Category: romance

books, romance, series

Romance series: The Fitzhugh trilogy

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The topic of today’s post probably shouldn’t come as a surprise to you if you were paying attention on Monday because I basically read these (slightly out of order) in less than three days!

So this trilogy follows the Fitzhugh siblings – two sisters and their brother as they find their happy endings. Each book centres on one sibling but also has bits of the other siblings’ stories – I read Ravishing the Heiress (book two) first because I got an offer for it and went back for book one straight afterwards because of the split narratives. Book one is Beguiling the Beauty featuring Venetia, who has been widowed twice and hears herself being insulted by the Duke of Lexington and decides to get revenge – and of course falls in love with him in the process. Book two is Ravishing the Heiress – Fitz’s marriage to Millie was arranged – he got her fortune to save his estates and she got to be a countess. EIght years on they’re best platonic best friends but he has no idea that she’s been in love with him all along. Will he realise before it’s too late. And then book three Tempting the Bride is Helena – who has been risking her reputation through the first two books after falling in love with a man who has married someone else. But she ends up engaged to her brother’s best friend who has been tormenting her for years (because he’s secretly in love with her) after a rendezvous goes wrong. And then she loses her memory…

The amnesia plot – and the disguise plot in the first book – are pretty wild but they do work. The third book is actually my least favourite of the three – despite or maybe because of the slow build you’ve seen with Helena and David through the other books. But then I don’t really love amnesia plots usually although as far as they go this isn’t too bad and it does round off the series nicely. My favourite (of course?) is book two because I love a marriage of convenience historical – to the point where I’m sure I must have written a post about my favourites but it seems not. Like their cousin the Fake Relationship contemporary, they are just my absolute catnip and Fitz and Millie are a great couple – friends where one of them hasn’t realised that they’ve fallen in love after all and that the other has been in love with them the whole time.

Anyway, thoroughly recommend. If you’ve read Sherry Thomas‘s Lady Sherlock series I think you’ll recognise the writing style, but these are definitely straight romances rather than the historical mystery with a romantic subplot that she’s doing with Charlotte Holmes. Which reminds me, I’ve got the latest in that series waiting on the shelf. I should really go and read that shouldn’t I…

Have a great weekend everyone.

Book of the Week, new releases, romance

Book of the Week: Business or Pleasure

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The summer release romance theme continues after last week’s Recommendsday with today’s BotW – the new novel from Rachel Lynn Soloman which is actually out this very day in the UK.

As ever, lets start with the plot. Chandler is a ghostwriter and after a disappointing experience at a signing for a book that she has ghosted for an influencer, she ends up having a one night stand with a hot guy she meets in the bookshop cafe. Sadly the sex is not as hot as the man and she chalks it up to experience and forget it as fast as possible. She moves on to her next gig – ghost writing the memoir of Finn Walsh – one of the stars of a cult classic teen werewolf show. It should be a step up for her – except that it turns out that Finn is her awful one night stand. Obviously Chandler’s determined to keep it all very professional but when Finn finds out that their night wasn’t as mind blowing for her as he thought it was, she agrees to help him out. As they write the book together they realise that they get on really well – but Finn is famous and Chandler is not, so is there any chance of a future for them?

Oh yes. This is a Sex Lessons but definitely no feelings/emotions book and I was absolutely here for it, because of course I am. Most of the book takes place as Chandler accompanies Finn on the fan convention circuit so there’s also a fair bit of forced proximity going on with this too, which again is something I love (see also Mrs Nash’s Ashes). This is another of The Summer of Famous Heroes but I really liked the Finn is terrible in bed twist to this one. And of course this does mean that the steam level in this books is H-I-G-H because of course what would be the point of doing this closed door. And having read Rachel Lynn Solomon’s other books I would say this is steamier than they are – which is not a problem for me, but I mention it for those who like their romances slightly more closed door. But I guess if you see a plot that is basically Sex Lessons for Reasons you should be expecting a fair bit of bedroom action.

And alongside all of that, Chandler herself is figuring out what she wants from life – with a bit of help from Finn. Before her one night stand with Finn, she was rejected as a romantic prospect by a friend that she’s had a crush on for years and she’s also very scarred from being laid off from her journalism job – which is what led her to ghost-writing in the first place. So along with the romance you also get to watch her figure out what she really wants and to build up the courage to go for it. And I do like it when the heroine has more going on than just a romance – and when thinks work out for her not because of the romance. And I hope that makes sense and isn’t too much of a spoiler. I did rewrite this whole paragraph because the first attempt gave too much away!

