Rachel Anthony: So Screwed

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/256492222-so-screwed

Book Blurb:

One hundred days. No hookups. No touching his best friend’s sister. No chance in hell.

Connor Solano has slept his way into a playboy reputation he can’t sand down. To prove he can be trusted with the renovation company he hopes to inherit, the handyman heartbreaker must do the unthinkable: keep it in his pants.

When Sienna Weaver loses her job and apartment in the city on one spectacularly bad day, she comes home to Wisteria Lake with no plan, no confidence, and a long history of freezing up around men. So she asks Connor—her brother’s best friend and star of her teenage fantasies—to help her trade awkward for irresistible.

Connor agrees because even if he’s on the bench, someone ought to be getting off. But Sienna is no longer the gangly teen he remembers. She’s darkly funny, deliciously weird, and already more irresistible than anything he could teach her to be.

Now every flirting lesson tests his restraint, and teaching Sienna how to make another man want her leaves Connor desperate to prove she already has him. But if he breaks his promise, he won’t just risk his heart—he’ll prove his gossipy small town was right not to trust him.

Connor isn’t just screwed. He’s so screwed.

So Screwed is the first book in the Wisteria Lake series, set in a cozy lakeside town filled with nosy neighbours and a downright suspicious number of hot blue collar men. This brother’s best friend spicy rom-com brings yearning, shameless flirting, and a Happily Ever After built to last.

Tropes:

*Indie Author *ARC read *First in series *Brother's best friend *Best friend's sister

*Small Town Romance *Friends --> more *lessons in love *Playboy MMC 

*Spice *Slow burn *Rom-Com *family drama *found family *opposites attract

*mutual pining *teenage crush *Blue Collar MMC *Workplace romance *secret relationship

Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this author's hockey series and I was excited to see that they had a new series coming out this book sounded adorable and I jumped at the opportunity to be an ARC reader!

To start with we have Sienna (FMC) she is having a bad day finding out that her company is doing lay offs and she is one of the ones let go she returns home early to find her room mate and her boyfriend "celebrating" their engagement on the kitchen counter of all places... to top things off her room mate owns their condo and she asked her to leave so that her fiance can move in... by the end of the month (which is like a week away).  Homeless and jobless she goes to her best friends place (which is closet sized) to figure out what to do before eventually realizing the only thing to do is to ask if she can move in with her older brother and her niece.

Good news is that her brother is happy to let her stay with him her grandmother left her and her brother the home so it is her house too, bad news being she is moving back to the same small town that was so judgemental and made her younger days a nightmare, starting over is terrible but at least she will have some family time.

Connor (MMC) is a jack of all trades type of handyman while he's a hard worker and is good at his job he is also known to be more on the irresponsible side when it comes to showing up late to meetings and he has a reputation for getting around town with the ladies he isn't there for a long time but is there for a good time... unfortunately he is late to an important meeting with his boss and his grumpy best friend Matt (Sienna's brother) giving him a lecture on how irresponsible he is he makes a pact to be on his best behavior for the next 100 days to prove that he is able to commit to the job and become a partner when the owner sells he will do something no one in town believes he can do... become celibate for a short period of time.  He can do this right?

Sienna while back home helps her brother with his daughter Ivy, begins to get used to small town living again and since she's looking for work at the moment when her big brother asks if she can come help organize things at his company she accepts... it's something to do and he's paying her so win/win.  While there she runs into her first crush (you know who it is already...) her brother's best friend Connor.

Sienna and Connor re-connect and she ends up talking him into giving her lessons on how to get herself out there in the dating world since he has so much experience and her past dating experiences have been less than stellar.  

Along the way they grow closer together, learn more about each other and truly see each other flaws and all.  Sienna struggles with run ins with the mean girls from high school who are still in town her brother and Connor were popular and on the sports team so didn't have the same issues in that way but Connor has his own internal struggles that involve his self worth and everyone feeling like he is a lost cause just like his father who walked out on his mom... now his mom she is on a whole other level.

I loved the found family aspect, the small town characters that are meddling but mean well and the family dynamics between Sienna and her grumpy brother and her adorable niece and between Connor and his younger brother.  

