Romance Wrap-Up November 2022

 Tempt - Melanie Harlow

This is the 4th book in the Cloverleigh Farms Next Generation series and we're following Millie and Zach.  Millie is a wedding planner and at the opening, finds herself stuck an extra night in Manhattan.  When Zach rescues her from a creep at the hotel bar, their chemistry is explosive but have to go back to their very different lives after a steamy one night together.  Weeks later, they run into each other again at Millie's ex-boyfriend's wedding that she's planning ... and Zach is her ex's dad.  I absolutely loved this story from beginning to end and I always love being back in Cloverleigh Farms.  This story had a few key parts that really could have gone badly - but Harlow pulled them all off expertly.  From the age gap, to the ex-boyfriend aspect, to the question of kids - I really thought Harlow was able to craft a genuine and authentic character growth on all sides.  This was also a lust to love sort of situation and that type of scenario can be really hit or miss with me.  Often times, those reads end up feeling like there wasn't enough time for the characters to actually develop a deeper connection before the end of the book happens.  In this case, the story takes place over the course of months and we're able to see that progression on page.  Of course, we get a good number of scenes with other Cloverleigh Farms characters who we know and love which is always a plus.  I loved Millie's relationship with her sisters and Zach's relationship with his friends.  It felt like Harlow wanted to make sure these were extremely well developed and whole characters so that we'd understand how they end up overcoming these pretty big speedbumps in their relationship. They both had fully developed lives outside of the relationship and those other friendships/work goals/etc did not get diminished by the romance.  All around, Harlow hit it out of the park again.

Thanks to the author and SocialButterflyPR for the ARC

Publication date was November 21, 2022 

 

Mistakes Were Made - Meryl Wilsner

This age-gap, forbidden, FF romance follows Cassie and Erin.  The two women meet one evening at a bar away from Cassie's college.  They have an instant connection and after getting hot and heavy in the car, both are ready to leave it as a one-night stand.  However, when Cassie shows up at breakfast the next day as Erin's daughter's guest, things only begin to get complicated.  Both women agree they shouldn't continue to see each other, given the circumstances, but their connection is impossible to ignore.  As they spend more time together when Cassie comes to visit over winter break, they'll both have to decide if they want to have something more and if their relationship is worth the fallout that will inevitably come.  I really enjoyed this read and I loved Cassie and Erin together as well as their own characters.  I was also not expecting this book to have as many sex scenes as it does - but they had a really great variety of situations so I'm not complaining. While I generally enjoy forbidden romances, I often have the same problem where I get some pretty strong secondhand embarrassment from all the awkward situations that arise.  I did feel like we had some fantastic character development as well as relationship development and I could really see proof that their romance was moving beyond the purely physical - although it did take a little longer than I normally like to get there so I was a bit worried around the middle that the emotional connection wasn't ramping up as quickly.  I also enjoyed that the inevitable conflict with Erin's daughter (who is also Cassie's best friend) was handled in a bit of a different way than we normally see with these 'forbidden' romance stories.  Overall, this was a really fun and steamy read.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC

Publication date was October 11, 2022

 

 Built to Last - Erin Hahn

TW/CW: abusive/neglectful parents, alcohol abuse, infidelity (not MCs), 

This second chance, friends to lovers romance follows Shelby and Cameron.  The two were child actor co-stars on a TV show but when outside pressures killed their clandestine romance, they go their separate ways for 10 years.  Shelby now works for her dad's business restoring and flipping old homes and Cameron is a documentary film maker for National Geographic.  Neither plan to return in front of the camera, but when their other co-star (and Shelby's ex), Lyle, comes to them with a plan for a home restoration TV show Shelby and Cameron agree to try a pilot episode.  Working together again bring back a lot of old feelings and history but Shelby and Cameron are both different people than when they were 18 and their new friendship turns into something more - despite Lyle's best attempts at sabotage.  This was a fantastic read and I absolutely loved it from beginning to end.  It feels like Hahn reached into my brain and wrote this book specifically to hit everything I love in a romance.  Shelby and Cameron are interesting, complex, and sincere characters with great support side characters.  The set up of the story and past history between them feels so natural that I could be 100% on board with their second-chance romance.  Shelby and Cameron have sizzling hot chemistry but they could never quite figure out how to actually be together.  I thought this was going to be the main conflict in the relationship - complete with multiple misunderstandings.  However, I was so excited when they actually talked to each other very early on in the story and continued to have good communication throughout the story.  The main source of conflict comes from outside of the relationship, which I always prefer because it usually makes for a low-angst read (and I would categorize this as low angst).  I really loved the side characters and how they were all very well developed and the friendships between them and our main couple felt very fleshed out.  For anyone who really loves these HGTV-esque romances, I think this one will really hit the spot as well - I loved how much behind the scenes we get and since Shelby and Cameron grew up as child actors, they have a pretty interesting view of the whole process that I don't see very often. 

