G. Bianco, 2019
 Writing duo Piper Rayne kicks off a new small town romance series with their latest release The One I Left Behind which comes out on May 14th, It’s the classic story—boy goes off into the world to fulfill his dreams and leaves the girl behind. Not every boy returns home, and Gillian Adams wishes Ben Noughton wouldn’t have come back to their small ranching town at all after he retired from playing professional football. She figures it’s a quick layover for him. He always wanted out of their town and off his family’s ranch. She just has to bide her time until he turns his back on all of them again. Then he takes on the coaching position for the high school football team and starts milling around too much, bulldozing the protective walls she’s built around herself. But he goes too far when he takes her son under his wing to help him be the best player he can be. Leaving Gillian to protect not only her own heart but her son’s too. Because Gillian promised herself a long time ago that she’d never be the girl in the rearview mirror again. I’m a sucker for a good small town romance book, but I’ll be honest: I was hoping for a little more pining and drama in this book! While I loved Ben and Gillian, the plot (and therefore, their romance) felt a little rushed to me, especially when you consider they’ve spent about 15 years apart from one another and this book occurs over the span of about two months? I appreciated the complex dynamics in this book about a single mom finding love again and how her son and her boyfriend need to build a relationship too, but I also felt like we were missing some backstory and some more fleshed out plot points. However, I loved the side characters and knowing there’s a prequel series makes me want to go back and explore Piper Rayne’s backlist books! Additionally, the rest of the Plain Daisy Ranch crew intrigued me enough that I’d definitely want to continue the series and see everyone else fall in love! While there are a few things I would’ve liked to have seen happen in this book that didn’t, I’m still interested to read the rest of the series! *I received an ARC from the authors in exchange for my honest opinion. 
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 From BookToker to romance novelist, Betty Cayouette (aka Betty’s Book List) weaves together an amazing second-chance romance set in Italy in her debut novel One Last Shot (which comes out on May 7th). From the moment Emerson and Theo met as teenagers, they were inseparable. But just when they finally expressed their feelings to one another, they were torn apart. Now, supermodel Emerson is nearing her twenty-eighth birthday, and she’s tired of looking for love in all the wrong places. When the calendar reminder for the marriage pact she and Theo made as teens goes off on her phone, she realizes this is it—her chance to rekindle the only romance that ever really made sense. Emerson convinces her grumpy agent to book her as the face of the fashion campaign that Theo, now a fashion photographer, is shooting. The good news: the campaign is being shot in ridiculously romantic Cinque Terre, Italy. The bad news? Theo might not be as happy to see her as she'd hoped. The two embark on a four-day campaign that tests not only their feelings, but their ability to keep their hands off one another. But as roadblock after roadblock keeps them apart, Emerson starts to wonder: will this photoshoot be the key to getting one last shot at love, or will it be a final goodbye? This debut book has to be one of the best friends to lovers romances I’ve ever read! I absolutely adored Emerson and Theo! This book had such a great storyline and I was desperate for these former childhood friends to finally realize that they still loved one another just as much as they did in high school. The pacing of the novel was perfect and the flashback in between each chapter really rounded out the novel by showing how Emerson and Theo’s friendship and love grew from their teen years. This book will have you itching to go on vacation and experience a whirlwind romance! Having a bulk of the plot take place in Italy over the course of a week was so enchanting and I was very intrigued by the setting of the photo shoot to reconnect these two lovers. I appreciated the author’s note in the beginning about the main character being a victim of sexual assault and how that plot line wasn’t a main focus in the story, but still contributed to the story as a whole. I felt that the topic was handled with grace and showed how a moment from your past can be a part of you, without entirely defining you. You can bet that I will be the first in line to get Cayouette’s next book (whenever it comes out) and I will be recommending this book to everyone I know all summer long! *I received an ARC from St. Martin’s Press in exchange for my honest opinion.   