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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5*
Although it touches on grief, guilt and depression, The Last Page is mostly a humorous story with a steamy workplace romance and one of the most eccentric and endearing cast of characters (The Last Page bookstore’s staff) I’ve ever read. The theme of chosen family is central to the story, and I couldn’t help reflecting on the idea of New York, with its huge population, being one of the loneliest places on earth. Ella and Henry, through the power of reading and shared love of books, managed to foster a sense of belonging and family for a hefty slice of the city’s denizens, including Henry himself. One of my favorite elements of the book are the “Staff Picks” at the start of each chapter. (My overwhelming TBR list has grown.)
As I read the passages where Ella shares her favorite parts of her city as only a native can, I couldn’t help thinking of Kate Clayborn’s wonderful book, Love Lettering, which I called “a love letter to NYC” when I reviewed it several years ago, as well as Cole and Layla Are Just Friends by Bethany Turner. All three have their protagonists fall in love while exploring the city. If you know readers who love NYC and/or bookstores, please share this delightful enemies-to-lovers romance. 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.
4*
Grief is a powerful thing, and this bittersweet romance is flooded with it. Luckily for Joss, Asher’s steadfastness, kindness, and friendship keep her from drowning in it, although her metaphorical walls are a mile high and nearly insurmountable. This lovely and frequently hilarious story by Duncan strikes a good balance between romance, humor and grief, but the path to love is a very twisted one, with many heartbreaking scenes. Joss’s denialism does start to get tedious, but Mother Nature has a wicked way of leveling the playing field. Asher is a “beautiful unicorn” of a man who has his own insecurities which he hides well behind his charm and affability. Joss's and his friendship is enviable, although I frequently wanted to shake some sense into both of them. Overall, though, I really enjoyed their story and recommend it to fans of Katherine Center, Kate Clayborn, Abby Jimenez and Christina Lauren.
I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Mira through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.
Very sweet, steamy age gap romance set in a fairytale resort in the NY Catskills. I love a story where the main characters open up to each other and build a relationship based on mutual respect and care. Taylor and Ethan are absolutely adorable together. Generally, I’m not a fan of love at first sight, but Janovsky managed to make me forget that their time of forced proximity together was so short. Between story hours gone wrong, archery lessons with sizzling chemistry, and working together to put on a fabulous sweet 16 party for Ethan’s daughter Samara, their connection is obvious to almost everyone around them. Unfortunately, Ethan’s rather shrewish, emotionally distant ex-wife Amy Lu is Taylor’s boss, so they don’t see a future together.
Ethan has ADHD which his ex misunderstood and criticized, whereas Taylor, with his closest sibling also being neurodivergent, is fully accepting and supportive. He also has a wonderful relationship with Samara which is a comfort to Ethan since he doesn’t see her often being 3000 miles away. Although, on the surface, it seems like a case of opposites attract, it’s really the emotional connection between them that makes them so perfect for each other. If you like MM romance that’s relatively low on angst, pretty steamy, and heartwarming, I highly recommend this delightful book.
I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Afterglow Books/Harlequin through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.
I am so thankful for the day I discovered Sophie Cousens. Her romances are unique, sometimes unconventional, but always heartwarming and full of optimism. Her newest book Is She Really Going Out with Him? is no exception.
Anna Appleby is a newly divorced journalist, nearing 40 and with two young children. She’s convinced herself that she’s no longer interested in love or marriage, but when her job at a floundering magazine is suddenly on the line and Will, age 30 and her workplace nemesis, seems to be gunning for her job and impressing both the previous and new owners, she realizes she needs to step up her game and find a way to make her column more enticing to younger readers. Yet, she never expects that she will be forced into a competition where she agrees to ten dates suggested by her children and Will arranges similar dates using an online app, both sharing back page column space. In the process, Anna not only rediscovers her vitality and self-worth but also learns that her misconceptions about Will are unfounded.
The setting for this novel is Bath, UK, and Cousens highlights many of the places and events that make this gorgeous city so memorable, including Bath Abbey, the Roman baths, and the Jane Austen Centre and annual ball. I appreciate her depiction of divorce and how it doesn’t have to be a romance death sentence for middle-aged women, and that everyone, no matter their interests, appearance, idiosyncrasies, or stage in life, can find a love match. I also liked how she juxtaposed Anna’s ex with his much younger girlfriend against Will and his defiance of the sexist stereotypes that seem to define modern dating. Cousens has such a talent for bringing her characters to life, including secondary ones like Anna’s children, many of her unconventional dates, and the colorful character of Loretta.
Fans of Jill Mansell, Debbie Johnson, Abby Jimenez, Katherine Center, and Emily Henry will adore this novel. Highly recommended.
I received a complimentary ARC of this book from G.P. Putnam’s Sons through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.