The lead characters are easy to love and from the start I was invested in what was happening to them and wanted them both to succeed.... and finally kiss already!  The tension between these two was fireworks!! 

This was so cute and mixed comedy, romance and more emotional moments to make it a well balanced story that was easy to get lost in I stayed up way too late reading.  

I knew where some things were headed but that didn't take me out of the story at all if you are looking for your next small town, feel good, cozy read pick this one up!  

I can't wait for more books in this series!!  Book 2 where are you?? 

Have you read this one yet?  what did you think?  

Lauren Rowe: Chasing the Rush

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/244968969-chasing-the-rush

Book Blurb:

Chelsea Parker, 26, knows football, thanks to growing up with a football coach for a father and two linebackers for brothers. But Chelsea’s true passion has always been math: crunching numbers to predict statistical outcomes for everything from football to stocks to romance. Chelsea dreams of merging her two passions to become the first female head of analytics for an NFL team. But for now, she’s got to convince the powers-that-be at her father’s new team, the Mastodons, the worst in the NFL, to give her that entry-level position in the front office.

Luca Maguire, 26, a pass rusher and adrenaline junkie with a famous last name, knows this upcoming training camp with his new team, the Mastodons, will likely be his last, if he can’t get out of his own way long enough to make the cut. The dire nature of his circumstances is the only reason Luca didn’t quit on the spot when Coach Parker assigned his daughter, Chelsea, a statistics-loving, spreadsheet-making math nerd, as Luca’s “personal coach” for the duration of camp. More like his babysitter, if you ask Luca.

Well, okay, Luca didn’t quit for that reason and another one: the thing that happened seven years ago between Luca and Chelsea as strangers, when Luca’s college football team stayed at the same hotel as Chelsea’s mathletes squad. Luca would never admit this to Chelsea, especially not with her being Coach’s daughter and the newly assigned bane of his existence, but the truth is Luca hasn’t stopped thinking about that cute little mathlete who ditched his ass seven years ago, right before their clothes came off, ever since.

Tropes:

*Netgalley ALC *Sports Romance (Football (American) *STEM FMC  *Insta lust/love ish

*Spice *secret relationship *forbidden relationship *workplace romance *forced proximity

*missed communication/no communication *he falls first *daughter of the coach 

Thoughts:

I grabbed this ALC from Netgalley it sounded like something that would be right up my alley I enjoy sports romance and this is a new to me author.

Luca (MMC) and Chelsea (FMC) have a chance encounter as teenagers where they spend a magical night and Chelsea the mathlete gets her first kiss with the hot football player, only problem is his family plays for the rival team from her own family... her dad is a coach and her older brothers are players destined for greatness they could never be together because their families wouldn't want them to be (due to this rivalry of course).  She doesn't give Luca her last name or even the real school she attended it was only ever meant to be one night for her but it was one she's never forgotten... he never did either.  

--> so Chelsea thinking this way as a teenager is probably age appropriate, but continuing to feel that way well into her 20's and giving Luca's older brother mean nicknames was just irritating and immature. 

Many years later (I think like 10) Chelsea's father is coaching for a lower ranked Football team and she gets a job as his personal assistant with hopes of getting a job in analytics... a foot in the door is a foot in the door even if her father helped her get the job.

--> I immediately was kind of frustrated with Chelsea because her first day on the job she is supposed to be at a meeting taking notes and she's on her phone texting her bestie not even paying attention... like girl what are you doing put your phone away and take notes like you're being paid to do.  

So back to this story Chelsea finds out that Luca is coming to the team and immediately starts panicking that her family will find out that they had a secret make out session 10 + years ago as teenagers (it's not that serious).  She is trying to do her best she can at her job which turns into an assistant to the coaches and even gets assigned a team member to work with... guess who she is assigned to? ... yes you guessed right Luca leading to reasons for them to be put together when her original plan was to avoid him as much as possible and hope he forgot her.  

Luca of course never forgot her and had even searched for her after their night together but was never able to find her but couldn't because she didn't tell him the truth about who she was or where she went to school when they met. 

