Three Stars I adore Karen Rose. I binged her entire backlist in one summer a few years ago and have eagerly devoured each new release since… but sadly, this book just didn’t all the way hit the mark for me. At least half of my three star rating was the awful narration for the male main character. The narrator made him sound like a nasally teenage boy and he’s supposed to be a Clark Kent-like 36-year-old man. Getting into the actual story, there wasn’t any romance. Like, none! A cardinal sin in my book and one I didn’t expect. After finishing the book and doing a little digging, I think this b ..read more

Four Stars Okay, Karina Halle, WHERE DO I GET ONE?? And by one, I mean Harrison, the hero of her latest book. Just tell me! I need to know! If you haven’t read THE ROYALS NEXT DOOR, don’t expect a royal romance, it’s so much better! A romance between a romance podcaster heroine (okay, she’s an elementary school teacher too) and the royal BODYGUARD next door – we love to see it! I have to admit, I could talk forever about bodyguard romances – they’re my kryptonite! But besides being a trope I love I think the reason this book shined was how wonderful the heroine is. She is smart and knows herse ..read more

2.5 Stars I hate writing a review when my main problem with the book is the heroine. When I don’t like a heroine in a romance novel, I always try to take a step back and figure out why she bothered me within the context of her own romance. In this book, the heroine is a mature forty-year-old single mother about to be an empty nester – a difficult time in any parent’s life, I’m sure. The hero is a younger man and teacher at her daughter’s school. The situations the hero and heroine got into were adorable. Honestly, there is nothing hotter than a man offering to help you fix up your house. I als ..read more

Three Stars Romantic suspense is one of my favorite romance subgenres, so I added Laura Griffin to my must-read lists. I have enjoyed her books in the past, but this one sits solidly on my “it’s fine” list. LAST SEEN ALONE follows a lawyer heroine who fights for the victims of online abuse and a homicide detective hero. The hero gets called to a crime scene with no body, but the heroine’s card is there. I loved the simmering sexual tension between the hero and the heroine. It added a fun layer to the tense plotline. I could feel the chemistry between them, even when they were butting heads. Th ..read more

Three Stars This book was… fine. I wish I had more to say about it. Olivia Dade is undoubtedly an excellent writer, but I just haven’t found the right book in her backlist to click with me. ALL THE FEELS is a Hollywood romance featuring a misbehaving actor and the woman hired by the studio to watch over him. Let me preface this by saying I thought the ADHD representation was one of the best I have ever read. Both my younger brothers have ADHD, so the fact that Alex, the hero, also has ADHD and read exactly like my middle brother was… off-putting. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought t ..read more

4.5 Stars I wasn’t sure what to expect going into Nalini Singh’s first thriller, but I should have known I would absolutely love it. At this point, if she asked me if I would like to read her grocery list, I would say, “I adore groceries,” and read happily. While A MADNESS OF SUNSHINE is marketed as a thriller, I would categorize it as more of an atmospheric murder mystery. When I think “thriller,” I think “scary,” and while this book hummed with underlying tension, it wasn’t terrifying in a jump-scare way. The story follows the disappearance of a young, beautiful woman in a small, remote New ..read more

Two Stars I didn’t know Alyssa Cole could write a boring book, but I am very sad to be proven wrong with HOW TO FIND A PRINCESS. Now, I love her, but no author is perfect, and this book just didn’t work for me – it might work for someone else! As always, Cole’s main characters were fun and easy to root for. Unfortunately, the plot was a total slog, and the ending made no sense. An Anastasia reimagining, the book follows Makeda, a woman with unfortunate doormat, people-pleasing tendencies scraping by after another failed relationship. Her life is turned upside down when Beznaria, a sexy, blunt ..read more

Two Stars I am a big fan of Samantha Young, and MUCH ADO ABOUT YOU sounded like a “me” book. A single woman burned by love and fed up with dating heads to England to run a bookstore? Yes, please! Sadly, the execution didn’t work for me in any way. Now, if you’ve read a Young book, you know she’s a superb writer. So that wasn’t the issue. The plot was fun too (hence two stars instead of one). But oh, my, GOSH, the heroine was excruciating. So let me get this straight. She’s a thirty-something on a man-ban because one man she didn’t even DATE turned out to be a jerk. But when she goes to England ..read more

3.5 Stars I usually love or hate Maisey Yates books, so I am surprised this one fell somewhere in the middle for me. Ultimately, I enjoyed the story – Mallory and Colt have a one-night stand, and then fate keeps throwing them in each other’s orbit… oh, and then a baby enters the mix (not a surprise or secret pregnancy!) This book was pretty darn hot! The characters start off with a literal *bang* and it was super fun. I enjoyed that they both were on the same page with their “one night only” arrangement but fate had other plans. There were so many forced proximity moments that made the book ex ..read more

Four Stars I had a hard time rating this book, but Alexis Hall’s writing is so dang good, I just can’t give ROSALINE PALMER TAKE THE CAKE anything less than four stars. I am so, so happy I was warned that this book was more general/women’s fiction than romance. I set my expectations accordingly, and it helped me immerse myself in the story without undue frustration. Rosaline Palmer is a single mother on her last leg – she’s also bisexual – just ask her precocious daughter (lol!!). She needs to prove herself to her parents and herself that she isn’t a complete screw-up by winning a Great Britis ..read more