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Showing posts from January, 2025

Book 11 - The Love Wager by Lynn Painter

Hallie and Jack first meet at Jack’s sister’s wedding. Hallie’s a bartender and Jack’s girlfriend freaks out when she sees Hallie and Jack talking. They reconnect on a dating app and decide to be each other’s wing-people. They make a bet on who will find love first, and you’ll never guess what happens. Ok, there’s nothing overly new or surprising here, but the story was a quick, fun read. Very tropey, with fake dating for a wedding and, gasp, one bed. Their interactions are cute and funny, and they have good chemistry. Very quick read. (7.75)

Book 10 - Role Playing by Cathy Yardley

Maggie is reclusive after a rough relationship/divorce. Aidan is dealing with a stubborn mother after moving close to home to care for his dying father. They both enjoy video games and initially connect online. Aidan thinks Maggie’s elderly (because he got her contact info from a church friend of his mom’s), and Maggie thinks Aidan’s twenty something since she knows he goes to community college. Eventually they realize they’re close in age. There’s sexual orientation discussions, and Aidan’s scorned ex bulldozes over Aidan’s privacy. The book was good, but sort of dry. I felt the friendship of the two main characters, and they were both likable, but I didn’t really feel the romantic spark. At no point in time did I want to quit the book, but I also didn’t feel that sense of can’t-put-down urgency I sometimes get when reading. (7.25)

Brook 9 - Brooklynaire by Sarina Bowen

I’ve enjoyed the series by Sarina Bowen and was looking forward to this one. I enjoyed it, but maybe not quite as much as I hoped. Nate is the billionaire owner of the Brooklyn Bruisers hockey team. He’s had a crush on his office manager, Rebecca, for years but was able to suppress his feelings, until she gets injured. He’s the boss, and she’s worried about optics and the imbalance of power. I liked the characters and how they communicated. Nate gets hit with an issue that could impact their relationship and he immediately talks to Rebecca about it, like a normal person would do. I hate when books cook up conflict for the sake of conflict, and Sarina Bowen avoids that pet peeve. The palindrome quips were cute, but also a reach. Very quick read. (8)

Book 8 - Flirting with the Stranger by Gia Stevens

There’s a lot of sex in the book, so there’s that. I also couldn’t wait for the book to end, so there’s also that. Hollyn first meets Van at a bar, thinking he’s the stripper for their bridal shower party. She meets him again as the new owner of the bakery she works at. Turns out his mom was the owner, and he inherited it when she died. He wants to sell it; Hollyn wants to keep it. They can’t communicate. It was ok. I will forget this book in one week, despite this description, since there wasn’t anything overly memorable or different about this book. Very Hallmark movie-y, but with sex. (6.5)

Book 7 - The Three Night Stand by Roxie Noir

Another solid book by Roxie Noir. Madeline and Javier have a one-night stand, never to meet again, until they meet again, as soon-to-be step-siblings. Her father and his mother are getting married, and awkwardness/attraction ensues. The author’s voice, Javier’s crew of supportive friends/siblings (He has a history of drug addiction.), and Madeline and Javi’s interactions carry the book. A fair amount of sex scenes, well written. Madeline feels a little thin in depth (her blue hair and mild geekiness are her biggest standouts), but both main characters are likable.

Book 6 - Not You Again by Ingrid Pierce

 This is one of my favorite kind of romance novels  - swoony with some depth and solid writing. Some sentences were poetic but the book never crossed over to purple. Andie designs and makes her own wedding dresses. She and Kit dated in college, but broke up when he disappeared (because of grief from the death of his father). They both sign up for a dating show and are chosen by matchmakers to get married, sight unseen. Kit’s a fixer and Andie wants to maintain her independence. Andie wants Kit to stay but Kit’s architecture job involves traveling all over the world. It’s a lot of back-and-forth, and misunderstanding of feelings, but light enough to wade through without becoming too heavy. Well-written spice. I would happily read another book by this author. (8)

Book 5 Billionaire Grump - Willow Fox and Allison West

 A bit cringey with some bad-porn moments. I almost quit a few times but kept going. Billionaire hotel magnate Levi finds out he had a child with his newly-deceased ex-girlfriend. He meets Clare on the flight home and sees she’s good with his daughter. He needs a nanny and she needs a place to live, so cue the porn music. There are much better books out there in the billionaire romance sub-genre. (4)

Book 4 Break the Rules - Roxie Noir

 I’ve read quite a few Roxie Noir (The name is rough for me, but what can you do?), and I’m a fan. Nothing groundbreaking here, but I like the voice of the main characters and the banter was amusing. June returns home after bing fired from her journalism job and works with forest-ranger Levi to solve the mystery of who is cutting down old-growth trees. They keep their relationship secret because of June’s overprotective older brother, Silas, who is also Levi’s best friend. Lots of spice. (8)

Book 3 Not in My Book - Katie Holt

 Billed as sexy and hilarious, but I don’t recall any funny moments. It dragged at times. The author shouts out Tessa Bailey and I could see that influence in the open-door moments. Rosie and Aiden are NYU in-class adversaries, forced to work together to write a book. The defense of romance novels felt heavy-handed to me, in a preaching-to-the choir kind of way. I’m already reading a romance, so while I agree that it’s a disrespected genre, I’m already a fan. Rosie is Peruvian, and I wish that would have been highlighted even more. Despite all that, I liked the book and would read more from this author. (7.75)

The World Doesn’t Need Another Book Blog

But my tired brain can’t remember why I liked certain books or why I’d recommend skipping it. My sister-in-law asked if I’d read any good books lately and my mind went blank. I generally read over 100 books a year, and I note them down with a 1-10 rating, but then I forget what I liked about them. In case anyone reads this, I like romance, women’s fiction, and general fiction best. Steamy’s fine, and swear words don’t bother me. LBGQ+ is all good. If those bother you, then you will probably disagree with my book recommendations. In 2024, my highest rated books were:  All The Right Notes - Dominic Lim (8.5),  The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid (8.5),  Ghosting: A Love Story - Tash Skilton (8.5),  We Could Be So Good - Cat Sebastian (8.5),  Fangirl Down - Tessa Bailey (9),  Mrs. Nash’s Ashes - Sarah Adler (9),  The True Love Experiment - Christina Lauren (9),  Not in Love - Ali Hazelwood (8.5),  The Paradise Problem - Chris...