Tag Archives: Contemporary romance

Just Folking Around by Penny Reid

Book Review, , ,
Overview

Title: Just Folking Around
Author: Penny Reid
Series: Good Folk: Modern Folktales #0.5
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Contemporary romance
Pace: Medium
Format: Novella
Year: 2021

Thoughts

I knew that Raquel and Jackson start out as a fling night, and then there’s the reception. But honestly, knew no more than that. Because you know, I like to avoid spoilers. I kind of thought that this fling moment would be hashed out in a short prologue that gives you the bare bones of the interactions. Instead, Reid granted us with this amazing novella that gives us SO MUCH MORE than I expected.

Rachel and Jackson are, indeed an incredibly cute couple. I love that Raquel is a little bit off kilter. Like most of us who are slightly odd, she is constantly censoring herself. I love how neurotic she is (kindred spirit much?) The constant censoring is way too familiar and incredibly sweet. But, I also love how she is able to release some of that control around Jackson.

This was a beautiful novella, one that I’m likely to read again and again. In part because I really loved the whole set chess thing. I might have to suggest this for my next date night…

<- More Penny ReidTotally Folked ->

Image source: Amazon

Always Only You by Chloe Liese

Book Review, , ,
Overview

Title: Always Only You
Author: Chloe Liese
Series: Bergman Brothers #2
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Contemporary romance
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2020

Thoughts

Hints of the depths of Ren’s unrequited love rear their head in Only When It’s Us, so I pretty much immediately dived straight into the novel. I mean, I loved the first story of the Bergman Brothers, so I figured why not jump straight into the second one. And, as predicated, it was just as wonderful and fantastic as predicted.

Liese did wonderfully in her description of living with a chronic illness, at least to my limited understanding. Frankie’s constant, daily battles to manage something that most of us couldn’t ever fathom make her completely loveable and adorable. As is the gradual understanding that her distance form her family is entirely chosen and of her own making. Every piece of information about her daily life made me fall more and more in love with her. And made it that much understandable why Ren has had his unrequited love.

Sometimes the whole loving from afar, unrequited loved can be a bit of a creepy storyline and trope. I mean, I find it generally frustrating that someone hasn’t shared their feelings. And it can be seriously creepy. Yet, Liese was able to make this incredibly sweet. Ren has totally sound reasons for keeping his mouth shut and his fascination somehow doesn’t feel creepy. I mean, he’s waiting, but he doesn’t just stop his life in the meantime.

This was pretty much a cover to cover read for me. I loved the whole Bergman clan, I loved the romance and found everything about it completely adorable. I also enjoyed listening to the play list as the story unfolded. Plus, once the romance started, there were a few challenges, but mostly it was just beautiful and all of the gooey feelings.

<- Only When It’s UsEver After Always ->

Image source: Goodreads

Only When It’s Us by Chloe Liese

Book Review, , ,
Overview

Title: Only When It’s Us
Author: Chloe Liese
Series: Bergman Brothers #1
Rating Out of 5: , 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Contemporary romance
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2020

Thoughts

Not going to lie, I love a good enemies-to-lover romance. They’re always just so adorable, and the epitome of I love you in spite of your flaws. Or at least, it is to me. And this story definitely was a great example of the trope. It was cute and funny, filled with fun moments and a whole lot of antagonism. Plus both Willa and Ryder have such adorable backstories and personalities, that it is impossible not to fall completely, totally and utterly in love with them.

Mac is a fun plot driver, I mean, he’s kind of a dick. But he’s also a well-meaning ignoramus. Which is always the best type, he’s just annoying enough that you want to smack him around the head, but not so much that he’s irredeemable. He also personifies a whole heap of prejudices and assumptions that are often made in daily life. I’m intrigued to see what his story is like later on in the series, I’m not yet sure how much I like him…

Liese does a great job of dealing with some tough issues. Firstly, Willa’s mothers battle with cancer. As a child of someone who battled cancer, I can attest that many of those emotions and thought processes were incredibly familiar. It’s amazing that such a happy and sweet book has such a dark aspect to it. And one that was down very, very well. The there’s Ryder’s late-onset deafness. I know next to nothing about this, but it felt incredibly genuine. The fact that Liese has a note in the front about her republication due to some of her own assumptions… it made me love her writing all that much more.

