WEEKLY WRAP-UP: December 8th

I had a fantastic reading week! Though I didn’t finish a lot of books, I did have a lot of success.

I checked out Lana Ferguson’s new fake dating, shifter romance, which was such a breath of fresh air. I loved that it took a familiar trope and put a whole new spin on it, and I ended up devouring the book in one sitting.

I read Off the Hook, which was soft and tender with a great forbidden edge. I was absolutely rooting for the couple, and it was easy to see their love was a special one.

I couldn’t resist when Libro.fm offered me an ALC of the new audiobook of Out on a Limb, one of my favorite romances of the year. The audio does the story justice, and it brought my love for the book right back.

I’ve also had a lot of success digging through my 2023 TBR, though it was successful because I tossed a lot of books off of my TBR, lol. I shared my DNF Report with some of the books that didn’t make the cut.

This was the last big release week of the year, so I’m looking forward to winding things down for the season. I’ll be sharing new reviews next week, but then it’s time for my Best of the Year list and possibly some sneak peek reviews as I dig into my 2024 ARCs.

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 🎧

Two wolf shifters agree to be fake mates but unexpectedly find something real in this steamy paranormal romantic comedy by Lana Ferguson.

Mackenzie Carter has had some very bad dates lately. Model train experts, mansplainers, guys weirdly obsessed with her tail—she hasn’t had a successful date in months. Only a year out of residency, her grandmother’s obsession with Mackenzie finding the perfect mate to settle down with threatens to drive Mackenzie barking mad. Out of options, it feels like a small thing to tell her grandmother that she’s met someone. That is, until she blurts out the name of the first man she sees and the last man she would ever date: Noah Taylor, the big bad wolf of Denver General.

Noah Taylor, interventional cardiologist and all around grump, has spent his entire life hiding what he is. With outdated stigmas surrounding unmated alphas that have people wondering if they still howl at the moon, Noah has been careful to keep his designation under wraps. It’s worked for years, until an anonymous tip has everything coming to light. Noah is left with two options: come clean to the board and risk his career—or find himself a mate. The chatty, overly friendly ER doctor asking him to be her fake boyfriend on the same day he’s called to meet the board has to be kismet, right?

Mackenzie will keep her grandmother off her back, and Noah will get a chance to prove he can continue to work without a real mate—a mutually beneficial business transaction, they both rationalize. But when the fake-mate act turns into a very real friends-with-benefits arrangement, lines start to blur, and they quickly realize love is a whole different kind of animal.

Read the audiobook review here

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Rf1FS3

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Loved it

I need a nanny, but I may need her more.

I know about my reputation as Never Harbor’s secluded single dad. But I have everything I need: my imaginative son, my dog, and our remodeled cottage by the sea.

That is, until my nanny quits.

My brother’s ex-fiancee, Wendy Darling, is an elementary school teacher with a free summer. The last thing I need is to get tangled in his mess, but my family thinks she’s a perfect fit for the job. Turns out, she fits in better than I could have imagined.

Wendy is nothing like I expected. She’s kind and adventurous, with a beautiful laugh that washes my worst nightmares away. She pushes past my silence and sees more of my true self than anyone has in years. And my six-year-old son is falling for her just as quickly.

Being with Wendy can never happen. Not when my younger brother is her ex-fiance. Not when she’s so close to our family. Not when our small coastal town gossips the way that it does.

But after so long in the dark, Wendy makes me feel something. Falling for her feels a lot like flying instead.

I know happy endings only belong in fairy tales, but I’m close to stealing one for myself.

OFF THE HOOK is a grumpy-sunshine, single dad romance with lots of slow burn spice! This is book one in Never Harbor, a series of interconnected stand-alone contemporary romances inspired by Peter Pan.

Read the review here

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3ZutsSd

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ So good 🎧

Winnifred “Win” McNulty has always been wildly independent. Not one to be coddled for her limb difference, Win has spent most of her life trying to prove that she can do it all on her own. And, with some minor adjustments, she’s done just fine.

That is until she has a one-night stand with the incredibly charming Bo, a perfect stranger. And that one night changes everything.

While Bo is surprisingly elated to step upto the plate, Win finds herself unsure of whether she can handle this new challenge on her own or if she’ll need a helping hand.

Together, Win and Bo decide to get to know one another as friends and nothing more. But, as they both should know by now, life rarely goes according to plan.