Swooning for Sundays
Well if you can believe it, its April. I can barely wrap my own head around it. This week was another good one for my romance reads AND I am starting to feel more myself mentally. Physically well that’s a whole other kettle of fish, and something I need to spend more time focusing on. Alright, alright I’ll get to the good stuff.
Here we go…
The Hellion and The Hero by Emily Sullivan (eARC)
A brilliant third instalment of Sullivan’s league of scoundrels sees Henry and Georgiana finally (FINALLY) get together after 8 years of separation and heartache. This is a high-angst, slow burn deliciously swoony love story that I could not put down. See full review here.
Second Star to the Left by Megan Van Dyke
Y’all what a DELIGHTFUL surprise this book was! It gave me the same vibes and swoons as the early seasons of ONCE before things REALLY went off the rails with that show. (Plus hook was hot AF there too). A human over on r/romancebooks posted about it last week and after reading the synopsis I thought I would check it out. And oh my gosh was this one fun. This is a retelling of Peter Pan, but focuses on Tinker Bell and Captain James Hook falling all the way in love. This has a little bit of everything, good world building, found family, the baddie is actually a softie, adventure, danger, soul mate kind of love, one bed, it truly had something for everyone. This was my first MVD book and absolutely won’t be my last.
Finding Lilly by Susan Stoker
A first in the new Eagle Point Search and Rescue series, has EPSAR leader Ethan and camera operator Lilly. I have read a significant number of Stoker’s books over the past 15 months and I have to tell you I think this one might be one of my favorites? It’s got some of her hallmarks (insta attraction, protectiveness, heroine who may or may not be TSTL) but I really enjoyed the small town setting and the slow burn nature of the romance between Ethan and Lilly. I do feel like Stoker’s bad guys / villains are often hit or miss for me, and sometimes feel like a caricature of what someone who is morally bankrupt would be. This baddie, absolutely falls into that camp. Overall a quick, enjoyable read.
The Dragon’s Bride by Katee Robert
Monster lover romances, so hot right now. This often overlooked sub-genre is having a real moment (see: C.M. Nacosta, Lillian Lark etc), and I am here for it. The cover art alone would have had me clamouring to get this in my little romance loving mitts. I liked this a lot, however I need to do a better job understanding if the book I’m reading is a novella or not because I was flying through this and kept thinking WHY CAN’T THERE BE MORE! Sol and Briar are very cute together and damn this book is smutty as all hell. Looking forward to the Kraken book next.
Collided by Lauren Asher (Free with KU)
Y’all this sat on my KU TBR for a long time. I enjoyed the heck out of book one in this series, and was introduced to both love interests there. So this book I had hoped would have been as good, as Maya and Noah’s love story. And you know what, I was just a little underwhelmed. The main love story between the two, kind of focuses on a “fuck-it” list, and is largely driven by Liam’s overwhelming sexual attraction to Sophie. He’s supposed to be this bad boy, fuck up with a hidden nerdy side, but I just couldn’t really connect with it. Add to this, some really weird 3rd act tension / break up / miscommunication and I was ready to put this one to bed.