stitching my heart back together.

I loved that this was way and beyond more than a romance. There were many types of love that played a part in Kenna and Ledger’s story. The major theme of getting a second chance had me in tears. Seeing Kenna come from so low and truly trying to do her best to get an opportunity to meet her daughter made for a heart squeezing read.

“Now that I’ve forgiven myself, the reminders of him only make me smile.”

Exploring different types of forgiveness and making the best choices in an horrible situation creating a memorable story. I love the gray areas Hoover explores and that each person’s path is not direct or like any others.

The romance was of course, fabulous. ALL THE ANGST. And Ledger is just a bar above the rest y’all. Plenty of chemistry, raw discussions and passion fueled moments. You’ll be hoping for the best for everyone involved by the end. This is now going to be ranking as one of my top CoHo books.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: multiple brief to longer open door
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: suicidal thoughts, detailed scene of losing a loved one by a car accident, under the influence car wreck (alcohol and drugs), grief and depression depiction, child neglect, parent incarceration

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Book Review: Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 337 pages
Author: Colleen Hoover
Publisher: Atria Books
Release Date: August 5th, 2014
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

When Tate Collins meets airline pilot Miles Archer, she knows it isn’t love at first sight. They wouldn’t even go so far as to consider themselves friends. The only thing Tate and Miles have in common is an undeniable mutual attraction. Once their desires are out in the open, they realize they have the perfect set-up. He doesn’t want love, she doesn’t have time for love, so that just leaves the sex. Their arrangement could be surprisingly seamless, as long as Tate can stick to the only two rules Miles has for her.

Never ask about the past.
Don’t expect a future.

They think they can handle it, but realize almost immediately they can’t handle it at all.

Hearts get infiltrated.
Promises get broken.
Rules get shattered.
Love gets ugly.

SHOULD HAVE SEEN IT COMING.

This is my 13th (wild?!) CoHo book. You would think by now that I should be fully prepared to have my soul ripped in half, to cry a bit, and then have it knit back in the best way. Once again, I was NOT and so a puddle of tears I became.

I love how absolutely raw this was. On both sides there were so many emotions and stories to discover. I loved how the way Miles chapters were written. They conveyed a sense of what was most important to him and in telling his story of how he became who he is today. I love how Tate brought him out of his secluded space and helped him realize that he had the choice to move on. I even love how Rachel’s story played out too.

There was just so much LOVE here. Even if it was ugly. There’s such power in love and there were ample connections here that showed love in many forms and in many ways. This was painful as much as it was hopeful. I couldn’t put it down and it was another CoHo book I finished in a day.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: kisses to open door scenes
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a child, car wreck, depictions of grief and depression

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