Good Girl Complex by Elle Kennedy

4*

Lovely new adult romance between star-crossed lovers…the townie bad boy and the rich girl. The relationship between Mac and Cooper starts with a lie, an act of revenge that puts Mac in the middle. Her long-time boyfriend, Preston, is the stereotypical rich asshole who uses his daddy’s money to threaten and try to destroy people he feels are trash (which is everyone outside his wealthy circle). Like the real-life rapist Brock Turner, he tries to force himself on a friend of Cooper’s and when Coop defends her, Preston has him fired. The best and only way to get back at him is through the girlfriend. No surprise that what starts out as a revenge plot turns into much more. Of course, as these things go, he’s bound to get caught in his lies. The question is whether or not Mac is the forgiving kind.

Although it’s a familiar trope, the complexities of their lives, including a negligent childhood lacking in love, and their drive to prove themselves despite their parenting elevate this book. Kennedy has written a story that plumbs emotional depths and gets to the heart of what it means for two young people to break from the constraints imposed by falling in line with the expectations society has formed based on their parents’ selfish choices. In the case of Mac and Cooper, they really see each other and, with each other’s support and encouragement, gain the clarity and courage to break from these restraints to pursue their goals and dreams. 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.

Lucky Leap Day by Ann Marie Walker

 

4*

With a nod to P.S. I Love You and with parallels to Christina Lauren’s Roomies, Walker has written a movie-worthy rom-com about an American woman, Cara Kennedy who, while nursing a broken heart, decides to take an already planned 3-day holiday to Dublin without the ex-boyfriend. Serendipitously, her Uber driver from the airport is Finn McGuire, a charming, handsome bloke with a killer Irish accent with whom she feels an instant attraction.

On Leap Day in Ireland (once every four years), tradition dictates that women can ask men to marry them, Thanks to copious amounts of Irish whiskey, Cara’s evening in the pub where she meets up with Finn on her last night ends with a proposal followed by a return to her beachfront bungalow in Malibu where they spend days getting to know each other, all while planning an annulment. Given the obvious attraction and easy friendship, it’s no surprise that they keep putting it off.

Cara is an aspiring screenwriter who has been paying her dues at a top talent agency working for Hollywood’s version of Amanda Priestley. Finn shows up at her office on a whim and, in the blink of an eye, finds himself auditioning for the lead in a highly-coveted blockbuster movie. Shortly after, Cara begins questioning if Finn’s affection is real or if she’s just been a pawn in his quest for stardom.

There is so much to love in this story: swoon-worthy book boyfriend who helps buttoned-up Cara learn to be spontaneous, Hollywood boss from hell who unwittingly drives her to finally write a winning screenplay, former starlet and sassy landlady Penelope who provides color, wit, and wisdom, feisty best friend and co-worker Julia who provides an endless supply of homemade Italian treats, tequila shots and a shoulder to cry on, and Oscar, devoted canine sidekick who voices the epilogue.

Highly recommended to readers who can’t resist a man with a panty-melting accent and sparkle in his eye.

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.

 

 

Lease On Love by Falon Ballard

 

4*

Spoilers ahead.

This debut novel is a good effort in need of better editing. The premise is solid and the slow burn romance between Jack and Sadie isn’t bothersome because they were clearly into each other, the sexual tension was off the charts, and their reasons for taking it slow were thoughtful and mature. Unfortunately, from the time that they finally shared their 1st kiss to the end of the book, the story dragged and Sadie’s near-constant self-flagellation became tiresome.

Jack definitely had secrets, but he shared painful memories and feelings with Sadie, making it crystal clear that her presence in his life brought him out of seven years of emptiness and grief. Sadie was also selective in what she shared about her abusive upbringing, but it was pretty obvious from the beginning that her low self-esteem was going to be the vehicle that drives their relationship. When someone has been hurt as deeply as she has, they’ll look for any excuse to avoid pain and loss, even if it means walking away before someone else can reject them.

The highlights of this book are the friendships Sadie cultivated during college and the way this loving group embraced Jack and helped him become whole again. I also really admired the way Jack and Sadie were able to grow their own emotional connection without sex muddying the waters. However, it was obvious from the outset that their relationship was going to hit a snag once it was tested. Despite Sadie’s talent as a florist, her business acumen, and the people who love her and try to convince her that she’s not the selfish failure she was raised to believe, she can’t get past it. So, as readers, we spend a good part of the book waiting for her to destroy the best thing she’s ever had.

