It was a light release week because of the holiday, but I managed to read some great books! I listened to the upcoming release from Julia Whelan, and it was so good that it made it onto my 15 Best of 2022 (So Far) list – found here. I finally read Fall by Kristen Callihan, and it lived up to my very high expectations. I checked out Ava Wilder’s buzzy debut, and it ended up being a heavy but memorable read. I tried Katie Bailey for the first time, and her style is super cute. The only disappointment was the newest from Roni Loren, which ended up being my least favorite in the series.
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.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Loved it 🎧
The first time I met Jax Blackwood things went a little sideways.
In my defense, I didn’t know he was Jax Blackwood—who expects a legendary rock star to be shopping for groceries? More importantly, a blizzard was coming and he was about to grab the last carton of mint-chocolate chip.
Still, I might have walked away, but then he smugly dared me to try and take the coveted ice cream. So I kissed him. And distracted that mint-chip right out of his hands.
Okay, it was a dirty move, but desperate times and all that. Besides, I never expected he’d be my new neighbor.
An annoying neighbor who takes great pleasure in reminding me that I owe him ice cream but would happily accept more kisses as payment. An irresistible neighbor who keeps me up while playing guitar naked–spectacularly naked–in his living room.
Clearly, avoidance is key. Except nothing about Jax is easy to ignore—not the way he makes me laugh, or that his particular brand of darkness matches mine, or how one look from him melts me faster than butter under a hot sun.
Neither of us believes in love or forever. Yet we’re quickly becoming each other’s addiction. But we could be more. We could be everything.
All we have to do is trust enough to fall.
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3NXWWkN
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Heavy and heartfelt 🎧
Grey Brooks is on a mission to keep her career afloat now that the end of her long-running teen TV show has her (unsuccessfully) pounding the pavement again. With a life-changing role on the line, she’s finally desperate enough to agree to her publicist’s scheme: fake a love affair with a disgraced Hollywood heartthrob who needs the publicity, but for very different reasons.
Ethan Atkins just wants to be left alone. Between his high-profile divorce, struggles with drinking, and grief over the death of his longtime creative partner and best friend, Ethan has slowly let himself fade into the background. But if he ever wants to produce the last movie he and his partner wrote together, Ethan needs to clean up his reputation and step back into the spotlight. A gossip-inducing affair with a gorgeous actress might be just the ticket, even if it’s the last thing he wants to do.
Though their juicy public relationship is less than perfect behind the scenes, it doesn’t take long before Grey and Ethan’s sizzling chemistry starts to feel like more than just an act. But after decades in a ruthless industry that requires bulletproof emotional armor to survive, are they too used to faking it to open themselves up to the real thing?
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3PeWOxI
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Sneak peek review 🎧
From the author of My Oxford Year, Julia Whelan’s uplifting novel tells the story of a former actress turned successful audiobook narrator—who has lost sight of her dreams after a tragic accident—and her journey of self-discovery, love, and acceptance when she agrees to narrate one last romance novel.
For Sewanee Chester, being an audiobook narrator is a long way from her old dreams, but the days of being a star on film sets are long behind her. She’s found success and satisfaction from the inside of a sound booth and it allows her to care for her beloved, ailing grandmother. When she arrives in Las Vegas last-minute for a book convention, Sewanee unexpectedly spends a whirlwind night with a charming stranger.
On her return home, Sewanee discovers one of the world’s most beloved romance novelists wanted her to perform her last book—with Brock McNight, the industry’s hottest, most secretive voice. Sewanee doesn’t buy what romance novels are selling—not after her own dreams were tragically cut short—and she stopped narrating them years ago. But her admiration of the late author, and the opportunity to get her grandmother more help, makes her decision for her.
As Sewanee begins work on the book, resurrecting her old romance pseudonym, she and Brock forge a real connection, hidden behind the comfort of anonymity. Soon, she is dreaming again, but secrets are revealed, and the realities of life come crashing down around her once more.
If she can learn to risk everything for desires she has long buried, she will discover a world of intimacy and acceptance she never believed would be hers.
Thank You For Listening releases on August 2nd!
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3IbDA9G
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Light and easy
I spent the night with a hot, grumpy stranger in an airport hotel.
No, not like that. Get your mind out of the gutter. It was just sleeping. And… maybe a little cuddling.
Long story short, I embarrassed the heck out of myself. But at least I never have to see him again.
Except the universe is clearly out to get me, because Monday morning, I arrive at my new job and who’s the first person I see?
Hot stranger himself: Liam Donovan.
AKA my new boss.
AKA Annie, you are so freaking screwed.
While the HR rulebook doesn’t explicitly say you can’t share a bed with your boss, I can read between the lines. And I need this job.
Which is why I have to pretend that night never happened. Luckily for me, sexy as Liam—excuse me, Mr. Donovan—is, he’s surly, rude and totally not my type.
Or so I keep telling myself.
Because I’m starting to think there’s a warm, gooey cinnamon roll with extra frosting lurking beneath that impressive, muscular form.
I promised I’d never choose between my career and love.
But when a scandal threatens to break, that promise could prove impossible to keep…
So That Happened is a laugh-out-loud funny, swoony, closed door romantic comedy. Expect some mild language and suggestive jokes coupled with tons of chemistry and tension, but no explicit scenes.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3NHNBwt
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Not my favorite 🎧
Eliza Catalano has the perfect life. So what if it actually looks nothing like the story she tells online? As a therapist, it’s part of her job to look like she has all the answers, right? But when Eliza ends up as a viral “Worst Date Ever” meme, everything in her Instagram-filtered world begins to crumble.
Enter the most obnoxiously attractive man she’s ever met, and a bet she can’t resist: if she swears off social media for six months, Beck Carter’ll teach her the wonders of surviving the “real world.” No technology, no dating apps, no pretty filters, no BS.
It seems like the perfect deal—she can lay low until her sudden infamy passes, meet some interesting new people, and maybe even curate this experience into a how I quit the online dating racket book along the way. But something about Beck’s raw honesty speaks to Eliza in ways she never expected. She knows he’s supposed to be completely hands-off…but as complex feelings grow and walls come tumbling down, rough-around-the-edges Beck may be exactly what Eliza needs to finally, truly face herself—and decide who she really wants to be.
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3agwKDl
Check out this week’s new releases here.
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