Anyway, I got my copy of Business or Pleasure via NetGalley, but it is out today on Kindle and Kobo and out on Thursday in paperback. I’m not entirely sure how easy it will be to get hold of – I don’t remember seeing Weather Girl or The Ex Talk that often in stores, but I think I have seen it in the Big Foyles and maybe also in Waterstones Gower Street. I will report back…

Happy Reading!

books, historical, romance, series

Romance series: The Survivors Club

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Mary Balogh has a new book out this week – Remember Me is the second book in her Ravenswood series, so today I’m taking the opportunity to talk about one of her other series – the Survivors Club books.

The six novels and one novella in the series follow six men and one woman who are injured in the Napoleonic Wars and end up convalescing at the same place – the home of the Duke of Stanbrook. In the way of such series, each book follows one of the group as they find love, with glimpses of previous couples as you go through as well and building to the final romance as you get to know the whole group.

I’ve read five of the novels and the novella as well and like reading Mary Balogh when I want something a bit less dramatic than some of the other equivalent historical romances. The heroes and heroines are a little older – old enough to have been soldiers for the men, and som of the women are widows, others have remained unmarried for Reasons. They all have real problems to overcome, but the angst is low and there don’t tend to be many stupid misunderstandings that could be solved with a conversation along the way. Basically you’re getting non-cookie cutter heroes and heroines and characters who grow and fall in love and mature without much melodrama. Although at the end of the series there is a touch of that. But by that point if you’ve read most of the others, then you’ll let it off because you’re getting the romance you’ve been waiting for for a couple of books!

These should be fairly easy to get hold of, I’ve seen all of them in the shops in paperback – although they came out a few years ago (the series was completed in 2016) so it may be slightly trickier now. But they’re also all on Kindle and Kobo.

Happy weekend everyone!

books, Recommendsday, romance

Recommendsday: Romances with heroes with children

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Well after writing my post about great dads in literature and with last week’s BotW featuring a a divorced dad, I thought I’d make this week’s Recommendsday some more romances featuring heroes with kids. I did originally call this single dad romances – but single parent usually implies that they’re not getting any help from the other parent at all, and that’s not always the case on this list.

One of the reasons I widened the scope of this post was that I started thinking “which is the Tessa Dare book with the doll funerals, because that’s a great one” and then when I reminded myself of the plot of The Governess Game I remembered that Chase is their guardian not their dad. Anyway the heroine is the governess trying to tame the wild orphans and it’s got great dialogue, forced proximity, the aforementioned doll funerals and a great romantic ending.

If you want your dad with kids to come as part of a big, melodramatic historical romance that’s pretty Old School (but not rapey like the Old School romances tended to be) then try Kerrigan Byrne’s The Highlander, where you have Great Big Giant Super Strong Scottish Laird paired with an English governess with a secret. It’s not 100 percent my novel – because it’s so dramatic and quite violent, but I know that there are a lot of people who really, really love this series. Also in books that I didn’t love but that other people have is the book zero in Eloisa James’s Wilds of Lindow Castle series – My Last Duchess. It has a Cinderella-y runaway plot with a hero with eight kids and a heroine with one and a potential wicked stepmother. This was actually published after the first few books in the series, so if you’d read those you already knew the couple and maybe gave it a bit of a pass on some of the bits that I didn’t like -I can see lots and lots of 4 plus star reviews.

Lets finish with historical romances with another one of my favourites: To Sir Philip, With Love – from the Bridgerton series. This is Eloise’s story and I really, really love it. Eloise has been writing letters to the widower of her cousin for years and then when things in London get too much for herself she finds herself on her way to marry him. Except that neither of them are what the other expects. I’ve said before that I don’t know how they’re going to work this for the Netflix series, so we’ll see how they pull that off given the way they’ve been adjusting the timelines.

