Vanessa Rhoswen: Villainess's Redemption

 read in 2025:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/223731812-villainess-s-redemption

I saw this book in a few of the face book groups I belong to and the plot seemed interesting, I've recently started getting more into time-travel romance and I wanted to support more Indie authors this year and this fit for both of these.  

The story starts off at the end where Lady Ilyana D'Arcane and her family have been sent into exile after her father was executed.  It's not completely clear at first what happened leading to this noble families ruin but the other exiled people consider Ilyana to be a traitor and therefore considered to be the worst of the worst among the criminals that live on the outskirts.  Part of the punishment involves her older brother working in the mines where the workers are treated poorly and left to die when they collapse.  Ilyana and her family are barely surviving while living on food scraps in a small poorly crafted hut.  

Long gone are the luxuries of their past and how she wishes more than anything at this point she could go back and earn forgiveness and make better choices she would be kind and caring and wouldn't  scheme to be higher position.  As if things couldn't get much worse... they do.  Ilyana ends up working in her brother's place at the mines after he has been beaten and is in poor health he needs to rest in order to be able to go back to work.  When her shift ends she finds the military at her home where she witnesses the remainder of her family get executed (her mother and her brother) before they deliver a fatal blow Ilyana makes a wish to change the past... as she is stabbed things go dark and she wakes up 2 years prior on her wedding day.

Ilyana knowing this is her chance to change her future and save her family she makes plans to change what she can to avoid the tragic fate that she just escaped.  After her time in exile she is no longer the pampered princess who looks down on everyone around her and uses her intelligence for evil scheming it's time to make better choices, be a better person and hopefully if all goes well she will be able to live a peaceful life with her family as far away from her previous life as she can get maybe she could be a farmer or a cook.  As the reader you learn bits and pieces of what happened previously throughout the book as Ilyana is now working hard to change her future.  

Ilyana faces many challenges on her journey to become a better person including making others see that she has changed starting with her lady's maid that she has previously treated terribly she needs all the support she can get in this new time line.  Ilyana has the advantage of knowing the future but sometimes changing minor things cause other situations to change and how will she navigate these new situations without causing more problems for herself and her family... come on! she really is trying to do the right things this time and change her evil ways why doesn't anyone trust her?  Lots of mystery in this one as Ilyana frequently discusses being an evil schemer in the past prior to her ruin but only some of these previous schemes are revealed in this book.  

This book kept my attention it was a really cute quick read and I enjoyed the witty banter between our lead lady and our leading male (who of course is handsome and powerful), there were twists and turns and the book ends in a cliffhanger that has me looking forward to the next book especially since we don't quite have the full story yet.  This felt like reading a light novel and I really enjoyed that aspect of it.  This was an easy light read with humor and would recommend to anyone looking for that type of book!  

Some typos/repeat sentences in places but I didn't feel like it distracted me too much from being able to enjoy the book.  

Do you enjoy light novels?  which one is your favorite?  How about fantasy novels?

*witty banter  *enemies --> more  * fantasy  * time travel *reincarnation *mainly one POV from our lead lady  *felt like a YA type book 

*not spicy  *slow burn  

Nadine Millard: Midsummer Madness

 A lord for all seasons Book 2: read in 2025

Hope Templeworth (second sister) is beautiful all the males in her vicinity fall over themselves to recite poetry about her beauty... thing is Hope worries that this is all anyone thinks she has going for her but she has more to give than just her looks and hopes to marry someone for love, someone who sparks passion and thinks that she is more than just a pretty face and also one who could preferably get her out of her small village she would like to see more of the world.

Gideon Bell, the Earl of Claremont is in a small village to visit with family and help his brother the new Vicar settle in and see his Uncle (the old Vicar) and aunt off (they are retiring and moving away).  Once he gets to the village he comes upon a beautiful lady of the lake, being a hot day Hope had decided to go for a swim thinking she was alone she comes out of the water with very little clothing (for the time period) clinging to her body and runs into the most handsome man she's ever seen in her life.  Not knowing who this man is she is surprised to find he is the new village vicar when her mother has her run an errand to welcome him to town later that week.