Luca while sweet is a bit of a wild card in that he show boats instead of playing it safe when his position on the team isn't secure he is on a trial basis for his spot while the team tries to get their "star" guy for that position to return to their team... Chelsea then makes a deal with a manager that he will consider her for a position that she wants that will be open shortly if she can get Luca on the team for the season.

Naturally Luca and Chelsea get closer together as they work together, they sneak around to be together so they don't get caught by management.  Chelsea wants to help Luca succeed but something happens to derail his goals and instead of keeping her close and appreciating her he pushes her away becuase he knows she can do "better" than being with him... my man what are you doing!  If she wants to leave you let her decide that don't push her away because your pride is hurt.

Will Luca and Chelsea ever be able to over come their differences to be together?  

Things I liked about this book:

I listened to the audio and I enjoyed the Duet narration with Corvin King (who could read me anything and I would listen) and Andi Arndt both did a good job with the story they had.

I liked the FMC Chelsea knew what she wanted and was going for it even when everything was working against her like being a female in a male dominated world.  She was smart and owned it! 

The author does a great job putting the football part of the book into the story to go along with the romance building between the characters.

The MMC is a nice guy he just needs a little guidance to work towards the right goals and he is so sweet with Chelsea. 

I liked how Chelsea knew what she was talking about on the field and was able to help coach the players.  

Some Things that didn't work for me:

The initial conflict and the storyline feels more like it would be set for younger characters, the story itself was leaning more on the immature side and the FMC being so set on this rivalry from ages ago really was over the top irritating for me personally.

I didn't like Chelsea's over the top aggression throughout the book towards Luca's brother... he did nothing to her other than be good at his sport... and he is a nice guy too.  

Chelsea and Luca's reunion was a bit over the top as well Luca was asking her questions about what happened... she was a teenager nervous about her family finding out that's what happened. 

Luca and Chelsea are meant to be in their 20's but still both act pretty immature

Chelsea is still set on this rivalry that I feel she is making a bigger deal out of than it really is and this is her big reason for not being able to be together.

The ending is wrapped up really quickly after many weeks apart with a less than stellar apology.   

Have you read this one?  What did you think?  

 

 

 

 

 

Sara Ney: Revenge Puck

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/253023569-revenge-puck

Book Blurb:

When I catch my girl with my hockey teammate and best friend—scratch that, ex-best friend—I’m done playing nice.

Declan betrayed me. But I have the perfect way to get even: his sister.

Juliette is sweet, bookish, gorgeous… and completely off-limits.

Fake dating her should be easy. A little wining and dining, a little harmless flirting, and I’ll get revenge on the guy who wrecked my life.

But Juliette throws me completely off my game.

Beneath her button-up shirts and wide eyes is the sexiest and most fascinating woman I’ve ever met. All good-girl by day, lacy underwear by night.

She sees right through my bad attitude… and somehow likes me anyway.

Suddenly the one thing worse than losing my best friend, would be losing her.

I’m desperate for revenge. But hurting Juliette? That’s a penalty I just can’t take…

Tropes:

*Netgalley ALC *Sports Romance (Hockey) *Strangers to more *Brother's team mate

*Revenge romance *Grumpy/Sunshine *Forbidden Romance *rom-com *Hall Pass

*Spice *State Challenge Michigan (repeat) *team drama  *workplace romance

Thoughts:

This is a new to me author but I do love a sports romance, hockey romance being my favorite of the genre, I grabbed this as an ALC from Netgalley and only wish I had a chance to listen to it sooner!

Going into this book I think you need to understand this main thing --> the name of the book is on point for our MMC's goal at the beginning, is it a bad idea (yes) does his plan divert pretty quickly after (also yes)... let me explain.

Aaron is a big NHL star for the team in Michigan he's noticed that his friend/team mate Declan has been off recently leaving early, not going to team gatherings (etc...) worried for his well being Aaron arrives at Declan's place and lets himself in only to find that he's fine... in fact he's fantastic minus being a back stabbing snake since he is in the middle of getting it on with someone else very close to Aaron... his girlfriend of over a year what!  I guess friendship means different things to different people.

