Catch Got Your Tongue - Kelly Reynolds
I'm not a baseball person, but I absolutely adore this series. We got to see a bit of the crush building between our two MCs earlier in the series and I was so excited to see how it played out on page. Despite each of these being easy to read as standalones, I would recommend reading book 2 (Pitches Be Crazy) because we get to see a bit more of Bella's background and her relationship with her brother. Based on the build-up from the previous books, I was expecting this to be a little more on the slow-burn side of things. However, it felt like our MCs got together relatively quickly and now there was no looking back. I did find myself missing some of that slow burn tension that felt like the first 25% of the book was working toward but didn't end up stretching out as long as I was expecting. Our MCs worked really well together and felt like this was a sort of 'finding their missing puzzle piece' sort of romance - things just clicked into place and then stayed put.
Thanks to the Author for the ARC. Expected publication date is April 14, 2026
Tropes: Sports (Baseball), Teammate's Sister, Virgin FMC, Neurodivergent rep
Series: Rose City Roasters #4
Mountain Grump - S.J. Tilly
I loved this series and this final book was probably my most favorite of the bunch - it was trope catnip for me. Our MCs are perfectly opposite in so many ways, but they just have an undeniable chemistry right at the start that absolutely sizzles off the page and the marriage of convenience just pushes them over the edge. Our MMC was the perfect grump and while he was less grumpy to our FMC, his grump towards her was always for caring reasons that I absolutely adored. I did find the miscommunication/third act breakup part a little overly dramatic but I think Tilly did a good job of showing us that the particular circumstances was still a tender spot for our FMC so it made more sense. I'm bummed that this series is over (I believe) but can't wait to read more from Tilly in the future.
Tropes: Grumpy/Sunshine, Marriage of Convenience, Small Town, Hurt/Comfort
Series: Mountain Men #3
Pay-Per-Heart - Grace McGinty
This book had a lot of things going for it - but I think it ended up being more of a 'not for me' type of read. I had a lot of fun and I loved the premise, but wanted more from the execution (about 100 more pages with some character/relationship development). As a lover of the why-choose/poly tropes, I thought this would be right up my alley. However, I've come to discover that 5 MCs is maybe too many for me since I'm more of a character-focused reader. I loved the initial character development and tension when our FMC gets hired by three of our MMCs and they all sort of have crushes on each other that come out in different ways and we get a lot of tension building. But the last 1/4 of the book felt really rushed and like the characters agreed to try this sort of poly dynamic without much discussion and then they all magically loved it without much issue or conflict and then the book ended with everyone living happy ever after. Which is all great, but I wanted to see more character development with this new arrangement. Especially because one character had drawn a hard boundary earlier on in the book that he was not interested in non-monogamy even during the initial dating phase but then suddenly he changed his mind. This was a low angst read, which I enjoyed, but I just wanted some more quiet, introspective moments with these characters where they really chew over this new poly life and how it is working for them.
Tropes: MMFMM, Sex Worker MMCs, Boss/Employee
Standalone
While You Were Seething - Charlotte Stein
Charlotte Stein has solidified herself as an insta-read author for me. An incredible feat, considering her contemporary romances have all been single POV - which is not my preference. Despite this, all of them have been five-star reads, because her character development and build up of emotional tension (and then release) is absolutely phenomenal and this book was no exception. Our MCs know each other from their college days where they were rivals in creative writing classes - she was a lover of romance stories and he was a cynical lit-fic type bro. We get a good number of flashbacks to those days which I think really helped show not only their relationship development, but individual character development as well. I love a good forced proximity and having the sort of 'if we're going to work together, we have to at least be able to stand each other' dynamic. Throw a little fake dating into the mix and I'm in love. As with the other single POV romances from Stein, we get to see so much emotion from our MMC that it is almost like getting his POV on page. The pining, the self-torture, the obvious obsession with our FMC - it is all *chef's kiss* perfection.
Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC. Expected publication date is April 14, 2026
Tropes: Enemies to Lovers, Road Trip, Forced Proximity, Fake Dating
Standalone (but interconnected with When Grumpy Met Sunshine and My Big Fat Fake Marriage)
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