Counting Down to You by Emily Stone

5*

Every Christmas season, I eagerly await Emily Stone’s newest book. Although they all have some pretty deep topics, the beautiful romances manage to balance out the emotional impact. In Counting Down to You, it is grief over the loss of a best friend. Ali is still in mourning when her boss insists she take a sabbatical, so she chooses a ski town in France, one mentioned by her late friend Robyn in a personalized advent calendar that was their holiday tradition. With its daily handwritten prompts, she assigns challenges that help Ali navigate the grief and open her life to new possibilities. She serendipitously meets Leo Brooks in London and is surprised later to find he is the manager of the resort where she has taken a temp job to help stave off time to wallow. Aside from the romance, the calendar is my favorite part of the book, a physical manifestation of a loving friendship and an aid to help with the grief process. If you love Christmas stories with a bit of angst and a bunch of emotion, I highly recommend this steamy, slow burn, grumpy-sunshine romance. Let the countdown begin!

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Ballantine/Dell through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

A Married Little Christmas by Abby Jimenez

 

5*

Abby Jimenez could write the phone book and I’d read it, so I jumped at the chance to read and review this delightful, humorous, and heartwarming collection of three sweet (and no spice) Christmas romance short stories. Unlike her full-length novels, this one doesn’t have the trauma, angst, and heavy themes. As she states in her author note. “I wanted to veer from my usual deeper themes and keep these short stories fun and light. I figured nobody wants to cry at Christmas.”

Although I was reading a digital ARC, I read the description of what the final print deluxe edition will look like, and I think it will make a wonderful gift for a friend, family member, secret Santa, or even for yourself. It includes a second chance romance, a funny meet cute, and a love at first sight story, and they’re all based in Minnesota, the perfect wintry backdrop for a Christmas collection. I suspect this is a book that will be an annual re-read. Highly recommended.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Forever Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

The Jezebel List by Alisa Dean

 

5*

This fabulous debut novel from Alisa Dean is, to some extent, taken from real life by someone who also escaped the fundamentalist church. She has drawn her main characters with care and intention and has surrounded them with secondary characters whose individuality really shines. Yes, there is religious trauma that some might need to avoid, but the story is so full of hope, dedication, and love.

FMC Christina “escaped” her oppressive upbringing with the help of therapy and, as a final act of liberation (or defiance, depending on who you’re asking), writes her Jezebel List. “It’s a list of things I was told my whole life that I should not do. Could not do. But I can do them. So, I’m doing them.” Shortly after a serendipitous meeting with MMC Danny, he offers to help her complete the list and thus begins a beautiful romance in which they recognize that they can be their true selves. The maturity and emotional intelligence of these two is astounding. The love between them is selfless, reverent, shamelessly passionate (verrrry steamy), and supportive.

Although Christina has had therapy, it isn’t until much later that she realizes she hasn’t processed the grief. She ultimately sees that the only way through is by embracing the traumatized girl she was with the hard-fought jezebel she has become.

“I may have spent a year in trauma therapy exorcising my self-hate, but I now have to grieve everything I lost. Everything I never had. I have to grieve for the younger version of myself and all the trauma she endured.”

There is definitely a villain in Christina’s hypocritical pastor father, the perfectly awful blend of “self-loathing and self-righteousness.” However, after getting closure, Christina realizes that in the process of completing the list, she has found a new family and a home in a loving partner. Highly recommended.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Alcove Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Cozy Little Christmas by RaeAnne Thayne

 

4*

RaeAnne Thayne can always be depended on to gift her readers with warm, heartfelt Christmas stories, and Cozy Little Christmas lives up to its name. Like many of her previous books, this one is set in a small lakeside town in Idaho, the perfect wintry backdrop for this delightful story. Yes, there are some heavy topics around grief and cancer, but there is also the thread of hope woven through the book. Add this one to your Christmas reading list!

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Mira through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Damned If I Do by Alexandria Bellefleur

4*

When I downloaded this ARC, it was because of my love for Bellefeur’s other books, and I shamefully didn’t pay any attention to the description. To say this is a huge departure from her norm is an understatement. Since I’m not a big fan of romantasy, it took me awhile to really get into it, but once I did, I was hooked. Having a queer demon as the FMC (most of the main characters in the book are queer, in fact) is an interesting premise that allows readers to accompany her on her journey of rediscovering her human husband of 400-plus years. It gives a whole new meaning to eternal love (a very steamy one at that). I think readers who are looking to try out romantasy will appreciate this story because it doesn’t require a lengthy commitment to world building as so many heavy tomes in the subgenre do. Recommended.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Berkley Romance through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Once, Again, Always by Amanda Gayle

 