Club Protocol is open again for readers with Lasairiona Lewis’s newest novel in the series, Obey. This book, which comes out on May 2nd, brings readers back into the dark depths of desire and the innocent girl who receives a full education on what really goes on behind the club’s closed doors. What happens when two strangers get snowed in together? Jagger doesn’t mess with vanilla girls. Especially not ones as innocent as Talia. But when a snowstorm traps them at Club Protocol, he breaks his own rules. It's supposed to be simple revenge against his college rival. But her eager innocence stirs his dominant nature, and he can't resist inviting her into his world of kink and ecstasy. The way she blossoms under his command stirs up feelings he’s not used to, and revenge is a distant memory. Talia used to be an eternal optimist. Now she’s stuck in a BDSM club with the world’s biggest grumpasaurus. Snow is piling up outside, and all she’s got are fresh wounds from a breakup with her cheating high school sweetheart, and a sexy bucket list she’d planned on checking off with him. When Jagger offers to show her the ropes, she’s wary. But they aren't going anywhere fast, and she’s intrigued by his promises of pleasure and pain. If she gives in, could it be the start of something beautiful? Or will it destroy her optimism forever? This might be one of my favorite books by Lasairiona Lewis/McMaster ever! I literally got the ARC and binge read it in one day. Yep… it was that good! While this book might not be for everyone, I loved the characters, the way the plot carried out, the cameos of characters from the previous book in this series, the epilogues at the end, and (of course) all the spiciness! I related to Talia as a character in some ways and I loved the dynamics of her and Jagger’s relationship in this book. Plus, who doesn’t love a good snowed-in, only-one-bed romance? Especially when it has a little let-me-show-you-ALL-the-pleasure thrown in there! If you’re looking for a quick and dirty read that will have you fanning yourself, then definitely pick this book up (even if you haven’t read Book 1 in the series)! *I received an ARC from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.  Many romance lovers probably recognize Sarah Hogle’s name from her various other romances like You Deserve Each Other and Twice Shy and I’m sure fans will be just as eager to read her newest novel which came out on April 2nd. Old Flames and New Fortunes is the perfect book to read for the start of Spring and will definitely please both previous and new readers of hers! A small, magical town tucked away in rural Ohio, Moonville is the perfect place for flora fortunist Romina Tempest to expand her shop, where she uses the language of flowers to help the hopeful manifest their love lives. After giving up on her own big romance eleven years ago, at least she can bask in the promise of others’. So, when the shop’s potential financier shares news of his wedding, Romina jumps on the opportunity to discuss buying the business. What better place to negotiate a deal than at a wedding, even if she has to fake-date her chaotic colleague Trevor to get an invitation? But all hell breaks loose when she discovers Trevor’s soon-to-be stepbrother is none other than Alex her high school sweetheart. Her greatest love. The boy who, eleven years ago, broke her heart, and who now thinks she and Trevor are dating. What starts as an innocent misunderstanding becomes a week-long fake dating scheme, as Romina resolves to make Alex pay for breaking her heart. The only issue? She can’t deny their still-burning connection. Caught between proving to Alex what he lost, and coming clean and risking her business, Romina must decide whether giving Alex another chance means going back on herself, or finally releasing her hold on the past. Once again, Sarah Hogle manages to write such a fun romance that has me turning the pages to see what’s going to happen next! This book included a few surprise tropes that I didn’t see coming, but just added more depth and excitement to this already awesome story. Seriously, if you’re one of those people who believes that everything happens for a reason and that the universe has a plan for you (like I am) then you’re going to LOVE this book! I like how real magic was interwoven into this plot which made the circumstances in this book a little more realistic than a fantasy novel. I loved each chapter being associated with a different flower and its meaning. And I loved all of the side characters that only enhanced Romina as a main character and her relationship with Alex. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants the perfect springtime romance that has just a bit of whimsy to it! *I received an ARC from Putnam Books in exchange for my honest opinion.   