Southern Seducer - Jessica Peterson
This is the first book in the North Carolina Highlands series and follows Beau and Bel - best friends since college who never quite got the timing right. Now in their mid-30s, Beau is a retired pro football player who built a luxury resort in the North Carolina mountains and Bel is a new single mom getting ready to go back to her finance career. Four months after having her baby, Beau invites Bel (and her mom) to come stay on his resort to have some time to relax and recharge before going back to work. The two friends being together after so many years has the sparks flying. Mental health is a big part of this book with both characters talking openly about their depression and other mental health issues. The mental health discussions never felt over the top nor does this book fall into the 'love fixes everything' trope. Both characters are actively being treated and have their good and bad days and have to make the decision to go forward together, even if that future is a bit murky. I found it a refreshing portrayal of an issue that doesn't often come up in romance stories but very often affects real-life relationships. Beau and Bel have chemistry for miles and it really feels like the two characters had a 17 year friendship - they really know each other and all the good and bad. Beau's family was the best, super tight-knit and funny. I loved all the siblings and thought their individual personalities were really well differentiated. There are 2 other romances that have just started to be set up by the end of this book, one of which is book 2 in the series, so I can't wait to read more.
Drive Me Wild - Melanie Harlow
This book follows grumpy mechanic Griffin and newly-broke debutante Blair who meet when Blair's car breaks down in the small town of Bellamy Creek. Griffin offers to tow her car to his garage and fix it for her, but when there are no available beds at any of the inns or motels around, he offers for her to stay with him in his apartment above the garage. A budding romance in close quarters is something neither of them would have anticipated but love finds a way. I adore Melanie Harlow's writing - I find it to be the perfect amount of angst mixed with rom-com. I loved her Cloverleigh Farms series and Drive Me Wild is just as wonderful (I think on her Instagram she mentioned this is the start of a new series, but there isn't a series name listed on Goodreads so maybe not). I absolutely loved the cast of characters around our two main love interests - especially Griffin's sister - they added so much comedy and warmth to the story. Griffin and Blair almost immediately give in to their chemistry (which is evident right from the very beginning) but since both know Blair has other plans and will leave once her car is fixed, they don't put any labels on it and just want to have fun. But feelings (and family) get in the way and Griffin needs to face his past and internal demons before it is too late. Blair was also a really interesting character because she's on her own for the first time in her life without a pile of money to fall back on. It was refreshing to have a heroine who wasn't jaded by past relationships so when the time came to talk about her feelings for Griffin, she was actually able to express her self (him, not so much).
The Billionaire Boss Next Door - Max Monroe
This is the first book in the Billionaire Collection and it follows hotel developer Trent and interior designer Greer. The two meet at first at a hotel gym and they do not hit it off to say the least. Then, they find out that Greer is the head designer of the hotel Trent is developing so they'll be working closely together. And, to top it all off, they also live right next door to each other in their apartment building. This is a sort of enemies to lovers plot, but my main issue with the whole book is that I didn't buy the enemies part. Sure, they both were a little snarky and sarcastic at the gym when they met, but I didn't understand why that short and fairly benign interaction fueled a pretty intense hatred on both sides. Once they start working together, the sarcastic comments keep flying, but they feel more like witty repartee bordering on flirting so, again, I was confused why they were getting so pissed off at each other. I found the heroine to be a bit annoying in the beginning. She's super sarcastic and abrasive which I really liked but the snark level was turned up a bit too high - to the point where I wasn't sure why her best friend hung out with her. It seemed like Greer, at times, intentionally hurt people's feelings with her words and brushed it off as her just be 'real'. Once her and Trent start getting along, I really liked them together and Greer remained sarcastic, but felt like she lost that mean streak to her comments. The friend group surrounding the main couple is also fantastic and I loved all of them. The conversations in this book feel very similar to Gilmore Girls, but with much more penis talk. Everyone is quick witted and a little sarcastic but they all care for each other like family. The writing team of Max Monroe is fantastic. There's a disclaimer at the bottom of the Goodreads synopsis: "Disclaimer: If you generally love to suffer, hate fun of any kind, and are allergic to laughter, this book is not for you" and I wholeheartedly agree. I was grinning ear to ear while reading this and laughed out loud a few times.
