ARC received from Ylva in exchange for a honest review.
I’d originally read this as a AU DWP fanfic and I had deliberately not reread this lately to eARC received from Ylva in exchange for a honest review.
I’d originally read this as a AU DWP fanfic and I had deliberately not reread this lately to enjoy the book version, so it’d been awhile since I’d read it.
Ari is a delightfully sympathetic character, and the relationship that forms between her and ‘Assistant� is delightfully layered. The story is told from Ari’s viewpoint, which give us much more insight into her, but ‘Assistant� is also a well drawn character. The two leads also spend a lot of time together, so the relationship feels substantive, and the ending earned.
I did wish there’d been a bit more time spent on the world building, especially at the end of the book, and how Ari would fit into that world, because I would have found that interesting. I also wish the epilogue had been a bit longer, it was rushed and a character introduced there was given more time than Ari, I’d have preferred time with the two of them to show how their relationship had developed, but it’s a small quibble. 4.5 stars.
ARC received via Ylva in exchange for and honest review.
This is a debut novel for Liz Rain and features MC Emma, who starts working at a local electoARC received via Ylva in exchange for and honest review.
This is a debut novel for Liz Rain and features MC Emma, who starts working at a local electorate office for Bridget, the local MP. Emma is immediately taken with Bridget, but this seems one-sided until a political issue forces the two into closer quarters and they sleep together. They then start a relationship but Bridget is in the closet and Emma doesn’t like being forced in there with her.
This is only told from Emma’s perspective, which I found to be a flaw because she wasn’t that interesting, and I’d have liked to see Bridget’s perspective. Honestly, I found the side characters more engaging than either of the MCs, I especially enjoyed Haromi and Polly. I didn’t really buy into their relationship so wasn’t overly invested in it. I also found the political setting a bit overdone and was annoyed by what felt like a constant slam on the public service, but that may be because I’m an Aussie and live near where this is set.
This was a solid effort for a debut, the setting was probably just not my cup of tea. Anyone who likes political backgrounds or age-gaps would probably enjoy this. 3.5 stars. ...more
ARC received via Ylva in exchange for an honest review.
For those that don’t know, this is part 2 of the Carlisle series, following on from Truth and ARC received via Ylva in exchange for an honest review.
For those that don’t know, this is part 2 of the Carlisle series, following on from Truth and Measure and features Vivian Carlisle, editor of the world’s premier fashion magazine, and her now former assistant, Jules Moretti.
This picks up right where Truth finished up, with Jules now working for Simon and Vivian progressing in both her pregnancy and divorce. Their relationship is also on a more equal footing since Jules doesn’t work for Vivian any more and is also super busy with her new job, which means neither has much time for the other.
This also involves the intricacies of revealing their relationship to family, friends, and colleagues, which did lead to some amusing scenes. Vivian is also more� relatable in this book, maybe a bit softer? Anyway, I enjoyed how their relationship unfolded, and the changes made to this section of the original also improved the story, especially around the birth. If you enjoyed part one, you should really enjoy part 2. 4 stars. ...more
ARC received via YLVA in exchange for an honest review.
The blurb calls this “A warm, feel-good, enemies-to-lovers, lesbian romance� and that’s a prettARC received via YLVA in exchange for an honest review.
The blurb calls this “A warm, feel-good, enemies-to-lovers, lesbian romance� and that’s a pretty accurate description.
This features MC Claire, a business woman from NY who is burnt out on making bad deals that hurt good people and has decided to trade the business world for her dream of running her own women’s retreat in a small town. She buys a run down property and moves to the town to live while the renovates are undertaken (I also appreciated that these took a long time instead of just being done in a month or so). Only problem is the property she bought was also the dream property of the other MC, Ruby, who lives in town and has always wanted to buy the property to set up an animal sanctuary.
Claire buying the property out from under Ruby is essentially the ‘enemies to lovers� set up of the book, but it’s not really accurate, Claire has no problem with Ruby, so the enemy thing is one sided and pretty much just comprised of Ruby acting like a petulant brat for something that was her own fault, since she had ample opportunity to buy it at any time prior. Claire does try to smooth things over, but it takes way too long for Ruby to get over herself and move on from her disappointment.
