Not gonna lie, I did not have a particularly successful May! Though I ended up with five books on my Best of the Month list, that’s because I read two of them in prior months. For most of May, I struggled. Very hit or miss. Lots of DNFs, lots that simply didn’t hold my interest. It looks better when I see the wrap-up, but it didn’t feel great at the time. Hopefully, June will go smoother! There are definitely a lot of books I’m looking forward to in the coming weeks, so we’ll see how it goes.
If you missed my June Release Calendar, you can find it here!
If you missed any of this month’s reviews, I’ve got the blurb and rating for each below. There’s also a link to all of this month’s recommendation lists.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Loved it
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.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/41A3Nbz
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Worth the wait 🎧
I’ve seen every square inch of Violet Eaton’s delectable body and she has no idea who I am.
Until now.
What happened between us online, in our chats, was meant to stay anonymous and in the past.
Until it didn’t.
It’s a small world, but Ruby Creek is even smaller. When I move to the tiny town, the grumpy facade I’ve created slips when we’re forced to live under the same roof.
Every flush of her cheeks, every time her eyes flare with heat, every time she begs me not to stop, the ice I’ve encased myself in melts. She has me wanting things I can’t want. Things I’ve been dreaming about since I first laid eyes on her two years ago—things I don’t deserve.
But my invisible wounds have the power to ruin us both. As a former soldier, I should have the discipline to walk away, but the more I open up to Violet, the more I want to keep her.
I came back from the war a different man, but my scars are older and deeper than anyone knows—and I planned to keep it that way. I planned to keep my secrets hidden.
Until her.
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/4bgtceF
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Tender and delicious 🎧
Summer won’t last forever.
Sage Byrd has lived in the coastal town of Spunes, Oregon (not to be confused with Forks, Washington) her entire life. She’s learned to love her small world, with the misfit animals on her hobby farm, and her friendships with the town’s inhabitants. But when her 5-year relationship ends and her ex, town-golden-boy Ian, suddenly gets engaged, Sage needs a win—something that will convince everyone to stop pitying her all the time, and to put Ian in his place. The Festival of Spunes, the town’s annual summer competition, would be the perfect opportunity. She just needs a partner.
Fisher Lange was a hotshot chef in New York City until the loss of his sister left him numb, grieving, and responsible for his teenage niece Indy. When Fisher loses his Michelin star along with his love of cooking, his boss sends him and Indy to Spunes on a much-needed summer sabbatical to consult on a restaurant opening. But when clashes with the townspeople threaten his last chance to redeem himself and a kiss with his new neighbor Sage leads to dating rumors, a strategic alliance might just be the best way to turn things around.
A deal is struck. Sage will improve Fisher’s image in the eyes of the town and remove the roadblocks he is facing with the restaurant, and Fisher will be Sage’s partner for the competition. But as their pact quickly turns into steamy rendezvous, emotional wounds begin to heal, and the pair tries to savor every moment, they start to realize that summer is racing by much faster than they would like…
Filled with spicy summer fun, small-town charm, and Big Feelings, this highly anticipated romcom is Tarah DeWitt’s best yet.
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/4apM9M1
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Sneak peek review
A fake engagement, second chances, and newfound family members come together in this new romance from the New York Times bestselling author of the “swoon-worthy” (Business Insider) The Spanish Love Deception.
Josie Moore has given the opposite sex—and love—plenty of chances. Four exactly, if you count all her failed engagements, and five if you include her no-longer-absentee father. Nonetheless, when the influential man decides to announce his retirement with a splashy magazine piece and Josie learns that her romantic history isn’t great PR for the family, she jumps at the chance to offer a solution.
Matthew Flanagan is in the mud. Literally. Not only has he been fired from his job, but after taking a wrong turn on his way to Green Oak, North Carolina, his car is stuck. So, he grabs a duffel bag with his essentials and goes in search of a place to crash until he gets his life (and vehicle) back on track. But instead, he stumbles upon his best friend’s sister, Josie, greeting him as her fiancé.
What starts as a big misunderstanding quickly turns into a fake engagement, with Matthew playing the role of the doting fiancé as he and Josie are swept into a PR whirlwind. The ring on Josie’s finger makes her stomach turn, but she knows this is only temporary. They have rules in place, and one of them is that no matter what, there will be no exchange of “I dos.” But that’s easier said than done, as lines soon start to blur, and the rest of the small town comes to believe the fifth fiancé is truly The One.
