Bit of a lighter romance reading month because I was also participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and the Thanksgiving Holiday. I've also been really getting back into thrillers, so these romance wrap-ups might become monthly or bi-weekly. I always update my Instagram when I finish a book with my star rating and a short review so give a follow if you'd like!
Love & Other Disasters - Terri Jones
This book follows Violet and J.P. who met through mutual friends one night, except Violet was introduced as Katia. They had a one night stand and Violet left in the morning without leaving her number. Embarrassed by the fact that she used a fake name and had a drunken night with a stranger, Violet plans to never see J.P. again. However, he turns out to be the new CFO of the company she works at. The book's summary made it seem like this would be a fun rom-com / office romance / mistaken identity type of story. It wasn't. I found the pacing of this to be off from the normal romance plot pacing. Violet and J.P had their main conflict around the 60% mark and I'm used to that conflict coming much later. It seemed like the second half of the book was really more focused on Violet and J.P.'s personal growth in their own separate lives, which was fine, but wasn't what I was expecting. The book deals with some pretty serious topics and while I appreciate the effort, I overall found it a little disappointing that these topics came up when the two main characters were apart. While I did like Violet and J.P. together - they were super cute and seemed to fall immediately into a feeling of being relaxed around each other - I had a hard time understanding some of their reactions. J.P., when he finds out about Violet's secret, seemed to overreact to the situation. Same when Violet finds out a secret that J.P. was keeping from her. I could see the overall character arcs that Jones was going for, but it seemed like there were some situations that really got put into overdrive just to give something to contrast later interactions to. I did like how involved the sister dynamic became to the plot and thought that was a really nice way to show Violet growing as a person. Also - yay for characters going to therapy to try and better themselves and not being immediately fixed by falling in love! This book reminded me of a much more tame, less dramatic version of The Executive by Winter Renshaw. Overall, I thought the plot was pretty good, the characters worked well together, and the romance was cute, it just wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be based on the summary.
Thanks to NetGalley and Enchanted Publishing for the ARC. Publishing date is December 9, 2020.
Take A Number - Amy Daws
This is the fourth book in the Wait for Me series and follows bakery owner Norah and silent investor Dean. For some reason, didn't know this was part of a series when I picked it up but after looking through the summaries of the first 3 books, I think this book does a good job of bringing back previous characters into the plot of this book. This book was checking all the boxes - fake dating! boss heroine who knows what she wants! big declaration of love! heroine and hero both have personal growth journeys! fun cast of side characters! - it was a super fun rom-com which is just what I was in the mood for. Norah and Dean start fake dating so Norah's mom can get off her case about always being single. They extend the fake dating to Dean can have a date to his friend's wedding in a month. Fake dating turns into friends with benefits turns into real feelings turns into love. I really liked the amount of conversation the two characters have with each other about what they want out of life and what they're looking for in a relationship (or lack thereof). They are both 30 and they really felt realistic to that age. The beginning of the book starts with Dean flirting with Norah at her bakery and we quickly learn that he's just a big flirt with a lot of people. It was refreshing that once they were getting closer, that Norah didn't get super insecure - she got a little jealous and a little insecure at times, but nothing out of characters for a boss lady like her. I do wish Dean's family drama was a little more developed and we got more scenes of him with his family to really understand why he feels the way he does about relationships.
Puck Me Secretly - Odette Stone
This is the first book in the Vancouver Wolves Hockey series and follows player Max and assistant General Manager Rory. The two meet as seatmates on a crashing plane and Max helps Rory through the whole ordeal. The two share one steamy night together, then Max leaves without saying goodbye. Turns out, Rory is the daughter (and new assistant GM) of the GM for the hockey team Max is now playing on. Max has a troublesome past history and one of Rory's new duties is to keep him in line so their team can go all the way this year. Max has his own secrets, but the more Rory gets to know him, the more she doesn't think he's what everyone says he is. I loved this book - absolutely loved it. Turns out, I really like sports romances when they aren't New Adult or about baseball. I really liked the slight turn of the trope where instead of the woman coming in to work and finding the hero is her new boss, it is the other way around. I also appreciated how a good amount of the plot is this book revolves around Rory finding her place at work and showing people she's more than just the boss's daughter. I really liked the characters of both Rory and Max and thought their chemistry together was off the charts. I loved how they were so straightforward with each other about their feelings and fears - no miscommunications or any of that nonsense. This book is told through Rory's POV and I did find myself wishing at times that we had the more traditional split POV of Rory and Max, but since both characters were so open and honest about their feelings, it didn't feel like anything was really missing. I also found the supporting cast of characters to be really well developed.
*Trigger warning for discussions of sexual assaults - no graphic details are given, but it is a pretty significant plot point to some characters so it does come up a few times in the book.
