Romance Wrap-Up 10/15/20 - 10/21/20

 Sergei - Naomi West

Not for me.  This is the first book in the Dirty Dons Club series and follows Sergei, head of the Bratva, and Naomi, waitress at a club.  The two meet at the club Naomi works at and have a one-night stand.  Months later, he goes back to the club to see her and finds out she's pregnant with his baby.  He steps up to the plate the only way a big alpha mob boss can - by forcing her to live with him and showing her with all the money and things she could possibly need.  Mafia romances are one of my favorite romance sub-genres and I've read a lot of Italian Mafia books so I was excited to pick up a Russian Bratva book.  However, this book was just super dull.  The only part of this book I liked was the heroine - she was an interesting character and I liked her attitude and outlook on life, especially her new life with Sergei.  Everyone else, however, was super dull.  Sergei was dull and his relationships with other characters were dull - at one point, someone close to him dies and we're told he's upset about it but we don't really see any of that emotion and we barely saw the two characters interacting at all anyway.  The mob plot line was really dull - two gangs fighting, A kills a member of B, B kills a member of A, lather rinse repeat.  And the relationship between Sergei and Naomi was basically non-existent and I found the chemistry severely lacking.  At one point, Sergei even admits to the reader that all they do is fight until enough tension is built up that they just have to tear each other's clothes off to blow off some steam and they just repeat that cycle.  Also, I'm 90% sure a character changes names between chapters - like one chapter he is called X and then the next chapter he's called Y.  I re-read the chapters a couple times to see if I missed a character introduction but I don't think I did and the name change didn't get caught in editing (this happens close to the end and it doesn't impact the story line at all but it was super confusing for a couple minutes until I just accepted this new name).  So overall, I wouldn't recommend. 

The Romeo Arrangement - Nicole Snow

This is listed as a stand-alone romance but it does take place in Dallas, ND where some of Snow's other books take place - we see Drake Larkin from Accidental Knight (which takes place before this book) and Quinn Faulkner from The Best Friend Zone (which takes place after this book).  This book follows Ridge and Grace.  He left Hollywood behind for a more quiet life and had it until she and her father came into town and brought the trouble they were trying to run away from with them.  After a chance meeting in a diner during a snowstorm, Ridge offers Grace and her father a place to stay until the roads clear.  However, once he finds out just what they're up against, there's no way he's letting them go.  This is a typical Nicole Snow action-romance, but a little different since in this one it is the heroine who is bringing the trouble (although the hero does still save the day).  I liked the added element of Grace's dad being sick and her trying to take care of him as well as keep them both safe from the bad guys chasing them.  Throw in a fake engagement and a spunky rooster and I was sold.  I did find this one a little slower paced than the other books of Snow's that I've read and I think it is mostly because there wasn't as much on the page threat/investigation as in previous books.  Ridge does a lot of reaching out to his buddies for info and then reading emails to Grace with what they found out.  I also thought the romance wasn't as built up as it needed to be given the ending.  They were both obviously into each other and had a good amount of chemistry, but Grace didn't even know if Ridge loved her for real or was still going with the fake engagement at the end and then not long after that they end up getting married?  I'm wasn't quite sold, but still had a fun time reading. 

Beauty and the Billionaire - Lauren Landish

This is the first book in the Dirty Fairy Tales series and follows billionaire Thomas and super-geek Mia.  Mia is a data analyst for Thomas's company and when she is put on a big project, she immediately catches his attention.  Sparks fly fast and the two are quickly entwined.  However, Thomas is haunted by his past and he has to constantly battle the voices in his head telling him he'll never be enough.  Mia has a similar story, but a much happier ending to her childhood so she understands Thomas but is also waiting for the other shoe to drop.  The two work on their relationship, slowly peeling away the layers and sharing more and more about themselves.  An outside force wants to destroy Thomas and his company so Thomas and Mia must put their histories aside and figure out who is behind the corporate espionage at the company.  I thought the relationship dynamic was really unique and I appreciated how real and raw a lot of the emotions shared were.  Thomas is by far the one with the most baggage in the relationship and it was refreshing to see a hero struggle instead of always having to be the one doing the saving.  This doesn't fall into the "love fixes everything" cliche and Mia straight up tells Thomas that she can't solve all his problems and will support him when he's ready to try therapy (which he does).  This book is multi-POV and while most of the chapters are either from Thomas or Mia's POV, there is a third POV of the big bad guy.  We only get the big bad POV a few times throughout the novel (maybe 4 or 5?) and those chapters really wrecked the pacing for me.  I know they are meant to ramp up the tension because we can see the big bad guy scheming but they were so few and far between that I really didn't care to see the puppet master.  I was much more interested in getting back to Thomas/Mia and their investigation.  Thomas and Mia's story is complete at the end of this book, but the overall big bad guy plot line does continue into the next book which focuses on two new characters.

