Category: romance

romance, series

Romance series: Heartbreaker Bay

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It’s Friday and I’m back with another romance series for this week’s series post. This time another Jill Shalvis series – I’ve already written about her Lucky Harbor series and recommended a few of her others in recommendsday posts too.

Heartbreaker Bay is a series of eight connected romance novels centered around a renovated building in San Francisco, with characters coming from the residents of the building and employees of the businesses in it or nearby. In the centre of the building is a courtyard with a fountain, and the legend is that if you wish on the fountain you will find love. You know where this is going! You don’t have to read them in order – in fact I read them radically out of order because I borrowed loads of them from the library and read them over a fairly extended period. Half of the series are Christmas books and there are fill in novellas as well.

I was trying to pick a favourite of these but was struggling – by ratings it’s either Accidentally on Purpose or Chasing Christmas Eve, but I read them a while ago and who can tell if I’d still rate them above the ones I’ve read more recently. What I will say about all of these is that the characters have proper backstories, often with some trauma and have reasons for being wary of relationships and that often makes for the most satisfying romance novels for me. So maybe just start at the beginning and go from there!

These are in Kindle Unlimited at the moment, so the time is ripe for you to read them if you’re interest – that’s what finally got me to finish off the series now my local library and its hours are unpredictable…

Happy Friday everyone!

Book of the Week, romance

Book of the Week: The Art of Catching Feelings

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Happy Tuesday everyone, I finally made a start on the Alicia Thompson backlog last week and here I am reporting back!

When Daphne goes to a baseball game days after she’s signed her divorce papers, she’s doing it because her ex wanted the ticket. So she gets drunk and then she heckles a player and seems to make him cry. The moment goes viral and she reaches out to him on social to apologise… except in all the drafting and redrafting she edits out the bit where she says she was the heckler. And so when Chris unexpectedly replies to her message it all gets complicated really fast. Chris is struggling with his own issues and finds himself strangely drawn to his new online friend. But how long can Daphne keep her secret and what happens when he finds out?

Let’s get the big problem over with right away: yes she’s basically catfishing him. And we’re meant to be fine with it – or at least get over it by the time it’s all resolved because: romance reasons. And so your mileage on this one may vary depending on your tolerance for that. I was mostly OK with it, but it took far too long for Daphne to come clean with Chris and I think there were ways that the book could have worked better if the dual identity situation had been resolved sooner.

And I realise that that sounds like I didn’t enjoy this, but I actually did – I read it in about 24 hours – and I liked the banter and the baseball setting and the development of Daphne’s character. I just wanted it to be better in a couple of areas. I wanted to see Daphne’s ex getting his comeuppance for his awful behaviour – which would have helped the reader understand her a bit better (and thus help with the deception thing) – which could just have been as simple as him being really annoyed at the success she sees as part of the plot.

I’ve seen this in Big Foyles and the Waterstones with the romance sections, so it should be fairly easy to get hold of this one (compared to some of my choices I mean) but it’s also on Kobo and Kindle.

Happy Reading!

Book of the Week, new releases, reviews, romance

Book of the Week: Finders Keepers

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It’s Tuesday and I’m using this week’s BotW to report back in on the new Sarah Adler, which came out back at the end of June, but which I bought in paperback which hampered my reading of it what with having started it right before I went to Ghana.

Quentin and Nina were best friends when they were at school, right up until they weren’t. But now they’re both back in their home town for the summer and living next door to each other again. Nina was expecting to be moving in with her boyfriend and getting ready for the new term as a professor. Instead she’s single, homeless and jobless. Quentin is back from Europe and also newly single and suggests resurrecting the treasure hunt that that they were trying to solve that last summer when they fell out. Surely after nearly two decades they can figure out what went wrong that summer – in the hunt and between the two of them?