The final amazing cherry on top for this story… the play list. I’ve read lots of books that have play lists you can find online attached. Play lists that the authors used when writing certain chapters or scenes. But I’ve never had the pleasure of reading one that has a song for every chapter. Listening to this as the story unfolded helped to even further heighten the emotional connection. And now I have a great nostalgic play list to crank whenever I’m in the mood.

<- More Chloe LieseAlways Only You ->

Image source: Goodreads

Santa in a Kilt by Donna Kauffman

Book Review, , , , ,
Overview

Title: Santa in a Kilt
Author: Donna Kauffman
Series: Hot Scot Trilogy #3
In: Unwrapped (Erin McCarthy, Donna Kauffman & Kate Angell)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Christmas, Contemporary, Contemporary romance, Scottish romance
Pace: Fast
Format: eBook, Novella
Year: 2011

Thoughts

The title of this novella is incredibly misleading, since there’s absolutely no Santa. In fact, there’s barely a mention of Christmas. It’s the time of year, but there is really no other relevance to the storyline there. The kilt part though? That’s definitely a BIG part of this story. And quite a yummy part if I’m being honest…

I thought Shay would be a lot more resilient to his eventual succumbing to the relationship with Kira. I mean, he had all sorts of resistance and well meaning intentions at the beginning. And I honestly thought that he would stuff up their burgeoning romance before the eventual happily ever after. In fact, everything about Shay was yummy, and since he didn’t epically stuff up, there wasn’t much to NOT like about him.

Kira was kind of what I’ve always wanted to be in a relationship… accepting. She was happy to take what she could and just, accept who and what Shay is. I try to do this in all my relationships, but must admit I’m not always successful. This was a beautiful way to round out the Hot Scot Trilogy, even if I haven’t actually read the first two books yet… something I’ll try to remedy soon.

<- Blue ChristmasSnow Angel ->

Image source: Amazon

Boyfriend by Sarina Bowen

Book Review, , , ,
Overview

Title: Boyfriend
Author: Sarina Bowen, Heart Eyes Press
Series: Moo U #1
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Contemporary romance
Pace: Fast
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2021

Thoughts

Oh man, Abbi and Weston are just too damn cute. And sweet. And all of the warm, happy, rainbows and puppies feelings. I mean, there’s a level of sweetness in every romance story’s couple, but for whatever reason, I found this couple even more adorable than usual. Or maybe it’s just the whole “fake romance” trope that sucked me right into all of the happy feels.

One of the standout moments in this story for me is the way that Abbi is able to completely hand it to Weston’s dad. I’ve never understood people who wallow and moan. I mean, life is too damn short and there is always a silver lining to be found. So, when Abbi gets up the father to tell him to enjoy what he has, I wanted to do a standing ovation. I wish I had the guts to stand up to people like this and tell them to find the joy in life. Gah! So much frustration.

Admittedly, alongside the amazingness of Abbi and Weston falling for one another, I loved all of the family dynamics. Particularly the moment when Weston highlights to Dalton how truly moronic he is. I feel like there tend to be 2 camps of men at times – those who are the creep/bastard/predators, and those who are kind of naive about the first camp. Dalton, whilst a well-meaning man, is firmly in the second camp. An absolute moron, but still a well-meaning one.

For those early morning baby feeds, I’m loving sinking into a good, easy book. And diving into the world of Sarina Bowen at the moment is incredibly rewarding. Boyfriend is yet another joyful step into that world. One that I look forward to repeating again and again.

