Reviews

Well Matched by Jen DeLuca

*Spoiler free*

Thank you so much to Berkley and Edelweiss for the e-ARC!

Single mother April Parker has lived in Willow Creek for twelve years with a wall around her heart. On the verge of being an empty nester, she’s decided to move on from her quaint little town, and asks her friend Mitch for his help with some home improvement projects to get her house ready to sell. Mitch Malone is known for being the life of every party, but mostly for the attire he wears to the local Renaissance Faire–a kilt (and not much else) that shows off his muscled form to perfection. While he agrees to help April, he needs a favor too: she’ll pretend to be his girlfriend at an upcoming family dinner, so that he can avoid the lectures about settling down and having a more “serious” career than high school coach and gym teacher. April reluctantly agrees, but when dinner turns into a weekend trip, it becomes hard to tell what’s real and what’s been just for show. But when the weekend ends, so must their fake relationship. As summer begins, Faire returns to Willow Creek, and April volunteers for the first time. When Mitch’s family shows up unexpectedly, April pretends to be Mitch’s girlfriend again…something that doesn’t feel so fake anymore. Despite their obvious connection, April insists they’ve just been putting on an act. But when there’s the chance for something real, she has to decide whether to change her plans–and open her heart–for the kilt-wearing hunk who might just be the love of her life.

I have been looking forward to Mitch’s book since I read Well Met. The dude is like a golden retriever, and I adored him, so I was super pumped to read a book where he was at the center. I love characters who are usually the comedic relief getting fleshed out into real people, with personalities and everything. Plus, I was also looking forward to April getting her own book too! Really, I was just super siked about everything about this book.

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Reviews

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

*Spoiler free*

Thank you so much to Berkley Books and Edelweiss for the e-ARC!

As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn’t believe in lasting romantic relationships–but her best friend does, and that’s what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees. That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor–and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford’s reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive’s career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and even more unyielding…six-pack abs. Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. And Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.

I’m not sure what drew me to this book, but I’m sure the cover and the fact that it has fake dating has something to do with it. I’ve realized that I am attracted to books by the smallest things. But seriously, the cover is adorable! And fake dating! Yes I wanted to read it. Trigger warnings: sexual harassment, sexism

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Reviews

The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang

*Spoiler free*

Thank you so much to Berkley and Edelweiss for the e-ARC!

When violinist Anna Sun accidentally achieves career success with a viral YouTube video, she finds herself incapacitated and burned out from her attempts to replicate that moment. And when her longtime boyfriend announces he wants an open relationship before making a final commitment, a hurt and angry Anna decides that if he wants an open relationship, then she does, too. Translation: She’s going to embark on a string of one-night stands. The more unacceptable the men, the better. That’s where tattooed, motorcycle-riding Quan Diep comes in. Their first attempt at a one-night stand fails, as does their second, and their third, because being with Quan is more than sex—he accepts Anna on an unconditional level that she has just started to understand herself. However, when tragedy strikes Anna’s family she takes on a role that she is ill-suited for, until the burden of expectations threatens to destroy her. Anna and Quan have to fight for their chance at love, but to do that, they also have to fight for themselves.

Since I am such a huge of both The Kiss Quotient and The Bride Test, I have been eagerly awaiting The Heart Principle! Helen Hoang is one of my favorite romance authors, and I couldn’t wait to read her next book.

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Reviews

A Brush With Love by Mazey Eddings

*Spoiler free*

Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Griffin and Edelweiss for the e-ARC!

Harper is anxiously awaiting placement into a top oral surgery residency program when she crashes (literally) into Dan. Harper would rather endure a Novocaine-free root canal than face any distractions, even one this adorable. A first-year dental student with a family legacy to contend with, Dan doesn’t have the same passion for pulling teeth that Harper does. Though he finds himself falling for her, he is willing to play by Harper’s rules. So with the greatest of intentions and the poorest of follow-throughs, the two set out to be “just friends.” But as they get to know each other better, Harper fears that trading fillings for feelings may make her lose control and can’t risk her carefully ordered life coming undone, no matter how drool-worthy Dan is. Blood, gore, and extra-long roots? No problem. The idea of falling in love? Torture. 