Apart from her reaction to Claire, Ruby is a lovely character, sweet and loving with her family and friends and with the admirable wish to help animals. Claire is also a sweetheart, I had expected more of an ice-queen, but she’s just a lovely woman who has taken a lot of emotional hits. Both women have past issues that weigh them down, and once they start interacting and moving towards a relationship, it’s this that slows them down.
I liked that they were open and honest with each other, pretty much from the start, and that the story took place over a long period to allow the MCs to actually get to know each other. The town is also populated by good supporting characters, especially Ruby’s family (her grandfather, Ned, in particular), and I liked that side story as well, although there were times I felt everything was wrapped up a bit too neatly. Claire also had a few good friends who provided support when needed, but terrible parents.
I was thankful that this avoids the miscommunication/contrived breakup situations that usually appear in lesfic, but I did find feel that the beginning was too slow due to Ruby being unreasonable, and on the flip side, the end sort of dragged due to Claire’s issues, which is why I knocked off a star. I still enjoyed this though, and recommend to anyone who enjoys nice, largely angst free romances. 4 stars....more
ARC received via Ylva in exchange for and honest review
I admit to a little trepidation before reading this, because I’d read it in its original fanficARC received via Ylva in exchange for and honest review
I admit to a little trepidation before reading this, because I’d read it in its original fanfic format and it’s highly regarded as one of the best Mirandy fics. Once I heard it would be published I didn’t re-read it again, so it’s been awhile, and I wasn’t sure how it would stand the test of time, especially as it was written before the ‘Me Too� movement.
So, for those who’ve never read it or heard of it, this features MCs Vivian, the most powerful woman in fashion, who is head of the premiere fashion magazine and a total ice-queen, and her assistant, Julia (Jules). Vivian is a real hardass, and working for her us not for the faint of heart. Jules is working at the magazine as a stepping stone to her true desire, to be a writer.
The other somewhat main character is Simon, who also works for Vivian, and is the closest thing she has to a friend. He also used to be Jule’s boss, so has a good relationship with her. There’s some other peripheral characters around the magazine, but none are particularly fleshed out. Jules� parents also appear, but mostly to harp about the ridiculous work hours and expectations that Vivian has for Jules, and in her father’s case, to (correctly) wonder if more is behind her motivations.
Vivian is in the middle of a divorce and discovers she’s pregnant. This leads to a shift in their relationship, as she begins to rely on Jules for everything. The two eventually work out they have feelings for each other and decide to move forward with a relationship, but aren’t on exactly the same page about how this will go, as Vivian has never been attracted to a woman before and prefers a romantic, but platonic type relationship, while Jules wants this to include sex. They eventually end up on the same page with that as well. I had some issues with how this part was handled, because I thought Vivian displayed personality traits of someone on the Ace spectrum, possibly demi-sexual, and yet this wasn’t explored at all, nor did I think Jules gave enough respect to Vivian’s request for how she wanted to handle the sexual side of their relationship. Jules just decided that Vivian was just in denial about what she really wanted (that being lots of sex with Jules) and kept pushing towards that, which kind of irked me.
I thought some of the changes made improved the book, but would have made a few more. Making Vivian younger and this her first baby was fine, but I’d have also made the current marriage her first. Seemed odd, and unrealistic, to me that a career driven woman who’s not particularly interested in sex or romance would marry three times by the age of 42. I also thought the stuff at the end with Simon didn’t make as much sense here without the back story from the original fanfic, which explained the motivation for that more, whereas in this book it didn’t really seem to have any basis.
The original was also an epic, so this is being published as two books, and therefore just sort of ends, with more to come in book two. Overall, I mostly enjoyed reading this again, and I’m looking forward to seeing what makes the cut in book 2. 3.75 stars....more
ARC received via Ylva in exchange for an honest review.
Ok, so, like everyone else, I was looking forward to reading Felicity’s story, however, I was ARC received via Ylva in exchange for an honest review.
Ok, so, like everyone else, I was looking forward to reading Felicity’s story, however, I was conflicted while reading this.
Pros first: I loved Sandy Cooper, she is an awesome character (I actually liked her more than Maddie from TBT). I am also a sucker for animals, so loved the animals in this, especially Brittany and Loki. The supporting characters were also fairly well fleshed out and added to the story. I know some reviewers found Felicity hard to take, but like Sandy, I enjoyed her and the outrageous stuff she said, and the situations she got herself into. I also loved the relationship between the MCs for the most part, I liked how they talked to each other and drilled down a bit further than the usual surface level stuff we usually get in WLW fic. Felicity’s gradual realisations about herself and her relationships were also well done. I also appreciated the body positivity around Cooper’s character. The side plot about the missing money was interesting and I liked the twist it held, I also loved Rosalind, who seemed like a better version of Elena IMO.