After tossing both of these relationships out the window... with friends like that who needs enemies Aaron happens to run into a beautiful girl Juliette (FMC) who is leaving an awful date (she knows who he is as he is her celebrity crush... and her brother's team mate).  Although she usually doesn't do things like this she is sweet and shy she decides to go for it and invites him to her place for a one night of fun kind of thing... things don't get too wild and he doesn't stay the full night but he does realize on his way out that she has some interesting photos on her wall... in fact they are of Declan the now ex-friend... this must be his sister.

Juliette starts a job working in event services for the hockey team her brother plays for and learns that there are rules against dating co-workers/players but Aaron is seriously amazing... if given the chance maybe he's worth breaking some rules for.

Aaron sets about his evil (insert evil laughter) plan to hurt Declan by getting closer to his sister Juliette... step one invite her out, step two be charming af, step three make her fall in love, step 4 break up with her and break her heart... super easy it's a fool proof plan... 

Only it's not because Juliette is quite possibly the sweetest girl he's ever met, she's not like the usual women he dates that are looking to be a WAG she notices the little things, makes him feel special and knows the life because her brother is part of it and he just likes spending time with her... He knows what he's doing is wrong but he was angry and humiliated and not thinking like a rational person at the time this started... but the longer he spends time with her the more he feels that he wouldn't break her heart without breaking his heart too.

I loved Aaron's sassy sister and Juliettes best friend was over the top unhinged at times but a fun side kick who always has her back.

Declan attempts to push Juliette away from his team mate... but naturally doesn't explain why and we all know that he doesn't want to come off as a huge jerk to his younger sister, which he would since he was in the wrong.  So instead of saying what he means he dances around the topic and is super vague with her not telling her anything.

Tempers flare between Declan and Aaron and the longer the situation goes on and the longer Aaron waits to tell her the full truth you just know this is going to be a disaster... especially if someone else fills in why Declan and Aaron are not on speaking terms.  But will Juliette want anything to do with him once she finds out what happened and what he planned to do, even if that is the last thing he would want now?

This was a fun fast listen, Aaron made terrible decisions and as the reader you know whats coming but can't wait to see how everything unfolds anyways, and thing is Aaron is a sweet guy he loves his sister and is caring towards others if he wasn't so mad about what happened he would have never come up with this terrible revenge plot, what was even more endearing was watching him realize that over the time he has been with Juliette he didn't want his plan to work because Juliette deserved better from him and he wanted to be the man she deserved.

The Narrators did a great job bringing this to life Lee Samuels & Amelia Hugh were a great duo for these characters.

Juliette was so sweet and didn't just let Aaron off the hook she made him work for it.  

Declan... ugh!  he's got a long way to go to get a redemption but hopefully the author will be able to do it and I'm looking forward to reading his story.  

If you are looking for your next Hockey romance check this one out!  I enjoyed this one!! 

looking forward to reading the next book in the series, have you read this one yet?  what did you think?  

I enjoyed this one but here are some negatives for the book:

*If you are looking for detailed back stories and in depth getting to know the characters on page it isn't that kind of book, it's more superficial, and times they could have been talking they were "exploring" other areas of their relationship.  I didn't mind too much I just realized it wasn't going to be that kind of book early on and went with it. 

*The revenge plot was petty and of course unfair to Juliette (who is a sweetheart)... she had nothing to do with what her F-boy brother does in his free time

*If you enjoy a sports romance with more sports --> there is limited sport in this a few game mentions the main focus is the revenge plot that fizzles pretty quickly and Juliette sneaking around with this situationship since she knows it is against policy to not report it but can't stop herself from continuing to see him in secret.

*It's made out to be a brothers best friend but doesn't read like that because it starts after the situation that broke up their friendship so Declan and Aaron were not friends throughout the story.  

*Juliette made a big deal about Aaron needing to speak with her brother and make up with him... but this was not in the book like what happened???

*The ending felt a bit rushed and the epilogue (this wasn't on the alc audio version... I got the e-book and read the epilogue) was only a few weeks later and didn't really add anything to the story.  

Karla Sorensen: Floored

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55989190-floored

Book Blurb:

If you've ever had a steamy one-night stand with a British football player and then find yourself pregnant with his baby, you know how Lia Ward feels.