<- More Heart Eyes PressBlindsided ->

Image source: Kobo

Sweetheart by Sarah Mayberry

Book Review, , , ,
Overview

Title: Sweetheart
Author: Sarah Mayberry, Heart Eyes Press
Series: Busy Bean #1
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Contemporary romance
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2021

Thoughts

I was admittedly a little bit leery about reading this, after all, the blurb said that it’s a relationship between a woman and her sister’s ex. That just seems all kinds of wrong to me. But then I read it, and there is no wrong, just beautiful sweetness. I totally get why this story was called Sweetheart. It is honestly just too damn cute!!!

I found the personification of Jess to be really interesting and unique in this tale. For Beck, she’s the nightmare ex who totally messed him up, abused him and just shattered some of his sanity. In a normal story, she’d be the villain throwing a spanner in the works of the relationship going forwards. And it did do that, a lot. But then you see her through Haley’s eyes, and it’s impossible to hate her. Because although Jess has done some truly horrible things, she’s still Haley’s sister. And we tend to love and adore our families, even when they’re seriously difficult.

I also loved how Haley’s family dynamic was structured. From experience, I know that sometimes if there is a child with issues, the other one gets swept under the rug. And sometimes being the passive, easy-going one means that people can forget about your own needs and desires. Again, instead of just villainising the parents and having them as the “bad guys”, Mayberry is able to show how those dynamics can happen. Even when we love, we make mistakes and sometimes fudge things up a little.

I absolutely adored this book. The relationship between Haley and Beck was completely swoon worthy and adorable. Actually, it was just downright cute. But Mayberry was also able to deal with a whole heap of pretty intense and complex issues in Haley’s family dynamic. And provide a great reminder that even when we love each other (familial, romantic, platonic…), we still make mistakes. We just have to be open to fixing them.

<- More Heart Eyes PressCowboy ->

Image source: Goodreads

Ain’t She a Peach? by Molly Harper

Book Review, , ,
Overview

Title: Ain’t She a Peach?
Author: Southern Eclectic #2
Series: Molly Harper
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Contemporary romance
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2018

Thoughts

This novel is just so damn cute. Which, considering Sweet Tea and Sympathy was very, very adorable, isn’t surprising in the least. I kind of fell a little in love with Frankie in Sweet Tea and Sympathy, which made it all that much more exciting to read about her in her own romance. The fact that this has more hijinks and insanity just made it that much more fun to read.

I know that just having a parent with cancer can leave you with zone medical trauma. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have cancer at a young age and deal with the resulting trauma. I thought that Harper dealt incredibly well with this topic and issue. Frankie’s neuroses might seem a bit extreme, but they are completely understandable. The fact that this further feeds on her not-so-healthy relationship with her parents just made me that much happier. Particularly since all through this, Frankie is AWARE that her reactions and relationships aren’t all that healthy.

Eric was quite a yummy lead. I enjoyed how he is immediately described as someone who is not traditionally food looking. Don’t get me wrong, I love my man candy hot, but I enjoy it when they’re a little bit unconventional in their yumminess. The fact that he is also able to push Frankie and see through her bullshit just endeared him to me that much more.

I thought that the parallels drawn between Jarred and Frankie were quite well done. There are many spoilt and treasured children throughout the world, but not all are actually spoilt people. Even though Frankie and Jarred have both had the potential to pursue the same pathways, they’ve made completely different choices. A good reminder that our choices are what ultimately create us and are incredibly important.

<- Sweet Tea and SympathyGimme Some Sugar ->

Image source: Simon & Schuster

The Third Call by Lorhainne Eckhart

Book Review, , , ,
Overview

Title: The Third Call
Author: Lorhainne Eckhart
Series: The O’Connells #2
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Contemporary romance, Romantic suspense
Pace: Fast
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2020

Thoughts

This felt like a ridiculously quick read, I’m not sure if that’s because this is actually quite a short tale, or it’s just very fast paced. Maybe a bit of a combination of both. But, regardless of how quick this read felt, it was an enjoyable read. Like The Neighbor, not exactly what I would call highly romantic, but a nice read still. Enough that I want to dive into The Secret Husband when I get the next chance.