Ultimately, this story is about friendship, love, grief, and forgiveness. Despite the uneven pacing and the frustration of listening to Sadie constantly criticize herself, it’s still a beautiful love story and Jack is a wonderful book boyfriend.

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.

The Family You Make (Sunrise Cove, #1) by Jill Shalvis

4*

Two damaged women, one due to parental abandonment and the other due to a traumatic event in her teens, have shut themselves off from love. Their friendship has been the one relationship where they’ve both opened up and found (platonic) love, but they can’t see that this is proof that they’re capable of romantic love. Luckily for them, they’ve both found men who are kind, loving, patient, and understanding. They both just need to believe that they’re worthy of love.

I really appreciated the terrifying meet-cute between Levi and Jane, when a near-death experience bonds them in a way nothing less could. In that short time in the swinging gondola, they expose their true selves. When they embark on a fake relationship, it’s inevitable that strong feelings will grow and that Jane will have to make a choice.

As for Charlotte and Mateo, theirs is an enemies-to-lovers tale but Mateo never saw her as the enemy. It was more like a Taming of the Shrew scenario where Charlotte is trying to protect herself from further emotional damage from a man. So, it doesn’t make sense when she uses the excuse that people you love leave when this was Jane’s reality, not hers. In fact, she has family that love and miss her.

Overall, this was a beautiful dual love story in which female friends who choose each other as family agree to support each other in overcoming trauma and opening to the possibility of life. It’s also about chosen family and forgiveness. These women are fortunate to find men who come from loving families, so that when they and their partners eventually choose each other, the familial embrace is expansive and hugely heartwarming.

Shalvis proves, once again, why she is one of the reining queens of contemporary romance. This is the first in her new series Sunrise Cove, set in the Lake Tahoe area, so her fans have much to look forward to.

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

Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson

4*

Spoilers!

Nora Hughes is in a rut, working as an editorial assistant for a floundering publishing company. After five years, she’s no closer to her dream of being an editor, and ongoing austerity measures have resulted in her being severely overworked and underpaid, especially after her salary is reduced beyond a sustainable level. In desperation, she agrees to freelance for a rival publisher and hides that fact from both employers. It’s inevitable that it’ll crash and burn. Meeting and beginning to fall for prized author Andrew Santos while, at the same time, using him to achieve her career goals is bound to end badly. If this story followed the predictable romantic tropes, readers would be assured of a HEA. However, Nora’s spiraling mental health raises the stakes and leaves the ending ambiguous but optimistic.

Andrew, who ranks himself at 10 of 10 on the happiness scale, is an absolute delight. He is thoughtful, protective (in a good way), and full of good humor, so it’s difficult knowing that his relationship with Nora is less than honest and bound to end with heartbreak. Nora is a complex character whose struggle with mental illness and misguided selfishness (motivated by survival) make it challenging to root for her, so readers need to be sympathetic rather than critical. The chemistry between them is tepid, especially with the total absence of any sexy scenes (other than a few kisses). Despite this, the hope is that Nora will eventually get the therapy she desperately needs, find a career path that’s enriching and fulfilling, and be able to reconcile with Andrew. They both deserve nothing less.

I thought this story had promise based on the summary, and I gravitate to books about books. However, I was somewhat disappointed not only by the slow pace, but by how dark it went with Nora’s depression and suicidal ideation. I don’t think it’s unusual, especially in today’s economy, for college graduates to take a “dream” job only to find that their expectations far exceed their reality. However, it’s the decisions they make (or fail to) about the next step in their career path that determine whether or not they’ll be happy pursuing something that takes up most of their waking hours.

Bottom line, it’s a good effort for this debut novelist, but expect women’s fiction rather than full-on romance.

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

Josh and Gemma Make a Baby by Sarah Ready

5*

What a wonderful surprise this book is! The cartoonish cover and cutesy title give the false impression that it’s just another light-hearted romance, but there’s so much more depth than that. Yes, it’s a mash-up of several tropes including brother’s best friend, second chance, and love triangle, but it’s also a thoughtful portrayal of infertility and the way in which fellow sufferers bond over their struggles to conceive and give birth and a scathing indictment of the self-help, inspirational charlatans who prey on people at their weakest moments. In this case, Ian Fortune, Gemma’s boss and long-time crush, is nothing more than a snake oil salesman whose stock in trade are meme-worthy quotations. One minor criticism of the story is the heavy sprinkling of these trite sayings throughout, both as chapter headings and as a way for Gemma to engage with friends and family without being open and honest about who she is and how she feels.