Tennis and love? Sign me up! In Allane Milliane’s Heart Match (which comes out on April 24th), we see a career-focused woman fall for an international tennis star, but will their romance be a grand slam? Falling in love was not in her plans. But ignoring his existence is not an option either... Olivia Charlton is a workaholic and successful lingerie designer with a perfectly planned life. This includes not giving her one-night stands any chance of a serious relationship since her last painful breakup. That is until she meets sexy Frenchman Lucas Lamaire, who is temporarily staying in the penthouse of her building. Olivia finds herself unable to resist Luc’s charm and for the first time in a very long while she begins to open her heart. But Luc has omitted to tell her one important fact about himself... how messy will her life get when she discovers who he really is? I have to admit that this book took me a little bit to warm up to. I’m not usually a big fan of insta-love and there was definitely a bit of that in the beginning. But after seeing Luc dote over Livvy and finding out more about her backstory, I grew to like their relationship and wanted to keep reading! I think adding in her past added some depth to the story. While the ending was a bit predictable to me, it still gave me those warm and fuzzy feelings you get with a classic HEA! Also, as a fan of tennis and player, I adored the fact that this was a tennis-focused sports romance! *I received an ARC from Love Notes PR in exchange for my honest opinion.  In this debut novel which came out on April 16th, readers will see a woman who is thrown back into her old hometown and tries to rebuild her life in a new way. Filled with baseball, family, NYC/NJ-humor, and Jewish references, Welcome Home, Caroline Kline by Courtney Priess is a great novel about recovery and how to pick yourself back up when life keeps knocking you down. In New York City, newly single Caroline is stumbling her way through the recent implosion of her life. After a surprise breakup leaves her with no job, no apartment, and no backup plan, she’s unsure of what to do next. That is, until Caroline’s father, Leo, injures himself in a bad fall and asks her to move home to the Jersey Shore suburb she’d always been desperate to escape. But Leo doesn’t want his daughter to be his caretaker; he needs her to replace him as third baseman in his local men’s softball league. This isn’t just any season, Leo claims. This is the year they have a real shot at the World Series, the pride and joy of Glen Brook, New Jersey. Caroline agrees to move home, concerned that Leo is hiding a more serious health condition than he’s willing to admit. As the first female player in a league full of old-school men, she’s up against more than a few challenges. And when a night gone wrong lands her in the path of her hometown crush—and first love—Caroline struggles to reconcile the life she thought she’d have with the life she might actually want. I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed this women’s fiction/romcom novel! I really appreciated how Caroline navigated this new chapter in her life after essentially being forced to move back home because of heartbreak, unemployment, and her father’s injury. But what I thought would be a book about a girl falling in love and being a feminist icon in the world of men’s softball turned into a book about accepting the curveballs life throws at you (pun intended) and learning to sometimes focus on yourself and the present moment rather than compare yourself to others and always be rushing ahead to the next best thing. Coming from a baseball-loving family, I really love how the sport was incorporated into the story (although I would have loved it even more if all of the Yankees references were Mets references 😉). It just made this book that much more exciting and gave it more of a summertime feel! I loved the many characters in this novel and despite Caroline making some questionable choices in the story, I did enjoy her as a character and almost wanted some more slowed down moments during this fast-paced book. Also, having this book be set in the NYC/NJ area was a lot of fun to read about and learning about all these little Jewish saying and beliefs was really interesting. If you’re looking for a fun, but also kind of deep, read to get you in the mood for summer, then this is the book for you! *I received an ARC from Putnam Books in exchange for my honest opinion.  