Releases in July – preorder today!
Read the sneak peek review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/4dSWUYU
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Loved the hero
Ray:
- Rule #1 of almost dying: Make sure someone knows your passwords. It’s hard to cancel your phone plan if you’re dead.
- Rule #2 of almost dying: Make sure your house is clean before you walk up the steps to the pearly gates. It makes selling off your life easier.
Back-up plans are for people who plan on losing.
All it took was eight seconds for me to win the biggest competition of my life, and one second to lose everything except that championship buckle.
I had left my family’s cattle ranch at eighteen with no intention of ever coming back for good.
Now I was back, stuck in a wheelchair with a beautiful disaster attempting to burn my house down.
Brooke:
- Rule #1 of trying to not get fired: Don’t piss off the grumpy bull rider.
- Rule #2 of trying to not get fired: When you do get fired, keep your chin up. The grumpy bull rider was hot.
It was just a little fire. Tiny, even. But that didn’t change the fact that Ray Griffith didn’t want me anywhere near him.
But we came to an agreement: I ignore him, and he doesn’t fire me.
Easy, right? Not so much when we can’t keep our hands off each other.
Downpour is book two in the Griffith Brothers series. This series can be read as interconnected standalones. Get ready for a sizzling summer romance full of accidental livestock house pets, a walking disaster of a heroine, and the grumpiest hero EVER!
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3w4EfYV
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Light and swoony
The grumpy billionaire accuses me of stealing, has me fired, and now wants me to be his temporary wife. I think he’s lost his mind.
Easton Calloway needs a wifey, pronto, and he chooses me to temporarily fill the position. While I want to tell him to eff off, I can’t walk away from the temptation. So, I do what any broke actress living in New York City would do, and I agree to the terms and conditions.
It should be easy—a year of marriage, a cushy penthouse in the city, and a spending allowance. After three hundred sixty-five days, I’ll receive divorce papers and a check in the mail. All I have to do is pretend we’re happily married without falling in love.
Doable, right? Wrong.
The Wife Situation is a billionaire, age gap, marriage of convenience romance with a happily ever after! It’s a stand-alone with open-door scenes. Included: a rich AF hero who’s a professional on the streets, but a bad boy in the sheets and isn’t afraid to call his little heartbreaker my wife.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3UwiwBc
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Light and sexy 🎧
She’s an honors student with ambitious graduate school plans and he’s a jock with only hockey on his mind, but once their worlds collide, their connection is hot enough to melt an ice rink.
An ultimatum from Summer Preston’s thesis advisor thrusts her into an unexpected collision with the hockey team’s captain, Aiden Crawford. She’s caught between conflicting desires of fulfilling her lifelong dream of becoming a sport psychologist and staying as far away as possible from the god-awful sport. And once she meets Aiden—well, let’s just say he confirms all her worst assumptions about hockey players.
Being the captain of the college hockey team has its perks, except when a reckless mistake by Aiden’s team threatens to jeopardize their entire season. As punishment, Aiden’s coach nominates him as the subject of a student research project. Participating is the last thing he wants to do, especially since the girl leading the project looks like she could wield his skates as a weapon.
Summer can’t stand Aiden’s blasé approach to life, and Aiden doesn’t understand why she’s twenty years old with a twenty-five-year plan. But their bickering soon turns to bantering—and once they let their guards down, there’s nothing to check their feelings.
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3wHSnYi
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Awesome on audio 🎧
In the sizzling hockey romance that has taken TikTok by storm, the star goalie discovers the family he’s always wanted when he falls in love with a single mother.
“Mack proves it is in fact always the quiet ones. Another deliciously sexy and honest story of friendship, family, and falling in love.” —Hannah Grace, New York Times bestselling author of Wildfire and Icebreaker
The third book in the globally popular Playing for Keeps series.
Can he leave the past behind to forge the future he’s always wanted?
When it comes to dating, Adam Lockwood wouldn’t know luck if it hit him in the face. After a failed relationship and a string of dates gone wrong, the thought of being vulnerable with someone is terrifying—most women only see his fame. But when his dog runs into Rosie Wells, a beautiful woman with a blush as pink as her hair, she doesn’t seem to have a clue who he is, and Adam seizes the opportunity as a chance to finally be himself.