Josh is a charming, somewhat nerdy book boyfriend who, as far as Gemma knows, writes comics, lives in his dad’s basement, and collects panties as sexual trophies. In other words, he’s not boyfriend-worthy, but as former high school valedictorian, football captain, and homecoming king as well as her brother’s best friend who’s spent countless hours with her family, he’s the perfect candidate for a sperm donor once Gemma decides she’s not going to miss the chance to have a baby while waiting for “The One.” However, as Josh fully commits to making a baby with Gemma, she slowly realizes that she knows very little about him and the life he’s led in the 14 years since he went off to college. His reason for agreeing to be her baby daddy is very touching, and his love and care for his terminally ill father is heartwarming.

Ready does a wonderful job of developing her romantic leads and creating scenarios that allow secondary characters to shine, whether it’s the seemingly mismatched support group or Gemma’s mother with her well-meaning yet misguided and casually cruel attempts to find a man who will deign to marry her barren, divorced and “chubby” daughter. This thoughtful and entertaining romance is highly recommended for romance fans, anime cosplayers, and anyone looking for a delightful distraction from our troubling times.

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.

Adult Assembly Required by Abbi Waxman

4*

Fans of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill will be thrilled to revisit L.A’s Larchmont Village neighborhood and become reacquainted with that titular heroine and her bookstore co-workers in this new book of women’s fiction. Yes, there’s a very slow-burn love story (actually two), but it’s more about found family and friendship.

Laura Costello leaves her home and ex-fiancé in New York City to attend grad school for physical therapy in L.A. Her family of hardcore science academicians has never hidden their disappointment over her decision to forge a new path, and are convinced that she is too fragile due to her PTSD following a serious car accident and long recovery. However, her mother’s heavy-handedness and her controlling ex-fiancé’s unwillingness to accept her rejection and his insulting infantilization of her only serve to strengthen her resolve.

Following a fire in her new apartment building, she find herself in Knight’s bookstore (co-owned by Nina Hill). Serendipitously, sales clerk Polly hooks her up with a room rental in the house where she lives and, as time goes on, she grows to care about Maggie, her landlord and house mom, and Bob, her handsome housemate. Over the course of the summer, while waiting for her classes to begin, she cultivates friendships with Nina and Polly, joins Nina’s trivia team, and with Bob’s encouragement, kindness, and patience, slowly begins to overcome her trauma-induced panic over driving and her reticence about entering a new relationship. Will either of these two awkward friends ever find the courage to acknowledge the attraction that everyone else sees?

The biggest lesson Laura learns is that everyone has fears and personal issues that can hold them back from falling in love, forging new career paths, mending relationships with close family members, and more. However, her new chosen family helps her see that her inner strength not only aids her recovery but also provides the support her friends need to heal their own hurts, chase their dreams, and take a chance on love.

The only disappointment is the lack of any sexual tension between Laura and Bob. Their friendship is enviable, but aside from a couple of kisses and countless longing glances, there’s no heat. It would have been much more satisfying had Waxman used her epilogue to give readers the satisfaction of seeing the relationship ignite. Despite this, it’s a delightful story with very likable characters, satisfying subplots, glorious gardens, a plethora of books, and the unique idiosyncrasies of Los Angeles. Highly recommended.

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

The Wedding Crasher by Mia Sosa

 

4*

This is a fake dating romance featuring Dean, a lawyer who has his whole life planned, including a strategic marriage of convenience, and Solange, an educator/social worker who crashes Dean’s wedding to keep him and his intended from marrying for all the wrong reasons. When Dean realizes that having a girlfriend would make him more competitive at a shot of becoming partner, he asks Solange to enter into a fake relationship, which she’s on board with since she’s in need of a fake boyfriend as well thanks to her mother’s lie to save face with her annoying cousin. Talk about a relationship of convenience!

Thus ensues a steamy romance with all of the predictable tropes, including having to share a bed, finding their chemistry is off the charts when they have to act like they’re in love by sharing public displays of affection, and more. Of course, they’ve both made it clear from the start that they’re not interested in love and commitment, and it’s baggage from being raised by single moms at the root. Although there’s nothing particularly unique or memorable in this version of the fake dating trope, Solange’s family dynamics, especially between her Brazilian mother and two aunts, make for an amusing journey. It’s also fun to catch up with Max and Lina from The Worst Best Man. (Solange and Lina are cousins and more like sisters.)

