Katy Archer: The heart Stealer

 Nolan U: Hockey Book 2 read in 2025

Rachel thinks that Theo is the love of her life she quickly moves in with him and is now working two jobs saving up for a romantic vacation to Hawaii.  It is unknown if Theo even has a job but he has the great idea that Rachel should pick up the 2nd job to help with their savings.  Rachel comes home from work one evening and Theo has his rowdy friends over playing poker, she just wants to relax after a long day and things escalate quickly into a DV situation and Rachel is now scared and packs up whatever she can shove into a bag and leaves in the middle of the night the only place she can think to go is Colorado where her best friend Mikayla (from book 1) lives.

Mikayla is not home when she gets to Hockey House but Liam is from the first book we can see he is naturally good at comforting and caring for others and this seems to include a scared woman showing up at his door he invites her in to wait for Mikayla she falls apart and he stays to comfort her.  When Mikayla gets home she states that of course her friend will be staying, Liam being the sweet guy he is offers his room to Rachel while he now stays on the spare couch... one morning going to get some clothes he gets back to the room and Rachel doesn't know he's there and just out of the shower she takes off her towel he now sees her bruising from the DV incident that led to her coming to stay with them she now has a secret with him as she is ashamed that this has happened to her and doesn't want anyone to know.

Liam is also dealing with his own demons his dad is an alcoholic with PTSD after leaving the military, Liam being the protector kept his sisters safe per his mother's direction while she was dealing with the wrath of Liam's dad and now even though they finally have a restraining order against their father he still keeps coming back to their home when he is drunk.  Liam drops everything to go back home to protect his mom and sisters when his dad is around he used to respect him but now he can't bare to even be around him and just wants him out of their life.  This remains an on going struggle especially when his sisters and mom really want him to be more forgiving towards his dad.

Throughout the rest of the book you see their relationship progress from Friendship to lovers.  Rachel is a hard worker and starts a job at a local diner Liam wanting to make sure she's ok walks or drives her home at the end of her shift.  They end up going to California with Mikayla and Ethan to see her dad where things again go south... (possible spoiler but I don't understand why no one calls the cops or takes the people who need to be checked out to the hospital) 

Pretty early on you learn that Rachel took Theo's poker winnings (about 3,000) and she is terrified that he will come after her to get it back.  Liam starts teaching her to defend herself but she still feels so much better when he's nearby.  As the reader you wonder when or if Theo is going to find her it's hard to move on with your life if you have this kind of thing hanging over your head.

I enjoyed this book more than the first one, I didn't feel that people would stand around and not call the police in one section of the book (I can understand Rachel being scared and not wanting to reach out at the beginning). The 2nd book still has some of the same phrases as the first book like calling lady parts a "V-Jay" the hockey guys use "Puck" for everything and our leading male is supposed to be bilingual but the author seems to just insert a random Spanish word into the story when they remember.  

*possible spoiler but how is Theo funding tracking Rachel when he maybe didn't even have a job(?)  

*dual POV *college romance * Hockey romance  *trigger warnings: DV (including flash backs of child hood abuse) 

Scarlett Scott Duke of Depravity (historical romance)

 

Book 1: Sins and Scoundrels

I started this in 2023, finished in 2024

Our leading lady Jacinda is a widow (her husband died in the war) she lives with her father who has the starts of some form of dementia and has gambled all their funds away and now they are at risk of losing "everything."  An evil nobleman says due to them both being code breakers (lately with Jacinda doing most of this work) and her father not being up to the task he wants Jacinda to infiltrate a Duke's home as a governess, per the evil guy the Duke has been helping the enemy (the French) and she's going to find the proof while she is disguised as his newest employee.

Crispin Ashforth (the Duke) has come home from war (with Napoleon) a broken man he finds himself the new Duke after his brother's death and now not only has this title he has to take care of his two younger sisters.  Our leading male is handsome and a rake (of course), he drinks too much and passes his time with women to forget the things he has seen while at war.  

Jacinda ends up on Crispin's doorstep just when he is looking for someone to look after and teach his younger sisters who have fun misbehaving (like sliding down the stairs... or maybe it was the bannister it's been awhile since I read this)... anyways she's just what he's looking for since the girls need someone to look after them.  Crispin treats Jacinda rather poorly through a good majority of the book and can't even be bothered to get her name right part of this is because even as the "duke of depravity" he doesn't want to use his power to take advantage of his employee.  

