Rewrite the Stars by Lindsay Hameroff

 

5*

In a genre that sometimes seems overpopulated with teens to 20-somethings, it’s so refreshing to have a romance with main characters in their late 30s who have the maturity to know what they want, even as their baggage tries to weigh them down. Marissa is a famous actor who has become irrelevant after making the choice to sideline her career to raise her children, one of whom has autism. In order to escape the tabloid frenzy after her unfaithful ex-husband gets engaged just six months post-divorce, she decides to take the kids to the Poconos lake home she’s inherited from her grandmother, a place with positive memories and, as it turns out, handsome contractor Jesse who has had quite the glow-up from when they knew each other as pre-teens. Marissa has been used to putting the needs of everyone before her own, so Jesse is a breath of fresh air who supports her and encourages her to fight for what she wants, both personally and professionally.

Although this steamy romance satisfies in that regard, there’s much more depth to this story of childhood friends to lovers. Hameroff, an autism mom herself, does a wonderful job of portraying the challenges Marissa faces raising her neurodivergent child Levi while also demonstrating how capable, loving, and healthy he is. There’s even a particular bit of dialogue that highlights how misinformed people can be about children on the spectrum. In a nod to Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine Productions and Book Club, Marissa fights to feature female authors’ novels and to give women in the notoriously misogynistic film industry the opportunity to shine. Between this focus and the willingness to make sacrifices to make Jesse’s and her relationship work, she rewrites the stars by forging her own path. 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.

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A Girl Like Her (Ravenswood #1) by Talia Hibbert

4*

Spoilers ahead…





I read and thoroughly enjoyed Hibbert’s The Brown Sisters trilogy, but I have never read her earlier books until now. This is an edited reprint of A Girl Like Her, book one in the Ravenswood series. Although I struggled with the story in the first few chapters, I eventually got into it and thoroughly enjoyed it. Like the Brown sisters and Hibbert herself, Ruth is autistic. Her unique way of navigating the world is heavily influenced by her neurodivergency, but she’s been harshly treated by the people in the small town after they mistakenly believed the town’s golden boy (and her secret boyfriend of seven years) when he accused her of coming on to him when he got engaged to someone else. Like so many women in controlling relationships, she blamed herself and hid away to avoid the censure of the townspeople. It wasn’t until she met Evan, who befriended her and accepted her as she was, quirks and all, that she finally began to let go of her misplaced guilt. He wasn’t put off by her prickliness and eventually won her trust, giving her the confidence to face her demons.

There were difficult moments in the story that could be triggering for some readers, but Evan’s innate goodness and Ruth’s bluntness and lack of guile were refreshing. Usually small-town romances are endearing, but this one showed more of the bad behavior fueled by gossip that can ruin a person’s life. Given that Ruth and Evan are a biracial couple, I was thankful that there was no sign of racism. I look forward to reading the rest of the series. Recommended.

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

Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood

 

5*

I loved this story. Two emotionally-damaged people who have been betrayed by negligent, abusive parents and unscrupulous bosses, find a connection and acceptance that neither expected. Although, on the surface, their goals seem to be working against each other, the growing feelings they have for each other can’t be denied. I love how Hazelwood portrayed Rue’s autism and Eli’s innate understanding of her neurodivergency and needs. He’s the perfect book boyfriend who not only accepts her uniqueness, but also gives her the support and protection she’s never had. I also enjoyed Rue’s relationship with her best friend, Tisha.

If you enjoy frenemies to lovers romances with an element of mystery mixed with corporate greed, you’ll enjoy this latest offering from Hazelwood. Highly recommended.

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

The Autumn of Ruth Winters by Marshall Fine

 

4*

Ruth Winters, who is presumably autistic, had spent the entirety of her adult life putting herself last and giving up her dream of a career in the art world. She also suffers from social anxiety, which contributes to her aversion to change. However, after spending her young adulthood serving as caregiver to her incapacitated father and many more years married to her late husband who was more of a roommate than love match, she finds herself at loose ends after being laid off. So, life begins to change whether she’s ready for it or not.

Aside from the babysitting she falls into, her life is small and lonely. She only has her loving niece Chloe and a highly-contentiously relationship with her sister, Ronnie. Then, in anticipation of her 50th high school reunion, she hears from an old crush, Martin, who wants to see her. She also gets some awful news from her sister which sets them on the road to reconciliation. It’s both humorous and heartwarming watching Ruth’s self-confidence build as others come to rely on her and, with the attention from both Martin and her sister, witnessing her really come out of the self-imposed cocoon she’d been wrapped in for decades.