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC

Publication date was October 18, 2022

The Wrong Bridesmaid - Lauren Landish

This opposites-attract romance follows Wyatt and Hazel.  Wyatt left his hometown of Cold Springs years ago to get away from his influential family and the pressures that came with the last name Ford. Now he's back in town for his younger brother's wedding and not all is well in Cold Springs.  Hazel has lived in Cold Springs her whole life and as a result, she doesn't easily trust anyone with the last name Ford.  The chemistry between them is undeniable, however, they come from two very different sides of Cold Springs.  But as Wyatt discovers what his scheming uncle has been up to in the last few years, he realizes that he can't leave this town - or the people - behind again.  I overall really enjoyed this romance and I liked the twists we got on the usual small town corruption plot.  I loved Wyatt and Hazel on their own, but even better as a duo. They have great chemistry but my favorite scenes were them working together to solve a problem.  There are a ton of great side characters also and the town itself has a ton of personality which I always love in a small town setting.  I had some minor issues with the set-up of how, exactly, the Ford family and Cold Springs were intertwined.  There were some moments that felt conflicting and made me pause for a moment.  I also felt some of the wording in the sex scenes just felt awkward and the phrases chosen for certain acts or bodily fluids I just don't think work for me in a serious and romantic setting.  But overall, this was really fun and I always seem to enjoy Landish's stories.

Thanks to NetGalley and Montlake for the ARC

Publication date was October 25, 2022

 

 Ship Wrecked - Olivia Dade

 This is the third book in the Spoiler Alert series and follows actors Maria and Peter.  After a one night stand, the two find themselves filming together on an isolated island for 6 years.  Despite their chemistry, they agree to stay friends only while filming.  However, once those 6 years are over, they finally have the chance to deepen their friendship into something more.  But adjusting to life together off of the little island may be more difficult than they both expect. Dade does a fantastic job closing out this series and I really enjoyed this romance.  It ended up being more emotionally charged than the first 2 in the series and I think that was due to this book taking place over 6 years so we see a lot of character development.  I loved Maria and Peter and found them both such interesting characters and they had so many layers to work through to finally be together.  I loved that we got a few cameos from the characters in the other books and the epilogue was absolutely fabulous.  As always, I loved the fat rep in this book, even more so that both of our main characters are fat and the amount of lusty descriptions from both of them about the other are fantastic. This is a longer romance at 413 pages, but considering we had 6 years to cover and a whole lot of character growth to get through I think all of that length is needed.  That being said, the pacing was a little hit and miss for me.  There were times where it felt like it dragged and then times where it felt way too fast.  I do think Dade did a great job giving the reader glimpses of Peter and Maria over that 6 year period to help with this, but I think having that big of a time jump is just hard all around.  I did like how we see their first year together and then we time-jump and the story moves forward from there so we have pretty solid footing with these characters before the jump.  

