It’s a mini review! I’m clearing out my review queue of all the books I can’t seem to convince myself to finish, for one reason or another. That doesn’t mean these are negative reviews, it simply means that something isn’t compelling me to keep reading at the moment. Maybe I’ll go back to them another day, maybe I won’t!
DNF Details:
How far did I get? About a third of the way through, 100 or so pages.
Why did I stop? I wasn’t feeling it at all, no chemistry and the vibes were off. I had set it down temporarily, thinking maybe I was just in the wrong mood, but then I ended up reading another single dad/musician romance, and it went SO much better. So clearly there was something off about this one, if I enjoyed the same tropes in another book a whole lot more. I also checked out some reviews, and a few readers mentioned the Taylor Swift connection. I’m not a Swiftie (nothing against her, I just like to listen to moody bad boys!), and even I can see some of the obvious comparisons, especially things that happen later in the story. Which made my interest fizzle out even further.
Was I enjoying it initially? Yes and no. I actually really enjoyed the first book in this series and was loving the sound of the tropes in this one, so I was excited to dive in. I love an athlete single dad and a forbidden nanny, it’s a classic for a reason. But I also felt off-balance not knowing what happened during their night together. The reader is left in the dark about some things, and I felt like I was missing something in a bad way. There was also a complete lack of communication between the characters, so I was left scratching my head. So, to answer the original question, I wanted to like it, but I don’t think I ever did.
Would I finish this? Ehh… no. Pretty sure I would’ve come back to it eventually if there weren’t so many similarities to Taylor Swift, but that puts a bad taste in my mouth. It definitely wouldn’t be getting a high rating from me anyway. I would try the author again though, hopefully this is just an off book.
Who would I recommend this to? If you like Taylor Swift-adjacent romances, you might enjoy it. It didn’t give me the single dad swoons though, so keep that in mind.
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3RDUROV
Blurb:
Love was a losing battle for this country music darling and a single dad, baseball star until one night brings them together and one small town sets the playing field for a possible winning streak.
They call me Lady Boss. Maneater. Queen. But beneath the makeup, blond wig, and glitzy costumes, I’m just a country girl who likes to sing. I don’t hate men, I’m just struggling to find a good one. I’ve learned my lesson. Fool me once, and it will never, ever happen again. So I’m baffled when I meet Ford Sylver.
A superstar in his own right as the centerfielder for the Chicago Anchors baseball team, plus a single dad to three adorable little girls, we share a moment when I save his firm backside and pretend he’s mine. Something that he can never be.
Only, when he suffers a season-changing injury and I need a place to disappear, we both end up back in Sterling Falls, where I’m suddenly and unwittingly his nanny.
There’s danger in having a wild side. I’ll try anything once. However, forced into close quarters with Ford, acting as his personal nurse, and caring for his three little ones might backfire. Because I’m staring at all I ever wanted and never thought would happen for me.
After losing at love in the past, could I finally be on a winning streak?
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3RDUROV
Start the series today!
I actually really did like the first book in the series. It was my first experience with Dunbar’s work, and was such a bingeable read.
Blurb:
Love wasn’t the daily special when a grumpy small-town baker delivers a baby in his bakery. Now, all he can think about is that sweet bundle and her tempting single mother.
Having a baby in a bakery gives new meaning to taking the bun out of the oven.
I’d been in Curmudgeon Bakery for one of those lemon baby-Bundt cakes I’d been craving since I found out I was pregnant.
The draw had nothing to do with the baker himself. Tall, tatted, and edgy, looking more like a biker than a man who makes baked goods. I hardly knew him other than taking a tumble in a rainstorm in front of his shop . . . and then tossing myself at him after he rescued me.
We shared a moment but it’s not what you’d think.
Months later, he delivered my baby among his cookies and cakes. Talk about a second chance encounter.
Then he whips up a plan to pretend to be my baby’s father, and everything heats up from there.
My body.
My heart.
My willingness to accept a perfect stranger’s kindness despite him telling me over and over he isn’t who I think he is.
I beg to differ.
He’s that sugary drizzle on a citrus-flavored, guilty pleasure that’s bad for the hips, but together—him, and me, and baby—we’re the perfect blend of ingredients that might do all our hearts some good.
+ + +
From L.B. Dunbar comes an all-new small-town romance with a big family and the silver fox swoon one expects from her love over-40 romances.
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/45f3D9Q
About the Author:
L.B. Dunbar loves flip-flops, sweet tea, and a little heat in her romance reads. A lover of sexy silver foxes, second chances, and small towns, you’ll find all this and more in her signature work the #sexysilverfox collection. She’s a USA TODAY Bestselling Author as well as a #1 Bestseller in Amazon’s Later in Life Romance with her Lakeside Cottage and Road Trips & Romance series. L.B. lives in Chicago with her own sexy silver fox.
To stay up-to-date about the self-proclaimed queen of silver fox romance, join her on Facebook at Loving L.B. or receive her monthly newsletter, Love Notes.
FB: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LovingLB/
NL: http://bit.ly/LoveNotesfromLBDunbar
IG: @lbdunbarwrites
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