Rosie has her hands full as a single mother and fourth-year veterinary student, and she certainly wouldn’t know a hockey player if she ran into one. She doesn’t have time to date, and she’s fiercely protective of her little family. But when a chance encounter leads her to Adam, she knows it’s worth risking her heart.
The only problem? Adam is used to wearing a mask—he’s a goalie, after all. And as he holds onto a secret that threatens to unravel him and destroy his new family, they’re both at risk of losing more than ever before.
Unravel Me contains emotional references to the past death of parents and its surrounding grief, as well as brief discussions of foster care, depictions of child neglect (not by the main character), and the death of an animal (minimal descriptions and as it pertains to the FMC’s training as a veterinarian student; not main character’s pet). If you are sensitive to these subjects, please use this information to make an informed decision about whether to proceed with this story.
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/4dCU22d
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Great hero
The first time I met Miles Aldrich, he stole my cupcakes.
The second time, I handed him a bill for what he owed me. He’s a billionaire after all. He can afford it.
The third time we met… well, that was the biggest surprise of all. I walked into his office looking for help with a business plan. But I somehow walked out… with a fake boyfriend.
Miles claims the plan is simple: he’ll lend me his powerful family’s reputation by posing as my boyfriend. I’ll gain important contacts, and he’ll have someone by his side so he doesn’t have to make excuses for why he’s not dating anyone.
For one whole summer, Miles Aldrich is not so truly mine. The real man behind the smooth lines and flirty smiles is nothing like I assumed.
He’s sunshine in a tall, gorgeous package.
He kisses me like his life depends on it.
Logically, I know this relationship of ours isn’t real.
But the problem is… the feelings he’s bringing out in me are true as can be.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/44RXD8n
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Retro review
From the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Things We Never Got Over
A nice, normal life. Is that too much to ask? For Riley Thorn it is.
Divorced. Broke. Living with a pack of elderly roommates. And those hallucinations she’s diligently ignoring? Her tarot card-dealing mom is convinced they’re clairvoyant visions.
Just when things can’t get worse, a so-hot-it-should-be-illegal private investigator shows up on her doorstep looking for one of her neighbors…who turns up murdered.
Nick Santiago doesn’t play well with others. Unless the “others” are of the female persuasion. Wink. He’s a rebel, a black sheep, a man who prefers a buffet of options to being stuck with the same entrée every night, if you catch his drift.
When the pretty, possibly psychic Riley lands at the top of the list of suspects, Nick volunteers to find out whodunit. Only because he likes solving mysteries not because he wants to flex his heroic muscles for the damsel in distress.
All they have to do is figure out who pulled the trigger, keep a by-the-book detective with a grudge at bay, and deal with a stranger claiming he was sent to help Riley hone her psychic gifts. All before the killer discovers she’s a loose end that requires snipping.
Read the retro review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/4aDTZ3o
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Not my favorite
My trip to Mexico for my cousin’s wedding was only supposed to be a few days of obligation and oceanside.
I wasn’t expecting Luke.
Wasn’t expecting the hot hockey player, with the smirks and the tattoos, who kept bumping into me.
And I certainly wasn’t expecting to spend a night on the beach, under the stars, underneath him.
It was magical, but I thought it would end there.
Instead, we exchanged numbers and stayed in touch.
So when Luke invited me to watch him play in Vegas, I went.
And it was great.
Until we woke up the next morning and found the wedding certificate in my pocket.
Turns out that dance party we snuck into was actually a group wedding ceremony.
And now we’re married.
Which is bad.
Because I think our wedding was actually our first date. And if my dad finds out, he’ll cut me out of the family business.
So when footage leaks of Luke and me hot and heavy in an elevator, I have to make up a new plan to save my reputation and career.
Now, all I need is for Luke Anders to act like he’s madly in love with me.
Should be easy.
Right?
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3KmPWOp
Mini review
What if you’re lost? What will it take to find your way back?
Andie has been hiding, wanting to stay in the past rather than face the uncertainty of the future. When the force of a lie pulls her out of the darkness and into the light – the spotlight she’s avoided – she has to decide if she’ll stand and fight or run for cover.
