Tag: sweet romance

ARC Book Review: Scrooge and the Girls Next Door by Melanie Jacobson

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Rating: ★★★☆
Audience: Contemporary Holiday Romance
Length: 336 pages
Author: Melanie Jacobson
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: November 8th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

When the sunniest woman in Creekville buys the house next to the grumpiest man on the street, sparks fly . . . and not just because she keep blowing his fuses…

Paige Redmond has done everything the hard way, from her wild child past to being a single mother raising her own delightful wild child now. But since landing in Creekville, she’s turned it all around. With her newly-inked college degree and her shiny new job title, nothing can get in her way, not even the fixer upper cottage she bought on a whim. It’s the worst house on the best street in town, and she can’t wait to give Evie the Christmas of her dreams in their very own home.

Paige tackles the holiday with a Clark Griswold-level of Christmas spirit, amusing the entire town who cheer her on–everyone except for her humbug neighbor, the reclusive, grumpy, and deliciously handsome professor next door.

Can Paige and Ellie win over the town’s biggest Scrooge? Or will he pull the plug on their first solo Christmas?

Experience the laughter and magic of a Creekville Christmas from USA Today bestselling author Melanie Jacobson today!

Thank you to the author for an eARC.

THOUGHTS.

I started out really enjoying this. Easily a holiday read, I liked the grump and sunshine set up (with easy nods to The Christmas Carol). Single mom trope is here too and I love a great kid in a book too.

There’s some good humor and I loved the slow burn romance. It was a well accomplished age gap and I was head over heels for Henry. He reminded me of Temperance Brennan (Bones from Bones). A very dry sense of humor and the way he viewed the world. I thought this was spot on and his growth was solid too.

Paige grew on me but we had some learning curves too. I struggled with her absolute inability to let others help her even though they’ve literally been helping her for years. It was a stubborn clash that made me shrug my shoulders a bunch.

Some of the trauma felt like it was approached with a bit of insensitivity. I think I got what the author was trying to do, but it was a miss for me.

It does have the perfect amount of holiday cheer and I thought the ending was really sweet. There’s a good combination of things here even if some of the stuff wasn’t clicking for me.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Holiday Romance
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a grandparent (recounted), brief mentions of substance abuse, grief

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ARC Book Review: A Game of Hearts by Joanna Barker

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Regency Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Joanna Barker
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: October 18, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

If you can’t join them… beat them.

Marigold Cartwell has only one goal: to defeat her long-time rival on the archery field. She knows she can outshoot irritating, cynical Tristan Gates, but the local bowmen’s society—the one he belongs to—refuses to allow women to compete. Spurred on by their rejection, Marigold decides to start a new society. Naturally, it has only one rule: no men.

Tristan Gates is used to Marigold Cartwell always getting her way, so he is far from surprised when she forms her own society. He knows how relentless she can be, something he learned firsthand facing her at the targets. But Tristan has enough worries of his own, what with his bachelor uncle falling in love with a fortune hunter. He has no time to entertain Marigold’s ambitions.

However, after a visit to the seashore ends in disaster—and scandal—Marigold and Tristan soon realize how little they know about each other. The strained tension between them quickly turns to simmering attraction, but an important archery competition looms ahead. Lines are drawn all around them, with Marigold and Tristan on opposite sides, and neither can afford to lose. Yet winning might be the very thing to tear them apart.

Thank you to the author for an eARC.

I AM A PUDDLE.

OMG I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH.

That should be this review: NO NOTES.

I’ll drop a bit more though. I could not get enough of Marigold and Tristan. Marigold has some of the best type of character development that had me easily won over to her side as the book progressed. Add in a broody grump with a cinnamon roll soul in Tristan and these two reluctant lovers ARE A MATCH.

There were so many good moments. I would love to list them, but I also think you should go into reading this without those hints. Tristan and Marigold end up in some dicey situations that lead to their own consequences. And while not their initial choice, learning to communicate was something they both needed that really made my heart soar.

Also, the family????? On BOTH sides were loving and kind. Supportive and compassionate. I loved the parents, the siblings, the uncle. All of them. It was very refreshing to have this kind of support and it made the whole book.

All of the archery stuff was super cool to learn about too. I love archery and it was a unique dynamic to add into a regency romance. It’s the kind of thing I love about Barker’s books. They feel inventive to the genre and this is without a doubt my new favorite of hers.