If you’re looking for a fun, easy read that’s light on the angst and rife with sexual tension, pick this one up.

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

One Night On the Island by Josie Silver

 

4*

Cleo Wilder, a newspaper columnist who has spent the past few years reporting on a series of failed dates, is sent to a remote Irish island prior to her 30th birthday to marry herself in a self-coupling ceremony. However, instead of the idyllic luxury cabin that’s been reserved for her voyage of self-discovery, she’s been double-booked with Mack Sullivan, a gruff American photographer with a striking resemblance to Han Solo. He’s there to discover and document his roots while also giving himself and his estranged wife some distance because it is painful for him not to be under the same roof as his sons whom he deeply loves.

Although the first impression of Cleo is selfish and whiney, in time it becomes clear that her fear of her impending birthday and need for Salvation Island’s isolation have deeper significance, making the standoff between her and Mack more balanced. As they spend time together, initially on opposite sides of their chalk line boundary, they share three things about themselves each night and slowly come to appreciate and grow comfortable with each other.

It’s clear early on that this isn’t a typical romance since Mack is married and still at least a little in love with his wife. The moral ambiguity will undoubtedly elicit a range of reactions from readers, but the language Silver instills in her characters is poetic, heartfelt, and enchanting. It is refreshing to witness a couple handle their emotions and actions with maturity and consideration for others (although I guarantee debate on this opinion).

Like any good work of women’s fiction, the female friendships are front and center in the island’s knitting group and the men are equally welcoming and supportive. As Mack says in his speech at his exhibition, the Salvation Island inhabitants could have been very clannish and suspicious but, instead, were very welcoming unique characters who provided warmth on this beautiful, but cold, harsh island.

As for the self-coupling ceremony that seemed very self-indulgent on the surface, it actually proved to be a lovely expression of self-love and a celebration of the next chapter of Cleo’s life. After almost two months, she gains the clarity to realize that the noisy, frenetic pace and superficiality of relationships in London are no longer sustaining her and that her dream of writing a novel can come true with the island and her newfound friends as her muses.

In the spirit of the book’s “three things,” here are mine:

One, the colorful cast of characters who inhabit Salvation Island
Two, the emotional parting between Cleo and Mack and their need to stay connected via text by continuing their “three things” conversations, and
Three, Silver’s poetic descriptions of the rugged beauty of this wild Irish island

…and Four (even if Mack doesn’t like them), a wish for an extended epilogue several years later. You’ll understand why after you finish the book!

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

With Love From London by Sarah Jio

5*

Where do I begin to explain how much I love this book? Is it in the colorful, quirky neighborhood of Primrose Hill in London, the city of my heart? As a passionate reader, is it in The Book Garden, a charming bookstore owned by Eloise and inherited by her daughter Valentina? Perhaps it’s in the dual timelines from Eloise’s and Valentina’s points of view, Eloise’s starting in 1968 when she meets two men, one the love of her life and the other who is responsible for both her greatest joy and the incomprehensible cruelty behind her unbearable pain, and Valentina’s in 2013 when, at age 35, she’s facing divorce and the news that her mother has died, the same mother she hasn’t seen or heard from in 23 years. Ultimately, it is in the colors of the rich tapestry Jio has created with her stellar ability to weave together the multiple threads of love: romantic, maternal, obsessive, platonic, eternal, unrequited, and bibliophilic.


Although, at times, it’s heartbreaking to read about Eloise’s lonely life in Los Angeles under the thumb of her controlling husband Frank, Jio’s choice of the split timelines enables readers to see the parallels between hers and Valentina’s lives: the seemingly insignificant use of scavenger hunts which actually bring the story full circle, the chance encounters at the Royal Automotive Club where men come to their rescue in different but life-altering ways, and, most importantly, the books that provide solace to both Eloise and Valentina. Eloise often spoke of the lifespan of books, meaning the number of people who would read them, and it’s in the rediscovery of these shared stories through Eloise’s final scavenger hunt that Valentina learns the truth about the mother who touched so many people’s hearts and, from handwritten notes in the book she and her mother both loved the most, that she finds a new love of her own. Recommend to fans of Susan Meissner, Tracy Garvis Graves, Kristin Harmel and anyone who enjoys dual timeline novels.


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