TW/CW: death of a parent, adoption, forced dieting (attempted)

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC

Publication date was November 15, 2022

 Marlowe Banks, Redesigned - Jacqueline Firkins

 This celebrity romance follows Marlowe and Angus.  Marlowe is a production assistant on a popular TV show starring Angus.  Marlowe ended up in LA after her latest costume show in NYC was shredded by critics and she ended her engagement.  She's now content to exist behind the scenes as she tries to figure out her next move.  But when a wardrobe mix-up causes Marlowe to be in a scene of the show, the cameras (and audience) catch something between Marlowe and Angus.  As the two work together more, they both realize they have more to offer than what you first see. Overall, I liked this read but it didn't quite hit the spot for me.  On NetGalley, it is listed as romance/women's fiction and I do think that is an appropriate listing.  This is a story with a full romance plot arc and there is 100% a HEA for the couple.  However, it felt to me more like Marlowe's story of finding herself again and that just so happened to include a romance with Angus rather than this being a story about Marlowe and Angus's romance. This is also only told through Marlowe's POV which, again, makes it feel more like her story. All that aside, I did enjoy the building of Angus and Marlowe's relationship and how much fun they were together.  I'm a bit of a hard sell on celebrity romances because of the inevitable conflict of one person being more ok with being in the public eye than the other but I think this one really worked that balance out well.  The conflict, as well as the resolution, felt natural to the characters and that made all the difference.  Angus was such an interesting character, I really wish we would have gotten his POV more.  I loved Marlowe's character and think Firkins finds the balance well between quirky character and over-the-top caricature.

 Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC

Publication date was  October 25, 2022

 

 

 

Netherkind - Greg Chapman

 

This fantasy-horror follows Thomas who has to eat human flesh to survive.  On the outside, he seems like a regular human, but when he feeds, he absorbs qualities of that person.  He thinks he's the only one of his kind until a woman appears in his apartment complex one day.  He soon finds himself beneath the human city and is introduced to a whole society filled with "Fleshers" like him.  Only, his kind aren't the only ones out there and there's a war brewing. 

TW/CW: child endangerment, child abandonment, body horror, cannibalism 

I'll say right at the top that this is not my usual read.  When I requested this book on NetGalley, it was only listed as a horror and thus I thought it would really lean into the quasi-cannibalism of these creatures.  However, these creatures ended up having a much more complex societal structure than I was expecting and there was a good amount of political machinations going on as well.  We even get some supernatural/magical elements which again upped the fantasy percentage for me.  We start out the story in solid horror territory but it quickly turns into a more fantasy-heavy read.  Since I don't like reading fantasy (I prefer to watch fantasy TV/movies), this story did lose me just a smidge in the middle.  However, it won me back over in the last 25%. I do think this is a fantasy with substantial horror undertones, but I would list it as a fantasy first and foremost. 

I really loved the characters in this ... except for Thomas.  I didn't particularly dislike him, but I was pretty meh about him and his journey.  He felt very much like a reader stand in since he didn't know anything about these other creatures or their dynamics.  I can understand the plot reasons why he wouldn't know anything and would need to have everything explained to him, but it ended up feeling like he was pretty devoid of any defining characteristics.  I would have preferred Thomas taking a more active role in the plot and maybe doing some investigation/research on his own.  I found the other characters to be really interesting and well developed for side characters.  Sure, we didn't know every detail of their backstories, but Chapman gave the reader their wants/desires/weaknesses which made them really fun to read about.  

The horror elements were pretty solidly body horror with a dash of cannibalism.  The opening 10% is pretty heavy on the blood and gore of Thomas's life and how he feeds and then transforms.  However, I did then find that the middle section from 25%-75% was lighter on the horror and really leaned into the fantasy elements.  But that last 75% we get some really fantastic descriptions and scenes that I absolutely loved.  I didn't find any of the scenes particularly overly-descriptive (but I know that line will be different for everyone).  I found Chapman's descriptions of these more visceral scenes to be really well planned out and always felt like they had a reason to be more graphic - usually for plot or character development. 

The fantasy elements were a bit hit and miss for me - but again, fantasy is not my genre.  I absolutely loved the world-building and lore that Chapman managed to fit into this 303 page read.  I thought everything was really well laid out and we learned about this new world in layers so it never felt overwhelming. We have 3 pretty significant groups of conflicting beings (plus another one on the fringe and a couple humans thrown in the mix) so there's a lot of ground to cover.  However, Chapman did a great job of rotating through these different sections of the story so the reader is consistently reminded of the dynamics at play.  There is a plot line that gets a little too far-out for me and I found myself re-reading those sections a couple of times before I felt like I understood what was going on.  Because of this, I did feel like the end reveal in regards to those moments didn't quite hit as hard as it might for other readers because I was a little confused and felt like I was out of the loop just a little bit. 

