The Weekly Recap
I had a busy week, I started something new on the 9-5 career front. Which was a little overwhelming insofar as just lots of information coming at you from all angles. I was still able to read some good ones this week, including two ARCs that I just LOVED. Plus a pretty sweet Reylo inspired novella (don’t come for me). Also lots of amazing new books are coming our way this month, including some of my most anticipated reads (cough Book Lovers cough).
Okay, getting to it now…
Beauty and the Baller by Ilsa Madden-Mils (free with KU)
I still don’t know how I feel about this one. It reminded me of Lucy Score’s Rock Bottom Girl, meets Ilsa’s Not My Romeo. It felt too deep and too shallow at the same time. It really had so many things I love: small-town, fake dating, forced proximity, sports. But all these pieces together did not add up to something I really loved. I dunno, it was lacklustre. Also, (spoiler incoming) at the beginning of the book Ronan is supposedly just WRECKED over the death of the love of his life, which other than the prologue, isn’t really explored further. Until the end when he’s saying that he’s NEVER LOVED ANYONE the way he loves Nova?! I dunno y’all this was messy for me.
Praise by Sara Cate (free with KU)
I think it was one of my faves (Sarah MacLean) who tweeted about this, and seeing it on KU, made grabbing it a really easy choice. And good lord was this great. This is a kink adjacent BDSM book with a an age gap / workplace romance thrown in. Emerson and Charlotte work as a couple for a number of reasons and if you have any type of adoration or praise kinks, y’all this is the book for you. Quick, steamy and kind of soft in the best ways, Praise checks a lot of yummy boxes.
Eyes on Me by Sara Cate (free with KU)
Okay so of course I needed to read book two in this series, and y’all this was was not it for me. Again all the parts should have worked for me but, there was just something “off”. The central love story wasn’t all that believable and the mental health rep wasn’t handled with the care I would have hoped. I dunno, it was meh.
50 Ways To Win Back Your Lover by Kelly Siskind (eARC)
Gold, gold gold. I loved this ARC (thanks NetGalley) and can’t wait for folks to fall in love with E, Delilah, Candy Cane and the rest of the Bower boys. Mostly spoiler free review can be found here.
Kiss Hard by Nalini Singh
This was EXACTLY the soft childhood best friends to lovers soft asF romance I needed this week. Daniel and Catie have been essentially joined at the hip since they were both children. Pretty much from the beginning when we meet these two in a very busy club I was HOOKED. Catie and Daniel are both total acts of service love language main characters, she loves people by showing up for them, supporting them and going out of her way for them and our man Daniel is all about showing his love through baking. I loved the way these two fell in love with each other, which was slow and soft and then all together at once.
Under One Roof by Ali Hazelwood
Ali is having quite the Reylo renaissance. Her (previously AO3) fic was turned into a best selling 2021 romance: The Love Hypothesis. So I think the strategy is to keep monetizing the rest of her fic’s while Love On The Brain is finished / published. I feel like this was formulaic, but then I had to sit back and remind myself, that of course its going to be this way. It’s all alternate universe retellings (without the tragic ending) of Ben and Rey. So it shouldn’t really be much of a shock to have Liam and Mara stand in for their creative inspiration. I dunno, it was quick enjoyable and I smiled a lot when I read it. Let’s not over complicate things, yeah?
Twice Tempted By A Rogue by Tessa Dare
I need to expunge the guilt I am feeling, by first sharing that I LOVE Tessa Dare. Some of her historical romances have been such a joy to find, love, and experience. But y’all this was not one of my favourites. I dunno if it was because it was one of her earlier work, or the setting or Rhys’ general I-want-to-die demeanour but I felt like Merry deserved a little more, from everyone.
Dearest Rogue by Elizabeth Hoyt
ALERT. Historical body guard romance. ALERT. Historical body guard romance. Oh my word y’all this was a SWOON-fest for me. James, Captain Trevillion and Lady Pheobe were such little babies and I loved them from page one, when James is helping our blind gal Pheobe navigate the streets of London WHILE fighting off a band of cut-purses. I loved how much these two balanced each other out, and cared for each other without reservation (hello getting him his walking stick when they first arrive home). But also, that scene when she puts the specially created cologne on him with her fingers was ALL kinds of hot. With this being my first Hoyt, I am excited to read the rest of her Maiden Lane series, especially if Dearest Rogue was anything to go off of.
The Rake Get Ravished by Sophie Jordan
I have had this on my TBR for a while, and I gotta say, the title is a little um misleading? I really liked Silas and Mercy, but Silas is not a rake. Not at least in the way I would classify the other rakes I have read. He’s basically a man who commits, and isn’t really out there flaunting his rakish ways. Mercy was a bit of a revelation in terms of FMC in a historical romance. She’s written to be extremely sex-positive, and is not ashamed of what she wants and needs from Silas. Which I gotta say, was really lovely to read. I didn’t fully believe the sacrifice from Silas’ perspective but the selfless gesture was pretty swoony. Enjoyable enough, with genuinely lovely moments, but not going to make a best of for me this year (I don’t think)
Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake by Mazey Eddings (eARC)
Y’all. Y’all was this book just f*cking fantastic. As a sophomore follow up to A Brush With Love, Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake was such a brilliant contemporary romance. Not normally a surprise pregnancy romance fan, Eddings has completely changed my view on this sub-genre. ADHD rep was handled with love and care and often times made it feel like I was reading (sans pregnancy) about my relationships (both romantic and platonic) and myself. Oof, lots of feelings. Full advanced review to come.