4*

Once, Again, Always is a delightful debut novel from Amanda Gayle. After a head injury, Molly Graham suffers a brain hemorrhage and is left with amnesia, only to find out that her high school arch nemesis, Aster Bishop, is now her husband. What follows is multiple months of overcoming grief, trying to recapture the memories she lost, and a rebuilding a relationship that she finds unfathomable at first. Yet, the more time Aster spends being the loving, doting, and, yes, frustrating at times husband, the less Molly wants to dwell on her past self and the more she just wants to be loved for who she is now.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the relationship arc between Molly and Aster with undeniable chemistry and a mutual respect borne out of the detritus of their antagonist beginnings. One of my favorite aspects of this enemies-to-lovers romance is the boundary-defying friends who lend quite a bit of comic relief to what could have been a heavy read otherwise. There are definitely some spicy scenes but not what I would consider graphic. If you like second chance and enemies to lovers’ romances, be sure to check this one out. Recommended.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Avon through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

 

You'll Be the Death of Me by Holly Michelle

 

5*

You’ll Be the Death of Me is very reminiscent of the movie Just Like Heaven but with an MMC who is dead and a FMC who is in limbo between real life and the afterlife. When Cole accidentally transitions the wrong Verdella Rogers from life to death, he is tasked with going down to Earth for just 3 days to correct his mistake. All he has to do is follow the rule book. However, Dell has other ideas which break one rule after another. What will it cost them when the spirited higher-ups have had enough of the hi-jinx?

Early in the book is one of the funniest scenes I have ever read as Dell decides to haunt her ex-fiancé. There are many more humorous scenes but they’re balanced with adventure and a number of very poignant passages. Their brief time together gives them both the opportunity to reflect on their life’s choices and consider what they would do if given a second chance. You’ll have to read this delightful romance to find out if they are rewarded with a happy ending.

As a fan of ghostly romances, I was so excited to read Holly Michelle’s novel, and I am happy to recommend it to readers, especially fans of Ashley Poston and Sarah Ready.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Avon Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

An Ocean of Longing by Kennedy Kerr (Echoes of Cornwall #2)

 

4*

An Ocean of Longing, part two of the Echoes of Cornwall series was just as compelling and haunting as the first with the added element of a steamy romance between Tegan and William. I just wish it weren’t another cliffhanger which is one reason I only gave it 4 stars. (Be sure to read Book 1 as this is not a standalone.) The other reason for the 4 stars, which I hope was corrected in the final draft, was the number of typos and the misuse of me, myself and I. Every time I stumbled across this grammar pet peeve of mine, it pulled me out of the story. I think there should be trigger warnings for extreme violence and abuse, but it’s still a fascinating romance with time travel, ghostly images appearing in dreams, and visions of beautiful Cornwall in the18th and 19th centuries.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Storm Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

 

*4

Adler has written another winning romance (actually two romances) using a dual timeline featuring a relationship in 1908 between a female ornithologist who fights hard to be taken seriously in a field where women aren’t welcome and a newspaper publisher and wildlife illustrator who helps her discover a rare goose. Cal’s and Annie’s romance picks up over 100 years later when his ex finds the goose in the attic of her new home and asks for his help in discovering its provenance. The lighthearted mystery is the wild goose chase they find themselves in, and the solution is a hoot (or should I say honk).

One of the highlights of the story are the funny and rather poetic analogies Cal uses to compare love to furniture. Annie is quirky and believes in repurposing antiques in disrepair for use by her modern clientele whereas Cal believes that antiques should be restored to their former glory. Their relationship is a combination of the two viewpoints and reflects their personalities.

Readers can always depend on Adler’s romances to have a unique premise (the opposite of formulaic). In Wild Goose Chase, she’s written yet another witty, engaging story that stands out in a field of contemporaries. Highly recommended.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Berkley Romance through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Glow Job by Kristen Bailey

 

4*

Both Ben and Chloe are workaholics in careers they love but which are wearing them down. When Ben inherits his uncle’s Spanish villa, his sisters convince him to host a retreat which turns out to be less than expected (What, no goat yoga?), but much more than Ben and his stressed out first guests could have ever hoped for. Situated on the gorgeous island of Ibiza (which the author describes so beautifully), this friends to lovers romcom had me alternating between envy, because Ben is such a perfect book boyfriend, and hilarity. There is goat-wrangling, tussles with mean girls at a beach party, DIY face masks gone wrong, and startling discoveries at a tucked away beach complete with natural mud baths. There’s also the sweet and steamy budding relationship that any red-blooded fan of the genre will thoroughly enjoy.

If you’re looking for a light-hearted, laugh out loud romance to read this summer, look no further than Kristen Bailey’s Glow Job.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Storm Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.