To contemporary romances now, and I’m starting with a novella – Melissa Blue’s Grumpy Jake. Yes, it was a book of the week, but that was two and a half years ago, so it’s allowed. Bailey is a teacher, Jake the Rake is the single dad who has dated most of the single members of staff and whose kid has just hit her class. It’s lots of fun. Then there’s Happy Singles Day by Anne Marie Walker. It’s a sweet, fluffy holiday romance with a widowed hero with a B&B he’s not running and the professional organiser who visits for an out of season holiday.

Also a previous BotW, there is Jill Shalvis’s Forever and a Day from her Lucky Harbor series. It’s a small town contemporary with an overworked single dad and a former career girl reassessing her future, then this might well scratch that itch. The Lucky Harbor books come in groups of three – and this is the last of its trio, so if you’ve read any of the other two you’ve had glimpses of this in those before you get to this happy ending. In Rachel Lynn Soloman’s Weather Girl, Russell has a 12 year old daughter, and one of the reasons why he’s hesitant about relationships is because he doesn’t want to disrupt her life any more. This isn’t however the centre of the plot – which is a fake relationship type thing to try and get another couple back together to help the hero and heroine’s careers.

And that’s your lot for today – happy Humpday!

Book of the Week, books, new releases, romance

Book of the Week: Mrs Nash’s Ashes

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My excellent summer of romances continues with another new(ish) release for this week’s pick – and I am rapidly working my way through all the books on the romance tables in the shops. Which has been quite fun and is also fairly unusual!

Anyway, Mrs Nash’s Ashes is Sarah Adler’s debut novel and features a former child actress trying to make a trip to Florida to reunite her elderly best friend’s ashes with her lost love. But when the planes are cancelled and Millie finds herself sharing a car with a former course mate of her ex. Hollis doesn’t believe in love that lasts forever and Millie is a born romantic, looking to reassure herself after a break up so how will these opposites get on when forced to share a car and a twelve hundred mile road trip? Hint: this is a romance!

There seems to have been a trend for romances this year where one half of the couple is famous – or formerly famous – and some of them have been good and some have… not. Obviously as this is a BotW post this is one of the good ones. I read this in basically one sitting at the weekend and enjoyed it no end. It has opposites attract, forced proximity and a cynical hero that gets won over by a sunshine-y but unapologetically weird heroine.

I suspect that some will find Millie a little Manic Pixie, but she made sense to me, and it also makes sense that anyone who was in the spotlight as a kid might be a little different. But because you see everything from Millie’s point of view, I (as a reader) understood what she was doing and was fine with it all. And that also means that Hollis is a big old enigma to you as well as to Millie and that worked really well too. And although I’ve read a lot of the celebrity adjacent romances this summer, I haven’t read many road trips so that was a nice change too. Basically, if you’re looking for something to read on your summer holiday, this would be a great choice. I’m looking forward to seeing what Sarah Adler does next.

I bought my copy of Mrs Nash’s Ashes in Foyles and I’ve seen it in some of the other bookshops already too, so I think it will be fairly easy to get hold of. And of course it’s on Kindle and Kobo too.

Happy Reading!

books, romance, series

Romance series: Cowboys of California

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Given my focus on Rich People Problems this week, I thought I’d do a rich people romance series this week, just because I could. It just felt like a nice piece of synergy – although it’s a shorter than usual post because I’ve already written about two of the three of the series at length!

So the three books in Rebekah Weatherspoon’s Cowboys of California series feature three brothers whose family own a luxury dude ranch in California. They’re also fairytale re-tellings: A Cowboy to Remember is Sleeping Beauty, If the Boot Fits is Cinderella and A Thorn in the Saddle is Beauty and the Beast. As I said at the top I’ve written a bit about all of these before – the first and the last were BotWs when they came out, and the middle book was in a Romance on Ranches post, so there’s more detail on all the plots here, but basically these are smart and fun – and so smart about the fairy tale retelling angle that I sort of didn’t realise they were doing it until I read the blurbs.

The reason I wanted to feature them today is because of those paralels with the rich people problems books – because they’re about people falling in love in a low-key, money is no object, no-one’s future is in peril sort of way. There is a little bit of suspense-y peril in the final book, but nowhere near the peril in Weatherspoon’s romantic suspense series.