To be fair, Lia didn't know who Jude McAllister was when they met.

Across the ocean for a semester studying for her master's program, all she knows is that she's a little lonely and he's very charming, even as they have an epically sexy argument about which type of football is superior.

In Jude's mind, shagging the feisty American girl is exactly what he needs. He’s been fighting the clock of his long-standing football career and the younger players primed to take his position. Proving that he can feel like his old self again—something he's been trying to do with everyone in his life—should be easier after blowing off steam with Lia.

But oh baby, when a plus sign pops up on Lia's pregnancy test, that 'one night' becomes a whole lot more.

Now Lia and Jude have to navigate their impossible-to-ignore chemistry, and prepare for the parenting game, something neither of them know how to play.

Tropes:

*Sports Romance (Soccer/Futbol) *one night stand (to more) *Strangers to more

*Hot rich guys *American FMC x British MMC *Surprise Pregnancy *Studying abroad

*Close family (FMC side) *family drama (MMC Side) *age gap *emotional baggage 

*spice *miscommunication  *takes place in England and Washington State (repeat)

Thoughts:

I enjoyed the original series and I have read this book a few times as part of the Ward sisters series (Book 3) I love the close, caring and supportive family that the FMC has if you have a family like that you truly have won at life! 

I decided to get the audiobook because I do enjoy this series while the male narrator was awesome, I found myself having to take breaks from the female narrator (this may have just been a me thing) I found her voice to sound kind of robotic and it took me out of the story.

To start with we have Lia (FMC) who is feeling kind of lost as her twin sister is recently in a new relationship and moving on with her life while she feels kind of at a stand still, she's still young and in college but wants new experiences she picks up a study abroad course and travels to England but she doesn't just want to be studying while there she wants to explore one of those nights while out on the town she ends up at a local pub for the area and runs into a handsome stranger... she has a night she'll never forget and for more than one reason because several weeks later she got a surprise gift from that night she is now pregnant... and very far away from her family on the other side of the world.

Lia naturally is in a bit of a panic and she also struggles with her own feelings of self doubt throughout the book since her own mother abandoned her and her sisters with their older half brother after their father passed away (this is known from previous books).  Lia decides that it's only right to tell Jude that he is going to be a father, she's keeping the baby no matter what his decision is... but she wants to give him the opportunity to be in their life if that's what he decides to do.

Jude is a handsome famous football player, but has his own insecurities especially know that he's considered "older" in the sports world even though he's still in his early 30s but there is always someone younger, faster, and stronger eager to step up and prove themselves fighting to keep himself on top for his team he gets thrown a bit of a curve ball when the beautiful woman he never thought he would see again shows up saying she's pregnant... and he's the father!  what???

Once the surprise wears off Jude actually steps up and is there for Lia in every way she needs, he is sweet and caring he doesn't have a good relationship with his parents but he wants to be there for his own child and I loved that he was all in when it came to supporting our girl and their baby.

Naturally not everything is smooth sailing there is a lot of turbulance throughout since they both are harboring issues from their own childhoods and there is the issue that Lia lives in The US and Jude lives in the UK.  Is there any way they could be together?  Or are these issues as large as the distance between them? 

Overall I enjoyed this book (even though I'm usually not a big fan of the oops now we have a baby coming trope).  I did get frustrated (mainly with Lia) throughout the book she is younger and acts more on the immature side throughout the book.  

some negatives for this book: 

*I didn't fully see the chemistry between the couple... Lia left her number but Jude didn't reach out to her for a few weeks because he was "busy"

*Lia once she knew he was in for helping support her and the baby while she was pregnant didn't make much of an effort to hear his side of things before running back home... give the guy some time.

*Lia was upset that Jude didn't warn her about how his parents were... you two just met he's not going to tell you everything right away especially when that's a tough subject for him.  I felt like a lot of the time Jude was spending supporting Lia but Jude could have used more support from Lia as well he was having a tough time too.

*Uneven pacing at points throughout the book, some bigger issues felt rushed through in certain parts throughout the book while other parts that maybe didn't need as much time were longer.  

have you read this one?  What did you think?