Ruthless Prince - Faith Summers

Throwing in a good ol' mafia romance before the week is up.  This is the first book in the Dark Syndicate series and follows Massimo and Emilia.  Emilia is planning on going to art school in Italy when she is told she will instead marry Massimo in order to clear some of her father's debt to Massimo's family.  There is a good amount of bad blood between the two families, going back decades, and Massimo knows Emilia's father won't give up his empire without a fight.  From there, this is a pretty standard mafia arranged marriage romance.  The romance plot was so similar to Savage Beginnings by J.L. Beck and C. Hallman that I had to double check that I hadn't read this one before.  The mafia plot with the Syndicate group was interesting and that plot line continues into the next book in the series (but Massimo and Emilia's story is complete in this book).  I did like their chemistry and Massimo seemed softer than other mafia heroes.  He's not a softy by any means, but he does earn Emilia's heart by the end which stands out a bit in the mafia sub-genre.  So overall, it was a good mafia romance, but with a very similar plot to other books I've read.  That being said, I'm excited to continue on with the series to see how the Syndicate group plot line turns out (the other books aren't released yet) and to see Massimo's brothers get their happily ever afters.

Romance Wrap-Up 10/1/20 - 10/7/20

Only 5 books this week, but 4/5 were the first books in new series.  I won't be continuing all series, but it was nice to try out some new ones this week.

The Best Friend Zone -  Nicole Snow

This isn't listed as a book in a series, but it does take place in the same town (Dallas, North Dakota) as some of Snow's other books (Accidental Knight, for example) but you do not need to read the other books before this one.  This book follows childhood best friends Quinn and Tory.  They both spent time in Dallas each summer and then returned home for the school year.  They haven't seen each other since Quinn was 20 and Tory was 17 but life events have the two coming back to the small town 10 years later.  After reconnecting and reminiscing over their old fun times in childhood, they both have some pretty heavy baggage that they're working through and some quiet time in Dallas is just what both of them need - too bad it doesn't stay quiet long in a Nicole Snow novel.  I love friends-to-lovers romances and this is no exception.  The two characters are equally attracted to each other and they mutually decide to take a chance on a relationship (only pushed slightly by Tory's meddling grandmother).  I love a good love declaration of "I've always loved you" or "I've never stopped thinking about you" and we get some heartwarming declarations from both sides in this book.  The outside danger element I wish was a little more developed, I didn't feel the danger closing in on the couple like I normally do with a Nicole Snow novel, but overall was a good plot line.  And there's a big dog named Owl that absolutely stole the show.

 Sweet As Sin - J.T. Geissinger 

Not for me. This is the first book in the Bad Habit series and follows lead singer Nico and makeup artist Kat.  The two meet on a video shoot for Nico's rock band when Kat needs to unexpectedly stand in as the love interest in the video.  I was intrigued by this premise and unfortunately that's where the things I liked about this book ended.  First, this book is angsty, super angsty, like 16 year old thinks she's going to die of embarrassment at prom sort of angst levels.  I'm finding that a lot of angst isn't my cup of tea, especially for adult characters with established careers and mortgages (Nico is 30ish and Kat is 25).  Second, I really don't care about music stars as romantic leads in my books, I find the whole brooding artist trope annoying and find any details about filming a music video or recording new songs boring.  Third, I found Kat to be super uninteresting.  I think it is a bad sign that I was more interested in her two best friends (who are the heroines of books 2 and 3 in the series) than Kat.  My main issue with this book (which almost made me put it down) was Nico's and Kat's relationship felt super toxic to me.  Right from the beginning, red flags were going off in my head.  This is the first romance book I've read where I actively wanted the characters to not end up together.  The fact that Nico and Kat end up together so early in the book made me think there might be a second hero waiting around the corner, but no such luck.  Nico has never been in a serious relationship because he's a rock star.  Kat has been in 12 relationships by the time she's 25 and all of them were toxic or abusive (she gives a quick rundown at one point in the book).  She doesn't like Nico's super possessive attitude, short temper, or violent outbursts but then she goes and does the same thing to Nico (which he calls her out on but thinks that it is cute that she's possessive of him).  The whole book is them fighting, her running away, him finding her, them having angry make up sex, then being all sweet together.  Lather, rinse, and repeat.  I don't believe for a second that these two will have a happily ever after and that's a bummer for a romance book.  After looking through the descriptions of the other 2 books in the series on Goodreads, they don't sound like healthy relationships so I'm not going to continue the series.