Is it a second chance romance if they weren’t ever really together the first time and they just had massive crushes on each other? Because that is what we have here. It should also be noted that I absolutely loved Mrs Nash’s Ashes, and really liked Happy Medium despite the presence of ghosts and fake mediums. This is making the hat trick of BotWs for Adler’s first three novels but I liked this the least. But that’s because it turns out two of the main things it’s doing are not really my favourite tropes: this has got an incredibly oblivious heroine with anxiety problems that make me stressed and the two of them need to use their words more. If they had done that then they wouldn’t be in the mess they are and I wouldn’t find it so stressful to read and could probably deal with the cringey bits of their treasure hunt better.

But I’m still recommending it because I know that this is very much a me thing and I know other people are going to really love this. Yes I’m hoping adler’s next one goes back towards the vibes of Mrs Nash’s Ashes and gives more sunshine-but-quirky but given where we are in romance at the moment with a lot of college age pairings and early 20s heroines who are learning to adult I will still take it. Because that’s not where I am in my reading life at the moment and you just need to look at my post from The Works on Saturday to start seeing why that’s a problem right now!

I’ve got this in paperback so I’m hoping it will be one of my easier picks to get hold of and of course it’s on Kindle and Kobo too for £2.99 at the moment (but who knows how long that will last given that it’s nearly the end of the month.

Happy Reading!

romance, series

Romance Series: Bareknuckle Bastards

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Happy Friday everyone. As I mentioned last week, Sarah MacLean’s first contemporary fiction book is out in the world, so this week I thought I’d take the opportunity to talk about one of her historical romance series while I wait to see if I can find a copy of These Summer Storms in the shops!

There are three books in this series, for three brothers and each has one foot in high society and one in the more dangerous streets around Covent Garden. In fact two of these were books of the week when they came out – that’s Brazen and the Beast and Daring and the Duke which are the second and the third respectively.

These started coming about about seven years ago, which was right when historical romance really started to pivot to include more stories that weren’t just happening in ballrooms but got out into the streets a little bit more. I have always really liked MacLean’s writing style – she has a wit and sarcasm that really appeals to me. And although these have sex in them, and are sexy, they’re not as 0-100 as a lot of books can be at the moment – there is relationship development before they jump into bed!

These were relatively easy to get hold of when they came out: they had UK paperback editions, although I bought two of mine from Word in the US and we won’t talk about what that cost me in postage because they are signed and they came with goodies! And I own at least one as an ebook too because they’re on Kindle and Kobo as well.

Have a great weekend everyone!

reviews, romance, series

Romance Series: Women Who Dare

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Happy Friday everyone, another week, another romance series for you today.

Beverly Jenkins’s Women Who Dare trilogy is three books set in the aftermath of the Civil War in the United States. First there is Rebel, which is set in New Orleans in the aftermath of the Civil War. Our heroine is Valinda, a transplant from New York in town to teach the newly emancipated community while she waits for her fiancé to return from abroad. Our hero is Drake LeVeq, an architect and son of an old New Orleans family descended from pirates. Second is Wild Rain which is set in Wyoming and is that rare thing: a western historical romance that I liked – so much so that I made it a BotW! And finally To Catch a Raven – which is set back in New Orleans and has a hero and heroine who are forced together in order to reclaim a stolen copy of the Declaration of Independence. Raven comes from a family of grifters, Braxton emphatically does not and as they fake marriage as part of the job they start to discover that perhaps they’re more suited to each other than it seems.

I don’t read a lot of American-set historical romances but I will always make an exception for Ms Beverly Jenkins. I love her writing and characterisation – her Blessings contemporary series is one of my favourites as you know – and she brings all that to the historicals but with interesting settings and premises that you don’t see a lot in the genre. I don’t think you have to read these in order to appreciate them – I didn’t – but you’ll probably get a better experience if you do.

They used to be quite hard to get hold of – but they’re all on kindle now, and they seem to rotate on offer fairly regularly so you can pick up the set.

Have a great weekend everyone!

romance, series

Romance series: Puffin Island Trilogy

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It was the first day of spring this week and weather has really picked up to coincide with it, so this week for the series post, I’m writing about a romance series set on a windswept island in Maine*.

This is called the Puffin Island trilogy, although there is a 0.5 (which I haven’t read) which is a Harlequin Presents book in the UK and doesn’t seem to be obiviously set on the island or linked to the other three. But the trilogy itself is centered around three friends who each use the same cottage on the island when times in their life get tough.