I mean, a romance book about dentistry sounds pretty interesting. And if I’m being honest, that’s all I really needed to know to wanted to read it. I was eager to see how teeth would be incorporated into a book about love. Plus, I knew it would have an adorable meet-cute and a main character who is trying to grapple with her feelings. I wanted to know what I would think of it. Trigger warnings: grief, some minor dental stuff, sexism, anxiety, panic attacks

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The Shaadi Set-Up by Lillie Vale

*Spoiler free*

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Thank you so much to Putnam and Edelweiss for the e-ARC!

High school sweethearts Rita Chitniss and Milan Rao were the golden couple, until the day he broke her heart. Now, six years later, Rita has turned her passion for furniture restoration into a career and has an almost-perfect boyfriend, Neil. The last thing she needs is for Milan to re-enter her life, but that’s exactly what happens when her mother, an unfailing believer in second chances, sets them up. Milan is just as charming, cocky, and confident as he was back in school. Only this time, he actually needs her business expertise, not her heart, to flip a hard-to-sell house for his realty agency.While Rita begrudgingly agrees to help, she’s not taking any risks. To prove she’s definitely over him, she signs herself and Neil up on MyShaadi.com, a Desi matchmaking site famous for its success stories and trustworthy enough to convince everyone that she and Neil are the new and improved couple. Instead, she’s shocked when MyShaadi’s perfect match for her isn’t Neil…it’s Milan. Ignoring the website and her mother is one thing, but ignoring Milan proves much more difficult, especially when she promises to help him renovate the beach house of her dreams. And as the two of them dive deeper into work—and their pasts—Rita begins to wonder if maybe her match wasn’t so wrong after all….

After seeing friends rave about Vale’s YA debut, I knew I was going to want to give her romance debut a try. I’m always a bit wary of second-chance romances, simply because I need to be in the right mood for the angst. But this one sounded like it was going to be amazing, with a match that is not expected and forced proximity. Plus, there are even dogs on the cover. I was eager to see what this book was going to hold!

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Reviews

Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle

*Spoiler free*

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Thank you so much to G.P. Putnam’s Sons and Edelweiss for the e-ARC!

Maybell Parish has always been a dreamer and a hopeless romantic. But living in her own world has long been preferable to dealing with the disappointments of real life. So when Maybell inherits a charming house in the Smokies from her Great-Aunt Violet, she seizes the opportunity to make a fresh start. Yet when she arrives, it seems her troubles have only just begun. Not only is the house falling apart around her, but she isn’t the only inheritor: she has to share everything with Wesley Koehler, the groundskeeper who’s as grouchy as he is gorgeous–and it turns out he has a very different vision for the property’s future. Convincing the taciturn Wesley to stop avoiding her and compromise is a task more formidable than the other dying wishes Great-Aunt Violet left behind. But when Maybell uncovers something unexpectedly sweet beneath Wesley’s scowls, and as the two slowly begin to let their guard down, they might learn that sometimes the smallest steps outside one’s comfort zone can lead to the greatest rewards.

I was looking forward to this book. I had really enjoyed You Deserve Each Other, with it’s hilarious humor and fantastic MC, so I was pumped to see what Hogle’s next book would be like! Then I found out that it would have a dreamer MC and a love interest with social anxiety and I became incredibly eager to read the book. Plus, the plot focuses around inheriting a house and clashing ideas on what to do with it! It sounded amazing. Trigger warnings: anxiety, social anxiety, panic attacks

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Reviews

Crazy Stupid Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams

*Spoiler free*

Alexis Carlisle and her cat café, ToeBeans, have shot to fame after she came forward as a victim of a celebrity chef’s sexual harassment. When a new customer approaches to confide in her, the last thing Alexis expects is for the woman to claim they’re sisters. Unsure what to do, Alexis turns to the only man she trusts—her best friend, Noah Logan. Computer genius Noah left his rebellious teenage hacker past behind to become a computer security expert. Now he only uses his old skills for the right cause. But Noah’s got a secret: He’s madly in love with Alexis. When she asks for his help, he wonders if the timing will ever be right to confess his crush. Noah’s pals in The Bromance Book Club are more than willing to share their beloved “manuals” to help him go from bud to boyfriend. But he must decide if telling the truth is worth risking the best friendship he’s ever had.

