Elise Faber: Small Town Big Storm

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/245439450-small-town-big-storm

Book Blurb:

I’ve taken pucks to the face…

But nothing hits harder than hearing her call me Dad.

I return to Cedar Hollow for my father’s funeral. Not for forgiveness. Not for Poppy. And definitely not for the daughter I never knew was mine.

Poppy rebuilt her life without me—and she has every reason not to trust the man who left her behind.

But the moment I meet my little girl, everything changes. Walking away isn’t an option anymore.

They can warn her about me all they want. This time, I’m not leaving.

I’ll burn this town to the ground before I lose them again.

Tropes:

*Netgalley ALC *2nd chance for romance *Sports romance (hockey) *single mom

*spice *grumpy x sunshine *secret pregnancy *found family *emotional baggage

Thoughts:

Storm (MMC) is a NHL player who is returning home in the off season to his small town for his father's funeral.  He is broody x 1 million and left his small town with no hopes of returning ages ago due to all of the bad memories with his father who was abusive.  

While back in town for what he thinks will be a short time thing he helps his brother fix up their childhood home and then he comes in contact with his teenage crush Poppy who he had a night to remember with... maybe since he's in town they can rekindle what they once had, but Poppy has a big secret.

Poppy (FMC) remembers their night together differently while she wanted to be with Storm he left town and she hasn't seen him since she tried to contact him multiple times after finding out she was pregnant, now she has been raising their child as a single mom and seeing him back in town brings up a lot of emotional baggage... if he leaves her again it could break her but she can't have him do that to her little girl. 

Storm is upset that something so life changing was with held from him for so long especially since his brother and father both knew... but he has a lot of time to make up for he wants to spend time with Poppy and get to know his daughter in whatever increments of time Poppy will allow him to have.  

Poppy is quickly falling for her daughter's father... but his job is in the off season right now, what happens when he returns to work and needs to travel, could they do long distance?  What if he leaves her again or he gets traded?  

Storm and his brother are both dealing with emotional baggage from growing up with a irresponsible dad and coming together to fix up their old home is bringing up a lot of feelings... and they don't do feelings.

Poppy has a great group of friends, Storm has fun team mates who come to town, Storm and Poppy's daughter is adorable.  Insert small town nosy neighbors, and diabolical geese who love to attack people and steal ice cream and you got yourself the starts of a cute new hockey series. 

The narrators Ivan Morea & Avery Caris did a great job with the story and they are probably how I ended up staying with this story.

I did like that Storm was working on mending his relationships with his brother, with Poppy and getting to know his daughter and that he 100% owned up to needing to be there for his daughter from the moment he knew she was his, his whole plan changed from leaving immediately to being the dad he never had and showing up.  

Some negatives for me:

*Storm spends so much of his time angry and brooding that I had a harder time liking him, he's angry about everything too long! 

*repetitive things like how much he loved her tiny red bikini... yes we get it what else do you like about her because it felt more like insta lust.

*There are so many characters coming into the story that I felt at times like I was dumped into the middle of a series but this is the first book in this series.

*The story wasn't necessarily bad it just didn't grab me like I hoped it would I didn't really feel a great connection with the lead characters, I was more interested in a budding relationship between Poppy's friend and Storm's Team mate. 

So I guess I'd say if you enjoy a small town hockey romance (with not much hockey), reconnections and second chance for romance you might enjoy this one! 

I do plan to check out more of this series as I liked the side characters 

Have you read this one?  What did you think?  

Elise Kennedy: Falling at the Barre

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/241745381-falling-at-the-barre

Book Blurb:

Luca Bishop has one no dating until his first-grader graduates high school. Period.

Between running a growing auto body shop and solo-parenting, romance isn’t just off the table—it’s somewhere in the garage under a tarp. And with his schedule, it's time to hire a nanny.

Enter his daughter's gorgeous new dance teacher, who's also their next-door-neighbor. The one who smells like cinnamon.
Who makes his kid beam and who laughs like sunshine.

And who already feels like his—if only she weren’t leaving.