Overall, this was a pretty fun read but it did lean a bit more toward fantasy than I personally like.  That being said, I still enjoyed it and loved the world building, side characters, and horror elements.  

Thanks NetGalley and Crossroad Press for the ARC

Publication date was May 28, 2022

Originally published May 6, 2019 by Omnium Gatherum

Suburban Hell - Maureen Kilmer

 

When Amy Foster moved out of Chicago to one of the nearby suburbs, she was pleasantly surprised at how quickly she settled in - especially after finding her friend group of Liz, Jess, and Melissa. The four women find solidarity in eschewing certain suburbia cliches and during their monthly wine night.  On one of these wine nights, the friends go into Liz's backyard to christen their soon to be clubhouse, the She Shed.  Only instead of bestowing blessings, the group starts to feel like they may have unearthed something sinister.  This feeling is heightened when Liz starts acting strange and other strange occurrences start happening. Now Amy, Jess, and Melissa must fight to save Liz and the neighborhood they've come to love. 

I really enjoyed the whole neighborhood/cul-de-sac setting and how much it added to the story.  This was a really fun read and I can see this being a good vacation read.  It takes place over summer vacation so we get lots of interactions with the neighbors through block parties, the neighborhood pool, and the annual ice cream social.  Being able to see the characters and their families in this setting really helped strengthen the stakes of the story because we see first hand what these characters would lose.  We also get some lore and background of how this neighborhood came to be, which was an interesting tangent to go down.  I've felt with some other books set in suburbia that the setting was more of an afterthought, but in this case I really think the neighborhood shines and I can't really see this story unfolding in any other setting.

I loved the characters and their friend group dynamic.  I found all 3 of our main-ish characters to be really well developed and distinct from one another.  The story is told from Amy's POV, but she does spend a lot of time with Jess and Melissa.  Kilmer did a fantastic job of giving concrete character traits and emotional layers to each character.  I also loved how the group dynamic really hinged on each of the characters being themselves and how they each brought something unique to the friend group.  Of course, when it comes to this type of setting, I think most readers would expect certain character types to live in this neighborhood.  And while we do see those stereotypes in the story, Kilmer gave enough details to our main friend group to ensure they stood out from the crowd.  I do wish we had gotten a bit more of the four friends together before the main plot kicked off because Liz was the one friend who I didn't feel had a lot of detail to her character.  But that might be on purpose because we do hear throughout the story that they didn't realize how much they missed Liz since she was always sort of in the background, even in their small group. 

I went into this book unsure of where the line would be drawn - this could have easily gone full horror but it stayed more in the fun, vacation read territory.  It reminded me a lot of The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, because we're following Amy who is trying to convince her friends and husband that something potentially supernatural is going on but they don't take her seriously at first.  We get some really great creepy moments that I absolutely loved - the robot vacuum scene will forever be a favorite - and I think there was some decent building of tension through these moments.  However, I do think that the book missed the mark just a bit when it came to finding the right balance between the supernatural and the everyday.  I get that Amy has other responsibilities and can't just sit around reading exorcism books all day but it felt like the scales were tipped toward making the mundane suburbia plot points feel more important.  This balance might be tweaked a bit for the final copy (I read an ARC) or maybe other readers feel differently, but it just irked me a tiny bit. 

I did feel like the pacing was a little uneven and I wished there was more escalation to the supernatural events that we get.  My favorite part of these sort of 'is it supernatural or does a character have an over-active imagination' plots is having the reader question the reality of the story.  I want to be reading along and sort of question the reality of the situation myself - or find myself agreeing with a point a character makes that I hadn't thought of before.  This slow escalation and flip flopping is really fun for me and I think it builds to a really great, natural climax to the story.  In this case, however, I felt like Kilmer tried to inject some of that dynamic but it didn't quite work for me.  I found that there was such a drastic initial change to Liz that it was obvious something weird was going on.  Now, the book description doesn't try to hide the fact that something supernatural is going on, so maybe it isn't fair for me to be looking for that type of slow build up in the first place. On the other hand, I didn't feel like the stakes were fully fleshed out past the small friend group.  It felt very much like "if we don't do this, we'll lose Liz forever" but I was really expecting there to be more of a threat to their families or the neighborhood as a whole. Again, maybe this book was just too lighthearted to really double down on the stakes there and we do have a little bit of a "if we don't fix this, we'll have to move away and we'll never see each other again" moment, but I just wanted more.