If you’re in the UK, the easiest way of getting hold of these is going to be on ebook – this is the link to the Kindle series page, here is the Kobo equivalent. The ebook prices do go up and down – I read two from the library but bought the other on kindle for under £1, so if you’re in the market for them and not in a rush, add them to however you run your watch list for book prices. If you’re in the US, they were definitely in paperback there, but I don’t know what the situation is in terms of getting hold of them at the moment as they came out during the pandemic and I don’t know how long physical books are staying in print in the bookstores these days.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Book of the Week, books, romance

Book of the Week: Nora Goes Off Script

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It’s Valentine’s Day today and we have a romance pick this week. Nora Goes Off Script is probably the easiest BotW choice in ages, for reasons which I will explain later in the post and (spoiler alert) are not the fact that it’s a romance and today is February 14th!

The plot: Nora is a scriptwriter for a romance channel, but after her husband leaves her and their two children she uses their breakup to write a script that doesn’t end in a chaste kiss and a happily ever after. And it sells to a movie company who want to film part of it on location at her farmhouse. Along with the film crew comes the film’s star: Leo Vance, former sexiest man alive and playing Nora’s ex. But when the film crew leaves, Leo doesn’t. And what turns into a week for him to clear his head turns into something more, something that can break your heart…

The Goodreads blurb calls this Evvie Drake Starts over meets Beach Read, and although I haven’t read Beach Read (yet) I have read Book Lovers and have been comparing it to Emily Henry to people so let’s call that pretty accurate. It’s romantic and sweet but it’s also relaxing. Yes Leo and Nora’s relationship doesn’t go smoothly but there’s no peril, and actually Nora does that thing I love in books of figuring out who she is and what she wants and the fact that she gets a handsome man by the end is a delightful bonus not the solution to her problems. Did that make any sense? It’s like in Legally Blonde: Elle is successful by the end because of her hard work and brains not because of a relationship. Yes she ends up with Emmett but he’s not the reason why she wins the case and gets voted valedictorian*.

I bought this while writing the Recommendsday post, started it in bed on Tuesday night and read nearly 100 pages without noticing (and definitely not what I meant to do and had finished it before bedtime on Wednesday. And then I read the last 20 percent again on the train to work on Thursday. Yup. I liked it that much. In fact writing this has made me want to go and read it all over again. It’s Annabel Monaghan’s first adult novel and I am already really looking forward to her second one which is due out in June. If it’s anything like as good as this I’ll be a happy girl.

As I said last week – this is 99p on Kindle at the moment and I don’t think you will regret it. I don’t know how easy the paperback will be to find – I couldn’t see it in Foyles on Friday, but that’s not foolproof.

Happy Reading!

* this is the crux of my biggest issue with the stage musical version of the show where Elle definitely succeeds because Emmet helps her and tells her what to do. But I digress.

romance, series

Romance series: Chance of a Lifetime

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With a new Kate Claybourn novel out this week, it seemed like the perfect time to talk about her Chance of a Lifetime series which I read over the last couple of months – and yes, like so many things it would have been quicker if I hadn’t gone on the Meg Langslow rampage. So sue me.

So this is a trilogy featuring three friends who win a lottery jackpot after buying a ticket on a whim. Each book features one of the women finding love and a happily ever after. Beginners Luck is about Kit, a materials scientist who has spent her adult life building herself the stability that her chaotic childhood didn’t have. She uses some of her lottery win to buy a fixer-upper to turn into her first real home. But standing in her way is Ben who has returned to his home town to try and recruit Kit for a corporate gig. Book two is Luck of the Draw, featuring lawyer Zoe who uses her winnings to quit the job she hates and to try and make it right for some of the people whose cases she was involved in. Aiden’s brother died in a wrongful death case that Zoe worked on – but when she turns up at the family home to try to make amends instead of sending her away he asks her to pretend to be his fiancée to try and help him buy a campground as part of his brother’s legacy. And finally Best of Luck is Greer who uses her winnings to go back to college and try and finish the education that she missed out on and to prove to her overprotective family that she’s independent. But when she discovers a problem that might stop her graduating. Alex is a world renowned photographer and Kit’s brother – and back in town for her wedding – and finds himself agreeing to help Greer with the photography projects that she needs to complete to get her degree.

