I had a decent reading week! I officially posted my release week review for The Co-op, which remains one of my favorite books of the month. It’s tense and addictive, with a second chance romance that I actually liked – loved, really! I also posted my sneak peek review of Next to You, a spicy friends to lovers romance with the swooniest hero. I read the newest from Penny Reid, which was a laidback single mom romance in a small town setting. The latest installment in Teagan Hunter’s sexy sports romance series was just okay – a little forgettable. And I ended up DNFing the new friends to lovers rom com from Tara Sivec, which just wasn’t a good fit for me. I couldn’t get behind a man who wasted six years ghosting his girl eleven months of the year, lol. Finally, I posted my retro review for the Never Blue duet, an angsty and emotional rock star romance.
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
They say love and construction don’t mix.
By that logic, hate and construction may as well be condemned.
LaRynn Lavigne and Deacon Leeds had one short and contentious summer fling when they were teens.
Certainly nothing to build a foundation on.
But a decade later, when their grandmothers have left them with shared ownership of their dilapidated Santa Cruz building, they’re thrust back together and have to figure out how to brace up the pieces.
LaRynn has the money, but to access her trust, she has to be married.
Deacon has the construction expertise, but lacks the funds.
A deal is struck: Marry for however long it takes to fix up the property, collect a profit, and cut ties.
Thrust into a home without walls, they quickly learn that it’s easy to hide behind emotional ones, even in a marriage. But, with all the exposure and pitfalls that come with living with the opposite sex (and none of the perks) they’ll also have to learn what it means to truly co-operate as a team.
The Co-op is a steamy story about restoration and renovation, and uncovering all the things that build character within ourselves. It’s about the never-ending construction project that partnership is, and finding enjoyment at every stage.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3LLA6fV
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Small town charm
He needs to get her out of his system. Just once…
Hank Weller doesn’t help people. He leaves that do-gooder nonsense to his best friend, Beau Winston. Hank does what he wants, when he wants, with whomever he wants—and Hank does not want to hire Charlotte Mitchell to be an exotic dancer at his club, The Pink Pony. Sure, he can’t help noticing the dips and curves of her, how shrewd, smart, and funny she is, the fire in her hazel eyes. He’s always noticed. She’d probably draw a crowd and entice the regulars. But after Charlotte’s messy, public divorce made Hank’s club out to be the culprit—and made her the single mother of four kids—he doesn’t need or want any additional bad press courtesy of Charlotte Mitchell. Or the distraction. Unfortunately for him, the town’s prettiest charity case doesn’t seem to understand the meaning of the words nope, no, and never.
Charlotte Mitchell doesn’t much like Hank Weller. Once upon a time, she used to. Years ago, she liked him a whole heckofalot despite other folks in town labeling him as “eccentric” and “nonconformist,” which were polite southern alternatives to “filthy rich” and “self-centered douchebag.” Her opinion of him changed dramatically after he volunteered to be her date to junior prom and then promptly stood her up. They haven’t so much as acknowledged each other in over a decade. But a sudden family emergency means Charlotte needs access to Hank’s club ASAP. Unfortunately for her, the narcissistic fancy-pants doesn’t seem to understand the meaning of the words help, generosity, and compassion.
But he’s about to find himself schooled. Charlotte is going to teach Hank a lesson once and for all about basic human decency, whether he likes it or not.
Spoiler alert. . . he likes it.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3ScZfSf
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Sneak peek review
Two friends (who are totally not in love) work together to renovate a school bus into a home.
Lane is in the middle of an identity crisis. Her friends are all partnered up, her career is leading nowhere, and simply put, she’s not happy. So after a night out celebrating (drinking) on her birthday, she makes one hell of an impulsive purchase. A giant yellow forty-eight passenger school bus that she intends to make a home.
With little-to-no renovation experience but a large sum of inheritance money, Lane enlists the help of her friend Matt—a mechanic by trade, handyman by practice, and hottie by nature.
While their mutual attraction is undeniable, Matt and Lane have silently agreed that a friendship is the only thing that can ever exist between them. Matt’s a total family guy with “settle down with me” tattooed across his forehead, whereas Lane is entirely commitment-averse.