Calling all small town romance lovers! Wild Card by Staci Hart, which is the first book in her new Roseville Ramblers Series, comes out today and things are about to get steamy! Remy Winfield has more muscles than manners, and he’s on a mission to get Jessa into bed by way of the filthiest mouth she’s ever wanted to kiss. He doesn’t care about her long time crush or her certainty that they’re finally about to happen. Remy's sure Jessa will break first and kiss him, and he’ll tease her to the limit to make sure she does. She might be a Lady, but she can still play his dirty little game. It’s perfectly safe, totally harmless. Until she falls for him. Suddenly, Mr. Long-Time Crush doesn’t matter at all. And Jessa’s best friend/Remy’s cousin can never know. It’s been a hot minute since I’ve read a Staci Hart book and I enjoyed delving into this new series of the Roseville Ramblers. The beginning felt very rushed and I wasn’t too invested in the story in the beginning, but when I hit the midway point, I felt like the plot had finally hit its stride and I was really intrigued to see what was going to happen next for Jess, Remy, and the rest of the characters! I was hoping for a bit more baseball in this sports romance, but I still enjoyed the glimpses of Remy’s athletic abilities (and the descriptions of him in his uniform)! While most of this novel follows the classic romcom formula, the ending actually threw me for a loop and I did not expect some of the plot twists that happened to occur! It’s safe to say that I’m excited to see how one particular plot point will play out in Book 2 (iykyk)! After the plot twists at the end and the second epilogue, you best believe I’ll be keeping my eye out for Book 2! *I received an ARC from Good Girls PR in exchange for my honest opinion.  For those of you who love an angsty forbidden romance with an age gap, then I have just the book for you! DJ Krimmer’s latest release Fox, which came out on March 31st, is the first book in the Hel’s Ink Series and has all of those tropes and more! When Janie's father passes away, she assumes grieving will be as simple as closing a book and starting another. Only, her dad had other plans. Leaving her his beloved tattoo shop, she's stuck to figure out what exactly to do with it, all while being constantly reminded of him. Selling it was the easiest option, but after hearing some of the artists elated at the idea because they swore she'd ruin it if she took over, Janie's determined to prove them wrong. The only problem is Fox. Hel's Ink was supposed to be Fox's and he thinks leaving the shop to someone like Janie was a bad idea. Sure she may be able to make it look good on the surface, but there is more to running this place than social media posts and some paint. Only, the longer she's here, Fox finds it harder to believe his own words. She's too young for him, and far too complicated, but he can't help but wonder what would happen if he just gave in. I truly don’t think I’ve ever read such a long, test fast-paced book in my life. Nor do I think I’ve ever read a book where so many of the characters could do with *severe* therapy sessions. It’s not that I didn’t like this book, it’s just that I didn’t love it either. I found Fox to be too immature at times, despite his age, and some of his reactions in certain scenes felt like they didn’t match up with his character/personality. Similarly, I found Janie to be VERY annoying in the beginning of the book and then eventually grew to like her, but some of her actions felt very immature for a girl in her late 20s. And even though she gains more and more confidence as the story goes on, she still reverts back into a needy and bratty person which makes her whole character arc seem futile. Throw in the fact that this enemies-to-lovers age-gap romance begins during the main characters’ father/mentor’s death where both of them are grieving and emotionally unavailable makes the whole relationship seem unhealthy from the start. So yeah… getting invested in these characters took a bit of time for me. (Especially when the enemies were enemy-ing a little too hard in the beginning to just full on making out with each other the next second.) I did love the setting of Hel’s and while some plot points including side characters seemed like they never got resolved, I did like most of the supporting characters! Did I like these characters? Eh… Did I like this book? Eh… Will I continue reading the rest of this series? Maybe, but I don’t think I’ll be rushing to do so anytime soon. *I received an ARC from Literally Yours PR in exchange for my honest opinion.  A little fun fact about me is that I was a theater kid in high school and today is the release day of The Breakup Lists by Adib Khorram. So naturally, I had to search for my old script of Twelfth Night because I did the same show in high school like the characters in this book! Okay enough about me, let’s get to the book review! Jackson Ghasnavi is a lot of things—a techie, a smoothie afficionado, a totally not obsessive list-maker—but one thing he’s not is a romantic. And why would he be? He’s already had a front row seat to his parents’ divorce and picked up the pieces of his sister Jasmine’s broken heart one too many times. No, Jackson is perfectly happy living life behind the scenes—he is a stage manager, after all—and keeping his romantic exploits limited to the breakup lists he makes for Jasmine, which chronicle every flaw (real or imagined) of her various and sundry exes. Enter Liam: the senior swim captain turned