I have been incredibly eager for Crazy Stupid Bromance. I was so pumped for Alexis’s book, but if I’m being completely honest, I was in it for Beefcake. But, best friends-to-lovers, a cat café, a surprise sister, and a computer genius all in one book sounded like something that would be right up my alley. And I would get more Beefcake content. Trigger warnings: death of a family member, grief, surgery

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Reviews

The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams

*Spoiler free*

The first rule of book club: You don’t talk about book club. Nashville Legends second baseman Gavin Scott’s marriage is in major league trouble. He’s recently discovered a humiliating secret: his wife Thea has always faked the Big O. When he loses his cool at the revelation, it’s the final straw on their already strained relationship. Thea asks for a divorce, and Gavin realizes he’s let his pride and fear get the better of him. Welcome to the Bromance Book Club. Distraught and desperate, Gavin finds help from an unlikely source: a secret romance book club made up of Nashville’s top alpha men. With the help of their current read, a steamy Regency titled Courting the Countess, the guys coach Gavin on saving his marriage. But it’ll take a lot more than flowery words and grand gestures for this hapless Romeo to find his inner hero and win back the trust of his wife.

I finally read The Bromance Book Club. I have seen so much of this book online, leading up to and after it came out. It seemed like so many people who read romance loved the heck out of it. But, I was reluctant to get into it. I have to be in a very specific mood to read second chance romances. And that’s part of the reason I read Undercover Bromance before this one. Though, since I loved that one so much, I decided to give this one a try.

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Reviews

Undercover Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams

*Spoiler free*

Liv Papandreas has a dream job as a sous chef at Nashville’s hottest restaurant. Too bad the celebrity chef owner is less than charming behind kitchen doors. After she catches him harassing a young hostess, she confronts him and gets fired. Liv vows revenge, but she’ll need assistance to take on the powerful chef. Unfortunately, that means turning to Braden Mack. When Liv’s blackballed from the restaurant scene, the charismatic nightclub entrepreneur offers to help expose her ex-boss, but she is suspicious of his motives. He’ll need to call in reinforcements: the Bromance Book Club. Inspired by the romantic suspense novel they’re reading, the book club assists Liv in setting up a sting operation to take down the chef. But they’re just as eager to help Mack figure out the way to Liv’s heart… even though she’s determined to squelch the sparks between them before she gets burned.

I finally plucked up the courage to try out The Bromance Book Club series. And because I wanted to live on the edge, I started with Undercover Bromance. Also because I need to be in a very specific mood to try out second chance romances. Plus, this one sounded like it would be something I really enjoy. Two people with lots of dislike between them teaming up to take down a horrible powerful man. And the heroine is a pastry chef! And I was intrigued about a book club made up of men, who read romance books, helping out to take down this powerful chef.

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Reviews

Well Played by Jen DeLuca

*Spoiler free*

Stacey is jolted when her friends Simon and Emily get engaged. She knew she was putting her life on hold when she stayed in Willow Creek to care for her sick mother, but it’s been years now, and even though Stacey loves spending her summers pouring drinks and flirting with patrons at the local Renaissance Faire, she wants more out of life. Stacey vows to have her life figured out by the time her friends get hitched at Faire next summer. Maybe she’ll even find The One. When Stacey imagined “The One,” it never occurred to her that her summertime Faire fling, Dex MacLean, might fit the bill. While Dex is easy on the eyes onstage with his band The Dueling Kilts, Stacey has never felt an emotional connection with him. So when she receives a tender email from the typically monosyllabic hunk, she’s not sure what to make of it. Faire returns to Willow Creek, and Stacey comes face-to-face with the man with whom she’s exchanged hundreds of online messages over the past nine months. To Stacey’s shock, it isn’t Dex—she’s been falling in love with a man she barely knows.

I’ve been looking forward to this book basically since I finished Well Met. I fell in love with DeLuca’s writing and this whole little world she has created, and was so looking forward to more books set in Willow Creek. Plus, I loved Stacey in Well Met and was so pumped to read a whole book dedicated to her story. Plus, online romance, mistaken identities, and Renaissance Faires just added to my already overwhelming list of reasons I was looking forward to this book.

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