Cons: While I enjoyed the body positivity, by the end of the book (really by half way through) I’d had enough of descriptions about Cooper’s thighs, shoulders, belly, etc. Because this deals with a charity, there’s lots of information about the homeless and how people with pets are treated in various situations. While all of these are valid and worth discussing, there was just too much of this in the book, at various points it read like a PSA.
I also had two major problems with people in Felicity’s life, first is Elena her “mentor� who just shoves her into a situation without giving her any guidelines about what to do and had treated her like a glorified PA for much of their working relationship. I updated my TBT review to say that Elena is a terrible boss because has little to no emotional intelligence, is a horrible mentor for Felicity and does not help her develop in any real way. She says she had major concerns about Felicity’s attitude and ways of relating to people, but never bothered to address this with Felicity or find out what was motivating that, which is her job as a manager. The other quibble I had was with Felicity’s mother, many of Felicity’s issues could have been averted/dealt with earlier if her mother had just gotten her some counselling she was young and also just talked to her about why she was so driven, I felt so bad for Felicity in how closed off she was and the people who should have been helping her just did nothing.
I also did not buy the running gag of Felicity not knowing that Maddie and Elena were together, especially when multiple people pointed it out and it was ridiculously obvious.
Overall: Felicity and Cooper make a great couple, the plot is interesting for the most part, and several of the side characters added dimension. There’s also some great dialogue, and for those that like such things, plenty of sexy times. Anyone who read The Brutal Truth will want to read this, and will likely enjoy it. 4 stars....more
ARC received via Ylva in exchange for an honest review.
Second chance romances can be a bit of a mixed bag, but I enjoyed this one. Here, we have ChloeARC received via Ylva in exchange for an honest review.
Second chance romances can be a bit of a mixed bag, but I enjoyed this one. Here, we have Chloe, who is returning to her small UK village to renovate her childhood home following the death of her father. The other MC is Amy, who returned to the village some years back to help with the family farm. Chloe and Amy were BFFs as kids/teens but haven’t seen each other since Chloe left the town due to Amy’s handling of rumours about them being gay as teens. Since their properties border each other, they run into each other pretty quickly, which brings up all the “feels�. Chloe was heartbroken by Amy’s treatment of her, so wants nothing to do with Amy and Amy is ashamed of how she treated Chloe.
One thing that I appreciated was how quickly this was resolved. Amy apologised up front for what she did and Chloe didn’t take too long to forgive her. I also liked the chemistry between the MCs, I believed they loved each other then, and could see how those feelings carried over into the present. I also thought their relationship unfolded realistically and appreciate the lack of contrived drama towards the end. I also liked how Chloe came to appreciate her small town and the people in it and discover that she was accepted there for who she was (as was Amy).
Amy’s brother was a bit of a jerk, and I didn’t really like him, even after his part in their break up was resolved. The rest of the supporting characters are really good though, particularly Chloe’s BFF Naomi (who I hope gets her own book) and Naomi’s family, Amy’s family were also lovely (with the exception of the brother) and I loved her nephews.
Both characters are interesting separately and together and their relationship is sweet enough that I was rooting for their HEA. If you like second chance romances, then this should hit the spot. 3.75 stars....more
This is another sweet romance from Jae. This exists in the same Portland verse as Wrong Number, Right Woman, which means Denny and Eliza (and Heather)This is another sweet romance from Jae. This exists in the same Portland verse as Wrong Number, Right Woman, which means Denny and Eliza (and Heather) also feature a bit.
The main premise of this is that Reagan and Kylie have been best friends since kindergarten and spend most of their time together acting like an old married couple. Everyone (and I mean everyone) in their lives assumes they are together or should be and they are constantly having to refute this. They also both work at the same high school, Reagan as a chemistry teacher and Kylie as a lunch lady.
So, tired of everyone harping on her relationship with Kylie, Reagan decides they should take a scientific approach to their relationship and see if they actually have chemistry if they date each other. They go on a series of dates and suddenly start seeing each other differently. Or, more accurately, allow themselves to feel what they’ve both secretly felt for the other for years.