Ballet didn’t dump Olivia Maroo—it just stopped calling.

At 33, Olivia knows pliés won't pay the bills forever, but she’s not ready to hang up her pointe shoes just yet.

She just needs a few months to train for auditions, regroup, and totally not fall apart. So she returns to her hometown for the fall—where the maple syrup flows, the apple pie pancake breakfasts are elite, and the existential dread is pumpkin spice–flavored.

In exchange for ballet studio space, she agrees to teach at the local dance studio. It’s temporary. Chill. Fine.

...Until she accidentally volunteers to nanny for her most adorably chaotic student—who just so happens to live next door with her extremely hot, extremely off-limits single dad.

It has to be temporary.

But with cozy movie nights, cider-fueled slow dances, and a life she’s already half in love with, she’s not prepared for the kind of fall that changes everything.

Tropes:

*Netgalley ALC *Small town Romance *Single Dad *Mechanic MMC *Green flag MMC

*Balerina FMC *State Challenge Pennsylvania (repeat) *Spice *Nanny *Cozy read 

*Slow Burn *Neighbors --> more *Forced Proximity *Found Family *Banter *insta lust/love

*He falls first 

Thoughts:

After binge listening to books 3 and 4 in this series I was happy to continue the series this is book 5 in the Love in Fairwick Falls series even though the books connect together through characters they can be read as stand alones.  Coming back to this book was like visiting old friends and I love when I get invested in characters and they make appearances throughout the rest of the series.

Olivia (FMC) has returned home after her contract for the ballet company she works with hasn't been renewed she returns home to regroup and get herself together but she also has feelings of failure since everyone always placed a lot of pressure on her to do well especially herself.  Working as a professional dancer is not for the weak and she's used to the negativity and body image issues that goes along with it... but what is she going to do if she is no longer a dancer? 

Olivia staying with her mom and step father briefly ends up with a too good to be true offer from her child hood ballet teacher she is moving in with her boyfriend and is willing to let Olivia stay in her home... but there is a catch she needs to teach her childrens ballet groups at her dance studio... and surprise she needs to plan a fall dance for the upcoming festival great... she can do this.

Luca (MMC) is a devoted father everything he does is for his little girl including moving to a small town where the school takes her food allergy seriously.  Now with his auto shop busier than ever and working on moving the shop closer to home he really could use help... but where can he find someone he trusts to watch A.B. (Annabelle)? 

Luckily the answer lands right next door in the form of a beautiful woman, Olivia is sweet, caring, she has a great personality and his daughter already loves her since she is teaching her how to dance... win/win right?  Only how is he supposed to keep himself away from wanting more this is the first time he's actually wanted more since his daughters mother passed away several years earlier and he doesn't know how to deal with those emotions either.  Olivia is in trouble... because she may be falling for Luca but he's her boss, things could get awkward quick. 

Olivia and Luca are both dealing with their own feelings of worth as Olivia works through planning her life does she even want to keep dancing professionally?  She's only in her early 30s and has a few good years left but now that she's been around people who make her feel good about herself and cared for it might be harder to go back to the dancers world.  While Luca deals with feelings that he is not a good enough father and wanting to provide his daughter with the life he never had as a child including having a present parent.

Some drama arrives in the form of Luca's less than stellar mother coming around wanting handouts.  

I love how Olivia and Luca brought out the best in each other.  Luca even before they were officially together was protective and noticed the little things like a light going out on the porch that needed to be fixed. 

I also appreciated that A.B. was a main character right along with her dad and Olivia, she was such a sweet and whimsical little girl.

I received this as an ALC and thank the author and Netgalley for this book!  Narrators Aileen Bishop and Ryan Stone did a great job with this story! 

One thing that I wish would have been covered more was how Luca was going to handle his mother in the future, she really intruded on his life and expected way too much from him still giving guilt trips and threats and I would have liked to have seen him put up some additional boundaries.

This book was also a bit more insta lust/love, I'm not a big fan of "insta" but do appreciate that they were able to get to know each other a bit better before anything really happened between them.  