Gideon is riddled with guilt after a beautiful woman helped in causing a scandal for his family recently and doesn't feel that he is in a place to give himself over to another beautiful woman... what if this one is just after his money and/or his title it's not like it hasn't happened before so when he realizes that Hope thinks he is the new vicar he goes a long with it for a bit... maybe a bit too long since Hope is upset when she finds out the truth.

Gideon tries to apologize to Hope even though he tries to stay away he is drawn to her, she wants to be mad at him longer but can't help but want to be closer to him.  When someone from Gideon's past turns up will their relationship be over before they even get the chance?  

This was a quick read, funny at times, has the general misunderstandings that a lot of these historical romance novels have.  I've been enjoying this series so far and plan to read the rest of the series.  I really like all of the sisters and the leading male from the first book makes appearances in this book as well. 

While the book is the second in the series it is kind of a stand alone and you wouldn't need to read the first one to be able to read this one.  

Have you read any books by this author?  Which one would you recommend?

*some spice (I would consider it lower spice)  *dual pov  * mistaken identity *enemies/lovers 

*happily ever after 

Belle Ami London Time

 Book 1 of 3 Lost in time Series read in 2025

Emily Christie is originally from London but moved to New York for an amazing job working for a fashion magazine.  The story starts with Emily having a girls weekend with her two best friends who she met online and bonded with over food, wine, being single and a book they all loved about a time traveler who ends up back in the 1500's where she runs into Renaissance artist Marco Allegretto he is so taken with this sultry red head (Iris Bellerose) that he is instantly in love with her and paints a series of 3 paintings with her as his muse "the three stages of love."  What is even more mysterious about this book is that no one knows the author it was found in an unused part of a Villa in Italy recently... but how romantic if this was a real story.

While in New York Emily gets 3 tickets to see an exhibit of these 3 mysterious paintings while they are available for viewing, no one knows who the lady in the painting is or why she has been disappearing from all 3 paintings over time.  When Jenee and Gabriella (the two friends) go off to view different parts of the museum Emily sits to enjoy the 3 paintings and unbelievably ends up sucked into the painting itself invited by Marco himself.  

Emily lands back in the late 1800's London but fortunately ends up getting rescued by the handsome Colin Remington (heir to the Marquess of Danbury) funny thing is she has met Colin before as he is the man of her dreams.  Emily gets taken in by a lovely couple the Carmichaels (they were in the carriage with Colin on the night she landed back in time) who are well off financially and recently out of mourning the loss of their only daughter Daphne, who could have been Emily's twin and also was Colin's fiance.  Colin has remained close to the Carmichaels since the tragic loss of Daphne, in fact he's closer to them than his uptight/stuffy father.    

Emily then finds herself in the midst of 2 different mysteries there is a Jack the Ripper type serial killer running the streets and getting more and more violent with their kills and while the last victim was the Carmichaels daughter Daphne shortly after Emily arrives another victim is discovered.  Colin has been working as a detective and trying hard to solve this series of crimes.  Maybe Emily could help solve this crime... in fact she is determined to help find the culprit with or without Colin's help.

While getting closer to the Carmichael's and falling for Colin she faces facts that she may be stuck in this time forever never getting home... and the longer she's there the longer she feels that might not be the worst thing if she could stay forever with the man she's falling in love with.  She also adores the Carmichaels and has found a friendship with her lady's maid.  Also with time travel there is a worry that she might not end up back home but instead in in another time where things could be worse.  

The 2nd mystery is the dreams she has been having that feel so real with Iris Bellerose the time traveler from the book and Marco where they come to her telling her their story from the book she loves is real and they are in danger from an evil time traveler and in need of Emily's help to be saved.

I received this story during a stuff your kindle day and I wasn't disappointed I enjoyed the story and I'm looking forward to reading the next two in the series about the other two friends.  

There was a lot going on in this story but I felt the author did a good job of making it really feel like Marco could be a real Renaissance master artist.  Emily spent a good majority of the book pretending to have amnesia due to being afraid to admit to the unbelievable truth of being a time traveler... once she spills the beans though the story progresses pretty quickly.

*possible spoiler:  I felt it was fairly easy to figure out who the bad guy was in the story early on.