Kylie has some insecurities that get in the way of her achieving what she wants to, or knowing what she wants. Theres also a side-story involving her Dad, but it kind of goes nowhere, so didn’t really add much. There’s no major dramas here, just the unspooling of a changing relationship between too BFFs who are navigating a change in their relationship. I appreciated the lack of contrive breakups and the communication between the two. I also liked that they are just normal people, with normal jobs.
I didn’t enjoy this as much as Wrong Number, but I think that’s because I found the repetition around their ‘we’re just friends� spiel a bit annoying. I also didn’t really buy that two friends as close as these two didn’t feel any attraction to each other before trying the dating thing (they regularly share a bed when hanging out). Ironically, I also didn’t really feel any great chemistry between them, while Denny and Eliza had this in spades. Both characters were lovely though and I did enjoy their banter and the secondary characters.
This is a Jae book, so it’s also well written, anyone looking for a sweet romance should enjoy this. 3.5 stars, rounded up...more
ARC received via Ylva in exchange for an honest review.
This is my second Matthews book, and I thought this was ok, but didn’t love it.
This features ARC received via Ylva in exchange for an honest review.
This is my second Matthews book, and I thought this was ok, but didn’t love it.
This features Molly, who is in training to become a police constable and Kudzi, a physiotherapist. They meet when Molly is injured during training and start a slow burn relationship. The slow burn is mostly because Kudzi is from Zimbabwe and is not out to her parents. Molly also has family issues from supporting her mother and siblings, one of whom is deaf.
For the most part I wasn’t overly invested in either main character, they had some sweet moments together but neither was particularly compelling. I actually liked Kudzi’s sister Cat and Molly’s BFF Lucy better than either MC. I do give bonus points for including POCs and a deaf character, but found the main story fairly boring really. Molly was also very young and her personality grayed for me, (I’m not sure if they said how old Kudzi was) so I didn’t buy that this would be a long term HEA). This is an average read, but ultimately I didn’t feel the mains were interesting enough to drive the narrative. 3 stars.
ARC received via YLVA in exchange for an honest review
I haven’t read Matthews before, but her earlier books had good reviews so I thought I’d give thiARC received via YLVA in exchange for an honest review
I haven’t read Matthews before, but her earlier books had good reviews so I thought I’d give this a go. Unfortunately I wasn’t blown away.
This is a slow burn romance featuring Rosie, who is having a baby using a donor after suffering a loss a few years prior and Amber, a recovering alcoholic who runs into Rosie on the way out of a meeting and ends up joining a choir.
Amber is a great character, she’s sweet and supportive, even though she’s had a crap life, and I found her story and the progression of her recovery really interesting. Rosie is not a great character, she’s judgemental, self-involved and boring and I couldn’t warm to her.
The two strike up a friendship when Amber ‘accidentally� joins Rosie’s choir and has to get singing lessons. Their friendship progresses, but is hampered by neither of them confessing their big secrets. The problem was the reactions to these secrets. Amber is hurt but understanding about Rosie’s reveal, but Rosie is a straight up bitch about Amber’s. So much so that I also DNF’d the book at that point.
I also found the pregnancy details a little too much. I swear there was more of a focus on the pregnancy than the relationship. Overall, I found the slow burn too slow, especially since I didn’t think they were suited to each other, so wasn’t invested in the HEA. 3 stars....more
ARC received via Ylva in exchange for an honest review.
This was somewhat of a mixed bag. Overall I found it to be an ok read, but it’s not my favouriARC received via Ylva in exchange for an honest review.
This was somewhat of a mixed bag. Overall I found it to be an ok read, but it’s not my favourite by Brooks.
This features Jenny and Olivia, who due to business merger are forced to work together and compete to keep their jobs with two other people, Chrissy, a phony bitch and Marshall, who was one of the highlights of the book. The MCs don’t like each other, pretty much from first sight. Jenny thinks Olivia is a cold, British snob, Olivia thinks Jenny is unprofessional and flaky. Olivia is also involved in a fake marriage with a race car driver, Broderick.
The book is slow build and slow burn, so the MCs don’t interact in a positive way til around the 40% mark, and then it’s still bumpy til probably the 70% mark. This means the actual relationship is very rushed, this was also hampered by a lack of chemistry between the leads. There’s also a lot of miscommunication, which got old pretty quickly.
