It was an exploratory reading week for me, and with that came mixed results! None of my one-click authors released new books this week, so I checked out the work of several new-to-me or newer-to-me authors. My favorite was the easy, sexy Say Yes to the Boss, which made me think it might be time to move Olivia Hayle to my one-click list. I read a few of her earliest books 2-3 years ago, and I remember thinking she had a lot of potential – and the books I’ve been reading from her recently are proving that to be very true. I listened to this marriage of convenience romance on audio, and it was so easy to devour in one sitting.
That was the only easy read I had this week, lol! The others had bumpier roads. It’s my first time reading something by Sara Whitney, and the cover/series title had me thinking that I was in for a lighthearted rom com… so I was really surprised by the hate sex and hostility in this second chance romance! The book ended up winning me over once I adjusted my expectations, and I’d definitely try something else from her in the future. I also tried Penelope Douglas for the first time, and her bingeable writing had me glued to the page, even though I was frustrated and kinda confused by the story. There was more good than bad, but it wasn’t a total win. Sarah Ready made my Best of the Year list with Josh and Gemma Make a Baby (my introduction to her work), but Married by Sunday had some things that put a damper on the otherwise light and funny romance. Finally, I read the newest from T. Gephart, whose rom com started strong before stumbling along the way.
The good news? There are some highly anticipated releases coming next week, and I’ve already finished a few solid reads – plus one older book that TikTok brought back to life for good reason! It’s one of the best books I’ve read this year, and I’ve still got a hangover. If you read my Teaser Thursday post (found here), you know that there are some exciting books on the way soon! I’ll have reviews going up throughout the week.
If you missed any of this week’s reviews, I’ve got the blurb and rating for each below. There’s also a link to my new release list.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Easy and sexy 🎧
My billionaire boss is the absolute last person I’d marry.
Until a deal with the devil forces me down the aisle… ready to say yes to the boss.
I once compared Victor St. Clair to Satan, but that’s unkind.
Even the devil treats his demons better than St. Clair treats me.
I know his schedule by heart. He can’t remember my first name.
So when he calls me into his office, I’m expecting another rant.
Instead he says he needs to get married to inherit the St. Clair fortune.
Oh, and the kicker? He wants to marry me. His assistant.
A one-year marriage of convenience to the boss I hate.
It means living with Victor’s dark stares and silences for a full year.
But it’s also a chance to quit my job and start my own business.
He’s a jerk, but he’s also a respected businessman. How hard can it be?
Answer: very. Because there’s more to Victor than I thought.
Things beyond learning his lunch orders and sending company memos.
And while the man is cold, his kisses are hot enough to consume us both.
He drove me crazy at work. Now he drives me crazy in bed.
But craziest of all is… I might get used to being Mrs. St. Clair.
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3tib5Bu
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Tense and sexy
Faith Fox grew up rich, but she burned that bridge—and her trust fund along with it—after her parents drove away the only boy she ever loved.
Leo Morales grew up poor, and although he carved out a fulfilling career for himself, he never forgot the humiliation he endured at the hands of Faith Fox’s family.
Then Leo’s offered a job in his hometown, and he finds himself in an unexpected position: he’s now the one with the money Faith needs to keep her non-profit afloat.
The pair reluctantly agree to work together, but their unresolved issues (and their unquenchable lust) keep boiling over—and that’s before they get stuck in the woods with only one tent, where they discover that second chances can be twice as hot.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3wuyLnZ
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Mixed feelings
“The kids are growing up—different from their parents but the same in so many ways…”
ARO
Hawken Trent. So polite. So sweet. Such an upstanding young man.
A virgin, too, I hear. He never gets naughty with a girl. Probably because Jesus told him not to.
And now here he is, trying to be the hero by protecting another girl from me.
He calls me a bully. Irrational. Unreasonable. A criminal. He can call me anything he wants, I’ve heard worse.
And he can try to stand between me and my money, but he’s never had to fight for food. That rich, clean, school boy doesn’t have what it takes.
HAWKE
I surprised her. You should’ve seen her face.
Just because I don’t have a record, honey, doesn’t mean I’m clean. It just means I’m better at not getting caught.
That is until I realize I might’ve actually gone too far this time.
She’s there. I’m there. The scene of the crime.
It’s dark. The police show up.
We have no choice. We run. Down High Street, into Quinn’s bake shop, and I pull her through the entrance to the old speakeasy that everyone forgot was here decades ago.
The door locks, the cops circle the building, never knowing we’re right here, and I’m hidden in plain sight, indefinitely, with someone’s who’s awful.
Mean. Rough. Dirty.
A thief. A delinquent.
Until one night, lost in all of these rooms together, I don’t see any of those things anymore.
She’s smart. Daring. Soft.
Hot…
Everything’s changing. It’s this place. It does something to people.
We have a silly urban legend in Shelburne Falls about mirrors. They’re a gateway. Don’t lean back into them.
But we came through front first.
I don’t care what the county records say. This was never a speakeasy.
It’s Carnival Tower.
*FALLS BOYS is a standalone, new adult romance suitable for readers 18+. It contains harsh language, violence, and sexual situations. Reading the Fall Away series prior to this is helpful, but not necessary.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3pmDZhB
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Mixed feelings
Opposites clash in this wild, unpredictable rom com, where two strangers team up to stop a wedding at all costs.
Nathaniel Barry is monochromatic, meticulous, and uptight. Izzy Harris is wild, unpredictable, and free-spirited. Nathaniel has a trendy apartment, a successful career, and a girlfriend he’s about to propose to. Izzy has no home, no career, and nobody special to hold her down.
They’re polar-opposites in every way.
So when they sit next to each other on the train to Romeo, New York they clash from the very start. Naturally, Nathaniel decides he wants nothing to do with Izzy. And Izzy…well, she has a different opinion.
No matter how much Nathaniel protests, Izzy knows it was fate that brought them together. Nathaniel’s girlfriend just ran off to marry another man, and Izzy swears she’ll help Nathaniel win her back. They have three days to stop the ill-advised wedding. It should be easy. It should be simple. But when two polar opposites team-up to stop a wedding, there’s only one guarantee – that nothing will go as planned.
Married by Sunday is Book 5 in Sarah Ready’s Soul Mates in Romeo Romance Series.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3v6qMNk
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Strong start, weak finish
Vision boards and positivity were great, except when you’re late for a big audition and the director was literally the worst.
Oh, Jagger Hartley was young, talented, exceptionally good-looking with a famous last name, but that’s about all he had going for him.
If only he’d known Belle Mathews wasn’t the kind of woman who’d take no for an answer, and she was going to finish her audition even if she had to take him hostage.
Which she kinda did . . . oops!
But even a hijacked meeting under duress couldn’t overshadow how gifted Belle was—a born star who belonged on stage.
Pity he was crazy attracted to both her undeniable beauty and her generous heart.
So he was either going to be her biggest break, or she was going to his.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3wlCrIG
Check out this week’s new releases here.
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