Romance Wrap-up 3/1/22 to 3/15/22

 Take a Hint, Dani Brown - Talia Hibbert

This is the second book in the Brown Sisters trilogy and follows middle sister, Dani.  She's a PhD student and is solely focused on reaching professional success with only time for some casual stress relief (no strings attached / friends with benefits sex). After her latest friends with benefits caught feelings and ended poorly, she asks the universe to send her someone perfect for her particular needs.  Zafir is the security guard for the building Dani teaches in and when Zafir rescues Dani from a fire-drill gone wrong and the whole thing is caught on camera and posted to social media within minutes, the two agree to fake date and use the situation for their own gains. Of course, the universe isn't letting Dani get away that easy and soon, the two are entangled in feelings that seem more and more real every day. This was perfection.  I loved Dani and Zaf even more than Chole and Red (which I didn't think would be possible).  They worked so well together and even their friendship seemed like a perfect match. This is a friends to lovers where the friendship really feels rock solid before the relationship starts.  I absolutely loved how Zaf's anxiety was woven into the story and how he and Dani navigated that part of their relationship.  I also adored Dani and her attitude in life - if she wanted it, she would work for it until she got it.  I liked how she was the more forward one in their fake dating scheme and kept the relationship moving forward.  These two are the pinnacle of accepting your partner for who they are and agreeing to work together to make the relationship work.

TW/CW: death of a family member

 

The Date From Hell - Gwenda Bond

This is the second book in the Not Your Average Hot Guy duology and picks up soon after the events in the first book. Callie and Luke have been spending more time together - both on Earth and in Hell.  Callie has big ideas for how to improve Hell and after proposing one such change to Lucifer, she and Luke find themselves tasked with chasing a wayward soul around the globe.  If they can prove this soul can be redeemed, then Lucifer will consider their proposal.  This soul - Sean - was a thief in his life and has no intention of stopping now that he's back to Earth.  Instead, Sean wants to steal the Holy Grail. Now Callie, Luke, and their friends an enemies are chasing after Sean on his Grail quest - the outcome of which could have consequences of celestial importance.  This was a great finish for Luke and Callie's story - it gave me everything I liked from the first book and a bit more romance.  I'd categorize this as a paranormal rom-com romantic suspense.  I loved the more in-depth look we get of Callie and Luke's relationship now that they're a few months into their dating and working together to win Lucifer's challenge.  Some of the details that Lucifer throws their way are meant to test (and Lucifer is hoping, break) their bond, but they mostly bring Luke and Callie closer together which I really liked.  I'm so glad we got to see more of the secondary characters from the first book as well.  This had a good amount of puzzle-solving (as did the first) and I loved how the worlds of Heaven and Hell were more developed. I, just like the first one, wish we had more cutesy romance moments on page between Callie and Luke.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.  Expected publication date is April 5, 2022

A Very Vegas St Patrick's Day

This is the third book in the Very Holiday series and follows single mom, Cora, and notorious wild card, Nolan.  Nolan and Cora meeting by chance in an airport bar and spending 5 days together while she's traveling for a business trip.  They don't exchange last names or any significant details about their lives. They both understand this week was a casual fling, but neither can stop thinking about the other - Nolan especially.  So when fate brings them back together, in Vegas, and they get tipsy-married, Nolan isn't letting Cora go easily.  They agree to hide their marriage and date for a month to see if they have the same chemistry in the real world as they do in a hotel room.  This was fantastic and I loved how we got to see Nolan falling hard and fast for Cora.  We've seen Nolan pop-up in the previous 2 books in the series as the wild cousin who is always down for a good time.  He's more of the same here, with him being a bold and shameless flirt.  I loved how we see his character change even during that first 5 day stretch with Cora and then even more when he realizes just how much he could see himself being with her long term.  I loved his relationship with Cora's son and how difficult it was at first.  I think a lot of times in romances, the kids are usually pretty young and fairly easy for the new person to win over.  In this case, Cora's son was 10ish and he wasn't giving Nolan an inch he didn't earn.  I do think the conflict was a little forced and over-reacted but with the big Oceans 11 ending love declaration, I couldn't be too upset.

Getting Schooled - Christina C Jones

This is the first book in The Wright Brothers series and follows youngest brother, Jason, and Reese.  Reese is the grad assistant for her mother's English class and Jason is one of the students.  The two get off to a rocky start after butting heads over a paper grade - neither willing to back down. But as the semester continues on, their lives becoming increasingly intertwined and soon that sharp banter turns more playful and they actually find they might be just about the best match for each other. I really enjoyed this shorter, low angst read. I loved how Reese fell in love with Jason's writing in the class before even really knowing who he was.  I think both of them had such interesting backgrounds that they didn't immediately seem like they'd be a match on paper, but they just worked together so well!  I loved how the verbal sparring went from being serious to more and more playful as the story progressed.  Jones does a great job at getting the subtle differences across in writing.  I loved how much we see of the side characters, especially Jason's brothers.  I really enjoy when we can see our MCs talk about their feelings with their friends and get a different perspective on the relationship.  I do wish we got a little more of Jason and Reese actually dating and building their relationship once they made it official.  I can't wait to continue on in the series!