Book one, First Time in Forever, features Emily who is hiding out on the island with her niece whose mum has just died in a plane crash, and her romance with Ryan, charismatic yacht club owner and former journalist. In Some Kind of Wonderful it’s Brittany, back on the island after a decade away only to discover the ex-husband who ditched her ten days after the wedding is back there too. And in Christmas Ever After, it’s Skylar and Alec who have been fighting in the background for the previous two books and who finally work things out between them.

Now obviously this is the wrong time of year for many people to be reading a Christmas novel, but I’m pretty sure if you read the first two you’ll end up reading the third anyway, even if it’s not Christmas reading season. Because individually these are great romances, but when you read them back to back they build as well and make you want to see what happens next. And of course as always Sarah Morgan’s great at creating places that feel like they’re real and people that you want to hang out and be friends with – see also the Snow Crystal/O’Neil Brothers books.

There are coming up on a decade old now, so I don’t know how easy they’re going to be to get hold of in paperback, but it’s on Kindle and Kobo too – and Christmas Ever After is in Kindle Unlimited at the moment

*why is Maine so popular as a setting for romance and mystery books? Is there something in the water?

Sarah Morgan three books, read them all

romance, series, Series I love

Romance series: Lucky Harbor

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Jill Shalvis – 12 books have read them all

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone and how could I do any thing other than a romance series for my post today?

Our setting is a small coastal town in Washington state, and our romances are standalone but interconnected. So you can read them in any order you like, but in some cases you’ll get the best pay off from having read in order (Forever and a Day I’m talking about you). Lots of my reviews for these on good reads use the phrase “fun and flirty” which I think is fair – there are challenges in the lives of lots of the characters, but never in a bleak and hopeless way that takes away their agency in finding a happily ever after. Peril is low, but satisfying resolutions are guaranteed.

On occasion there are issues that could have been solved with a simple conversation – but I forgive them because the accidental pregnancy trip crops up very rarely here, and we all know that’s one of my least favourites!

I thought I had read all of these – but it turns out I may not have. I blame the fact that I read some in omnibus form and that makes it easier to lose track of things. But on the brightside that means I may still have a couple of treats in store when I need them.

These should be pretty easy to get hold of – the three book omnibuses are actually better value on kindle – and if you’re not sure and want to try I find the samples on omnibuses are actually pretty good because they’re often a longer length because there are so many pages the percentage adds up a fair representation

Have a great Valentines everyone whatever you’re doing and a lovely weekend!

Book of the Week, new releases, reviews, romance, romantic comedy

Book of the Week: The Rom-Commers

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It might be December, but today’s pick isn’t a Christmas book (sorry), it is a literal beach read from my holiday last week. But even if you’re not on a sun lounger right now, I think it’s still a pretty good option for a bit of escapist reading if that’s what you need.

Emma has always wanted to be a screenwriter – she’s studied for it, she’s obsessed by rom coms and she’s been writing her own for years – and she’s won contests with them. But she’s not in Hollywood hustling for gigs, she’s in Texas looking after her dad. That is until she gets a call from an old friend to offer her the chance to work with a legendary screenwriter. Charlie Yates has won all the awards you could think of but the screenplay for his new movie sucks. It’s a rom com written by a man who doesn’t believe in love – and it shows. Charlie is Emma’s writing idol so she heads off to LA for six weeks to doctor his script. Except when she gets there, he doesn’t want to work with her and he doesn’t even care about the script, it’s just a means to an end. But Emma isn’t letting her big chance go without a fight…

Now I love a Rom Com – I’ve actually been revisiting some of my old favourites recently (with somewhat mixed results, but that’s a story for another day) so as a premise this was right up my alley. And this has got all the banter and sparks flying that you could want. Emma and Charlie are a chalk and cheese duo on the surface but as you get to know them you realise how perfect they are for each other underneath. It’s got a third act twist that made me worry that I’d missed a “a novel” disclaimer on the front, but it was OK in the end. I don’t think I would have able to write about it if it had broken the rom com conventions that it was writing about – unless I was rage-writing any way.