This was another enjoyable read for this series and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of this series.  

If you enjoy a sweet and cozy small town romance with a single dad and found family vibes add this one to your list! 

Have you read this one?  What did you think? 

Elise Kennedy: Unexpectedly Bookish

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/209373297-unexpectedly-bookish

Book Blurb:

REED
After years in corporate architecture that stifled his creativity, Reed Berry is moving to Fairwick Falls and chasing his dream: opening a cozy bookstore.
His plan? Design a bookstore that sparks wonder and a love of reading on a shoestring budget.
The hitch? Pearl Bishop—his new assistant, and the human embodiment of a "Do Not Touch" sign. She's all dark eyeliner, piercings, and attitude sharp enough to cut glass. And Reed? He's sunshine and golden retriever charm, which seems to make her want to throw him out the nearest window.
Good thing he has his anonymous, late-night confidant—impossibly_bookish—to escape to.
His steamy, secret online crush gets him in ways Pearl never would.

PEARL
Pearl Bishop is nobody's idea of a sweet, small-town girl. She's all death metal tattoos, piercings, and black lipstick—a girl who's perfected the art of keeping people at a distance.
Especially good guys like Reed Berry.
He's her brother's best friend, her new boss, temporary roommate, and the poster boy for annoyingly cheerful. But the way he looks at her? Like she's the only woman who exists? It's messing with her carefully crafted armor.
But Pearl's got bigger problems, like scraping together enough cash to start her allergen-free bakeryand dodging her nosy neighbor, who is hell-bent on stopping both the bookstore and her bakery with permit red tape.
The only person who sees past her sarcasm and ink-stained armor is her online confidant,hemingway_cansuckit—a guy she's been swapping filthy, flirty messages with for months.
The man she's been falling for, text by text.
The man she's agreed to finally meet in person.
...What could go wrong?

Tropes:

*Netgalley ALC *Small town romance *brothers best friend *Black Cat FMC 

*Golden retreiver MMC *Texting/hidden identity *You've got mail vibes 

*Plus Size FMC *Virgin MMC *forced proximity *temporary room mates *Autism Rep

*hallmark meets spice *State challenge Pennsylvania (repeat) *opposites attract

*Reverse grumpy x sunshine *Romcom

Thoughts:

Part of a series but can be read as a stand alone

After finishing up book 3 in this series I had to start book 4 I was able to grab this as an ALC from netgalley and thank the author and Netgalley for this opportunity for an early listen copy!

Reed (MMC) is a ray of sunshine he is so sweet and looks for the positive side of everything life has to offer including the fact that he has more recently been diagnosed with autism.  After his parents moved away he has decided that he's going to do something he wants to do and has been looking for the perfect space to place his dream book store.  He has been working as an architect like his step father but he never really felt it was his calling he just wanted to belong.

Pearl (FMC) has her guard up about everything, she pretends she doesn't care but really cares so much especially about her brother and her neice.  She lives with her brother and is happy to help with her neice where she can including picking her up for school and making sure she stays away from foods that she's allergic to by learning to make gluten free items that her neice can enjoy.  

Reed has always felt out of place, he's quirky and has always felt like the people closest to him feel he's "too much."  He has had a crush on his best friends sister since their school days but that's a hopeless cause since she doesn't like him at all... and makes it very clear every time she sees him.  Thankfully he has an online friend that he has been chatting with for months she is becoming so much more than just a friend though... maybe one day he'll work up the nerve to ask to meet.

Pearl's brother and neice go out of state for the summer and he has decided to let his best friend Reed stay at their house while he's waiting for his business and apartment to be ready... just what she needs Ray of sunshine Reed in her personal space... only he's not as bad as she originally thought, he's caring and supportive, he notices things others don't about her and she's beginning to feel more for him than she should.

Pearl agrees to work with Reed to help him get his store up and running he needs the help, and she could use the extra money, naturally they get closer together during this time.  But by getting closer together they begin to feel guilty about having feelings for each other since they have a relationship with their alter egos online (not knowing they have been chatting with each other)... up until the big reveal it had me wondering when they were going to find out! 

