MyTiredBrain

Meh, it was ok. My love for Tessa Bailey books has dwindled, but I keep reading them. Eve is the small-town pariah because her father owned the local strip club. Madden moved to the small town as a teenager to get away from his abusive home in Ireland. They secretly crushed on each other since they were teens. Now Eve is 22 and inherited the strip club. And Madden is a starting catcher with the Yankees. She becomes guardian of her sister’s two kids, and agrees to marry Madden for the insurance coverage, but she insists it be in secret so she doesn’t degrade his good name. Side characters (Singer Veda and Skylar’s brother) were ok, with probable series potential.  Eve and Madden’s love felt forced dramatic to me. He needed a kidney as a teenager so she secretly donated one to him. 

Haddie Martin almost has a one-night stand with Levi Rourke, but bails at the last minute. She figures she’ll never see him again, until they find themselves trying to rent the same two-bed room apartment near the school they will both be working. They live together and struggle to maintain a platonic relationship. It was good, but nothing overly special. I’d read another book from this author.  Haddie has serious abandonment issues, and keeps everyone at arms’ length, so she is hesitant to peruse anything with Levi. He’s only planning to be at the job for one year and then move away, so her self-preservation frostiness is understandable. Levi was a college football coach who got demoted after punching a ref. He’s grieving the loss of his mother and battling the guilt of not being there. He’s now in charge of the high school soccer team, but doesn’t know much about soccer. Haddie coaches the women’s team and helps him navigate his new role. 

Tansy Perkins is a single mom and a children’s librarian. After a flood destroys her library, she has to work with grumpy Jack Reid to share space in his botanical garden. It was cute. Tansy’s insistence on independence was grating at times. Jack’s character was more likable, despite his gruff presentation. I’d read another book by this author.  Tansy and Jack first meet when Jack finds Tansy returning to the flooding library to save two birds, and he yells at her for risking her life instead of evacuating. He then saves her when she’s trapped at her house and he comes by in a rescue boat. Both are fighting for funding for their programs. They apply for the same grant which causes some tension. Jack is overprotective of his step sister, who is pregnant and has a baby in the book. Jack and Tansy’s dtr hit it off. The side-character friends were amusing at times. (7.75)

Both Grace Hastings and Eric Bancroft work for rival branches of the same dating app company tree. Grace’s focus is on a true-love app called Fate, while Eric is the face of hook-up-focused Ignite. After being dumped by her fiancé, Grace isn’t really feeling the love, and her boss is piling more and more work in her. When both Eric and Grace are both up for a big promotion, it’s (Hating) Game on. It was cute and I liked the voice.  Grace’s fiancé proposed during a large family gathering, with no pre-conversation with Grace. He tells everyone she said yes even though she was too shocked to speak. He then dumps her when she freaks out about it. Eric comes from a rich family and is known as a party boy. They go from friends to adversaries to lovers, and it was a peppy read. (9)

A second-chance love story told in past and present. Roslyn and Liam are separated and on the verge of divorce, but Roslyn hasn’t told her judgmental family yet. She’s reeling from the death of her mom, and after dropping out of med school to become an author, she doesn’t want to admit failure to her grandparents. When her grandparents invite her and Liam on a vow-renewal cruise, Liam agrees to pretend to still be a couple. I liked the writing and Roslyn’s grief was well-written.  Roslyn doesn’t really want to divorce Liam, but he became more and more distant in the marriage, never sharing information about his family. His sister would call him and he’d retreat, pushing Roslyn away. He gave her space when her mom died instead of being there for her. His own family baggage taught him that addressing problems head-on lead to bad outcomes, like when he tried to his mom away from his abusive father. The close proximity of the boat forced them to communicate, and their mutual love shine...

I loved the writing style. Very imaginative language. There were definitely parts where it was difficult to read, because the main characters were so horrible to each other. Naomi Westfield realizes she can’t stand her fiancé, but feels trapped. If she backs out of the engagement then she’d be on the hook for the wedding costs, which are way more than she can pay. Nicholas Rose also seems miserable, but he’s not going to be the one to end it. For him, it’s not just about the money, but about quieting his over-the-top, overbearing mother, who has taken over the wedding planning. He’s a do-gooder dentist who can’t set any boundaries with his mom, which gave me the early ick. Naomi is a bit manic pixie, working at a bizarro shop and acting a bit aimless and helpless throughout the book. Naomi and Nicholas enter into a game of pranks and sabotage, letting down their carefully constructed manners, each trying to get the other to end the relationship and therefore take the fall. In the middl...

Well, part way through reading it I felt a sense of deja vu, but I kept going anyway. I wasn't sure if I’d already read this book before, or just read something very similar. After I finished I looked it up, and apparently I read it in early 2024. Oh well.  Mia and Noah have been best friends forever, and secretly in love with each other for almost as long. Noah feels guilty about the idea of finding happiness after the death of his brother. Mia feels guilty burdening a partner with her chronic medical issues. When she has the opportunity to fulfill a life-long dream and go back to school, Noah proposes she marry him so she can quit her job and get on his benefits.  The writing was fine. Their relationship was cute, albeit slightly codependent. Noah being blackmailed at work felt contrived. Noah’s this smart, driven guy, but he can’t just stand up to a work bully who’s threatening to tell their boss Noah’s marriage to Mia is a scam? I mean, he could have just gone to his boss ...