I enjoyed Katherine Center’s previous two book Hello Stranger and The Bodyguard, but I think this is my favourite of hers yet. And I’m looking forward to seeing what we get next too.

This is out now – it’s a relatively recent release in paperback so I haven’t had a chance to check out the bookshops to see how easy it is to find in person, but I’m hoping it shouldn’t be too hard. And of course it’s on Kindle and Kobo.

Happy reading!

Recommendsday, romance

Book of the Week: Rivals

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I was trying to work out when I was finishing the Week in Books yesterday how obvious it was that what I was going to pick today. I was figuring that given that I wrote about the adaptation on Sunday and then a 700 page plus book appeared on the list and had been read in under a week the signs might have been there. But who can tell the workings of my mind? Anyway, here we are.

So (obviously) this is the book the Disney+ series is based on. And what I didn’t mention in the post on Sunday is that the eight parts of the adaptation don’t cover the whole of the book. And having been left on a cliffhanger of not knowing l of course I wanted to see how it all turned out without having to wait however many years it’s going to be for series two. If we get a series two because I’ve been burned before (see: My Lady Jane, Pushing Daisies, The New Adventures of Superman). And also I wanted to know how different the book is from the show.

And the answer to that second question is it’s pretty close. There are a few things that happen a bit differently most of which I can’t mention because of spoilers but the one I can is that Rupert being blonde in the book and dark haired in the show. And that didn’t bother me because traditionally I prefer a dark and brooding hero and I saw the adaptation first. I’m fickle me. The 80s attitudes to some things are still there in the book – but some of the best lines in the show come directly from the book dialogue.

Some of the people are worse in the TV show than the book, others the reverse. There are a few characters in the show who are more fleshed out on screen than they were in the book. I was wondering how they could do a whole other season out of what was left of the book but there’s so much plot still to cover I’m pretty sure they can – especially if they want to bring a few of the things that are different back around to the book. Plus the ending of the book is all very fast. So there’s a bit of scope there.

All in all it’s deeply readable and although it satisfied my craving for resolution it probably made me even more desperate for series two sooner rather than later. Hey ho. At least I can reread/rewatch if I want to.

You should be able to get a copy of this absolutely everywhere given the adaption and of course it’s on Kindle and Kobo too. Plus there’s a new reading of the audiobook performed by Georgia Tennant aka David’s wife if you want a bit of a crossover effect and nearly twenty five hours of audio to listen to!

Happy Reading!

books, new releases, previews, romance

Bonus review: Fake Flame

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I read it in April and it’s been out in the US for about a month now, but Adele Buck’s new romance Fake Flame is out in the UK today, so I’m taking the opportunity to give you a little bonus review!

Fake Flame opens with a public proposal – of the most unwanted kind. University professor Eva’s ex-boyfriend has decided that the way to win her back after cheating on her is to serenade her in the middle of the quad. Eva disagrees and finds it deeply manipulative (she’s not wrong there!) and tries to set the piano on fire. Sean is one of the firefighters called to the scene and manages to talk her down. And soon he’s offering to be her fake boyfriend to keep the Awful Ex off her back. He’s hot and sweet – but he’s also younger than Eva – but there’s something about him that makes her agree. And soon they’re enjoying spending time together – but it can’t go anywhere can it?

This is the first in a new series from Adele Buck and it’s a lot of fun. It’s a reverse age-gap, fake relationship romance, with a smart heroine who knows what she’s looking for in life, and a hero who is pretty wise for his age, but needs to work a few things out. There’s not a huge amount of conflict between the two of them until quite late on, but I actually liked it more for that – and there’s other sources of conflict going on to keep the tension going. I think if you liked Cathy Yardley’s Role Playing, then this will hit some of the same spots for you. I basically inhaled it, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what the rest of the series brings. And if you haven’t read any Adele Buck before, may I point you at my post about her Centre Stage series, which I read last year.

My copy of Fake Flame came via NetGalley, but it’s out now in the UK as well as the US on Kindle and Kobo, and Waterstones is claiming to have the paperback too, which is exciting.

Happy Reading!