Overall, this was a really fun read and I would recommend picking it up as a vacation read.  I love the setting, characters, and where the book chose to draw the horror line.  I did find the pacing and escalation pattern a little unsatisfying, but I might be asking for a little too much there.  

Thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the ARC

Publication date was August 30, 2022

The Dark Between the Trees - Fiona Barnett

 

This folk-horror follows 2 groups of people as they find themselves in a mysterious forest. In 1643, a group of soldiers are ambushed and the survivors flee into the nearby Moresby Wood.  A few of the soldiers know of the wood's rumored history filled with witchcraft and unnatural creatures.  Of the group of survivors, only 2 survive to tell the tale of what happened in Moresby Wood.  In current day, a group of 5 researchers enter Moresby Wood in search of evidence to what happened to that group of soldiers. They bring maps, GPS units, mobile phones, and other equipment in order to be prepared for their journey.  Only, they aren't prepared for what the wood has in store for them.

The setting and lore was the real key of this story for me and I thought both were fantastic.  I was expecting this read to be more of a creeping gradual horror but we know almost immediately that something isn't right in Moresby Wood and I absolutely loved it.  I did find some of the supernatural scenes to be a little vague and I wasn't entirely sure what was going on but that made sense because the characters had no real idea what was going on. I also loved how both sets of characters - 1693 and present day - were sharing theories/rumors/ghost stories about what is going on in the wood.  There was a nice mix of the supernatural threats with some realistic environmental hardships that really built up well over the course of the book.  I thought I knew where the lore was going, but I was pleasantly surprised that I was wrong.  On NetGalley, the description said this book was perfect for fans of The Ritual and The Descent.  I can see elements of both those movies in this story but I feel like it is much closer to The Ritual with the eerie forest, tense friend group, and unique supernatural-ish element.

I really enjoyed the dual timeline aspect but I do wish the book was a little longer in order to more fully flesh out both sides of the story.  The story is split pretty much 50/50 between the soldiers in 1643 and the researchers in present day. The events in the two timelines somewhat mirror each other, which leads to a really fun dynamic for the reader. I also thought it was interesting to see the differences between the 1693 story and what the present day characters know based on historical texts.  I was pretty equally interested in both timelines which is always a good sign.  I also liked how the two timelines, while very similar, did have their own individual elements that highlighted the tense situation the characters were in. 

Where this book lost me a bit was with all the characters.  I found this to be a pretty short read at around 300 pages and since it was split pretty evenly between the two timelines, there just wasn't a lot of room for all the characters and relationships.  I'm more of a character-focused reader which is why I think I like these isolated mystery/horror reads so much.  I was really excited to see how this setting impacted the characters and their interactions.  And while we did get those scenes, they weren't as impactful to read because I didn't feel like the initial character relationships were sufficiently fleshed out. I knew the ranks and surface relationships between the characters, but I wanted more depth.  I felt this way about the character groups in both timelines.  I really think if this book was just a little longer and there was more time setting up the group dynamic before things start going off the rails then I would have really been able to sink into the story more.

I wasn't the biggest fan of the narration style of this read.  The story was told from a 3rd person POV that alternated being closer to one character and then farther away so the reader could get information from other characters.  It wasn't technically headhopping, but it gave me that same feeling while reading of not being completely settled in the narration.  I did read an ARC so this could potentially be fixed in the final copy but I think this would come down to personal preference. For me, the narration choices to be more removed from our main-ish character just meant that I had a harder time settling into the story and with these characters.

Overall, I really liked the premise and setting of this read, but I wanted some tweaks in order to be more connected to the characters. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Rebellion publishing for the ARC.  

Expected publication date is October 11, 2022.