The strength of the book is the secondary characters. Jenny has an awesome group of friends, and Olivia’s husband Broderick is ace/aro, and a real sweetie. Unfortunately most of the book plot line deals with the work issues related to the competition for the remaining spots, and this storyline made Jenny out to be a complete idiot. There were so many red flags about Chrissy and yet she blindly swallowed all her lies, it was painful to read, an also made me wonder what Olivia even saw in her.
By the time the romance started to unfold, I still hadn’t warmed to either character, so didn’t really care whether they got together (knowing of course that they would). The ending wraps everything up in a nice bow (though I did wonder why the final mention of Chrissy was even inserted, I thought she might show up again, but no, so it was just weird).
People who like workplace romances and enemies to lovers tropes would probably enjoy this, but it just didn’t hit the spot for me. 3 stars. ...more
ARC received via Ylva in exchange for an honest review.
This is a follow on from Write Your Own Script and features Carmen (Tamsyn’s agent) and Ash, aARC received via Ylva in exchange for an honest review.
This is a follow on from Write Your Own Script and features Carmen (Tamsyn’s agent) and Ash, a tattoo artist. The two meet when Carmen’s BFF decides to get a tattoo in reaction to her latest breakup. Carmen is intrigued by Ash, who doesn’t fit any of Carmen’s preconceived ideas of what a tattoo artist would be like. They meet again by chance and start up a friendship. Both MCs are mid 40s and written as fully fleshed out, with careers, family and friends that enrich their lives.
Ash has been burnt by a straight girl in the past, so she’s up front about only wanting a friendship with Carmen, even though they are both falling for the other. Ash is also helping her 14 yr old niece Sophie (who is a delight) through the coming out process. This also involves Ash’s sister, Courtney, and some of their scenes were really moving.
On Carmen’s side, we have Tamsyn and Maggie from ‘Write� and Carmen’s best friend Felicity, who I thought was going to be some vapid divorcee, but was a wonderful friend. Carmen’s brother Tristan and his partner are also featured, and I loved the scenes between the siblings, their relationship was very sweet.
The relationship between the MCs is the very definition of a slow burn. Even after they get together there’s no rush towards sexy times, so if you’re waiting for that, you’ve got a long wait. This is the opposite of ‘Write� in that regard. I loved the slow build and that we got to see the MCs get to know each other. I also liked that though this is a coming out story for Carmen, she wasn’t tooing and froing at any point, she discussed her fears with her friends and with Ash, and was very brave about putting herself out there. Her first attempt at that had me choking up.
The only downside in the story was Ash’s hesitation about becoming involved with Carmen, I could understand her hesitation (although I thought her backstory was a little too... I don’t know, it just didn’t seem like something that should have held her back for as long as it did, given that the relationship wasn’t even a relationship, but YMMV). In any event it got too repetitive towards the end, and is the reason I knocked off a star.
This is a lovely romance between two sweet MCs who deserve their HEA, with the added benefit of also being able to catch up with Tamsyn and Maggie again. Four stars....more
ARC received via Ylva in exchange for an honest review.
This is my second book by Brooks, I actually requested it because the sequel was the ARC for tARC received via Ylva in exchange for an honest review.
This is my second book by Brooks, I actually requested it because the sequel was the ARC for this month so I went back to read this because I’d somehow missed it. I enjoyed it, but it does have a few flaws.
This features MCs Tamsyn, a 50 year old actress who fears the downwards slide of ageing in the entertainment industry and has a bit of a dust up with her director. She’s sent to cool off for two weeks in a remote Norfolk location. Here, she meets Maggie, an author in her late 40s who writes hetero historical romances and lesbian fiction under two different pseudonyms. They are staying in two conveniently located cabins by a lake, which is how they meet.
Maggie knows who Tamsyn is right away, but Tamsyn only gets half the story about Maggie, so she knows she’s an author who pens historical romances. The two are pretty much instantly attracted, and even though Tamsyn will only be there two weeks, they agree to a ‘no strings� relationship, and some hot and heavy sexy times take place. There’s also some good secondary characters in Carmen, Tamsyn’s agent and Maggie’s sister Ruth, but the subplot with Tamsyn’s friend Lesley that I didn’t think really added anything to the book
I enjoyed reading about to older MCs, who were both in the process of reevaluating their lives for different reasons. For the MCs and their relationship, the biggest issue is that Tamsyn is Narnia deep in the closest, and that Maggie falls hard for Tamsyn. Tamsyn has to work out what she wants in life, and how to make it happen. The first part of the book was really engaging and the characters had real chemistry when they’re were together but the second part dragged a bit because they weren’t together. They do reconcile of course, but it takes awhile, and then end felt a bit rushed because of it.
