Stud Muffin - Jiffy Kate
This is the first book in the Fighting for Love series which takes place in Penny Reid's Green Valley World. It follows newly divorced Tempest and new to town Cage. After Tempest walks in on her husband with another woman, her anger gets the better of her. After a few too many nights in jail, she finds a friend in Cage - ex MMA fighter and new bouncer at the local strip club. The two start out as friends and he helps her work through her emotions with a punching bag (as well as her going to anger management classes). But when the two get closer, Tempest isn't sure how she can trust other people, or herself, after what happened with her ex. I loved Tempest and Cage together and it was really nice to see a friends to lovers story that didn't have the characters being friends from childhood. It was interesting to see them both have an instant attraction to the other, but keep their relationship to a respectful friendship because that's what they needed to heal. I really felt for Tempest when she was dealing with all the gossip and judgement of the small town of Green Valley. I also thought it was interesting to see our heroine lash out with anger after being hurt as so many romance novels have the heroine turning to sadness and shutting people out. Also, I loved how we saw her going to an anger management group and how integral that group was with her moving on with her life. I really appreciated how Cage was supportive and always there if Tempest needed backup but he never went super alpha or anything (even though he 100% could of since he is an MMA fighter). He knew she could handle herself and that she needed to work through some stuff on her own and find her footing so he never overstepped his boundaries. It was really great that he let her know how he felt but then told her everything was on her terms and her timeline since she had recently gone through all that stuff with her ex. Big, muscly, alpha guy who loves fresh baked muffins and is super loving and supportive? Sign me up!
Don't Kiss the Bride - Carian Cole
This is an age-gap marriage of convenience story following 34 year old contractor Jude and 18 year old student Skylar. They meet by chance and keep running into each other, Jude helping Skylar out when her car breaks down and when she needs a ride the ER, and become fast friends. After finding out how rough her living situation is, Jude proposes a marriage of sorts only until Skylar gets on her feet after graduation. However, living under the same roof and pretending to be married isn't helping the growing bond between the two of them. This book reminded me a whole lot of Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas - our heroine may be younger but she has an old soul. Our hero is just trying to be a good guy and is fighting his feelings for as long as he can. I really liked the give and take of their relationship and how it was built on a pretty steady foundation of wanting to help out another person just because it is a nice thing to do. There are some pretty heavy topics handled (TW/CW: eating disorders, substance abuse, childhood neglect, hording, bullying) but the book focused so much on Skylar getting help from therapists and multiple doctors. This wasn't anything close to love fixing mental health issues which I really appreciated. I really loved Skylar's best friend and how solid their relationship is - there was no friend drama. I do wish Skylar was out of high school because it was a little weird to read about her being in class all day (it is explained she was held back due to being sick a lot when she was younger so she's 18 going on 19 in her senior year, but still). I also wish the conflict in the book was a bit more either stretched out or varied. It felt like most of the book was just a cycle of Jude and Skylar being friends, then flirting, then giving into their attractions, then Jude pushing her away because she is so young, then them making up and promise to go back to friends. Of course, there were a lot of outside opinions on their relationship, but it always came back to Jude letting those comments get under his skin and push Skylar away. So I wanted this age issue to either be more slowly built over the book to one big blow out or for them to get past the age issue fairly quickly only to be confronted by a completely new issue that comes up. I'm a big sucker for romantic gestures in my books and this one was so sweet and a perfect representation of their relationship that I had tears in my eyes while reading.
Out of Nowhere - Roan Parrish
This is the second book in the Middle of Somewhere series and follows Colin and Rafe. The two meet in an alley outside a bar where Rafe saves Colin from getting beat up. Rafe convinces Colin to volunteer at a youth group he runs and the two strike up a relationship. However, they both have a lot of baggage and troubled history to overcome and as much as they want to work together as a couple, they both push each other away at times. Colin is the brother of Daniel from the first book and is the villain of Daniel's story. We find out at the end of the first book that Colin is gay but constantly bullied Daniel growing up for being gay. Out of Nowhere is sort of Colin's redemption arc where we see him come to terms with who he is and have a chance at being happy. I don't love the trope of the homophobic character being gay themselves but I know that is reality for a lot of people. This is a very heavy book that involves a lot of heavy topics (TW/CW: suicide, disordered eating, self harm, alcohol abuse, sexual assault, drug abuse, obsessive tendencies). Colin is a real wreck for honestly the first 70% of the book and being in his head while he's trying to stuff down his feelings and deal with keeping the facade up did make me empathetic to his character. I also, personally, could really relate to his inability to articulate how he was feeling and I loved how Rafe worked with him so they could still communicate but in different ways so Colin could feel comfortable while he was working through his feelings. This story also played a bit into the idea that love can fix everything because we see Colin slowly relax some of his self-destructive behaviors. I will note that they go away when he is relaxed (which Rafe helps him be calm) but any time Colin is stressed or anxious, they come back up so I don't think he has been 'fixed' by being in a relationship with Rafe. Their relationship does feel rocky and a bit toxic at times, but they do take breaks from each other after they fight and it is obvious they are both working through their own personal baggage in order to be together. I really loved Colin and Rafe's relationship and how supportive they were of each other. I thought they complemented each other's personalities well and seemed like they are very comfortable just hanging out and being around one another. I really love when romance books have great domestic scenes of the couple just making dinner together or hanging out and watching a movie and we got a good amount of those scenes in this book which really deepens the romance for me and make them feel like a down to Earth couple. I really prefer light rom-coms so this book was a bit outside my comfort zone but I still enjoyed the amount of heart and sincerity this story brought to some really difficult topics and how even if you are struggling with those things you are still worthy of love.
No More Secrets - Lucy Score
This is the first book in the Blue Moon series and follows farmer Carter and journalist Summer. Summer is writing a story about Carter and spending a week away from Manhattan to envelope herself in the farming life in upstate New York. Carter is a bit of a loner and a grump, but after returning home from Afghanistan with PTSD it took time to get his life back on track and he doesn't want some city girl poking around to ruin all he's worked for. Everyone in town sees their connection right away and hopefully the country boy and city girl find a way to work things out between them. After a couple heavier romances, I was really in the mood for a lighter rom-com and this book delivered. I loved how the town of Blue Moon is a separate character in the book and we meet so many of the quirky townsfolk (it reminded me a whole lot of Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls). I really loved Carter's whole family and how integral they are to the story. I thought Carter and Summer were a really great pair and I enjoyed how easily they just clicked. I was expecting this to be a bit more of a grumpy vs sunshine but Carter wasn't nearly as grumpy as I was expecting and Summer won him over almost instantly. I also wish we got a bit more of a lead up to the main conflict. It was hinted at a little bit but it really felt like it went from 0 to 60 all of a sudden and then Summer was running away and we the reader didn't know what her secret was so we couldn't really understand why she would leave Carter like that. I loved how supportive Carter was of Summer's career aspirations and how he never asked her to choose between her job and him. I can't wait to read more in the Blue Moon series and watch the whole strange small town fall in love.
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