5*
Once again, Lynn Painter has written a swoonworthy young adult romance that grabs you from the first chapter and holds your attention right until the end. I think it’s my new favorite Painter novel. Childhood friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes, so I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Dani and Alec as they cautiously, sometimes painfully, navigate their second chance at a romantic relationship when they reconnect as seniors in high school. They both believe that they were ghosted after Dani stopped visiting Minnesota each summer and their weekly coded postcards also stopped coming. So, they’re understandably angry and very cautious about resuming their friendship, let alone a romance. In the intervening 5 years, nerdy Alec has had a major glow-up and has every appearance of being one of the obnoxious jocks Dani has learned to steer clear of. However, when they accidently fall into a fake relationship, it gives them the closeness and time to discover how much they’ve both changed but, more importantly, how they’re still the same at heart.
If you’re looking for a young adult novel that isn’t too angsty, has some steamy kisses, and features main characters who act their age, you can’t go wrong with Fake Skating. If you’re a fan of hockey romance, this YA version of the trope won’t disappoint. Highly recommended.
I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Simon & Schuster BYR through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.
5*
I always look forward to Debbie Johnson’s books, and this one didn’t disappoint. Life has been pretty rough for me these past few years, and this delightful second chance, childhood friends to lovers, small town romance was the pick-me-up I desperately needed. Liam and Ellie are both lovely people who never got the opportunity to turn their friendship into something more, letting 20+ years pass before they were reunited at Christmas in the small Cornish town where they grew up. Ellie is dealing with baggage she’s carried with her since she was uprooted from Cornwall and moved to the U.S., believing that her father didn’t want her. Liam, despite dealing with profound grief, has been busy raising his children and growing a profitable business empire. During the Christmas season, they’re thrown together on numerous occasions, and the spark that never fully ignited in their teens, roars to life with a couple of steamy kisses, but will they both be able to move beyond their pain and insecurities to acknowledge their feelings for each other? Read this charming Christmas tale to find out. Highly recommended.
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*
Since Mannequin is one of my favorite movies, I was eager to read Janovsky’s gay version of the awkward window dresser whose wish for the perfect man comes true. Janovsky’s story does not disappoint. Henry is lonely, disillusioned from past relationships gone bad, suffering from social anxiety, and desperately trying to save his Great Aunt Isla’s vintage store. Aidan, with his charm, naïveté, and sense of wonder, is the perfect foil for Henry. Set in a small New Jersey beach town at Christmas, it has all the earmarks of a Hallmark movie (a theme that runs throughout the book) with a little bit of spice. It’s low angst, full of humor, and a perfect gift for readers to give themselves during the holidays. Highly recommended.
I received a complimentary ARC of this book from St. Martin’s Griffin through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.