Naturally Jacinda is seeking for “evidence” of his crimes but continues to get closer to him and feelings blossom he’s not as depraved as everyone thinks he is hurting (PTSD) and broken he has survivor's guilt.  The more she gets to know him the more terrible she feels about being in his house as a spy and the closer they get she worries how her home life is going to fall apart she has to do this to save her home, her father and herself from ruin but how can she tell Crispin she's lied the whole time?  

It took me awhile to get through this one, I would read a chapter then go back and read another chapter or two a few weeks later, I guess I just wasn't that into it, found myself thinking the lead male was a bunch of red flags and wasn't seeing why Jacinda was walking right towards him anyways.    

pretty spicy, a lot of erotic type thoughts even when they were just "thinking" especially on Crispin's side. some drama, a bit of a mystery (is Crispin really helping the enemy? what's really going on with this situation?  Is she going to tell him about her situation or is he going to find out first and be mad?).  

Does have a HEA but the ending kind of felt rushed.  

Have you read anything by this author?  What would you recommend?

Claire Devon: Wedded to the Cruel Duke (historical romance)

 

Duty and Desire book 1

started this book in 2024 didn't finish until 2025

Took me awhile to get through this book the beginning flows fairly well for a historical romance novel and starts with our leading lady Pheobe she has been labeled as a spinster which she is fine with she has not had any suitable suitors there is brief mention of someone interested in her but she didn't find she would be compatible with and did not want to pursue a match. She even has joined a group of other spinsters that gathers together regularly this is where our first problem occurs she has been keeping a journal where she mainly writes about her handsome and reclusive neighbor the Marquess of Wentworth (Charles) this journal goes missing after one of her meetings with the spinster club.

Charles is reclusive and very set in his ways he inspects his property the same way every day and keeps all his windows shut and his blinds closed.  The journal that was lost ends up getting published in the newspaper which causes a bit of a scandal as they are now reporting that Charles and Pheobe are engaged to and planning to married soon it also talks about Charles and his daily routine.  Pheobe is worried she's going to be ruined, she's not engaged she's a spinster.  Charles sees this information in the paper and knowing how horrible the ton can be decides to make this news accurate and heads to his neighbors house to meet with Pheobe's father and request her hand in marriage he should get a wife anyways his father is sick and he is in line as the only heir to become the next Duke.

After the quick wedding is where the book loses me for a bit, there is really not much going on and it is dual POV but even when it is Charles turn telling the story he is very secretive over his past history (only that he has seen the darker things in life possibly due to his secret job).  Charles is paranoid and continues to keep everything in his house locked up tight to the point where he doesn't want Pheobe to go next door to see her family after they are married.  Pheobe at some point stumbles into a secret kind of room that appears to be some kind of holding cell after looking for the stray cat she has been feeding (I can't remember if this is before or after the wedding).

Charles has a long list of rules that he needs all of his staff and his new wife to follow mainly including staying on the property, not going anywhere and not inviting anyone over to the house, he also has his staff taste his meals first. 

This book is really long (over 400 pages), confusing at times in the way that you can see this man is dealing with "something" but it is never fully explained what is going on.  At some point in the back half the spice starts it's more on the mild side.

The book starts picking up again in the last 20% and something actually happens that isn't walking around the estate and keeping the windows shut.  

There is a bonus epilogue that I had planned to try to get but for some reason my kindle wasn't letting me download it.  If you've read the book and the bonus epilogue did it add anything to the book?  

Katy Archer The Forbidden Freshman

 

Nolan U Hockey Book 1

read in 2025

This book kept popping up on my Facebook wall, I enjoy Hockey Romance and college romance so thought I would make this my next read. 

Mikayla (our lead lady) is a freshman it’s made clear to the reader pretty quickly that she is in a precarious situation  where she has lost her housing after the dorm she was staying in caught fire and now has no other options but to pledge to a sorority where she doesn’t fit in in order to stay at the school.  Mikayla’s father left when she was younger and she is reliant on her mother and her mother’s wealthy fiancé to help pay for school, they have made her sign a ridiculous contract where in order to continue to have her school paid for she needs to abide by a set of rules, which includes pledging to a sorority (the same one her mom went to when she was at the college).  Mikayla has had no say where she goes to school and now can’t even just focus on school as she is now part of hell week at this sorority, she doesn’t want to be in.     

Her soon to be step sister is the president of the house and has given her an impossible initiation task of making campus playboy Ethan (star hockey player) fall for her and then publicly shaming him and breaking his heart Mikayla not wanting anything to do with this at first (she doesn't even want to be in this group just needs a place to stay) storms away from the house only to end up unknowingly running into her intended target (if she takes the mission) he is handsome, charming and saves her from a car full of creepers while she is walking alone at night. 