Last year, I read a beautiful Christmas romance called Five Gold Rings and wondered if Bailey’s newest book, We Three Kings, could ever begin to rival it. I’m happy to say it does. It’s also set in London, which I still maintain is the most beautiful city in which to celebrate the holiday. It’s also a workplace romance but features Maggie and her three male employees in the IT department of a London firm who have become friends in their four years together. So, it’s no surprise how torn she is when she’s told, at the start of Christmas break, that she’ll have to lay off (make redundant) one of these lovely men who are like family. The painful decision is complicated by the plans these three proposed when they learned she’d be spending Christmas alone, and she doesn’t have the heart to ruin them by revealing the sad news. Her new and budding feelings for Leo also compound her decision with the worry about crossing ethical lines as boss and employee. From attending awkward (probably autistic) Frank’s sister’s wedding as a fake girlfriend and then joining eccentric Jasper’s posh but dysfunctional family for a Christmas party and foiling a fox hunt (cue the adorable baby foxes) to visiting Leo’s warm and welcoming family for a raucous Christmas Eve and Day and participating in an annual donkey abduction, Maggie comes to love this trio of wonderful, quirky men as she learns more about their lives and the influences that have formed them into the true “kings” of men they are.
If you’re looking for a truly heartwarming and humorous Christmas story that is full of kindness, love, laughter, loyalty, fade-to-black romance, and a high degree of silliness, I highly encourage you to check this one out. I guarantee you will be absolutely charmed.
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.
Spoilers:
This love story within a love story is an absolute delight! It is the second contemporary romance I’ve read by Lauren Kate, and i hope she continues to write these sorts of love stories since I’m not a fan of the romantasy genre she’s better known for.
After reading Noa Callaway’s first book in college, Lanie Bloom was so inspired by her brilliant take on love that she gave up on the idea of following her parents’ footsteps into medicine and decided to pursue a career in publishing instead, becoming assistant to Peony Publishing’s editorial director Alix. After seven years of emails between Lanie and Peony Publishing’s top author Callaway (who has never been seen by anyone but Alix), in which she plays good cop to Alix’s bad cop when trying to get Noa to accept editorial changes to her manuscript, Alix decides to quit after having a baby. Lanie is “provisionally” promoted to editorial director so long as she can get Noa, who is four months past her deadline for her next book, to deliver a manuscript within 3 months. When they finally meet, Lanie is shocked to find that the real Noa(h) is a man, making her question everything she thought she knew about what constitutes “real love.”
As a way to break Noah out of his writer’s block and find inspiration for what he hopes will be a book that covers the entire spectrum of love, not just the beginning, Lanie proposes a series of encounters of lesser-known New York City landmarks like The Cloisters, Pomander Walk, and Gapstow Bridge in Central Park. It's pretty obvious from the first meeting at the Chess House in Central Park that, despite Noah’s true identity, they’ve become friends of sorts over the past seven years, playing virtual chess, sharing bits of their lives, and Noa even sending tulips to Lanie after each new book is published. So, it’s fun to see how Noah incorporates parts of their story and his feelings into the new book he’s writing.
In an author’s note, Kate says “I wanted to explore how Lanie and Noa(h) can have a stimulating intellectual argument one moment, burst out laughing the next, and share each other’s grief in the third.” I’d say that she achieved this beautifully as Lanie and Noah’s relationship segues from emails to impromptu meals where they challenge each other to train trips down to D.C. where Noah opens up about his mother’s worsening Alzheimer’s and Lanie talks about losing her mother at age 10 whose last bit of advice to her was to hold out for someone she’d “really, really love.” Noah learned about love from his romance-loving single Mom and his two “aunts” and, from that first book he wrote at age 20, Lanie discovered someone who outlined the elements that make up real love.
In addition to the central slow burn, clean romance written from Lanie’s POV, this is also a love letter to New York City, and I never tire of learning more of those out-of-the-way places that make the City so fascinating. I also really enjoyed Lanie’s grandmother, BD, a holocaust survivor and sex-positive septuagenarian who provided the maternal guidance Lanie so sorely needed. My only slight criticism is that I felt it ended a bit abruptly. I would have liked to have seen what the reaction was when Noah finally shared his true identity with his readership and what came after their kiss that we waited until the last page to get. Still a lovely romance, though, so I recommend it.
I received a complimentary ARC of this book from G.P. Putnam’s Sons through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.
Katherine Center can always be depended on to give us beautiful, closed-door romances with a bit of angst. The Rom-Commers is no exception. She tackles everything from sacrifice in the name of love, abandonment issues, grief, and misplaced guilt to the worthiness of the romantic comedy genre and the challenges of working in the film industry in Los Angeles.
