Only 5 books this week, but 4/5 were the first books in new series. I won't be continuing all series, but it was nice to try out some new ones this week.
The Best Friend Zone - Nicole Snow
This isn't listed as a book in a series, but it does take place in the same town (Dallas, North Dakota) as some of Snow's other books (Accidental Knight, for example) but you do not need to read the other books before this one. This book follows childhood best friends Quinn and Tory. They both spent time in Dallas each summer and then returned home for the school year. They haven't seen each other since Quinn was 20 and Tory was 17 but life events have the two coming back to the small town 10 years later. After reconnecting and reminiscing over their old fun times in childhood, they both have some pretty heavy baggage that they're working through and some quiet time in Dallas is just what both of them need - too bad it doesn't stay quiet long in a Nicole Snow novel. I love friends-to-lovers romances and this is no exception. The two characters are equally attracted to each other and they mutually decide to take a chance on a relationship (only pushed slightly by Tory's meddling grandmother). I love a good love declaration of "I've always loved you" or "I've never stopped thinking about you" and we get some heartwarming declarations from both sides in this book. The outside danger element I wish was a little more developed, I didn't feel the danger closing in on the couple like I normally do with a Nicole Snow novel, but overall was a good plot line. And there's a big dog named Owl that absolutely stole the show.
Sweet As Sin - J.T. Geissinger
Not for me. This is the first book in the Bad Habit series and follows lead singer Nico and makeup artist Kat. The two meet on a video shoot for Nico's rock band when Kat needs to unexpectedly stand in as the love interest in the video. I was intrigued by this premise and unfortunately that's where the things I liked about this book ended. First, this book is angsty, super angsty, like 16 year old thinks she's going to die of embarrassment at prom sort of angst levels. I'm finding that a lot of angst isn't my cup of tea, especially for adult characters with established careers and mortgages (Nico is 30ish and Kat is 25). Second, I really don't care about music stars as romantic leads in my books, I find the whole brooding artist trope annoying and find any details about filming a music video or recording new songs boring. Third, I found Kat to be super uninteresting. I think it is a bad sign that I was more interested in her two best friends (who are the heroines of books 2 and 3 in the series) than Kat. My main issue with this book (which almost made me put it down) was Nico's and Kat's relationship felt super toxic to me. Right from the beginning, red flags were going off in my head. This is the first romance book I've read where I actively wanted the characters to not end up together. The fact that Nico and Kat end up together so early in the book made me think there might be a second hero waiting around the corner, but no such luck. Nico has never been in a serious relationship because he's a rock star. Kat has been in 12 relationships by the time she's 25 and all of them were toxic or abusive (she gives a quick rundown at one point in the book). She doesn't like Nico's super possessive attitude, short temper, or violent outbursts but then she goes and does the same thing to Nico (which he calls her out on but thinks that it is cute that she's possessive of him). The whole book is them fighting, her running away, him finding her, them having angry make up sex, then being all sweet together. Lather, rinse, and repeat. I don't believe for a second that these two will have a happily ever after and that's a bummer for a romance book. After looking through the descriptions of the other 2 books in the series on Goodreads, they don't sound like healthy relationships so I'm not going to continue the series.
Mister Billions - Cassie-Ann L. Miller
This is the first book in the Bad Boys in Love series and follows billionaire Cannon and bridal shop owner Lexi. After Cannon discovers his long term girlfriend and best friend in bed together, he returns to his hometown where he runs into Lexi at the local coffee shop. They immediately do not get along - Cannon is a huge grump and Lexi calls him out on it - but Cannon is intrigued by Lexi's spirit. Soon, local business owners are being evicted due to not paying their rent on time and Cannon makes Lexi a deal that if she marries him for a few months, he'll stop the evictions for the whole town. Lexi agrees and feelings don't take long to follow. This book was perfectly average in every way. I didn't particularly love any part of it but I didn't hate any parts either. Overall, I found the plot cute and Cannon and Lexi's chemistry was good. I found the conflict to be pretty surface level (it could have gone deeper, but then it wouldn't have been easy to fix) and the stakes were pretty low. I was much more interested to see what happened between the end of the main story and the epilogue. The time jump was only 18 months, but it seemed like Cannon did a total Scrooge 180. He was slowly changing for the better throughout the book, but then went from 0 to 60 during the 18 months we didn't see. I would have really liked more of that development to happen on the page.
Heartless - Winter Renshaw
This is the first book in the Amato Brothers series and follows oldest brother Ace and makeup artist Aidy. Aidy finds an old journal in the bushes outside Ace's house one day and takes it home by accident. After reading it, she finds it is filled with details of a passionate love affair. When Aidy tries to return the journal, Ace insists it isn't his (despite it being found outside his house). The two keep having chance encounters in NYC which eventually, of course, develop into a relationship. This was a very brief enemies to lovers situation and while that trope isn't my favorite, I really liked how the two characters sat down together one day to hash out their issues with each other. They cleared the air and were able to put aside some misunderstandings which the whole 'enemies' thing was built upon. Communication for the win! I thought Ace and Adiy had really great chemistry and I really liked how she had a blossoming career that she was very focused on. Ace is a retired baseball pitcher who is trying to figure out what his next career move is so it was nice to see the reverse of what a lot of romance books show for the main characters' careers. I do wish the book was longer and the plot device of the diary used more in the story. But overall, I really liked the slight twists on typical romance tropes that this book delivered and I think I'll give the next book in the series a read.
Southern Charmer - Jessica Peterson
So brooding rockstars aren't my thing (see Sweet as Sin above), but charming southern chefs sure are! This is the first book in the Charleston Heat series and follows local chef Eli and aspiring romance author Olivia. After rejecting her boyfriend's proposal, Olivia drives from upstate New York to Charleston, SC to take a month away from her responsibilities and figure out what she wants out of her life. Does she want to marry her boyfriend? Does she want to write romance novels? Who is the handsome shirtless stranger next door? All important questions Olivia must answer. Eli is a big hunk of muscle with an even bigger heart. He's trying to figure out the answers to his own questions in life and the two end up finding solace in each other's company. I felt this book had two main messages - follow your dreams to your own happiness and relationships can't be used as a quick fix. The second point, especially, was really important because I think a lot of times relationships in romance books are framed in such a way that the people 'complete' each other, inspire them to be a better person. And, to an extent, this can be true. But for Eli and Olivia, in order for their relationship to have a chance, they both needed time to get their lives together and figure out what is going on in their own heads. Olivia just got out of a 3 year relationship that everyone (including herself) thought would last a lifetime. Eli just suffered a personal loss and he isn't sure who he is anymore. Eli ends up going to therapy (yay for therapy!) and working on finding himself again after his loss rocked his world a little too hard. If you like loving, supportive friends to lovers who have the emotional maturity to admit they need to work on themselves before being ready to jump into a long term relationship then this is for you!
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