Do you like time travel romance novels?  which one is your favorite?

*historical Romance *time travel *insta lust/love *mystery/crime *some spice

Trigger warnings: mentions of SA, gory crime scene descriptions 

Katy Archer: The Love Penalty

 Nolan U Hockey Book 4 read in 2025

Leilani and Asher we have had glimpses of in previous books in the series and the author set up their relationship to be an "enemies" to lovers type of trope.  

Asher is the rich kid and struggles with feelings of not belonging in his group of Hockey buddies, do they just like him and hang out with him because he got them a free place to live?  With this book you can see that his own parents find his older twin brothers to be the golden children while you get a sense that they don't approve of all of his life choices... because of this he has always been closer to his Uncle (mom's brother) his aunt and his cousins spending a portion of every year with them and going on vacations with them his uncle is even letting him and his friends live rent free in one of his houses while they go to school.

Leilani "Lani" has been closed off and not her usual self for awhile now you catch a glimpse of this in the 3rd book when her room mate Carolyn mentions that she knows something is wrong but Lani doesn't want to talk about it and Carolyn is focused with her own issues at the time so doesn't push her for discussion.  Pretty quickly into the story the reader learns that Lani had a very traumatic experience recently and not knowing how to deal with it has started to shut down emotionally and has stopped wanting to spend time with friends or go out not wanting to draw additional attention to herself or her struggle she agrees to go out of town with Carolyn and some other friends. 

Our couple is thrown together when Lani wants to go home early and Asher being a true gentlemen takes her home along the way they find out they have more in common than they would have thought, they bond over Harry Potter, classical music, the lord of the rings and knowing odd trivia.  Sparks fly and often due to both having strong personalities.  Lani also is understandably on an emotional roller coaster due to her recent trauma but Asher once he finds out what has happened does what he can to stand by her and be a strong support for Lani. 

Throughout the rest of the book Asher is shown to be caring and his found family at his hockey house stick by him as he helps Lani work through her difficult past.  Asher also has to come to terms with some really difficult news and make tough decisions that could cause everything in his life to change but he knows what's important even if everything crashes around him. 

some of the same cringe dialogue as the previous books, I'm expecting this to be in all of the books at this point.  I did like this book more than book 3.  Have you read this series?  which book has been your favorite?

*college  *sports/hockey romance *dual pov  *enemies/lovers  *spicy

*trigger warnings - SA

Kristy Brown: While Beauty Sleeps

 Read in 2025

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/221059579-while-beauty-sleeps?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=625aDbXNpD&rank=8

Emily Jones is a journalist it's been a life long dream to cover top stories and she's part of the way there working at a top London news station... however she gets puff pieces that are not going to boost her career... so when everyone at the station is busy and they have received news of a car accident involving a super model and a famous football star Emily and her camera man Ryan are on it... turns out that Emily is a little closer to this story than she realized upon arriving to the hospital she finds out some horrible news.

The supermodel involved is Emily's best friend and room mate Liza she is now in a coma and her mom and security have turned away all of the other reporters but she knows that Emily won't do anything to harm Liza or her reputation and will still be able to give the viewers what they want to hear.  Emily at first doesn't want to cover the story related to not wanting to profit from her best friends current situation but Liza's mother insists, it is a huge story and will boost ratings for the station and put her in a better place to continue to receive better stories and Liza would want Emily to grab that opportunity.

Things get more complicated when we find that Liza's boyfriend who was driving the car is famous football star Jake Adams... Emily's school crush is a man now and even hotter than he was when they were teenagers.  Jake was Emily's first kiss & first love (even if she doesn't want to fully acknowledge that fact)... Jake also broke her heart being the leader of a group of school bullies who did a number of horrible things to her (including giving her a terrible nick name Beefy) that even now years later she's finding it hard to get over and being close to him again is bringing back old feelings.

Jake has had several recent situations that have cast him in a bad light this last incident being an argument with his girlfriend Liza ending up in a MVA now Liza is in a coma and a kid he hit in the accident is injured (the kid is ok some injuries but will heal).  Jake would like to be the captain of the football team, his manager feels it would be good for his image to show that he isn't the horrible person that the media has recently made him out to be, he will let someone do a story on his life and interview those close to him but he is only willing to work with Emily... but how can Emily shine a ray of golden light on the guy who made her teenage years miserable.