Overall, this is a nice romance, and anyone who enjoys the Hollywood/famous person trope should enjoy this. 3.5 stars, but I’ve rounded up....more
ARC received via Ylva in exchange for an honest review.
This was another middle of the road romance from Keeley, not sure why, but I just didn’t reallARC received via Ylva in exchange for an honest review.
This was another middle of the road romance from Keeley, not sure why, but I just didn’t really get into it. I had high hopes, since I usually love UK village settings and class wars type books, but this wasn’t so much about that. The MCs here are Suzannah, who has inherited a large estate from her husband of convenience (they were both gay) and Tess, a vet who grew up nearby and is hoping to start a new life in the country after a break up.
Tess was the more interesting character for me, Suzannah blew a bit hot and cold. There’s also some minor characters in Finn, Suzannah’s PA who is non-binary, and Margo and Adam, who are partners with Tess in the local vet clinic. Suzannah’s sister-in-law is a thorn in her side by fighting with her over the estate, but that storyline is resolved in such a far-fetched manner that it was just ridiculous. There’s also some other villagers who pop up now and then and Tess’s ex shows up for no reason that I could fathom, it didn’t add anything to the story.
The main issue was that for the first 65% of the book all of the interactions between the leads involve them having a series of misunderstandings, literally every time they meet. It was tiresome. Especially since whatever it was that set one of them off was usually fairly innocuous. It was like they were trying to find fault with each other. Then all of a sudden they discover a mutual attraction and WHAM, light speed for the relationship to fall into place. There’s a big dramatic event towards the end and then everything gets tied up in a nice big bow. The pacing just felt way off, and nothing that was happening was engaging enough to keep me interested.
It’s Keeley, so it’s well-written, but Music and the Mirror is better than this, if you haven’t already read that, I suggest you start there. 3 stars....more
ARC received via Ylva in exchange for an honest review.
I’d read Zett’s Irregular Heartbeat, and saw this was a sequel of sorts, so wanted to try it. ARC received via Ylva in exchange for an honest review.
I’d read Zett’s Irregular Heartbeat, and saw this was a sequel of sorts, so wanted to try it. I liked this more than the first one. This features Jess, a cardiologist who has decided to have a baby on her own and Lena, a sort of Jill of all trades, who works multiple jobs and lives in a cottage on Jess� mother’s property.
Jess has a heart issue after the birth of her daughter and moves back in with her mother while she heals. This throws her into proximity with Lena, whom she is suspicious of. Not gonna lie, Jess is hard to take for the first third of the book. She has her head so far up her butt it’s surprising she could walk around. But as she warms to Lena (who is sweet as pie) her defences come down and she’s also has sweet scenes with her daughter.
The romance is a friend to lovers type slow burn. Lena also has issues from her past and those affect how she relates to Jess. There’s the usual ‘drama� type thing at the 80% mark, but what impressed me was that the two leads actually discussed it like reasonable adults and were able to resolve it. I also liked that the solution was a compromise for both of them, not just one giving in to what the other wanted.
Fans of book one should enjoy this sequel. Emily has a cameo of sorts, but Diana features a bit. This is a sweet enough romance, and an improvement on book one. I look forward to more from this author. 4 stars....more
ARC received via Ylva in exchange for an honest review.
I went into this with lowered expectations, I wasn’t overly blown away by Breaking Character anARC received via Ylva in exchange for an honest review.
I went into this with lowered expectations, I wasn’t overly blown away by Breaking Character and the reviews for this sequel weren’t as high as for the first book. Having said that, I liked this more than I was expecting to, but The Brutal Truth remains my favourite by Winter.
So, this features MC Alex, who is the BFF of Bess from Breaking Character. She’s also a director tasked with travelling to New Zealand and fixing what everyone thinks is going to be a stinker of a movie. The other MC is Sam, the local police constable, who Alex runs afoul of (and into) on her first day in the country. Summer’s BFF Chloe and her mother Skye from Breaking Character also appear here.