So when Matt offers to help her with the bus and in the bedroom with no strings attached, Lane’s feelings evolve faster than you can say “just good friends.” But she soon discovers that in order to build something new, she has to first heal her past.
Next to You releases on November 29th!
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3DkEEau
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Retro review
Tali DiPietro is a good girl with a streak of punk rock rebel.
Before I left for college, my mom told me not to settle down with the first guy who crosses my path. Sage advise, sure, but that’s hard to do after I share an elevator with a guy who is nothing like the boys back home. I swore off musicians a long time ago, but when I see Jude on stage for the first time, I know I’m going to fall for him, and I’m damn sure it’s going to hurt.
Jude Goldman is a bad boy with a guitar and big dreams.
I have one goal: making it as a musician. There’s no obstacle I won’t destroy to be the one under the spotlight. Nothing has slowed me down, not until a chocolate-eyed girl with a New York accent enters my world. Tali becomes as important as landing a record deal, and I’ll do anything to have both, no matter how much it hurts.
We’re two ships moored together in a storm of excess, stardom, and broken promises pulled apart and yanked back in, until we’re both battered and breaking. We have that forever kind of love, but for us, forever might be nothing more than stardust and memories.
(The Never Blue duet is a spin-off of the Blue is the Color series, but can be read as a complete standalone!)
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3zMsjKf
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Just okay
Scoring on the ice? Piece of cake.
Scoring off it? Well, there’s a reason I’m still a virgin.
I’m not entirely clueless with women, though I do tend to put my foot in my mouth around them far too often.
Like I did with Scout, the donut maker I stupidly introduced myself to despite visiting her truck for years.
Maybe my teammates have a reason to call me the dumb one, but I’m determined to prove them all wrong—Scout included.
I want to be her friend. Want her to see the real me.
What I’m not expecting is to like her so much when we start spending time together…or want to kiss her so badly.
I’m the jock, and she’s the bookworm.
On paper, we make no sense together.
But maybe I have a scoring chance with her after all.
SCORING CHANCE is a standalone hockey romantic comedy. There’s a virgin hero, a secret crush, wit, steam, and a whole lot of fun!
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3fbgIMZ
DNF: Not for me
I love a Tara Sivec rom com, but this one just wasn’t for me. I tried to get into it three different times in three different moods, but it pushed all of my friends to lovers buttons and drove me kinda crazy. Entirely an “it’s not you, it’s me” thing, so I’m choosing to leave it unfinished. Still a very fun and festive read if friends to lovers is your jam.
———
Harvest Grove News:
Another Halloween season is upon us! As usual, please be mindful of the movie fans traveling from Vine Street to Cinnamon Way.
Favorite bar owner, Ford Prescott, is back in town for his yearly stay, making this his sixth October in Harvest Grove! Be sure to welcome him warmly when you see him at the Wicked Pub and Grub. Single ladies – try not to overwhelm the poor man with so many baked goods this year.
Sidney Tanner wants residents to know her Severed Head Succulents will be buy one, get one free before the countdown to midnight begins on October Eve. Since it’s likely she’ll be in jail at some point that night, please text her your orders.
Still seeking volunteers for various events around town:
*Someone to organize pumpkin carving night at the Gore House.
*An extra, bloody cheerleader for the yearly viewing of The Babysitter’s Last Halloween. Costume will be provided.
*A brave soul to keep an eye on the Tanner girls this month. We don’t want a repeat of last year’s corn maze incident, or the mashed potato fiasco in poor Jarvis’s yard previously.
We assume Ford will be volunteering for that last one, since he and Sidney are always joined at the hip when he’s in town. A little bat tells me these October best friends will be heating things up in town this year. Sparks will be flying–no offense to Colleen or the Tanner girls who set her garage on fire–and these two might just be carving out some time for love this Halloween!
Fasten your sheet belts, Harvest Grove! Let’s hope when the clock strikes midnight on October 31st, our dear Sidney won’t be ghosted again…
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3FsDb3x
Check out this week’s new releases here.
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