Back on track! Since I’ve been struggling so much with new releases lately, I decided to avoid them almost entirely this week – and that seemed to work out for me. I had a very solid reading week.
The final book in Lauren Asher’s Dirty Air series recently released in audio (and then disappeared), so I was able to wrap up the series in that format. Redeemed was easily my favorite of the series, with such likable characters and a romance that I could root for. Not sure where the audio has disappeared to, but the story is well worth a read.
I read two excellent ARCs, The Paradise Problem and Happy Medium. Both were easy 5-star ratings for me. I loved the Pretty Woman meets Succession vibes of The Paradise Problem, which was such a sexy and fun read. Happy Medium also had a unique premise and a playful feel, but it also brought out the emotion with its heavier undertones.
Swift and Saddled released this week, and it’s such a soft, sexy story. I read my ARC a few months ago, and it was obvious why this author became so popular – it was exceedingly easy to binge. I wouldn’t have minded another 100 pages!
I also shared my series review for J.T. Geissinger’s Queens and Monsters series, which recently re-released on audio after being acquired by a publisher. All four books were 5-star reads for me when they originally came out, and they’re definitely well worth your time.
Finally, I shared my mini review for Mortgage of Convenience. That gorgeous cover caught my eye and I loved the premise. Unfortunately, the writing was pretty choppy and it didn’t live up to its potential, even if there were some great moments.
I honestly don’t know what my reading plan is for next week, we’ll see where it takes me!
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.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Sneak peek review
A clever con woman must convince a skeptical, sexy farmer of his property’s resident real-life ghost if she’s to save them all from a fate worse than death, in this delightful new novel from the author of Mrs. Nash’s Ashes.
Fake spirit medium Gretchen Acorn is happy to help when her best (read: wealthiest) client hires her to investigate the unexplained phenomena preventing the sale of her bridge partner’s struggling goat farm. Gretchen may be a fraud, but she’d like to think she’s a beneficentone. So if “cleansing” the property will help a nice old man finally retire and put some much-needed cash in her pockets at the same time, who’s she to say no?
Of course, it turns out said bridge partner isn’t the kindly AARP member Gretchen imagined—Charlie Waybill is young, hot as hell, and extremely unconvinced that Gretchen can communicate with the dead. (Which, fair.) Except, to her surprise, Gretchen finds herself face-to-face with Everett: the very real, very chatty ghost that’s been wreaking havoc during every open house. And he wants her to help ensure Charlie avoids the same family curse that’s had Everett haunting Gilded Creek since the 1920s.
Now, Gretchen has one month to convince Charlie he can’t sell the property. Unfortunately, hard work and honesty seem to be the way to win over the stubborn farmer—not exactly Gretchen’s strengths. But trust isn’t the only thing growing between them, and the risk of losing Charlie to the spirit realm looms over Gretchen almost as annoyingly as Everett himself. To save the goat farm, its friendly phantom, and the man she’s beginning to love, Gretchen will need to pull off the greatest con of her life: being fully, genuinely herself.
Releases April 30th – preorder today!
Read the sneak peek review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Tsag6g
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Loved the hero 🎧
Santiago Alatorre
One mistake destroys my career.
I go from most eligible bachelor to monster, hiding from the world.
At least until Chloe breaks into my home.
My new fake girlfriend is a temporary fix to my biggest problem.
But as our game changes, so do my feelings.
There’s only one issue stopping me from claiming her.
Me.
Chloe Carter
It all started with a birthday wish, some vodka, and an ancestry kit.
That’s how I end up in Italy, finding my long-lost father.
But one decision lands me a fake boyfriend I don’t want.
The more we pretend, the easier our ruse becomes.
I told myself not to fall in love with a liar like Santiago.
I should have listened.
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3TnmPQh
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Sneak peek review
Christina Lauren, the instant New York Times bestselling and “reigning romance queens” (PopSugar), returns with a delicious new romance between the buttoned-up heir of a grocery chain and his free-spirited artist ex as they fake their relationship in order to receive a massive inheritance.
Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam “West” Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she’d signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways.
Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There’s just one catch.
Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather’s will, Liam won’t see a penny until he’s been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he’s in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has no choice but to turn to the one person he’s afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents—his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife.
But in the presence of his family, Liam’s fears quickly shift from whether the feisty, foul-mouthed, paint-splattered Anna can play the part to whether the toxic world of wealth will corrupt someone as pure of heart as his surprisingly grounded and loyal wife. Liam will have to ask himself if the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie.
Preorder today, releases in May!
Read the sneak peek review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/41A3Nbz
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Quick and soft
She’s the city girl who refuses to be saddled with a man. He’s the cowboy who wants her anyway.
From the author of the BookTok sensation Done and Dusted comes the next book in the Rebel Blue Ranch series, a small town romance featuring opposites attract and forced proximity.
“Tender, relatable, and brimming with delicious tension.”—USA Today bestselling author Elsie Silver
The last thing Ada Hart needs is a man to take care of her. Not anymore. After failing out of her interior design program and the disaster that was her short-lived marriage, Ada clawed her way up from her rock bottom. Now, the only person she trusts is herself, and that has gotten her further than ever before. She has her own business, and one of the largest ranches in Wyoming just hired her for the most important project of her career.
When Ada arrives in Meadowlark, she finds herself in a dive bar where she can’t seem to shake the eyes of a handsome cowboy. When she leads him to the back of the bar, he leaves her with a kiss that most people can only fantasize about. She almost regrets that she’ll never see him again . . . except it turns out he’s her new boss.
Weston Ryder is a happy guy. Even happier now that the mystery woman from the bar is the interior designer for his dream project on his family’s ranch. He feels like he hit the jackpot. It’s too bad she wants absolutely nothing to do with him outside of work. Ada is convinced the pull she feels toward Wes will go away, but Wes can’t stop thinking about her. Even though walls are coming down around Rebel Blue, Ada’s walls are firmly in place.
Can they make it through this project without giving in? Or will they both put their dreams on the line for a chance at love?
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3RMhTnd
Mini review
Welcome home.
Ever sent a drunk text to your ex and regretted it in the morning? Well, imagine pitching the debut novel you’ve been hiding to your agent, then waking up with a hangover and a deadline. Oh, and you have a debilitating fear of rejection.
Welcome to Bee Montgomery’s life.
The shy ghostwriter has always shied away from the limelight but may never get this opportunity again. So after five years away, Bee returns home with little more than a suitcase of secrets and a dream. What she really needs is someone confident to guide her.
Enter Sebastian Wolfe, her brother’s best friend. The older man spent his twenties avoiding commitment and his whole life trying to be the man his father never was, but the sexy ex-stripper secretly dreams of a white picket fence and a home of his own. He isn’t expecting to come up short on the deposit, or for the woman he shouldn’t want to offer the rest in exchange for his help to get over her stage fright. But if Bee can’t see how incredible she is, he’s more than happy to show her.
It’s not long before they’re stripping away more than her inhibitions, but as Bee’s deadline looms, she needs to decide if she’s going to keep playing house or return to her real life.
Read the mini review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/4262v8A
Series review
Ruthless Creatures, Carnal Urges, Savage Hearts and Brutal Vows
This series was recently re-released from a traditional publisher, so it’s the perfect time to check it out if you haven’t yet. ALL four books were contenders for my Best of the Year list when they originally came out, and multiple earned that honor. If you love high spice mafia romance with tons of banter, then this is the series for you. Anyone who recently read SJ Tilly’s Alliance series and wants something with a similar feel will be particularly excited for these. I don’t love the new covers, but that’s just me – the series is playful, fast-paced, and full of sexual tension.
Read the original reviews of all four books here
Check out this week’s new releases here.
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Jeeves Reads Romance 
I like Lauren Asher’s books, but I haven’t read this series yet. Definitely looking into it now. And I have The Paradise Problem on my list for sure.
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The Paradise Problem was so good! You can see the growth in Asher’s writing throughout the Dirty Air series, my favorites are book 3 and 4.
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