This was such a cute small town romance, I enjoyed the opposites attract vibes and loved the fun side plot of the secret online persona's (very you've got mail) both falling for each other's personalities before they even realized it while also falling for each other in real life.

I liked reading about how both characters had their flaws but I loved how they both accepted each other where they were at neither wanting to change anything about the other one, they both needed that after growing up feeling the insecurities they both had, and it was so sweet to see them grow together and show that the right person will love you flaws and all. 

Loved seeing cameos from the sisters of the previous book and how their story played out in this book, and always enjoy the small town quirky characters... including the grumpy witch of a neighbor. 

Reed was a super sweet green flag boyfriend material but extra naughty in the bedroom.

I enjoyed the narrators Rachel Danes and Grayson Owens who brought the story to life beautifully!

I would say that it has a 3rd act break up and I didn't feel it fit the characters who had been really supportive and communicated well all throughout the story with each other up until that point.

I will be checking out the rest of this series!  so good.

Have you read this one?  What did you think? 

Elise Kennedy: Conveniently in Bloom

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/197311653-conveniently-in-bloom

Book Blurb:

Lily Parker hates commitment. Annual subscriptions? No thanks. Tattoos?? Not on your life. She's already planned to leave Fairwick Falls after being there for 11 months...until a rogue patch of ice lands her in mandated physical therapy. The problem? She really meant to get health insurance (really!) but...it slipped her mind.Unable to climb the stairs to her apartment, she moves in with the one person who has a first-floor bedroom and Nash Donnelly, her childhood-turned-teenage-turned-adult crush.Nash Donnelly needs a wife. His money-grabbing brother wants to oust him as bank president based on an arcane 200 year old bylaw. Nash must act quickly to prevent Fairwick Falls' only bank from falling prey to his brother's scheme to sell to a large corporate competitor.Who better to be a wife-of-convenience than the woman who moved in with him...and whose lips he's dreamed of for months.They propose a simple health insurance for marriage until the bylaws can be changed. Then they can happily go their separate ways, no commitment necessary......right?

Tropes:

*Netgalley ALC *Small Town Romance *Age Gap *Opposites attract *mutual pining

*sisters friend *Teenage crush *Marriage of convenience *green flag MMC *millionaire MMC

*State Challenge Pennsylvania (repeat) *Spice *"My Wife"  *She falls first x he falls harder

*long term grief (parents fmc/father MMC) *hallmark vibes *Slow burn *forced proximity

Thoughts:

Lily (FMC) has moved back to her small hometown in Pennsylvania after her father passed away to help her sisters with their families floral shop she's a free spirit though and is itching to move back to NYC.  Lily doesn't do long term relationships she is more of a love them and leave them type of girl... but it's only because none of the guys can measure up to the only guy she's ever been in love with Nash.  

Lily has loved Nash since forever... he was her older sisters childhood friend but he was always kind, she fell in love with his heart first, it doesn't hurt that he's handsome and charming as well, but it's probably for the best that nothing has happened between them since true love only leads to heartache she has witnessed it first hand with her own father after losing the love of his life (her mother) when she was young.

Nash (MMC) has been struggling with growing feelings towards Lily she's beautiful, witty and fun the exact opposite of himself.  Nash is hardworking and he wants to uphold his families legacy as the bank president and owner, his father and grandfather held the position prior and he wants to keep what matters a part of his job the community and his employees... but recently his shady younger brother has been coming around and causing problems he has also brought up this archaic rule stating that the president has to be married, problem being that Nash is not married.

Nash has made waves with the board members and the only way to improve his chances of keeping his position as President is to get married.  Lily has a slip and fall leading to a knee injury with a lengthy recovery period... sadly she never filled out paperwork to get insurance through the flower shop... Nash proposes a solution to both of their problems if Lily marries him he gets a wife and Lily can get covered with health insurance through him... win/win what could possibly go wrong? 