As a woman almost as old as 68-year-old Ruth, I could relate to so much of what she has gone through. Her transformation is really inspiring for those of us who have sacrificed so much for our children, or in Ruth’s case, for her father and late husband, especially when we find ourselves lonely for companionship, reminiscing about our youth, and questioning some of the decisions we made that have caused some degree of regret. I know I’m not alone in occasionally thinking about “the one who got away” and how it would play out if given the chance to reconnect.

I liked almost everything about this book except the very abrupt ending. I would have preferred to see more of Ruth and Martin’s relationship building and have some insight into where Ruth’s life was heading. However, it is still a worthwhile, character-driven read that has left me pondering my own life choices, which is a great way to get my mind off of current events that I can’t control. Recommended.

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

Once Smitten, Twice Shy (The Wilmot Sisters #3) by Chloe Liese

 

Expected release date: 1/28/25

5*

A beautiful, poignant, friends-to-lovers romance with witty banter full of double entendres, smoking chemistry, and honest vulnerability. In my opinion, this is the most romantic of Liese’s books, and she just keeps getting better at creating characters who are imperfect but perfectly suited for each other.

After escaping from an abusive relationship, Juliet heads to Scotland to heal her psychological wounds. In an adorable meet-cute, she is asked to dance by Will, who she assumes is a ginger-haired giant of a Highlander but turns out to be American. Although there’s an instant spark, she’s not ready for anything romantic. So, after a dance, she says goodbye, never expecting to see him again. Serendipitously, seven months later, she finds him asleep in her mother’s greenhouse, and it turns out he’s Orsino, the best friend of her childhood next-door neighbor and surrogate brother Christopher. Although there’s an obvious attraction and an ease between them, Juliet is fearful of getting involved with another of Christopher’s friends given her disastrous last relationship, and even though she’s ready to start looking for love again, she feels rusty. Will, who is in search of a wife who can be his partner in his family’s distillery and can perhaps come to love him, needs to learn how to flirt and romance a woman. So, the two agree to practice date each other. Over four weekends, what started out as practice begins to feel real, but will they be able to let go of their fears and insecurities?

Juliet, a self-proclaimed romance junkie who loves historical romances and aspires to write them herself, shares with Will that his plan to marry to carry on the family business reminds her of a Duke who doesn’t recognize that his sense of duty shows his capacity for love. As a part of their plan, she urges Will to read some historical romance to get a sense of what women look for in a partner. However, even without benefit of the books, for a shy, autistic guy, he has some really romantic and poetic dialogue with Juliet. When he serenades her underneath his balcony, you can almost hear the collective swoon that’s coming once this book releases in January 2025.

Like all her previous novels, the characters are dealing with disabilities. Juliet has celiac disease and mixed connective tissues disease which causes considerable pain. Will has autism, and struggles with conversation, reading other people’s expressions and meaning, and loud, crowded spaces. Since they both have relatives with similar disabilities, they have a natural empathy and understanding for the difficulties they face. The kindness, caring, and honesty they share is part of what makes this love story so enchanting.

If you’re a fan of the series, you’ll be happy to know that there are many, many scenes with the couples from Books 1 and 2 including Bea and Jamie’s wedding, which is such a treat. So, even though it’s a standalone, I encourage readers to start with Book 1 to get more of Juliet’s backstory. Since it’s not out until January, you have plenty of time. Highly recommended!

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

Business Casual (Lovelight #4) by B.K. Borison

 

4*

Minor spoilers

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I’ve enjoyed reading all the books in the Lovelight series, but this is definitely my favorite of the four. I’m a huge fan of the frenemies-to-lovers trope, and the relationship between Stella’s (Book 1) half-brother Charlie and Beckett’s (Book 2) youngest sister Nova is wonderful. Charlie is such a sweet cinnamon roll of a boyfriend, and his insecurities make him even more endearing. On the surface, it seems like opposites attract, but there’s just something about these two together that defies the stereotype. I really appreciate the dual POV because it gives readers the opportunity to really see into Charlie’s huge heart, very much in evidence with the relationships he builds with people like Caleb (Book 3) and Alex’s abuela, assorted townspeople, the owners of the farm ad and their significant others, and, most importantly, Nova’s family. He is so starved for affection, acceptance, and the embrace of a family he never had that it just really warmed my heart to see it come to fruition, providing a balance to his narcissist, hypocritical, and cruel father.

The couples from the first three books are very much present in this one, and the opening scene is of Luka and Stella’s (Book 1) wedding on the farm. It’s also where Charlie lures Nova to the dance floor where the spark between them catches fire. What starts as a one-night-stand ends up becoming a friends with benefits arrangement that they dub “business casual,” both of them knowing that New York-based Charlie, a frequent visitor to the small town of Inglewood, MD who is helping out at the farm while the newlyweds are on their honeymoon, will be returning home after a month.