leading man that neither of the Ghasnavi siblings stop thinking about. Not that Jackson has a crush, of course. Jasmine is already setting her sights on him and he’s probably—no, definitely—straight anyway. So why does the idea of eventually writing a breakup list for him feel so impossible? Despite being out of the target demographic for some of these YA books, I still find comfort in the cliches and predictability of a YA romcom. And Khorram’s newest book delivers that in full! Not only do we get classic YA tropes and friendship and relationship drama scattered amongst the sweet and funny moments, there is also a lot of diversity in this LGBTQ+ romance. Our main character, Jackson, is not only gay and Iranian-American, but is also hard of hearing and wears cochlear implants. Having him be the center of the story adds an extra layer of depth to his struggles as a teenager trying to navigate high school. Alongside him is a love interest who’s just dreamy and a plethora of side characters that round out this novel to be the fun and binge-able YA novel it is. Also, as a former high school theatre kid, I appreciated every theatre reference in this book and made me wish I could go back to high school when, even though it didn’t seem like it at the time, things were much simpler. That nostalgia factor will definitely have older readers enjoying this story while younger readers will relate to the struggles these characters are dealing with. If you’re looking for a book with diverse characters, typical teenage angst and drama, disability rep, and theatre kids galore then this is the book for you. *I received an ARC from Penguin Teen in exchange for my honest opinion.  What happens when life takes an unexpected turn? Well, Tracey Garvis Graves shares exactly that in her newest romance novel The Trail of Lost Hearts. Set to be released on March 26th, get your tissues ready for this book! Thirty-four-year-old Wren Waters believes that if you pay attention, the universe will send you exactly what you need. But her worldview shatters when the universe delivers two life-altering blows she didn’t see coming, and all she wants to do is put the whole heartbreaking mess behind her. No one is more surprised than Wren when she discovers that geocaching―the outdoor activity of using GPS to look for hidden objects―is the only thing getting her out of bed and out of her head. She decides that a weeklong solo quest geocaching in Oregon is exactly what she needs to take back control of her life. Enter Marshall Hendricks, a psychologist searching for distraction as he struggles with a life-altering blow of his own. Though Wren initially rebuffs Marshall’s attempt at hiker small talk, she’s beyond grateful when he rescues her from a horrifying encounter farther down the trail. In the interest of safety, Marshall suggests partnering up to look for additional caches. Wren’s no longer quite so trusting of the universe―or men in general―but her inner circle might argue that a smart, charismatic psychologist isn’t the worst thing the universe could place in her path. What begins as a platonic road trip gradually blossoms into something deeper, and the more Wren learns about Marshall, the more she wants to know. Now all she can do is hope that the universe gets it right this time. This book wasn’t the romance book I was expecting but that might be because it should really be classified as women’s fiction? I did feel a bit deceived by the summary on the back of this book; however, I can appreciate that the author didn’t want to spoil the entire plot of the novel in just a few sentences lol! Regardless of its official genre categorization, I still appreciated this story and how it tackles heavier topics like grief, loss, and other unexpected life events. I think fans of Katherine Center would love this book as the beginning of it was reminiscent of Happiness for Beginners to me (in a good way)! Wren’s journey to rediscover herself and try to heal after suffering such loss and heartache is emboldening to read about and how she and Marshall find themselves both helping each other and figuring things out for themselves is really hopeful to see play out throughout the course of the book. However, there is a MAJOR shift in the second half of the novel that while still connecting to the first part of the story, leaves the reader with a bit of whiplash in terms of story content. Ultimately, the story ends well, but I was very surprised by the shift the novel decided to take! If you’re looking for a book that showcases strength and starting over and finding happiness at the end of the journey, this is the book for you! *I received an ARC from St. Martin’s Press in exchange for my honest opinion. |
AuthorHi! My name is Elisa and my bookshelf is quite literally overflowing! Join me in my journey of reading as many books as humanly possible! Archives
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