Now Nash needs to try not to fall more for his beautiful wife... he knows she doesn't want to be stuck in this small town forever, and Lily needs to try to find a way to not fall more in love with her husband... easy they are adults things don't have to get complicated.  

This was a really cute opposites attract, small town romance.  I enjoyed seeing fiery Lily finally let her walls and guards down and finally tell Nash how she felt after so many years and Nash was such a sweetheart but was wild in the bedroom... or office, shower, weight bench, etc... 

Gave off cute hallmark vibes meets spice and I was here for it! 

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for this ALC copy Narrators Aileen Bishop and Tim Paige did a great job bringing this story to life! 

This is my first book by this author but it won't be my last, I'm looking forward to reading more in this series! 

Negatives:

*FMC has a knee injury that requires extensive physical therapy but is able to get on her knees and walk for longer distances without crutches or knee brace throughout book (?? is it really that bad?) 

*They both liked each other... Just tell each other already --> miscommunication/no communication

*I got frustrated with the FMC for having one foot out the door for the majority of the book, due to this the MMC also didn't want to tell her his feelings because he didn't want to spook her... it made it for a repetitive cycle of both having big feelings towards each other but neither one telling the other how they felt which leads me to the next issue...

*By the time they finally admitted their feelings and were on the same page the book was almost over so things felt a bit more rushed at that point.  

Have you read this one?  what did you think? 

Elliot Fletcher: One For the Road

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/241986052-one-for-the-road

Book Blurb:

Opposites attract in this steamy Scottish romance between a grumpy doctor and the single mother who lives next door, from the author of Whisky Business.

Burned-out GP Alistair Macabe never planned to return to his tiny hometown on the Isle of Skye. Especially not to live next door to Isla, a newly single mom with zero time for grumpy doctors.

But when Alistair needs a popularity boost in order to start taking on patients again, and Isla wants to ruffle her smug ex’s feathers, a fake relationship seems like the perfect solution.

And with the pair taking their roles very seriously, they might just forget they are pretending after all

Tropes:

*Netgalley ALC *Opposites attract *Enemies --> more *neighbors *Doctor MMC x baker FMC

*Small town romance *Rom-com *single parent *family drama *spice *Scotland 

*grumpy x sunsine *forced proximity *fake dating *slow burn

Thoughts:

Alistair (MMC) returns to his small home town that he had always wanted to leave on the Isle of Skye after his father passed away and in his will left him his medical practice. 

Alistair followed in his father's footsteps and while he always wanted to be a doctor growing up now he doesn't know if he wanted it for himself or to finally be seen as worthy in his father's eyes and now his father is gone.  Returning to his small home town with nosy residents and his family that don't mind their own business either is bad enough... especially since his brother is with his ex-fiance, he's still salty about that.  But now he's living next door to Isla and her daughter they are messy and entirely too loud... in fact maybe he'll write some complaints to the land lord about them.

Isla is new to being single her ex-husband moved her out in the middle of nowhere (where he grew up) and even had her make friends with his high school girlfriend... who he later left her for now she's dealing with his poor excuses as to why he can't help pay for anything when it comes to their daughter and constantly canceling his plans with her when it's his day to pick her up... leaving Isla to pick up the pieces of their very heartbroken young daughter. 

Isla and Alistair get off on the wrong foot and spend quite a bit of time at odds... so it's quite a surprise when Alistair has come up with a fake dating plan he needs to be liked more in the area to get his ratings up for the possibility of selling his practice, and it would help everyone see that she has moved past the betrayal that was the ending of her relationship with her ex... you know what why not, it's just pretending for a few months... what could go wrong?

This was a super cute small-town romance I really loved seeing Mr. Grinch himself let down his walls and not only begin to care for Isla but her daughter as well, he really stepped up when it mattered time and time again.  

Isla and Alistair are both working on some emotional damage caused by people who should have cared more in their lives and they found each other at the perfect time... but now that walls are coming down lines are blurred and it's hard to tell that things are fake anymore.