Throughout the book we see that Jake is a sweet guy and Emily really was not aware of the full story of what happened in school.  I did find myself getting a bit frustrated with Emily at times as she tended to be really dramatic and kept running away from Jake (or others) when they were trying to explain to her the full situation.  I also got a bit irritated with Jake for not just telling her what was going on (lots of misunderstanding surrounding this).  I loved several of the side characters like Ryan he is true friendship goals, a few of Jakes team mates and Jake's sister.

Some drama and a lot of miscommunication/no communication at times since Emily is frequently not responding to texts or answering calls from our lead guy.  Emily feels guilty after finally giving into her feelings towards Jake... since he is dating her best friend who is in a coma... what is she going to do, she can't watch them in a relationship and she can't seem to stay away from him either.  What will she/they do when Liza finally wakes up?  

Cute quick read!  would recommend to people looking for their next romantic read! Gave me "While you were sleeping" kind of vibes.

*sports romance (football/soccer) * enemies to lovers  *some humor *Indie author 

 * trigger warnings for school bullying and loss of parent  

*POV from leading females side only

*some drama  *happy ever after  *very low spice (brief mentions)  

Stephanie Kay Break out

Read in 2023 

 San Francisco Strikers Book 1

This is the first in a series of 8 books.  This book finds us with our lead lady Penny who goes on a honeymoon to Italy alone after finding her fiancé cheating on her with another woman.  While on this vacation she ends up meeting Ethan (our lead guy) they have a whirlwind romantic trip together and at the end of the trip she leaves him a note telling him the check out time of the hotel doesn't say goodbye to him or exchange any identifying information she had a great time but has no plans to see him again.

Turns out the Ethan is a hot NHL player and recently transferred to the San Francisco team and Penny's boss is his uncle talk about a small world... they run into each other at a local bar and then again at her work.  This book took me a bit to get into but I did enjoy the couple and the side characters, I didn't like Penny's mom not understanding why she would want to move on from her cheating ex.  Ethan also has some family drama of his own to deal with.  

Penny is an accountant looking for a promotion at work and Ethan comes to his uncles work to have help managing his money setting up for a conflict, Penny doesn't want anything to mess up this promotion... and that includes this handsome hockey player.  Will Penny let down some of her walls and anxiety to let Ethan in?  

This was a cute, quick read with some humor and a happy ending.  

*adult language * adult content/scenes  *hockey romance * second chance romance 

*Family drama * ex drama 

Tilly Tait Winning Owen

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/217708669-winning-owen?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=rRGJWg96ct&rank=2

Harper married her high school sweet heart at a young age after years of emotional abuse she discovers that he has been cheating on her with another woman in town along with that he has left her with a large mortgage. To get help with the mortgage she has a few friends move in to help cover costs and her brother's friend Owen comes over to help with yard work. Owen is no longer a young man she now notices him as "all man." Owen has always seen her as something more he has had a crush on his friends sister for years and at this point figures that is how it will always be... until one night when he ends up as a bachelor in the local charity auction and his dream girl Harper ends up with the highest bid he doesn't want to miss this opportunity to show that he can be so much more. Cute and sweet, quick read some spice this was the first book I read in this series and I would like to read the rest of the series to hear about the other friends and their auction won dates!

read this in 2024 as an ARC reader

friends --> more  * Brothers best friend  * some spice  * set in Australia  *Instant love

*FMC post divorce  *childhood crush  *small town  *Cinnamon Roll MMC

Kathleen Ayers: Sinfully Tempted

Sinfully Tempted read in 2024 

Book 2 for the five deadly sins 

In this book we see Tamsin Sinclair (oldest sister) try to make her way in the society that had shunned her and her family for so long.  Tamsin is beautiful like her mother who was an actress turned mistress and then wife to her father the Earl, this caused a lot of gossip for the ton.  Shortly after her father's death (in fact at the funeral) her evil elder half brother (on advice from his horrible aunt) banished his younger half siblings and their mother to a falling apart estate with little to no money to support themselves, Tamsin spends a lot of time feeling responsible for this banishment since she had recently punched a young lord for being a bit too forward, her and her siblings have to fight for survival for many years until receiving word that their evil brother passed away in a carriage accident.  

