I read some better books in the last week, but my reading is still meh. It is hard to not let the events of the world bleed in to how I feel about reading.

Fireworks by Sarina Bowen. (Pubs 11/13) There is a note in the beginning of the books that says “For every survivor everywhere”. Take that as a content warning. There are mentions of verbal and attempted sexual assault in this book. They are strong in this book. It was heavy and at times, it was hard for me to read. But I did mostly enjoy the story. The heroine, Skye, returns to Vermont and entangled with her childhood crush, Benito Rossi.

This can be read as a stand alone, but is very connected to the previous books in the True North series. Although now that I am reflecting on the book for this review, I am wondering why there was no mention of Jude and Sophie from Steadfast. It would have been a natural fit because Benito s working hard to clear Vermont of opioid and fentanyl. At times this suspense/crime plot felt a little overwhelming to me. I wanted more focus on the relationship. And because of that plot, I felt cheated on the relationship side. It felt so fast. I wanted more of how they had spent the last 12 years pining for each other. Not meet again and then instant love.

This was not my favorite of the series, but overall I enjoyed it. I loved Bittersweet and Steadfast in the series and the rest have been meh.

Grade: C
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Love at Last by Claudia Connor. I really enjoyed her early McKinney brothers books so I wanted to read this. Plus I love a jilted-bride story. And the hero is a single dad. Basically all the tropes I love are in this book.

The heroine Clare goes on a “lady-moon” after she is left at the altar. While there, she meets a beautiful man, Deacon. Sexy times ensue. A misunderstanding happens and insert conflict and drama. I was here for it.

There was some sneaky Jesus in this book. But it is also possibly that is wasn’t intended to be sneaky. Clare works for a private religious school and it is never really talked about until a thing happens and then she no longer works there. At one point Clare mentions that she needs to “trust in God”, but up to that point, Clare appeared to have no other relationship with her religion or God. So I will label this Sneaky Jesus but assume that the author had intentions of making it a bigger deal, but left it out.

I got this book from Netgalley. It states that it is an uncorrected proof, but goodness gracious some of the spelling and grammar errors were absolutely atrocious. The hero lived in Ohio, close to “Pittsburg” so I assume she meant Pittsburgh. The no H version was used several times. There were some other errors that were bringing me out of the story. They were little, but sometimes that is all it takes. I try to be forgiving with ARCs, but some of these felt like they were too big for even an ARC.

I mostly enjoyed the story though. It was a fast read. Had some tropes I love. I believed in the HEA for the couple. Her stories tend to be medium spicy heat level and that was perfect for this story. I will definitely be reading more of her books.

Grade: C
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