Isla is so sweet but I truly wanted to have a chat with her with how she was dealing with her ex and his unacceptable behavior a number of times... ugh!  her ex made me so angry for Isla and for their daughter Teddy they both deserved better.  

Teddy (Isla's daughter) such a sweetheart I loved seeing her get closer to her grumpy neighbor.  

I loved Alistair beginning to build a better relationship with his family again and begin to think that maybe he could make a life for himself in his small hometown.  

There was drama from Isla's ex, small town gossip and a fun cast of characters that make you want to move to this small town in Scotland too.  I will be checking out the rest of this series!

I thank the author and Netgalley for this audio book Isobel Wood and Angus King were awesome and really helped to bring out the humor and heart to this story.

I did feel that some of the pacing was slower in places and there were some repetitiveness but overall enjoyed this one it was a cozy, feel good read! 

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

Piper Rayne: Holding Ground

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/256129950-holding-ground

Book Blurb:

I’ve been a single dad for five years. Then the wrong woman rented the guest cabin behind my house, and I knew right then she was going to ruin everything.

When Baylor's mother walked out, I made a promise—I'd be enough. Just the two of us. No one to disappoint her. No one else to leave.

Then Emelia Greene rolled into Echo Lake in a Mercedes and a power suit to convince the townspeople to change what makes our small town great. She’s everything this place isn't.

Emelia's not supposed to be kind. She's not supposed to be good with my daughter. She's definitely not supposed to be the one I find myself confiding in at the end of my dock every night.

She's leaving in three months. I know that.

The problem is, I can't stop wondering what it would be like if a woman like her belonged in a place like this.

In a life like mine.

Tropes:

*Hambright PR ALC *Small Town Romance *Single Dad *Opposites attract *Troubled past

*Forced Proximity *enemies --> More *Strangers --> More *Spice 

*fun small town residents *Grumpy/sunshine *banter *insta lust 

Thoughts:

I love a good small town romance and jumped at the chance to get an early listen copy when I saw this new series from Piper Rayne, thank you to the author and Hambright PR!  I enjoyed the narrators but the FMC's voice for Emelia was a bit off for me, still an enjoyable listen.

We have Emelia (FMC) she is originally from a small town in Alaska but never truly felt like she belonged there and moved away for school and never went back to stay, now working in Boston for a development company she knows it won't be easy to win over the residents of Echo Lake... and that's evident right away when she runs into the brick wall that is Elliot.

Elliot (MMC) is grumpy and standoffish but he has reasons to be he has been raising his daughter by himself for the last several years after Baylor's mom walked out because "she just can't do this anymore" now with deep seated feelings of abandonment on multiple levels he is doing the best he can do be there for his daughter in every way that counts which includes keeping this small town community together and not allowing a big corporation to come in and build a resort... or whatever other plans they have... not in his town!

Emelia getting off on the wrong foot pretty much immediately with Elliot then hoping to not have to deal with him much while in town is unpleasantly surprised to find that he is the owner of the rental that she booked for the next 3 months... looks like they are going to be closer than she ever imagined, just wonderful!

After a storm damages the rental unit Emelia is staying in she has now moved into the home with Elliot and Baylor, forced proximity at it's finest.  

I loved seeing grumpy, protective dad Elliot let down his guard and realize that maybe Emelia isn't as bad as he originally thought, she brings laughter and a lightness to his life he hasn't had in a long time and everyone in town (including his brother's) have noticed that he's in a better mood. 

This was a cute small town romance and had all the things I love about that including the nosy towns people and family getting in everyone elses business.  

There were some underlying themes of abandonment on both sides and a past history that made things feel more real and I enjoyed watching these two lost souls find each other on a deeper level, and Baylor so adorable loved how she was a 3rd lead character with a huge personality. 

I loved Elliot's brothers and I'm looking forward to their stories!  This was a great introduction to this new series and I can't wait to re-visit these characters as the series goes on it will be just like visiting an old friend.  

Have you read this one?  What did you think? 