Ethan is not a relationship type of guy college is for fun, partying and sleeping around, not getting tied down to one woman, no thanks! Betting with one of his hockey buddies one night on a game of darts he ends up losing the bet and now he has to be celibate for omg... a whole month it's going to seriously destroy him he can't do anything to take care of his "needs" for a month or he has to walk around campus naked for a day (which isn't happening it will upset the coach).  This part of the plot I found laughable if your biggest issue is not getting any for a month things are going well in your life. 

Mikayla spends the night after meeting Ethan sleeping outside the hockey rink, she gets a call from her mom basically demanding she apologize to her heinous step sister and do what she wants her to do to "not embarrass" her and remind her of signing a document agreeing to this or her school won't be paid for, Mikayla feeling trapped due to having no other options with her dad out of the picture and not wanting to rack up a bunch of student loan debt feels that her only option is to return and apologize to the sorority sisters.

This is where we have our main characters in a situation where Mikayla agrees to try to get Ethan to "fall" for her when she knows it's an impossible task and Ethan now in a dry streak not able to satisfy his needs but he finds he likes Mikayla and wants to hang out with her but can't go further leading to misunderstandings on both sides.  Mikayla is also very emotional and frequently gets upset and doesn’t want to talk it out, it did feel like Ethan was the more mature one of the pair.  The reader could see that the path was headed down to Ethan’s wager being found out and Mikayla’s initiation plan being revealed but when?  If Mikayla doesn’t get into the sorority, where will she live?  Will her mom and the fiancé still pay for school if she doesn’t get in?  Will her mom ever accept her the way she is?  Why did she sign that contract anyways!  

I enjoyed the hockey team/roommate’s dynamic, and it was cute to see Ethan actually start to fall for someone when he gave himself more than a few fun nights.  The story kept me interested, probably could have been a shorter book. It was pretty repetitive at times; the writer often discussed that Mikayla "didn't fit in" and continued to work this into the story.  Some spice, more in the back half of the book. Ethan has given Mikayla the nickname "little mouse" which is used frequently, and the teammates that live together use puck in place of another four-letter word "pucked up" "puck off" etc. 

The last chapter was used as the start to the next book, maybe we will get more about this couple throughout the rest of the series, I downloaded the bonus chapter but as of now I have not read it yet.  

Pippa Grant --> The Worst Wedding Date (Modern Romance/ comedy)

 

Started this book in April 2023 did not finish until early 2024

To be honest I got this excited for a new series from this author I enjoyed the Fire Balls and Copper Valley Thruster's series. I wanted to give it a chance and I just had a hard time reading it... seriously I pushed through to finish the book but I had to take breaks to read other books and finally finished it about a year after I started it.

Potential spoilers:
The leading male character Theo seems like a kind hearted guy who wants to see his sister's wedding go the way she wants it even though she is going to be marrying a jerk.
The bride is unaware that her husband to be has asked Theo to pay for the wedding and knows that her brother is one for pranks and possibly agitating the groom so she requests her best friend Laney (female lead) to "baby sit" her brother, I feel this whole situation is pretty insulting they are adults and besides a few small pranks he hasn't done anything to need a "sitter" he is the one trying to make her dream destination wedding happen.

Laney is the opposite of Theo, in that she is made out to be a stuffy boring business lady to his fun party guy life style. She doesn't want to be near Theo but agrees because she also wants the wedding to be exactly how her best friend wants her big day to be. So she ends up in the same Bungalow as Theo there are two rooms but he is hiding a cat and her kittens in the spare room which he doesn't want anyone to know about. The couch is broken so they end up in bed together.

There were a series of ridiculous never going to happen events (like an incident in a rental car where they end up close enough together to get off when a wild boar rams the vehicle) to push the lead characters closer together, and Theo has a bigger "secret" (bigger than hiding kittens) about how he makes his money another friend at the wedding knows the secret but she is keeping it to herself and this drags on for over half the book where you are just wanting them to tell you how he became so wealthy already.

Might have been slightly better if it was shorter and not as repetitive it felt like every few pages it talked about Theo's unknown secret money making job, Laney being plain and boring and not wanting her parents to be upset by seeing her in Theo's company (they are close to or over 30 years old totally fine to hang out with who you want to at that age). Lots of the same thoughts from the characters repeated chapter after chapter.

I have enjoyed other books by this author but this one was not for me.  

Have you read this book?  How did you feel about it? 