To say that Alex and Sam don’t immediately hit it off would be an understatement, but due to some on set mishaps, Sam’s family working on Alex’s set and everyone eating at her foster mother’s bar, they keep getting thrown into each other’s orbit. This leads to an eventual thawing in their relationship and the inevitable sexy times. Despite being around each other a bit, they don’t actually talk about much of substance, most of their discussions revolve around the ‘investigation�, Sam’s dislike of the movie, or the various injuries Sam sustains. Thus, by the end of the book where Sam decides to move with Alex, I wasn’t convinced they knew each other well enough for her to be making such a life changing decision.
There’s also some shenanigans around the set, which added a bit of intrigue to the book, although the resolution was a bit silly. That pales in comparison to the sheer stupidity Sam shows in her police work, (view spoiler)[ sorry, but a lone man taking on a bikie gang is ridiculous, but as a woman, she faced consequences other than getting beat up/killed, she was not a hero for going in there, she was an idiot, and she should have been fired. (hide spoiler)].
I did like the changes Alex made to the movie and Melody was an unexpected delight. The relationship between the MCs unfolds slowly, but as mentioned, didn’t seem substantial enough for the necessary move. Maybe if there’d been less movie making shenanigans and some time spent on the eight months of the time jump towards the end I’d have been more invested in the HEA. For fans of Breaking Character, Bess does feature a few times, and we catch up with her and Summer and see where they’re at.
Overall, it’s an ok romance, I know some of the Breaking fans didn’t like it as much, but the two stories were on par for me. 3.5 stars rounded down....more
ARC provided by Ylva in exchange for an honest review.
I was a little worried about this one, I loved Music and the Mirror but wasn’t blown away by MaARC provided by Ylva in exchange for an honest review.
I was a little worried about this one, I loved Music and the Mirror but wasn’t blown away by Major Surgery. Not being a huge tennis fan, I was also worried I wouldn’t enjoy the sports side of it that much.
Turns out I didn’t have to worry on any accounts. While there is a lot of tennis and/or discussion of tennis, I found pretty much all of it interesting. This features MC Elin, a Swedish tennis player who is top of the women’s field and going for the grand slam record. She takes a side trip to a bar before a major game and meets Toni, another lower ranked player from Mexico. This sparks a friendship turned relationship between the pair, but since this is told in first person, we really only see Elin’s perspective of what happens, Toni isn’t anywhere near as fleshed out.
The two do have great chemistry and it’s a nice romance, though tennis plays a bigger part than the romance itself. There’s also some other interesting secondary characters in Elin’s family and some of the other tennis players, especially Celeste, Elin’s ex. I thought she was going to be either a bitch or sketchy but she was lovely which was a nice surprise. Elin’s sister Alice is trans, but one of the few flaws in the book was that much of her story was only hinted at, I would have liked more detail and depth there.
There’s also some sports politics and a bit of a scandal thrown in, as well as a few ups and downs in the romance department and Elin’s path to glory. I also liked that though her mother was her coach/manager, she was not the domineering character I had first thought her to be. Most all of the characters had layers. I might have enjoyed it more had both mains been given equal POV time, but it’s a minor quibble, Elin’s pretty damn interesting as the main POV.
If you love sports books, then this should be a hit for you, but even non-tennis fans should like it. I know I did. 4 stars. ...more
ARC received via Ylva in exchange for an honest review.
Ok, Jae never writes a bad book, but this one wasn’t one of my favourites, which surprised me ARC received via Ylva in exchange for an honest review.
Ok, Jae never writes a bad book, but this one wasn’t one of my favourites, which surprised me because the fauxmance is one of my favourite tropes.
This is a direct sequel to Just for Show and features Claire’s sister Steph as the MC. Steph is a stand-up comedian, bi, and has never had a long term relationship. She’s heading back to LA after being in the road for awhile and hears about an apartment that’s perfectly located, but will require her having a roommate to afford it. The only wrinkle is the landlords of the apartment only rent to couples. Enter Rae, an ex-cop with a disability that led to her leaving the force who now works as security at the club where Steph works. They strike up a deal to pretend to be a couple and score the apartment.
Now this differs from Just for Show because pretty much everyone knows about the fauxmance. It also differs from Just for Show because I didn’t see/feel any chemistry between the characters. I believed they were friends but nothing more. Even the cliched ‘walk in on each other in the bathroom� scenes didn’t set that up. I don’t know what it was but even though each character was interesting in their own right, together they bored me.