C.K. Darling: Embers Of Fate

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/250286117-embers-of-fate

Book Blurb:

He puts out fires for a living. She's the fire he didn't know he needed.Event planner Ember Harper arrives in Peachwood Grove for a much-needed escape — a chance to breathe, regroup, and help her best friend plan a local fundraiser. What she doesn't plan on is a rainstorm, a deer in the road, and ending up in the arms of the most devastatingly handsome firefighter in Georgia.

Captain Ryan McCallister has seen plenty of emergencies. None of them looked quite like her.

What starts as a rescue turns into something neither of them saw coming—a connection that feels less like coincidence and more like fate. But Ember's carrying more baggage than the suitcases he helped unpack, and staying means trusting someone again. That might be the scariest emergency she's ever faced.

Good thing she's got a firefighter in her corner.

Embers of Fate is a quick, swoony ride through small-town Georgia, where sparks fly fast and feelings burn even faster—the perfect read to devour in an afternoon.

Tropes:

*High Gravity ALC *Small town romance *Novella *Strangers to more *Insta lust/love 

*Firefighter MMC x Event planner FMC *He saves her *shady business partner

*Quick Read *Cozy Read *Found Family *He falls first *State Challenge Georgia (repeat)

Thoughts:

Ember (FMC) is on her way to help a friend in a small town plan an event when she ends up in a MVA, thankfully the handsome fire captain Ryan (off duty) saw the accident and was able to get her out of her vehicle and get her fast medical care. 

The event that Ember has been asked to help with is the upcoming fire fighter fundraiser and this puts her in close proximity to Ryan, since this story is short everything happens quicker so it is insta lust/love and everything moves fast in a short period of time.

Ryan and Ember's romance even though it moved fast felt natural for the story, this was a cute and cozy small town romance with charming side characters and even had a bit of drama since Ember is in the middle of a legal battle over her business in the city with her shady business partner.  

I would have liked to see more character development for both leads.  But I did enjoy it for what it was the leads are likeable and I found myself hoping for a happily ever after for them but since Ember is in town for just a short time to help her friend could she make that huge move to a small town from her big city life?  Or will their relationship be over before it ever really started?  

The story also sets up the story line for the next book and I'm looking forward to checking out the next in the series.  

The Narrators did a great job bringing this story to life Thank you to the Author and High Gravity ALC for this early listen copy! 

Have you read this one?  what did you think?  

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?  

Madison Score: Wild About You

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/255690557-wild-about-you

Book Blurb:

Trouble just moved in next door.

Veterinarian Cassie Thompson wants one simple thing: to completely start over. New town. New job. New family. That’s not asking too much, is it?

It’s almost as if the universe is conspiring in her favor when an escaped tiger—yes, you read that right—and the two half-sisters she just discovered lead her to a fresh start.

She’s ready to start rebuilding her life one Maryland crab cake at a time. It would be smooth sailing if it weren’t for the rapidly escalating neighbor war with her grumpy lumberjack of a landlord.

Noah Reed has no time for distractions—especially not a spunky, house-stealing veterinarian who can’t seem to stop making suggestions for saving his mother’s exotic animal sanctuary. He has work to do, tenants who can’t seem to stop clogging their toilets, and a literal ton of emotional baggage that he’ll get around to addressing someday.

Cassie would rather neuter a rabid chihuahua than get entangled with another life-ruining jerk. But when one night—and one girthy bottle of wine—changes everything, their contentious professional relationship gets a lot more personal.

With the fate of the sanctuary and Cassie’s career hanging in the balance, these neighbors with benefits will have to put aside their differences and their begrudging mutual attraction.

Tropes:

*Hambright PR ALC *Small Town Romance *family secrets *Family Drama

 *Strangers --> more *Forced Proximity *toxic ex *Handy Man MMC 

*Veterinarian FMC *Starting over *Spice *banter *Pet side kick

*Grumpy/Sunshine *Mental Health rep *Hallmark vibes *opposites attract

*State Challenge Maryland (Repeat)

Thoughts:

I received this as an ALC and thank the author and Hambright PR for the early listen copy!