It's very obvious, even before Charlie confirms it, that he has ADHD and that his father’s disdain during his childhood helped foster the low opinion he has of himself and drives his need to be the positive person who just wants to make everyone happy. However, Nova, who may also be autistic like Beckett and can be prickly, provides a figurative soft place for Charlie to land, so that he can be vulnerable and honest about his feelings. It’s not all heaviness between them, though, because Borison does a great job of balancing strong emotions with snarky banter and very sexy scenes.

Nova has her own insecurities as well. In previous books, we learned how protective and supportive Beckett is of his sister, but it’s very interesting to see how much his belief in her drives her need for perfection. The difficult but illuminating conversation the two eventually have is heart-wrenching but cathartic.

Although this can be read as a standalone, I recommend reading the other books in the series so that you have the back stories of the couples who feature so prominently in this one. Recommended.

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

Only and Forever (Bergman Brothers #7) by Chloe Liese

 

5*

In this 7th and final installment of the Bergman Brothers series by Chloe Liese, we finally get Viggo’s story and it doesn’t disappoint. As dedicated readers know, Viggo is the romantic of the family who wears his heart on his sleeve and is often the one who calls the Bergman Brothers Summits where they help and encourage each other (or their siblings’ love interests) to work through the problems they’re having on the path toward love. It’s the absolute opposite of toxic masculinity and such a refreshing change to see men embracing their emotions and each other. 

 

It turns out that all the time Viggo was spending in Escondido in previous books was to learn the bookselling business with the ultimate goal of opening a (mostly) romance bookstore. (Shout out to the real one in Culver City, The Ripped Bodice!) However, despite his dedication to the romance genre, he had never been in love and seeing his siblings pair up one by one has been difficult. In his first week of college, he noticed Tallulah Clarke in one of his classes. His crush was instantaneous, which made her outright rejection of him devastating. So when he met her again several years later and she still did her best to ignore him, the last thing either of them expected was that they’d soon be helping each other meet their professional goals and making themselves vulnerable to each other by sharing their baggage and their disabilities (his ADHD and fear of failure and rejection and her Type 1 diabetes, dysfunctional family, and belief that love is nothing more than a social construct that has the ability to destroy you if you let yourself forget that). Yet, when he invites her to be his temporary roommate so that he can help her with the romantic relationship in her next book and she can help him get his store up and running, what’s the chance that a hopeless romantic and a jaded cynic can find common ground and a happily-ever-after?

 

Liese, who is neurodivergent and deals with chronic illness herself, began self-publishing this series and, with the help of TikTok, eventually found a publisher and an audience of avid readers that appreciates her honest portrayal of people with disabilities who deserve to be loved without having to compromise who they are. In all her books, she explores the vulnerability her characters face in light of childhood trauma, physical and mental challenges, and more. At the center of this series is the big (both in number and physical size) Bergman family who adopt their children’s and siblings’ romantic partners, providing all the love and support that these misfits have been missing. In Only and Forever, readers get plenty of time with all of the couples from previous books and, as bittersweet as it is to know this beloved series is at an end, it’s heartwarming that penultimate book boyfriend Viggo (who bakes, adopts rescue dogs and kittens, coaches kids’ soccer, names his plants after real romance novelists and his car for one of Tessa Dare’s fictional dukes, has a way with babies, makes pottery, and is the human equivalent of serotonin according to his brother) finally has his shot at a forever love. My only slight criticism of this enemies-to-lovers, grumpy/sunshine, slow-burn but steamy romance is that it gets REALLY sappy at the end. I highly recommend the entire series and hope that Liese someday gives us a bonus epilogue, a parents’ prequel or, better yet, a next-generation series.

 

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

Publication date: April 2, 2024

The Heart Principle (The Kiss Quotient #3) by Helen Hoang

 

5*

Spoilers:


The romance in this 3rd book of The Kiss Quotient series takes a back seat to the mental and physical health issues both Quan and Anna face, especially Anna’s autism. Whereas The Kiss Quotient and The Bride Test both have a humorous element, this one is much more somber and, at times, heart-wrenching. It’s also very anxiety-inducing. I was really looking forward to Quan’s story given his powerful and colorful presence in the first two books, so it was disappointing to see him subdued and somewhat emotionally side-lined by his cancer surgery and his feeling that his manhood has been diminished despite his efforts to hide these details from his family. However, his patience with and empathy and love for Anna show his emotional maturation and his understanding of autism gleaned from having a brother and cousin-in-law who are also on the spectrum.