Although this story had a kind of happy ending, I was expecting an all-round happy ending. Instead, there is a happy ending for the main couple, but not so much for the victims that they come across. I did like how there was a second chance romance in this from the start though. And all it took for things to go from 0 to 100 was for Charlotte to say goodbye to some of her needless pride.

I found Tom’s fate to be particularly tragic. It’s a reminder of how easily mental health slips through the cracks. And the ways in which a storm of bad luck and bad choices can lead someone to the worst decision. Or at least, that’s what it felt like to me. I almost shed a tear for the tragedy of this whole aspect of the storyline actually.

The Third Call gave some feeling to the idea of being a emergency responder and the types of calls that people must have to deal with. It definitely was more realistic than some of the other tales I read in that there was no happy ending for everyone. And I’m still not sure whether I find that to be a good or bad thing.

<- The NeighborThe Secret Husband ->

Image source: Amazon

Steadfast by Sarina Bowen

Book Review, , ,
Overview

Title: Steadfast
Author: Sarina Bowen
Series: True North #2
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Contemporary romance
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2016

Thoughts

From the moment he appears in Bittersweet, Jude’s backstory is intriguing. You get the bare bones in the first True North book, but everything is so much more tragic when you find out the intimate details. And then there’s Sophie, her story is just as tragic and honestly hurt my heart even more. Combined, their tales are kind of horrible. Yet, this was still an incredibly sweet and heart-warming romance.

There was something incredibly settling about this romance. It was very grounding and beautiful, even as Sophie and Judd find ways to fix up the mistakes of the past. I like how you slowly find out more and more information about Judd crime as the book progresses. And you slowly realise that not everything adds up. Which adds this incredible layer of “I can’t put this down” to an already wonderful story.

Bowen went kind of dark in this story, dealing with addiction, corruption, and abuse. But the unwavering nature of Sophie’s love manages to provide a lightness to the tale that would otherwise not be there. I loved how Bowen was able to balance the emotions so beautifully in this. Plus, Sophie is just so damn loyal that I fell more and more in love with her with every page turned.

Steadfast was such a beautiful tale. I freaking adored Sophie and Jude. The, there was the whole conspiracy that sat behind their reconnection. It was horrifying and made everything feel more tragic because there was so much time wasted. But ultimately it was beautiful, sweet and just too damn adorable. Definitely making True North one of my newest favourite series.

<- BittersweetKeepsake ->

Image source: Amazon

Bittersweet by Sarina Bowen

Book Review, , ,
Overview

Title: Bittersweet
Author: Sarina Bowen
Series: True North #1
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Contemporary romance
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2016

Thoughts

The title of this novella is surprisingly well suited. There are many moments of bittersweet moments throughout, and moments of “almost” that had you leaning forward in your seat. But mostly, you have Griff (bitter) and Audrey (sweet). Rather than being a story with a great Meet Cute, this was one where the lead couple have a past. Those first getting to know you moments where still there, but with a lot more sexualising tension than other tales.

Vermont is such a stunning backdrop to this romance. It felt like the turning of the seasons and long drives down winding roads. I love when the setting to a story feels like a whole extra character, it just gives you a whole other dimension to love. Plus, how could two people not fall in love in such a glorious, small-town setting?

Living in rural Australia, the whole farm-to-table idea is fairly familiar. We have a lot of local restaurants and producers who emphasise the locality of their products. It’s not something that I’ve seen much in the stories I read though. I got pretty swept away by the food mentioned throughout this to be honest. I’m an absolute sucker for tales which involve yummy, yummy food peppered throughout. Contrasting this feeling of homeliness and comfort and locality, was the evil corporate bastards. I mean, they did good in that they are the vessel for reconnection between Audrey and Griff, but still… evil corporate bastards.

This whole story was absolutely beautiful, and as with all romances, there is that strong moment of “oh no” when everything unravels. Luckily, Griff isn’t too epically moronic when things go wrong. I mean, I was expecting the angst to be stretched out, and was incredibly grateful when it wasn’t. Sometimes it’s nice to have a good, simple read with a wonderful, happy ending.

<- More Sarina BowenSteadfast ->

Image source: Goodreads