Tamsin and her family are now back in London and she is trying to fit in with society to not bring further shame to her family when they are finally getting back on their feet, she also wants to pave the way for her younger sister Aurora when she makes her come out in society.  One evening at a ball Tamsin decides to get some fresh air and get away from the stuffy over packed event.  While sitting alone on a bench she sees Hayden (Duke of Ware) who also doesn't care to attend these events he is shy and more interested in bugs than socializing with people.  Right now his true passion is moths and the one he has been looking for has landed right on Tamsin's skirts, being the socially awkward guy he is he keeps going after the moth... naturally while outside in the garden alone together they get caught in this "compromising" situation... would anyone actually believe he is hunting for a moth and it's really not what it looks like?  

In order to save their reputations the couple now have to pretend to be in a fake friendship/courting situation to dispel the rumors and gossip with the plan of the relationship ending after the gossip goes to someone else. Ware is large, again very awkward and at times rude, but he can also be sweet & caring we also find out that he wants to be nothing like his father and brothers who were all lecherous and died tragically, as the 3rd son he never thought he would be in the position to be the Duke and most of his child hood he focused on his other scientific interests.  Ware is related to Odessa (female lead from the first book) and they have been close since child hood.  

Ware and Tamsin are true opposites but they find over the course of their arrangement that they are drawn to each other.  We also find that Ware has been impressed with Tamsin since he was a boy... she did break his awful brother's nose after all.  

It was nice seeing Ware come out of his shell a bit over the course of the book as their relationship progressed and take charge of the power he was given as the Duke.  Tamsin a free spirit finds her match with Ware and comes to learn more about herself and her struggle with her feelings of guilt (for her families banishment).

Naturally there are others who do not want them to be together and they have some obstacles to overcome before they can find their happily ever after.  Some true laugh out loud moments, I really enjoyed this book and continued to read the series.   

historical romance *enemies/lovers  *fake relationship *some spice *opposites attract

*bullying from the ton snobs 

Lisa J Page: Just a Family Friend Tom and Libbie

 read in 2025

Young adult romance book age appropriate for those looking for something their teen could read.  Set in New Zealand.  Dyslexic friendly font. 

Tom Johnson is on the tennis team he's really good at it and is looking to get a full ride scholarship to a University in the USA in order to have a chance at a scholarship he needs to get his grades up in Statistics, the teacher wanting to see him succeed suggests that he get a tutor and the teacher has the perfect candidate:  Libbie she's 2 years younger but is a math wiz... she is also a long time friend of his family.

Libbie Ashton has had a crush on Tom since... well since forever he taught her how to play tennis when they were kids because he needed a partner for pairs, they spend time together with their families and she really enjoys being around him... could he ever see her as more than just a friend.

Some family drama ensues after the couple decides to give a relationship a try, will their family approve of their relationship?  Or is their relationship over before it even begins?  

The story is a cute quick read.  Dual POV but reads more like you are reading from a diary or day planner or even a school text book rather than a book at times and the dialogue is kind of awkward at times.  Lots of discussion surrounding homework and I think I would have liked more interaction between the couple surrounding their actual relationship but it is a high school romance.  The book also shows the same scenes from both characters point of view at times instead of moving forward with the book.  

Katy Archer: The Game Changer

 

Nolan U: Book 3 read in 2025

This book is about Casey who we have seen in the first few books as a one night stand play boy, he gets around with the girls on campus... and frequently and doesn't intend to see or call them again.  Even though our leading female Carolyn knows this she still has a huge crush on him and decides to shoot her shot at a party one night.  Casey being the kind of guy he is immediately is drawn to her then finds an empty room for some "fun" even though she is warned by her best friend and room mate not to expect much out of this encounter she does anyways after having the best bedroom experience of her life.  She gives Casey her number he is also blown away by the experience and makes the mistake of saying he will call her... he doesn't.