Emma was a promising screenwriter who sacrificed probable success and ten years of her life to take care of her younger sister and her father who suffered a traumatic brain injury when she was a teen. She’s earned a living writing freelance movie reviews, but her former high school boyfriend-turned-talent manager continues to send her job prospects. When the opportunity to work as a ghostwriter for her favorite screenwriter Charlie Yates is offered, it’s a chance she is loath to pass up. He’s famous for “guy” films but is being forced to write a romantic comedy in order to get the green light for his next gangster film. He, like so many other “serious” writers, disdains the genre and, not surprisingly, is no good at writing them. Lucky for him, Emma’s an expert and she refuses to let him ruin “his career, the romantic comedy genre as a whole, and all our lives with this nuclear-waste-fueled dumpster fire of a screenplay.” If she can just get past his curmudgeonly appearance and grumpy demeanor (that makes him seem 20 years older than he is) and break down the walls he has built after being abandoned by both his mother and ex-wife, then she might be able to teach him a thing or two about what makes for a successful romance, that love is real (and not just in the movies), and that sacrifice and risk are worth it if you find the right person.
There’s so much to love about this story: the witty banter and snark (especially the frozen veggies on the bruised tailbone scene); the way Emma challenges Charlie, first by being brutally honest about how bad his first rom-com screenplay is and then by forcing him into immersion research on romance (something he’s committed to in his previous movies but resists for what he considers not worth the effort); the fact that she has a virtual museum of movies kisses on her laptop for Charlie to view with her, but still thinks real-life experience is better; how Emma and Charlie’s relationship is so obviously classic rom-com material, including everything from line dancing to literally falling into each other (which Emma insisted wasn’t the least bit romantic until it happened to her); and, finally, Emma’s take on happily-ever-after: “We act like ‘and they lived happily ever after’ is trying to con us into thinking that nothing bad ever happened to anyone ever again. But that’s never the way I read those words. I read them as ‘and they built a life together, and looked after each other, and made the absolute best of their lives.’" For fans of Center’s The Bodyguard, there is even a cameo from Jack Stapleton who is slated to star in the film. This is rom-com gold for fans of Christina Lauren and Abby Jimenez. Highly recommended!
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.
5*
Switched is a standalone sequel to Sarah Ready’s Ghosted, one of my favorite books of 2023, featuring Jillian’s best friend Serena “Ducky” Otaki, a brilliant American physicist working in Geneva. In a hysterical meet-cute at her favorite local pub, she accidentally sits on wet varnish and asks a handsome stranger, Henry Joules, to help her get unstuck. Although there’s an instant attraction and intense feelings, her one true passion is physics and she has no space in her life for a loving relationship, especially if it means merging their lives and giving up her individuality and career. Henry, also a physicist and her new project lead, comes from a big, loving family and thinks he’s found the woman of his dreams until she plays off their night of passion as just a bit of fun.
Fast forward 427 days and during a heavy thunderstorm, particles collide and they wake up in each other’s bodies. As they go from Geneva to his brother’s wedding in England and then on to her childhood home in California, they tap into each other’s memories, hear about their upbringing from family members eager to share stories, and start to strengthen their connection based on a growing mutual respect. The question is, can a coffee-chugging vegetarian who surrounds herself with chaos and a neat freak who loves his full English breakfast and daily mug of tea, and who can barely tolerate each other, figure out how to switch back? And, if they do, will the stars align for a happily-ever-after for these two lonely souls?
Sarah Ready has quickly become one of my favorite authors. Each book she writes has a unique premise, vivid characters, and a relatively low-angst romance. In Switched, she’s gives us the perfect book boyfriend, a free-spirited female in STEM, and a large helping of magical realism. It’s a joy to read. Highly recommended.
I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Swift & Lewis Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.
5*
What a refreshing change from the typical romance! Not only has Olivia Dade given us a fabulous couple of middle-aged protagonists in Rose and Martin, but Rose is also a plus-sized woman who Martin describes with positive, affirming words like gorgeous, statuesque, curvaceous, “regally tall”. Both of them are carrying a lot of baggage that makes getting to know each other challenging, but, despite their difficult childhoods and divorces, they become friends. A big reason is their respect for each other as dedicated teachers. Rose is determined to be cordial but cold to the new hire who has been assigned her favorite classes and is invading her classroom during her two planning periods to teach them. However, she hadn’t expected him to be so kind, sensitive, and respectful. In fact, Martin is nearly the perfect man: a loving father, champion of women and LGBTQ youth, a sexy nerd, and a phenomenal, caring teacher. His lesson on female Egyptian Pharaoh Hatshepsut, taught while Rose was there to observe, encapsulates his qualities. “She just watched Martin – who knew full well she was observing him that particular period – walk his high school class through a well-considered discussion of gender, power, and the historical erasure of women and the marginalized. Heard him declare with quiet passion that their stories mattered. That, by inference, her story mattered. That she mattered.” It’s no wonder that he makes her feel safe and protected even if she is perfectly capable of fighting her own battles. But will she be able to let go of the past to have a future with Martin? An excellent contemporary romance that focuses on issues very pertinent today in a way that doesn’t seem patronizing or tokenish and which pays homage to hard-working, devoted teachers. Book one of Dade’s new There's Something About Marysburg series. Highly recommended!
I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Hussies & Harpies Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.