Hearts of Darkness - Catherine Wiltcher
This is the first book in the Santiago Trilogy, a dark mafia romance. Dante is a mysterious crime lord who sees our heroine, Eve, one night and kidnaps her because he can. He lets her go after reaching his private jet and fleeing the country, but a chance encounter has them running into each other again and this time, he kidnaps her for real - taking her back to his bunker in Africa. This book started out okay and then got pretty meh for me real quick. I really liked the initial character of Eve, an investigative journalist who was working on finding the crime lords, the Santiago brothers, who killed her brother 5 years ago. She'd been investigating and naming names of various mafia members in her articles, which made her DEA agent father proud. Then she meets Dante and all that basically goes out the window because of 'love'? I really didn't buy it especially given her personal connection to wanting to out all these criminals. I thought Dante was a really interesting character and his strained relationship with his father and brother was something I would have liked to read more about. I think the best part of this first book in the trilogy was the scheming between the two brothers. That plot thread is done by the end of the book and a new threat emerges which keeps Dante and Eve apart at the end of the first book and I would image this new threat is the main antagonist in the second book in the series. Since I wasn't hooked on Dante and Eve as a couple or by the new antagonist by the end of book 1, I don't really care to continue the trilogy.
No Good Doctor - Nicole Snow
This is the second book in the Heroes of Heart's Edge series and follows veterinarian Doc and his vet-tech Ember. Ember is new to Heart's Edge and in need of a fresh start while Doc has lived here for years following some dark moments in his past. There is an almost 15 year age gap between them so neither immediately see romance as an option with the other. However, when Doc's past comes back to haunt him, he'll give anything to protect Ember and the town he's grown to love. I really loved Doc and Ember together and their growth as people separately. When we're first introduced to Ember, she's an awkward, clumsy girl who gets flustered by just about everything (except when she's helping an animal, then she's sure of herself). By the end of the book, she's still clumsy but much more sure of herself. Doc is described as being icy cold, not letting any emotion show and keeping his secrets away from even his closest friends. Ember slowly melts Doc's icy exterior and Doc encourages her to be confident in herself. I thought their growth from coworkers to romantic partners was pretty realistic and the reader got a lot of internal thoughts from both characters that really helped the chemistry. I always have a hard time believing the chemistry is anything more than physical when there's such a large age gap so being able to hear, in great detail, what each character thought of the other was really helpful. I wasn't completely sold on the fact that this little town in the middle of Montana had another huge secret after the first big secret that was revealed in book 1 of the series, but that's pretty typical for Nicole Snow. I did find the secret in this book super interesting and unique. I can't wait to read more in the series.
Cormac - Jane Henry
This is the second book in the Dangerous Doms series and follows Cormac and Aileen. The two are from warring mafia clans and their marriage is agreed upon to keep the peace between the clans. The synopsis on Goodreads and Amazon pages both have a note that this book does contain "elements of violence, non-consent, and kink" and that is very true. Those topics are somewhat common in these mafia romance books, but it is always something to point out and they were much more pronounced in this book than in the first book in the series. While each book in the series is a complete story around one couple, I would recommend reading them in order because there's a lot of general information given in the first book about the clan rules and the world that is assumed the reader knows in the second book. I really felt for Aileen in this book. She comes from the clan world and as the youngest sister, she's seen her other sisters married off for clan business. She knows the rules of this criminal world and she knows she's unable to escape them (although she does try). Aileen's past with her family clan and her growing relationship with Cormac's clan really highlights the point the book tries to make that there are levels of bad. Not all bad men are the same amount of bad. Cormac's characterization I felt was pretty weak beyond being second in command and basically forced to marry Aileen to keep the peace. He is super protective of her, especially after *spoiler plot point* but I felt like the reader doesn't really know much about Cormac as a person and his wants and dreams for life. In contrast, Keenan from the first book gives the reader a lot of insight into his worries and stress about taking over the clan one day from his father and fulfilling his duty to the clan so this type of internal character development isn't unheard of in this series. Cormac just reads like a hunk of muscle with a sassy wife. I do feel like while Cormac and Aileen didn't start out in the best of circumstances, they do grow together to navigate this new marriage together and there's a good amount of give and take on both sides, which I really liked.
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