With each step, she has a choice to make. She can continue to watch life go on around her, or see what might be waiting on the other side. Will fear keep her from moving on, or can she find the courage to take the leap?
Sean thought he had it all. That is…until he realized it was only surface-deep. He let himself get caught up in fame, fortune, and the life that comes with it. But when his superficial world blows up in his face, the face of the man he let himself become, he has a battle on his hands.
When the professional footballer’s career is left hanging in the balance along with a life of his own, Sean has to decide if the risk of losing all he’s worked for is worth it to get back to the man he wants to be – the man he used to be.
Where You Belong is a touching love story that reminds us that even when we don’t expect it…love shows up.
This is a fade-to-black contemporary romance that still offers plenty of heat.
Read the mini review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3UpBHy2
Mini audiobook review 🎧
From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Mia Sheridan comes her next novel in the Pelion Lake series.
How is it possible that perfect Gage Buchanan is still single after all these years?
He can’t quite figure it out himself. Perhaps he hasn’t met the right woman. Maybe he’s spent too many years focusing on work—or maybe he just isn’t as perfect as everyone thinks he is.
Gage thought he left his days of one-night stands behind him, however something about the gorgeous cocktail waitress in a town three hours away is far too intriguing. But when she shows up weeks later in his hometown, Calliope, pretending to be an art appraiser, Gage is completely blindsided—not to mention still very attracted to the (apparent) little liar. He can’t figure her out: not her angle nor the persistent pull between them.
Aurora “Rory” Casteel is determined to find her father. All she knows from her late mother is that he lives in Calliope and he’s an important part of the town. So when Rory’s gallery-owning friend offers to run cover for her while she sleuths around town, she jumps at the chance. But she doesn’t anticipate the man she spent one wild night with turning out to be a local.
Sure, it puts a wrinkle in Rory’s plan, but she can work around Gage Buchanan. Even as it gets harder to pretend her heart doesn’t flip every time he’s in the room. She has a suspicion he isn’t everything he seems, either, but maybe it’s “perfect” Gage’s flaws that are what she’s really drawn to.
Read the mini audiobook review hero
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3VjGQIF
Mini review
Kat has never been on more than seven dates with a man before catching the dreaded ick. That’s all it takes to realize he’s not the one for her. It’s usually something small—the way he puts ice in his cup, drinks his coffee, or his preferred name in the bedroom, but it’s enough to make her realize she could never spend an eternity with him.
Theodore is ready to take over the company his father left for him. He’s spent his entire life working towards the moment when he becomes president, every waking moment dedicated to that goal. Unfortunately, his family man boss isn’t too keen on his strictly single ways and worries if he gets this job, he’ll never start a family. That’s when he lies and tells his boss he has a fiance.
Now, he not only has to prove he deserves the job, despite his rival doing everything he can to sabotage him, but he has to find himself a fiance—and fast.
It’s good that his sunshine assistant has an open schedule and can promise a no-strings deal. Seven dates to impress his boss and take down his rival with zero risk that she’ll fall for him.
But what if this is the one time the ick factor fails her?
Read the mini review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3IG1D1K
Mini review
When grumpy, muscled-up artist Bennett Bishop bothers to speak, it’s usually to say something you’re not ready to hear.
When he first speaks to Norah Ellis, a rambling runaway bride who hitchhikes a ride from him, it’s to tell her to get out of his truck and walk because she’s a pain in the a-s-s.
By appearance, Norah Ellis is a fancy fashionista who’s spent the last several years living the good life in the city—expensive apartments, highbrow events, and a fiancé with wealth and good looks. The only problem is that she didn’t choose any of it for herself.
On the day of her July wedding, thanks to a letter from a stranger, Norah’s world turns upside down. She runs for the hills of Vermont to start a new life, but what’s waiting for her, between her estranged sister, the townspeople, and bad-boy Bennett Bishop himself, is way more than she bargained for.
Enemies turn to lovers, strangers become friends, dark secrets bust open like cans of worms, and most of all…Summer will never be the same.
Read the mini review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3JNgHLn
THIS MONTH’S RECOMMENDATION LISTS
Best Romance Books I’ve Read in Kindle Unlimited (2024 So Far)
What’s on My TBR? 25 ARCs on My Kindle
Check out this week’s new releases here.
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