Love & Other Disasters - Anita Kelly
This romance follows Dahlia and London as they meet on a TV cooking competition. Dahlia is recently divorced and looking for a way to reinvent herself. London announced their pronouns on television and is determined to prove the trolls wrong. Neither expected to find a friend, much less love, during the hectic filming schedule. As they grow closer and the contestants on the show dwindle, they'll have to figure out if they're going to be together after going back to their regular lives. This was such a fun read and Dahlia and London were so fun to follow! I've seen a few episodes of TV cooking competitions, but I don't watch them regularly. Kelly does a great job of building a world in this TV studio that the reader doesn't need to be super familiar with these types of shows to understand completely what is going on outside the romance plot. I loved Dahlia and London's relationship and how it grew over time. Their chemistry was impeccable and it was so well developed. It felt very much like a typical slow burn where they go from strangers to friends to more but the pacing is a little faster because of the TV show. We get a good cast of side characters - both on the show as well as friends from back home and I really liked the different sides we got to see of the MCs interacting with all these other characters. I enjoyed the way London's non-binary identity was handled and it felt like a good balance of it being addressed when necessary but it wasn't their only personality characteristic. As a note, there is some transphobia from some of the side characters, but it is loudly and concretely pushed back against by many of the other characters (including Dahlia).
Not Your Ex's Hexes - April Asher
This is the second book in the Supernatural Singles series and follows Rose and Damian. After spending her whole life training to become the next Prima on the Supernatural Council only to step down recently, Rose finds herself looking for a new purpose in life. Since he was hexed by an ex-girlfriend that if he ever found love, he'd lose his humanity entirely, Damian is content with his quiet life of being a half-demon veterinarian. But when Rose is sentenced to community service at Damian's clinic/animal sanctuary, the two have a hard time denying the attraction that brought them together for a one night stand a few months prior. Each have their own reasons for not wanting a relationship, but a little friends with benefits arrangement never hurt anyone. This was a great paranormal romance but I was a little lost at the beginning since I didn't read the first book in the series. Asher does a good job of trying to give the reader some quick summary information early on in the book that acts more as a reminder than a deep dive. Rose and Damian are both really interesting characters and I enjoyed how they each had a very different journey to go on in this book. I loved Rose's journey to find her passion in life and that we got to see some starts and stops along that journey. The grumpy/sunshine dynamic between the two of them is perfection and their slide from snippy comments to full on "uh oh I caught feelings" is so fun! We get a ton of side characters and a little touch of romantic suspense as well which I'm always on board for.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. Publication date was Feburary 7, 2023.
Come as You Are - Jess K Hardy
This romance follows Ashley and Madigan. Ashley will do just about anything to save her family's ski hill and avoid having to sell it to her ex-husband's ski conglomerate. However, when her mom has the idea of hiring men from the local sober living house to staff the mountain for the winter, Ashley thinks that is a step too far. Madigan is a recovering addict and ex-rockstar in charge of the sober living house. When the two have a meeting to discuss the potential employment opportunity, both feel an attraction, and when Ashley hire's Madigan's men, the two try to draw a clear line of friendship only. But as the two grow closer, they both will have to overcome their pasts and choose to come together to create a more beautiful future. I absolutely loved this romance! I'd heard great things about it over social media and I was not disappointed. We get such a great cast of loveable characters who are all easily distinguished from each other. I thought the addict/sobriety themes were handled well and we got to see a wide variety of characters at various places on that spectrum. I loved the growth of Ashley and Madigan's relationship as they grow closer as friends and then grow to more. We get a little bit of the miscommunication trope, but it is quickly addressed and talked through. These characters are both 40+ and they read as realistic 40+ year old people who have a good amount of past history that they work through to be together. This had such great cozy winter vibes, it made for a perfect winter read - highly recommend!
Take the Lead - Alexis Daria
This is the first book in the Dance Off series and follows pro-dancer Gina and wilderness reality TV show member Stone as they are paired up for the next TV dance competition. Gina is determined to win, but doesn't want to jeopardize her reputation in the industry or her family by giving into the producer's attempts at a showmance with Stone. At the beginning, Stone is more focused with keeping his family's secret safe and winning this competition to help pay off his mom's medical bills. The audience, judges, and producers can all pick up on the chemistry between the two but they are just friends ... until they both can't take the tension and give into their attraction. But when the tabloids pick up on the romance and the show producers take full advantage of it, Gina and Stone need to figure out if they can work this out or if they are just too different. This was impeccable! I've seen a few episodes of these TV dance competitions, but they were never my go-to. However, by the time I was done with this book I absolutely wanted to go binge-watch a whole bunch of them. Daria handles this TV show set up with fantastic attention to detail and manages to seamlessly add in enough explanation that I think even a reader who has never seen this type of TV would be able to easily follow. The chemistry between Gina and Stone is ~sizzling~ off the page and there's a delicious tension built up as they do their best to keep their relationship professional but also have to spend all day touching each other as they practice these dances. Gina and Stone are pretty opposite in their background and future goals and there was a good chunk of the book where I was starting to panic that they wouldn't find a way to be together (despite knowing there would be a HEA because it is a romance book). I do think the resolution was well developed and felt realistic to their individual characters.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. Publication date was February 14, 2023.
First published October 3, 2017
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