Grace Beverley Watts (historical Romance)

 

Read in 2024

Grace --> The Shackleford Sisters Book One

Reverend Shackleford has 8 daughters and 1 son he decides it’s time to find his daughters wealthy husbands to help get funds to support his only son in the future, Grace (the eldest) doesn’t want to marry. Nicholas has been discharged from the royal navy after an injury and comes home after learning his father (the duke) has died, he is plagued by nightmares (PTSD) but decides to marry as required of him in his new station in life he doesn’t care who he marries and doesn't want to deal with courting someone so he tells the reverend to pick one of his daughters for him he doesn’t care which one… he doesn’t realize the outspoken woman who was reading under his tree earlier in the week is now going to be his new bride. 

A bunch of the usual romance novel stuff happens -> they both could be great together but do a lot of pushing each other away. Nicholas keeps running off, Grace isn't "society" material and is used to doing what she wants with her younger siblings when he brings her to London, he isn't used to the Ton either being in the Navy for so long. Her family is large and outspoken and her father and his curate find themselves in the way and causing problems (which they don't always clearly see as problems until it's too late).  Grace after marrying the duke wants his attention and goes about it by doing childish things with her younger siblings in town where other people can see even though she is now a Duchess.   

Will they be able to come together before it's too late or will they continue to push each other further away? 

I didn't think this book was the best of the series it took me a bit to get used to the multiple points of views (like even the dad has a point of view and he regularly gets himself and his curate into precarious situations).  It is labeled to have some humor but this also might take a bit to get into as the humor usually involves the Reverend trying to "fix" a situation but bumbling it horribly. The dad is also not a by the book reverend he means well but he drinks a lot and his curate seems to be the one that is more level headed of the two of them.

This book might not be for everyone but it is a cute light read if you can get through some of the more obnoxious sections, it has some spice and a bit of profanity (from what I remember both of these are on the lighter end).

Have you read the series?  Have you read anything else by this author? 

Amy Award: The Cocky Kingsman Book 1 (football romance)

 

Book 1

Read in 2025

First off, the cover is super cute!  I have been on a sports romance kick. This book has been on my reading list for a while so I thought I would give the series a try.

I also was looking forward to reading a book with characters in their later 20’s and liked that the female lead was a plus sized woman who was comfortable with her body it's nice to see that represented in the book. 

Once I started reading this if I didn't know that our lead characters were closer to 30 I would have thought they were late teens or early 20's the way the characters are written and the comedy in the book is a bit more on the immature side, for example from our lead males point of view he is constantly getting turned on quickly by the female lead doing regular every day activities like bending over to try to get her rooster out of the road due to this he now needs to take 12 cold showers to control his banana... seriously a lot of the male POV is about how he is constantly thinking about sex with her and how over the years he has tried to get her out of his head by banging other girls but she's always been on his mind.  

Trixie and Christopher were neighbors as children he has had a crush on her for years, she has always seen them as just friends (but throughout the story she possibly felt more for him but maybe didn't think that he would like her like that so squashed those feelings down?).  They are now neighbors again. She is living in her childhood home and our leading guy has bought up a lot of houses in the neighborhood because he's rich and wants to have say in who lives near him.  

Story starts out with Trixie (a librarian) agreeing to help set up her high school reunion with her best friend only to find that they are working on the reunion committee with the school mean girls who are still just as awful as they were in high school (some people never change I guess).  After going to an event with Christopher (star NFL player for the local team) people (gossip sites) think that they are a "real" couple and because she doesn't want to let her school bullies know that they are not together she goes along with it and tells them that he is her boyfriend.

This is where the fake dating story starts Trixie asks him to be her pretend boyfriend to the high school reunion, he has other plans because he wants to prove to her that they could be so good together that she will remove the fake part of it and change it to straight up dating.  She still has her v-card and has limited experience with men due to them all finding out about her mother's former occupation as a porn star (a not so secret, secret because everyone knows) and wanting to compare her to her mom.  

The story was a light fluffy read with some comedy (a lot of unrealistic things yes, but it is fiction); I feel I would have enjoyed the comedy more in my early twenties. Drama is thrown in with the high school mean girl "queen bee" a creepy manager at the library and a rotten ex-boyfriend and a scandal (that seems to just be glossed over and everything is cool again, I would think it would be a bigger deal but I guess not?).  If you can get through some of the cringe worthy parts of this book it’s a somewhat cute story with a happy ever after.

Did you read this series?  Which book is your favorite in the series?  

*Dual POV   *fake dating   *friends to lovers *lead characters in their late 20's  *football/sports