If you need a crash course in autism, this story provides it. You’ll learn about masking, stimming, sensory overload, autism burnout, poor spatial awareness and more as you read about Anna’s struggles to adopt heteronormative behavior in order to fit into society and keep her family happy. However, readers are also witness to Anna’s devastation that results from trying too hard to be what others expect. Families are supposed to love unconditionally, but as we often see in novels, these same people can hurt their children and siblings by their greater concern for social standing than for their relatives. In this case, there are also the cultural expectations of being Chinese and the pecking order that puts a young female in last place. The respect that Anna’s much older sister demands is repaid with utter disdain, dismissiveness and casual cruelty masking as “tough love”, especially when she refuses to accept Anna’s diagnosis and need for compassion and understanding.

The beauty and purity of Anna and Quan’s relationship is manifested in their unconditional acceptance of each other, which allows them to be themselves, warts and all. So, even though this romance doesn’t fit any of the typical tropes, it shows that learning to love yourself and put your happiness first isn’t selfish; it’s the only way to truly be open to giving and accepting love from a partner. Highly recommended, but be sure to read books 1 and 2 to fully appreciate this final entry of the series.

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

The Bride Test by Helen Hoang

5*

In this equally charming and sexy successor to The Kiss Quotient, Hoang again features a lead character with Asperger’s Syndrome whose funny internal thoughts keep readers laughing. As the book opens, we are re-introduced to Khai (the cousin of Michael from the first book) at a wake for his 16-year-old cousin Andy, his best (only) friend who died in a motorcycle accident. Autism makes it difficult for him to show emotion (including crying) or tolerate touching, so he’s accused of not caring. All his young brain registers is that, if he can’t grieve, then he can’t love either. Ten years later, he’s so firmly convinced of this that his interfering mother finally takes matters into her own hands to ensure that he gets married and gives her grandchildren. She heads to Vietnam and devises a bride test to find a woman worthy of her son who won’t just want him for his money. There she meets My (Esme), a single mother who was abandoned by her daughter’s father when she got pregnant (just as her own American father abandoned her mother), and promptly offers her a chance to spend a summer in American getting to know Khai and hopefully convincing him that she is a woman he’d want to marry.

Despite the wacky way they are thrown together, the relationship between Esme and Khai is beautiful and full of humor, and they both blossom with the care and concern they show each other. Although Khai struggles with the disruption Esme brings to his well-ordered life, she is committed to being indispensable to him so that she’ll be able to remain in the U.S. and have her family join her. When Khai helps Esme look for the father she’s never known, their bond strengthens, but he continues to believe he is unloveable despite his actions to the contrary. Will Esme eventually pass the bride’s test and be the woman who gets through to Khai or will she end up back in Vietnam after the summer? Pick up this wonderful book and find out! Readers who have fallen in love with The Kiss Quotient may have a third book to look forward to…perhaps with Khai’s older brother Quan? Here’s hoping!


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

The Girl He Used to Know by Tracey Garvis Graves

5*

Annika Rose, an anxious and socially-inept English major at the University of Illinois, prefers the company of animals and books except when she’s concentrating on a challenging game of chess. Jonathan Hoffman meets her after joining the chess club his senior year (having transferred from Northwestern). Over a series of games (“one of the ways we communicate best”) and evening escorts to her apartment, they fall in love. Despite the quirks and awkwardness that have led to her being bullied, assaulted and ostracized throughout her life, he is drawn to her ethereal beauty, her courage, and her straightforwardness and feels he can be himself with her. She falls easily for him because he’s the first man whose touch she can tolerate, who protects her, and who loves her without wanting to change her. Although they have plans to move to New York together after graduation, a tragedy delays her departure, and her subsequent postponements finally lead him to believe she no longer loves him, leaving both of them to navigate their lives alone.

Ten years later, they’re both living in Chicago and run into each other. He is divorced and working for a branch of a New York financial firm, and she has fulfilled her dream of becoming a librarian. After years of therapy, she’s ready to love him as he deserves and he’s looking for a fresh start. “The affection I once felt for Annika might have gone dormant for a while, but it roars out of hibernation and makes me feel better about life than I have in a long time.” They both know they’ll eventually have to talk about what drove them apart, but will they be able to rekindle their love before they lose the chance for good?

Graves does a brilliant job of getting readers into the mindset of a person with high-functioning autism (the diagnosis comes late in the book), and paints a frustrating and bleak picture of what it means to be different in a world that is threatened by anything outside the norm. The love between Annika and Jonathan and the kindness and protectiveness they share warms the heart. The chapters alternate between 1991 and 2001, a date which becomes shockingly familiar towards the end of the story. This novel is about unconditional love, endurance, and the lengths people will go to protect those they cherish. Share it with fans of Susan Meissner’s A Fall of Marigolds and Jill Santopolo’s The Light We Lost.

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