I had trouble picking my favourite – I lurch between Kit and Zoe, but maybe give it to Zoe because the set up for her romance is so difficult that I wasn’t sure it was going to be fixable. I mentioned the fact that Ali Hazelwood has blurbed Georgie, All Along yesterday and if you like heroines with jobs in Stem, definitely go for Kit and Beginner’s Luck. I liked Greer’s story – but I did mostly want to strangle her family who take infantilising her to whole new levels, even if there is some reason for it. Of course there is a chance that I came to Greer’s story having read too much Meg Langslow where there is a tight knit family, but it all has a humour about it, that these don’t have so it may be a me thing.

Anyway, if you’re looking for a romance trilogy to read, these would be a good choice. Equally if you’ve just read the new Kate Claybourn and want more – these would be a good place to go to. As you’ll see I managed to buy one of the series twice, but I got them all on offer so I don’t begrudge it. And it made me laugh that I managed not to have a matching set despite owning one of them twice. Anyway, these are easily available from your ebook vendor of choice – Kindle has the three book omnibus for £3.99 at the moment, but the single books are £1.99 for book one and three or 99p for book two as I write this.

Happy Reading!

Book of the Week, romance

Book of the Week: When Stars Collide

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We’ve made it to November – the year is nearly over. And I’ve got all the usual goodies this week for the end of the month – quick reviews tomorrow, stats later in the week and book of the week today when I’m back in my happy place of romance.

When Stars Collide is the latest in the Chicago Stars series – about players at a (fictional) NFL team in the Windy City. I’ve mentioned these before – as many of them are variants on my favourite enemies to lovers trope and this is no exception. And there’s no actual football in this really as all the action takes off in the off season.

Our football player is Thad, the team’s back up quarterback, who has had been sent out on a publicity tour for a luxury watch brand who sponsor the team. Unfortunately, there is someone else on the tour too: Olivia, an internationally renowned opera singer. He thinks she’s a diva, she thinks he’s an uncultured jock and has a grudge against him. But of course over the course of the tour things change. Because this is a romance!

This has got a bit of a suspense plot line to it – maybe more minor peril than actual romantic suspense but it adds a little extra something to the romance plot, although I would say don’t expect it to follow the Rules of mystery stories if that makes sense and isn’t too much of a spoiler. I really liked that Thad was never rude about opera – in fact he likes Olivia’s singing right from first hearing it – and that both of their careers are taken equally seriously. I’m fed up with romances where one or other of the partnership abandons all their long held career dreams because: love. This is definitely not that. What it is is a well put together romance with an interesting hero and heroine with just enough obstacles in their way for the reader to understand why it takes them a whole book to get together.

When Stars Collide is currently £1.99 on Kindle and Kobo. I suspect you probably won’t be able to get hold of it in a shop without ordering it it as it’s order only on Foyles website and has a two week lead time. But it should be orderable from your local if you want it.

Happy reading!

bingeable series, romance, series

Bingeable series: Centre Stage

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Now it’s not been that long since Acting Up was Book of the Week, so I wouldn’t normally be writing about the series so soon but, and this is a big but, they are all in Kindle Unlimited at the moment (Adele Buck says for the next few months) so I’m writing about them now!

These are a series of connected romance novels about actors and acting related people. I’ve already written plenty about Acting Up, but Method Acting features a character you only see through emails in that, Alicia, who is performing in a Shakespeare play in Washington when she meets political lobbyist Colin, Acting Lessons is about James and Frederick who we first see having a summer fling in Acting Up and Fast Acting is Kathleen who we met in Method Acting working with Alicia and Russell the law professor who is friends with Colin.

I read them all in order – you’ll see that I binged three in a week – but you could just pick out your favourite trope and start with that – Acting Up is friends to lovers/secret crush, Method acting is bad first impression, Acting Lessons is second chance and Fast Acting is destination wedding Fling that turns into something more. They have fun banter and nice acting and backstage details. I also really enjoyed that Method Acting was set in Washington because it mentioned a bunch of places that I visited when I was there (how is it four years ago!) and I love that sort of thing.

They were a bargain when I picked them up – but they’re even more of a bargain now if you’re a Kindle Unlimited member. Now that does mean that they’re not on other platforms at the moment, but they will be back there are the KU exclusivity is up. Meanwhile, if you’ve already read all of these, Adele’s new book Handy For You – which is the second in her All for You series – came out this week too.