Over a month later we find that Carolyn is in a frenzy because her period is late, they used protection she is now pregnant... how could this happen?  While the story line from here is just ok for me, there are some trigger warnings if you want to read this book including the options available for our couple in keeping, putting the baby up for adoption or terminating the pregnancy.  

Casey is a walking red flag but we kind of knew that from the previous books. I did like how he went from a child himself to working on changing his ways throughout the book as he gets to know Carolyn better and realizes he can be "boyfriend" material.  red flag #1: he never calls Carolyn back  #2: he forgets her name just remembers the sexual experience and at times refers to her or her body parts in just an "ick" kind of way "Fun bags" mentions her as a puck bunny (no woman carrying your child wants to be called that).  #3 he has loads of tattoos and you find out early on that he has a tattoo to commemorate the most "memorable" ladies he has been with.  On Carolyn's side of the story writer  continues to refer to the Vagina as a "V-jay" same as she did in the first few books.  

I don't feel it's fair to bring up Casey being immature when Carolyn is shown to be just as immature and irresponsible throughout the book.  She's portrayed as wanting to be sexually active and explore this side of things while at college (which is fine) but she doesn't seem to understand that she should possibly be on a form of birth control to prevent this very issue she's now in since condoms are not a 100% sure way to prevent pregnancy.  I also didn't like that she has this huge decision to make about the baby and what she wants to do but a good majority of the book focuses on her pushing off making any decisions about this huge thing hanging over her head while she doesn't tell any of her family and continues to get closer to Casey.  

Carolyn also felt terrible with the way she was ignored by Casey yet she is doing the exact same thing to a guy who wanted to get to know her better (Ben) to the point of hiding when she sees him out in public so she doesn't have to talk to him.  

A lot of spice in this book as our couple takes "advantage" of the surprise pregnancy to have lots of unprotected sex, also discusses frequently how overly sensitive her body is due to pregnancy hormones. 

There is a scene in the book where Carolyn asks what a horrible smell is and Casey tells her that it is his recent smelly dump and she will have to get used to it because he is proud of his smelly poop and that's just who he is as a person.  

***possible spoiler

Leilani (the sensible room mate) discusses that Carolyn really needs to tell Casey at some point that he might not even be the father because she had relations with another guy the same week.  I felt this is where I started to like Carolyn less when she found out she was pregnant she went to tell the guy that she liked more and had a big crush on that he was the father... without even knowing for sure and ignored the other possible father completely.  The fact that she was hiding this from both potential fathers felt manipulative on her side and felt as if she was using the baby as leverage to get playboy Casey to stay with her.  I did have a harder time getting through the book after I found this out about Carolyn hiding this fact and just the fact that she is making poor decisions in general... maybe it's because I'm older now but this book was just so-so for me. 

surprise pregnancy// College Hockey// Dual POV// trigger warnings: discussion of abortion, adoption, keeping the baby, miscarriage. 

Nadine Millard: A Springtime Scandal

 Book 1 in A lord for all Seasons: read in 2025

Elodie Templeworth is the oldest of 4 girls a lot is on her shoulders as her family expects her to mind her manners by being the perfect lady and attracting an eligible suitor, her mother would be delighted if it was someone who had a title... this is mentioned multiple times in the book not sure why "everything" is up to her but ok.   

Elodie also has the responsibility of keeping her younger three sisters in line while her mother and father go about their business like it's not their job to watch after their girls.

In comes Christian Harrison, Viscount of Brentford he is recently back to the country after time abroad and is visiting his relatives in the country there is nothing to do there and while he plans to go back to London soon he visits the local country dance where he runs into Elodie while everyone else might see a prim and proper miss he has an encounter where she shows she has some sass and fire inside it doesn't hurt that she's also very beautiful but why is she in charge of keeping her younger sisters out of trouble one is clearly a shameless flirt and the other girl is drinking far too much and walking off with some local guy where is their mother?  

Due to this situation with the sister Christian and Elodie find themselves in a "compromising" situation but nothing happened and Christian isn't going to be forced into marrying this woman he just met over a non-issue.  Elodie's mother having other ideas tells the Viscount that he should be coming over to make marriage arrangements to not ruin their family name.  