Overall audience notes:

  • Regency Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of parents (recounted), misogyny

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Book Review: Remembering Jamie (Brotherhood of the Black Tartan #5) by Nichole Van

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Historical Romance
Length: 382 pages
Author: Nichole Van
Publisher: Fiorenza Publishing
Release Date: September 8th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Miss Eilidh Fyffe always assumed her life would follow a predictable pattern—meet a charming man, fall in love, marry, and live happily ever after. But when an accident damages her memory, she is left with only questions. Has she already fallen in love and married? If only she could remember…

Master Kieran MacTavish has spent six years searching for his lost wife. But, turns out, finding Eilidh alive is only the beginning of the battle. She has no memory of him—no recollection of their courtship, love, or handfasting. Refusing to be discouraged, Kieran relishes the chance to make Eilidh fall for him all over again. Surely he can rekindle the flame of their love.

But the intervening years have changed them both. Eilidh is crippled by grief—the deaths of her father, her younger brother, Jamie, and others overwhelm her. And the more Kieran comes to know this new Eilidh, the more he is haunted by the woman she once was.

Throughout it all, one question looms large—
Is your love still your love if the person they once were no longer exists?

UTTER ROMANTIC PERFECTION.

Yes, I said it. PERFECTION. ALL THE DANG STARS. BEST BOOK OF THE SERIES.

You name it, I probably shouted about it. Oh my gosh this was a stunning read. All of the previous four books have been leading up to this moment. This second chance romance + amnesia plot was built up to the desperate need to know what would happen between Kieran and Eilidh.

This was full of swoony moments. Full of blushes and recovering memories. Full of down right sob worthy scenes and cheers at final reveals. I felt all of the emotions and teared up more than once because the PAIN, the LOVE, the beautiful HOPE will send you to your knees. The kind of love here is timeless. It is everything wonderful about romance books.

I’m trying to stay vague because it is the last book and I don’t want to spoil things throughout. So PLEASE TRUST ME AND READ THIS SERIES!!! It’s one of my new favorite historical romance series ever. There’s many different tropes, connections, character backgrounds and more. Van did an incredible job crafting this from start to finish and I am in complete awe.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: closed door (between married couple)
  • Violence: mild
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: prior substance abuse (specifically alcohol), miscarriage (flashback chapters, on page, descriptive, please read with care), childbirth, ship explosion and loss of life (flashback), PTSD, depictions of grief, suicide ideation

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Book Review: Kiss and Tell (Creekville Kisses #3) by Melanie Jacobson

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 220 pages
Author: Melanie Jacobson
Publisher: Four Petal Press
Release Date: August 12th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

He’s back to hold her to a marriage pact they made ten years ago . . .

Tabitha Winters, glamorous celebrity chef, loves her life and growing empire in New York. But when her best friends buy the old summer camp where they worked as counselors, she can’t turn down their invitation to appear at the opening week fundraising gala . . . even if it means confronting the memories of her first love and its disastrous ending.

But she soon discovers someone is playing an elaborate prank on her as she catches glimpses of Sawyer Reed, the heartbreaker who has no business being at Camp Oak Crest. When she uncovers the truth with a well-crafted counter prank campaign, it’s wilder than she could have guessed: even though she hasn’t seen Sawyer since he broke her heart, he’s there to collect on a marriage pact they made when they were still dumb kids.

Tabitha could never resist a dare, and when Sawyer double dares her to give him a week to prove that they still have their old magic, she’s all in to prove that he’s wrong: they’ve been over since the day he walked away ten years ago.

Only she didn’t count on him knowing her better than he has a right to, or having the perfect dates to wear down her resistance. And she definitely didn’t plan on their attraction still burning hotter than the end-of-camp bonfire. In this summer camp setting, can Tabitha resist the pull of past memories while Sawyer’s knee-buckling kisses try to convince her of their future?

JUST WHAT I NEEDED.

Oh this book caught me at the right time, I LOVED IT.

I got major People We Meet on Vacation vibes. The summer camp theme was perfect and this couple? OFF THE CHARTS.

The use of flashback chapters worked effortlessly here. It gave me the necessary background to understand Tabitha and Sawyer’s past and really building up that angst in the present chapters. I loved all of the pranks (which actually made me laugh) and really feeling like I was out at camp with the rest of them.

There’s a lot of great themes in here, one being, therapy. I liked the positive connotation surrounding it and the way that multiple parties learned to express emotions and concerns in a safe and genuine way. I love seeing characters grow and it wasn’t only Tabitha that showed some needed change.

I LOVED SAWYER. Good heavens he was the perfect love interest. Super swoony (those kiss scenes? FIRE). I appreciated that he could admit his wrongs and speak his truths too. The way he tried to show Tabitha just how much he cared, and also listening to her when she needed to communicate to? ALL HERE FOR IT.

Fantastic romance. Perfect for summertime.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses

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