I loved Steph’s job, I don’t think I’ve read another lesfic about a comedian, I also loved how Jae wrote Rae’s disability and Steph’s reaction to it. I didn’t love Steph’s family, including Claire, which annoyed me because I loved her in Just for Show, but here both she and her parents were completely unsupportive of Steph, and like Steph, I found their eventual support too little too late.
Rae was lovely, but I have to be honest, she had more chemistry with Kim (widow of her police partner) and I honestly wish Jae had written that story instead. Falling for the wife of your dead partner? That’s a storyline that would have held my interest.
Jae doesn’t usually write contrived breakup/drama crap in her books, for which I am grateful. But this book could have used some angst/drama/tension, there just wasn’t anything for me to really sink my teeth into. I’d give it 3.5 but am rounding down, it’s not 4 stars....more
ARC received via Ylva in exchange for an honest review.
I chose this ARC based on so many positive reviews but I didn’t like this as much as I expecteARC received via Ylva in exchange for an honest review.
I chose this ARC based on so many positive reviews but I didn’t like this as much as I expected to.
This features MC Elizabeth (Bess) who is a British actress who has fallen out of favor of the show runners on her medical drama. The other MC is Summer, a former child star who has just started on the same show. Summer has idolized Elizabeth since she was a teen living in England but Elizabeth isn’t impressed upon their first encounter. Through a series of circumstances they are required to fake a relationship and while I usually love fauxmances, the way this was set up and especially the scene where they had to sell this to the director who required them to be girlfriends was really ridiculous. The amount of stuff they didn’t know about each other and the crap they made up about each other was just ludicrous. The guy had to be an idiot to fall for it.
Also complicating matters is that while Summer idolizes Bess, Bess has been pining for her straight mentor Grace for nearly 20 years. I’m not a huge fan of that trope at the best of times but Grace was a straight up bitch who did nothing but demean and use Bess and it just made Bess look like an idiot because she was literally the only one who couldn’t see it.
The two leads do spend a lot of time together and I did enjoy their interactions but Grace took up way too much of the story, so by the time I got to the end I thought a) Summer was Bess� rebound person and b) Summer was still hung up on Bess largely because of her crush. They had chemistry but I just wasn’t convinced about what was motivating it.
Winter is a great writer, the dialogue is crisp and the characters were interesting, especially because Bess was supposed to be an ice queen but really wasn’t (that’d be Grace). Summer was a delight and I enjoyed pretty much every scene she was in. Overall this is an ok romance, but it would have been much better if the Grace storyline had been resolved earlier. 3.5 stars....more
ARC received from YLVA in exchange for an honest review.
I went back and forth on the rating for this one, I liked a lot of the story, but not all of ARC received from YLVA in exchange for an honest review.
I went back and forth on the rating for this one, I liked a lot of the story, but not all of it.
Ok, so, this is a fauxmance with a difference, in that MC Fiona agrees to act as the ‘beard� for her best friend Michael when he goes home for Xmas. Michael is sick of his mother and grandmother always nagging him about getting a girlfriend, so takes Fiona home to ease the pressure. Problem is that when Fiona meets Michael’s sister Lizzie, she finds the McElroy she really wants, and the feeling is mutual.
Michael comes from a huge family, he’s one of eight siblings, and all but one of them are home for the holidays. This was actually one of the annoying aspects, I get that people have large families, but in books it’s not so great, and here it just lead to too many characters. Michael also has an old world homophobic, racist grandmother, and there’s quite a few ‘learning moment� scenes around her behaviour.
The chemistry between Lizzie and Fiona was great and they had some fun scenes, but as with a few other reviewers I found the time frame too short, the whole book takes place in three or four days. I would have preferred less of the ‘family time� and more of what happened once they left. The ‘first time� scene was also squicky, once I realised they were actually going to do it at that precise moment after everything that had just happened I skipped over it, that was just hella inappropriate. And honestly unnecessary, if ever a book could have survived without a sex scene, it’s this one. I also could have lived without the pot stuff, not sure why that even needed to be included.
I did love the depiction of Michael and Fiona’s relationship, it’s not often that lesfic features a platonic opposite sex relationship that is that intimate. If Michael had had a few less siblings, and more time had been devoted to what happened once Christmas was over I’d probably have rounded up to four stars, I give this 3.5, rounded down. ...more
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