Christian speaks with his cousin about the situation (who has had a thing for Elodie for ages he is a local farmer) the cousin says that he should do the right thing by offering for her but he had already went over to the house that morning and told Elodie's parents nothing happened and she isn't ruined because no one will be talking about it it was just a few people who even knew and they were all planning to be discreet... except someone wasn't it is now all over this small town that the perfect daughter is possibly "ruined."  

Elodie is beside herself her parents are discussing the options for her while she's there but not involving her in any of the plans and she is tired of not having a say in what should happen, she decides to escape to their London home to allow for this "scandal" to blow over... that and she has no interest in marrying Christian's cousin who has come to call shortly after Christian left that morning.  So she does something very un-Elodie like she packs her bags and with her sisters help hides in Christian's carriage if he is trying to ditch her after causing part of this problem he owes her right?  he can get her to London.

On this trip of course the Viscount finds her but they are already further away and in a storm so agreeing to help her get out of town they grow closer together maybe even fall for each other.  Very minimal spice, some drama, and some general misunderstandings that could be cleared up quickly with a conversation but often is pushed off for later.  Over the course of the book you realize that while Elodie watches over her sisters they look out for her just as much.   

Was a cute quick read with some humor and I plan to read the rest of the series, I really loved her sisters and I'm looking forward to their stories. 

Kelly Anne Blount: I Hate you, Fuller James

 Read in 2023

I don't read young adult books too often but I bought this book after it popped up in an ad for me and I wasn't disappointed.  This was a cute quick read following Wren who is a super smart girl that ends up with a horrible nickname of "wrentainer" and who gave this name to her... well Fuller James of course.

Fuller is cute and popular he is a star basketball player and really is there anything that isn't going his way... well he apparently isn't that great at AP lit and in order to be able to play a really important game (College scouts are there and he needs this game to impress them) he needs to get his grades up and quick in comes Wren who is volun-told that she needs to tutor Fuller and get his grades up prior to this important game as a side note it has to be a secret because the other guys on the team can't know there is a possibility their star will be sitting on the side lines it wouldn't be good for their game (morale).  

At the beginning of the book you can see why Wren might "hate" Fuller especially when he makes a shady bet with his buddies that she would be upset if she found out about.  But he truly is a sweet kid he just needs a chance to show that side of himself to Wren by the end of this book you are rooting for Wren and Fuller to get together.  

Also has a sweet grand gesture that will have your heart melting just a bit especially if you loved those 80's rom coms.

Enemies to romance -->  age appropriate teen romance with a bit of humor.  

Katy Archer Hockey House V-Cards

 Prequel to the Nolan U Series read in 2025:

Decided to read this because I had started the series, I pushed through to finish it but this is exactly what it says 4 college Hockey bro's sitting around and talking about their first time including all the awkwardness that can occur.  You don't need to read this to read the series as it doesn't really add anything to their individual stories (from the ones I have read so far).  It's more of an extra book to advertise for the individual books in the series after each book it has a link for that guys individual story.  

Spice in each story and read at your own discretion.

Ethan's first time is as a college freshman when he gets to Nolan U he runs into an older sorority girl who likes to take charge and teach young guys a thing or twenty.

Liam is ever the protector and agrees to be one of his best friends first (she is his too) so she doesn't end up getting with a jerk just wanting to get more girls on his list, they are both in high school after this he decides that he isn't a one night stand kind of guy and only wants to have sex when it's meaningful.

Casey is ever the player he ends up going out to celebrate getting the hockey scholarship to Nolan U by getting a tattoo, the slightly older (young 20's) Asian tattoo artist takes a liking to him and gives him his first tattoo and another new experience. 

Asher the rich kid is at a family party when he runs into a beautiful older lady (turns out to be a friend of his mom's... they went to high school together) she is 44 and he is a senior in high school.  This lady is in the middle of a divorce and even though she is beautiful she is not feeling it at the moment due to her soon to be ex-husband leaving her for a 22 year old.  She ends up with an upsetting phone call and ends up in his room he goes to comfort her... 

It's a shorter book just don't think it was for me.