Mister Billions - Cassie-Ann L. Miller

This is the first book in the Bad Boys in Love series and follows billionaire Cannon and bridal shop owner Lexi.  After Cannon discovers his long term girlfriend and best friend in bed together, he returns to his hometown where he runs into Lexi at the local coffee shop.  They immediately do not get along - Cannon is a huge grump and Lexi calls him out on it - but Cannon is intrigued by Lexi's spirit.  Soon, local business owners are being evicted due to not paying their rent on time and Cannon makes Lexi a deal that if she marries him for a few months, he'll stop the evictions for the whole town. Lexi agrees and feelings don't take long to follow.  This book was perfectly average in every way.  I didn't particularly love any part of it but I didn't hate any parts either.  Overall, I found the plot cute and Cannon and Lexi's chemistry was good.  I found the conflict to be pretty surface level (it could have gone deeper, but then it wouldn't have been easy to fix) and the stakes were pretty low.  I was much more interested to see what happened between the end of the main story and the epilogue.  The time jump was only 18 months, but it seemed like Cannon did a total Scrooge 180.  He was slowly changing for the better throughout the book, but then went from 0 to 60 during the 18 months we didn't see.  I would have really liked more of that development to happen on the page.

Heartless - Winter Renshaw

This is the first book in the Amato Brothers series and follows oldest brother Ace and makeup artist Aidy.  Aidy finds an old journal in the bushes outside Ace's house one day and takes it home by accident.  After reading it, she finds it is filled with details of a passionate love affair.  When Aidy tries to return the journal, Ace insists it isn't his (despite it being found outside his house).  The two keep having chance encounters in NYC which eventually, of course, develop into a relationship.  This was a very brief enemies to lovers situation and while that trope isn't my favorite, I really liked how the two characters sat down together one day to hash out their issues with each other.  They cleared the air and were able to put aside some misunderstandings which the whole 'enemies' thing was built upon.  Communication for the win!  I thought Ace and Adiy had really great chemistry and I really liked how she had a blossoming career that she was very focused on.  Ace is a retired baseball pitcher who is trying to figure out what his next career move is so it was nice to see the reverse of what a lot of romance books show for the main characters' careers.  I do wish the book was longer and the plot device of the diary used more in the story.  But overall, I really liked the slight twists on typical romance tropes that this book delivered and I think I'll give the next book in the series a read.

Southern Charmer - Jessica Peterson

So brooding rockstars aren't my thing (see Sweet as Sin above), but charming southern chefs sure are!  This is the first book in the Charleston Heat series and follows local chef Eli and aspiring romance author Olivia.  After rejecting her boyfriend's proposal, Olivia drives from upstate New York to Charleston, SC to take a month away from her responsibilities and figure out what she wants out of her life.  Does she want to marry her boyfriend?  Does she want to write romance novels? Who is the handsome shirtless stranger next door?  All important questions Olivia must answer.  Eli is a big hunk of muscle with an even bigger heart.  He's trying to figure out the answers to his own questions in life and the two end up finding solace in each other's company.  I felt this book had two main messages - follow your dreams to your own happiness and relationships can't be used as a quick fix.  The second point, especially, was really important because I think a lot of times relationships in romance books are framed in such a way that the people 'complete' each other, inspire them to be a better person.  And, to an extent, this can be true.  But for Eli and Olivia, in order for their relationship to have a chance, they both needed time to get their lives together and figure out what is going on in their own heads.  Olivia just got out of a 3 year relationship that everyone (including herself) thought would last a lifetime.  Eli just suffered a personal loss and he isn't sure who he is anymore.  Eli ends up going to therapy (yay for therapy!) and working on finding himself again after his loss rocked his world a little too hard. If you like loving, supportive friends to lovers who have the emotional maturity to admit they need to work on themselves before being ready to jump into a long term relationship then this is for you!