Make Me Yours - Melanie Harlow
This is the second book in the Bellamy Creek series and follows Cheyenne and Cole. He's a widowed single dad, local cop, brother's best friend, and her neighbor. She's a kindergarten teacher at his kid's school and has had a crush on him since they were kids. One drunken mishap of sending a dirty text she didn't mean to and the two start to reconcile their feelings for one another. This is a real cute, feel good, friends to lovers story that I absolutely devoured! I'll admit, brother's best friend isn't my favorite trope because I don't really like all the sneaking around and lying it usually entails. However, in this case, I was so so happy that all parties involved were adults and when her brother catches on that the two have feelings for each other, he openly gives his blessing despite making Cole promise never to touch his little sister back when they were teens. I also really loved Cheyenne's characterization. Sure, she's been in love with Cole for forever, but she also has a really good sense of what she wants out of her life and when Cole isn't able to give that to her, she is able to specifically tell him what she wants and why this isn't going to work for her and she walks away (which she does twice in the book!). I thought Cole's emotional journey was really well done and I appreciate, as always, the role that therapy plays in the book. I also loved that the happy ending didn't come when things were all of a sudden perfect, they were still working out some stuff but it didn't stop them from being together. I do wish we would have gotten more development of the two characters earlier on in the book. I wanted the book to start like 5 chapters sooner than it actually did. It felt like we jumped right into the middle of their relationship beginning since we see from both POVs that they are into each other. I wanted a bit more of the friendship dynamic to be built before the flirting started (which it basically does from page 1). I also would love more scenes with just the guys hanging out. I really liked their dynamic and how they talked about relationships and feelings together in a way that I haven't seen much in books. I can't wait for book 3 which I'm predicting will be Moretti's story.
Nolan - Jane Henry
This is book 3 in the Dangerous Doms series. The story follows Nolan, the youngest of the McCarthy brothers, and Sheena, an investigative reporter who has been hounding the McCarthy crime family. While technically each book in the series is a standalone book, I would recommend reading them in order. The first book gives a lot of details about how this crime network works and some of the different crime families in the area and the second book gives Nolan and Sheena's initial interactions. Nolan and Sheena's love story was much more sweet than I was expecting. The first two books have the older brothers marry someone they captured (book 1) and a tribute given from a rival clan (book 2) but while there was some pressure for Nolan and Sheena to be together, it wasn't as dark of a romance as the first 2 books. I was expecting this book to be darker, in a way, because from the glimpse of Nolan and Sheena's interactions in the second book, I was expecting their relationship to have much more turmoil than it ended up having. I did really like Sheena's siblings and their complex family dynamic was an interesting contrast to the McCarthy clan. I loved Nolan and Sheena together, but it did feel like this was going for an enemies to lovers trope but I felt we missed out on a lot of the enemies part since those happened off page in the other books. I do find Sheena the most interesting heroine of the series so far and her and Nolan's final decision to be together reminded me sort of like a Prince Harry and Meghan Markle situation (but with much less family drama). While there wasn't a cliffhanger ending for the romance, there were some plot threads introduced right at the end of this book that I assume continue into the next which I normally don't love, but I've really enjoyed all of this series so far so I'm looking forward to reading the next book.
Left For Wild - Harloe Rae
This story follows Halder and Blakely as they try to survive being abandoned in the Canadian ilderness. Blakely is a social worker at the prison where Halder lived for 5 years. He is released early because of good behavior and wants her to be assigned to his case. However, they are both kidnapped by the people who framed Halder and are dropped off in the middle of the snowy Canadian wilderness in October and these two strangers must work together to get out alive. To be honest, this might be my most frustrating read of the year. The premise sounded interesting - framed hero trying to prove his innocence, a bit of a forbidden romance, survival story - but most of those elements really fell flat. This book felt like the author had the idea for her characters to fall in love while being out in the wilderness and then had to come up with some more plot points to try and expand the story to a full length novel. This might have just been better off as a short erotica novella where two backpackers have to work together after a freak snowstorm or something like that. The chemistry between Halder and Blakely was off the charts. A lot of the reviews I've read call Halder their new favorite book boyfriend and I have to agree. He's super smart, hot, protective, funny, charming, and sexy. Blakely is also really spunky and the banter between these two was the best part of the book (which we luckily get a whole bunch of). However, there was absolutely no conflict at all in the story, at least none that the characters have to deal with head on. I can't get into specifics, but there's a lot of story developments into the non-romance plot lines that happen off page. This gave the book, for me, a really low tension which was not what I wanted from a book where characters are abandoned in the wilderness by some sort of psychotic mob boss guy. So, if you're looking for more of a romance/suspense book, this isn't for you. But if you're looking for a really cute couple that bone in front of their campfire, then this just might be your next read.
Never Enough - Kelly Elliott
This is the first book in the Meet Me in Montana series and follows pro bull rider Brock and interior designer Lincoln. Lincoln has recently escaped her hometown of Atlanta, Georgia to prove to her parents (and herself) that she can be successful without her father's influence. Brock spends most of his time traveling the bull riding circuit while his young son is at home with his family. After the sudden loss of his wife, Brock has never stepped foot in the home they shared. Lincoln and her best friend Kaylee move in to Brock's old house and feelings that Brock didn't know he had start to rise to the surface. But going forward with Lincoln will mean moving on from his past - something that Brock isn't sure he's strong enough to do. Overall, I liked this book, but did find it a little dull. I'm pretty sure it is just because I'm not the target demographic for books about single dads with young kids. I did find all the bull riding parts interesting and thought it was an interesting look at small towns. I really liked Lincoln and thought she was a super fun heroine. She was strong and determined to succeed but I wish we would have gotten to see her really shine in her interior design business. I wasn't quite sold on their relationship - it was a little too instalove for my tastes - but they did have a ton of chemistry coming off the page so that part was good. I thought the surrounding cast of characters was really interesting and liked the family dynamic that was developed as well as the small town gossip tree. There were a few plot points where the foreshadowing was done a little weird, in my opinion, and it felt like the reader should have already known about these incidents like this was book 2 in a series instead of book 1. I did find myself much more interested in Kaylee's and Ty's relationship which is developed in book 2 of this series so I look forward to reading more.
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