This starts with Cassie (FMC) a veterinarian who is starting over after leaving a toxic relationship in California she moves to Maryland, she grew up there and she is on a bit of a trip of self discovery she knew she was adopted but recently hired a private detective to see if her birth mother could be located, unfortunately she finds her mother has passed away but she does have 2 half sisters and she decides to make a brief stop in the small town of Astor Hollow (in Maryland pretty close to where she grew up) to see if she can meet her long lost sisters.

Thinking that her visit to this small town won't be too much hassle... she just got here after all, but she runs into a problem in the way of Noah (MMC) he and a group of men are standing around trying to figure out how to get a Tiger back in it's travel cage... thinking that he is just an irresponsible exotic animal owner she is cranky but says she can help she doesn't want the animal to be hurt and if she can help she will.

Cassie goes with Noah to discover that he and his mother run a animal sanctuary and they are not responsible for the current condition of the emaciated Tiger they are truly trying to help, only lack of funding has caused harder times for the facility. Cassie as helpful as she is jumps in with her "big city" ideas for funding which grumpy lumbersnack Noah doesn't like one bit... she's been here 2 minutes why is she trying to boss people around.

Cassie meets up with her half sisters and finds that at least one of them is happy to get to know her, she has planned to spend just a few days there so she can meet with her sisters and move on to see if she can get a job at a zoo in the big city where she grew up... only of course a wrench goes in her plans as she finds out that her parents are actually selling her childhood home and moving to Arizona to be near their biological daughter who is going to be having their first grandchild soon.

While Cassie's sister in her adoptive family is awesome, their parents have always been kind of neglectful towards her only reaching out when they need something from her... but they did help hire her a great attorney so she could fight for equal distribution of wealth when her marriage dissolved... so that's something.

At this point with no real place to go Cassie begins to think maybe she could settle down in Astor Hollow she has been working with some of the animals at the sanctuary while in town and by word of mouth has helped on another local farm she was made aware of a home for sale and that the last vet retired and his building is still available... She just wants something that's hers that her jerk of an ex can't take from her after he ruined not just 1 but two of her career opportunities in California, if she never heard from this man again it would be too soon.

Cassie buys the house right next door to Noah our grump, he is less than thrilled but over time they both realize they have underlying issues for both of their guarded behaviors her with her controlling ex who left her for another (younger) woman and ruined her chances of finding a job locally, and Noah has a past trauma involving the death of his best friend (which we find out more about later in the story)

Noah and Cassie continue to tip toe around their growing attraction towards each other while still bickering throughout... something is gonna give soon! 

Noah while he is a grump starts to soften when he finds out more of her past and he is so sweet, protective and caring towards her.  I love a good grumpy x sunshine romance and this one delivered.

Cassie and her sisters as they grow closer together she discovers some old journals of her mothers and wonder if these will be the key to solving who her birth father is since none was listed on her birth record.  

I loved the small town everyone in everyone's business (But in a loving/caring way) feel!  

This is a cute small town romance with some comedic elements, enemies to more story, there was a bit of a mystery involved and family tension, drama, and secrets  I appreciated that both lead characters had some flaws it made it more relatable.  Her adoptive parents really go out of their way to exclude Cassie when she drops everything for them it was great seeing her stand up for herself and create some true boundaries with them.

Some drama also occurs with the ex as we find out that not only did her ex take advantage of her and was straight up terrible during their marriage but he's still trying to find her even though he has supposedly "moved on"... love how Noah stands up for our girl right when she needs someone by her side. 

I really enjoyed this one and the narrator Emma Wilder did a great job with both the male and female voices.

Some negatives for this book:  

A bit repetitive at times with Noah and his brooding mood related to self loathing and pushing everyone away

for the "3rd act" break up I really felt that Noah had made a huge break through being honest with her and opening up and she kind of just shut him down because she was tired of not being put first... he just told you why he couldn't at that time.

The ending felt a bit on the rushed side, I did appreciate the bonus ending scene to kind of wrap things up better though.  

Have you read this one?  What did you think?