Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn SolomonContemporary RomanceJanuary 11, 2022 by BerkleyARC Review by Melanie The first book I read in 2021 was a book by Rachel Lynn Solomon titled The Ex Talk. It was actually my very first review for Smexy (you can find the review here) and I loved it so much and was super excited to find a new to me author whose voice just worked for me. I’m excited to say that Weather Girl was maybe even better. There was so much to love about this book that it’s kind of Continue Reading
Melanie’s Favorites of 2021
When I started going through all my 5 star reads for 2021, I was pleasantly surprised that of the 141 books I've read as of this moment, I had well over 40 that were 5 star reads. Either I was just really fast and loose with the 5 stars this year or I had a really great reading year. I'm betting it's the latter. I've managed to narrow the list down further by focusing on 24 5 star titles that were all published in 2021. So, here are my absolute favorite reads of 2021! Contemporary: The Continue Reading
The Psy/Changeling Channel: Kiss of Snow
Melanie: I’m just going to be upfront - this deep-dive will probably be the longest one yet because once again, SO MUCH happens in this book but also, it’s Kiss of Snow (!!!) and neither Melinda nor I have made any secret of the fact that we absolutely adore this book. That’s not to say we’re ignorant about all of the many (MANY) consent issues found within but it’s a good thing we decided to read this book at the beginning of the month because we have a LOT to say. (Also, who’re we kidding, Continue Reading
Review: A Thorn in the Saddle by Rebekah Weatherspoon
A Thorn in the Saddle by Rebekah WeatherspoonContemporary Romance10/26/2021 by Dafina BooksARC Review by Melanie I have always imagined that cowboy romances are not for me. I’m not a huge nature person, have never been big into horses and as such, just assumed that cowboys, as a romance hero archetype, wasn’t really my jam. It wasn’t until Rebekah Weatherspoon released the first book in her Cowboys of California series back in 2020 that I began to question that maybe under the right Continue Reading
Review: Two Houses by Suleena Bibra
Two Houses by Suleena BibraContemporary Romance10/5/2021 by Carina PressARC Review by Melanie Two Houses, the charming debut novel by Suleena Bibra, is your classic enemies-to-lovers trope. Priya Gupta and Gavin Carlyle work at competing auction houses, each owned by their respective families. Having known each other for years, attending the same schools, and running in the same social circles, Priya has always hated Gavin, her long-time nemesis. But as the famous saying goes, there’s a Continue Reading
The Psy/Changeling Channel: Play of Passion
Melanie: Once again, I had very little memory of this book except for my original GR review letting me know I loved it the first time I read it, which was over two years ago. I wasn’t sure whether the book would hold up - after all, so much has changed in the past two years - but, despite a lot of pretty glaring consent issues that started right from chapter one, I found myself loving the book, loving Indigo, and absolutely adoring Drew. Melinda and I talked a lot about the fact that we both Continue Reading
Review: A Lot Like Adiós by Alexis Daria
A Lot Like Adios by Alexis DariaContemporary Romance9/14/2021 by William MorrowARC Review by Melanie There’s so much that I want to talk about with regards to this book and it’s kind of hard to know exactly where to start. While the book does give us both Michelle and Gabe’s POVs, it very much feels like a book that’s really focused on Gabe’s journey. Therefore, I’m going to use the same approach in this review. Gabe’s professional obligations are the instigating factor that drives the Continue Reading
Melanie’s Mini’s: Bidding for the Bachelor by Jackie Lau, The Dating Playbook by Farrah Rochon, and Secrets of a One Night Stand by Naima Simone
Bidding for the Bachelor by Jackie LauFong Brothers #2Contemporary Romance August 17, 2021, by Jackie Lau Books Quintessentially on brand for Jackie Lau with her trademark food and craft cocktail tour of Toronto, Bidding for the Bachelor is also her first foray into m/m romance. If you read the first book in the Fong Brothers series, Pregnant by the Playboy, you would have met both of these characters and there were hints of where the second book in the series was headed. Unfortunately, my Continue Reading
Review: Heartbreak for Hire by Sonia Hartl
Heartbreak for Hire by Sonia HartlContemporary RomanceJuly 27, 2021, by Gallery Books Review by Melanie I tried hard to like this book. I thought the premise was interesting and clever and unusual to say the least. But ultimately, it broke down in the execution and by the end of the book, I was truly appalled by the actions of the MMC and could no longer support or even care about whether these people ended up together. In the course of reading a romance, if the reader stops being Continue Reading
The Psy/Changeling Channel: Blaze of Memory
Melanie: Well, this book was a ride…the kind of ride I actually wanted to get off of long before it ended. It’s a little strange to me that in the same month that we delved into some of the Psy/Changeling novellas, we also read a book that arguably could and maybe should have been a novella. When Melinda and I were messaging back and forth during the course of reading this book, she made a comment that really resonated. “Is boring worse than asshole,” she pondered. I’m hoping that over the Continue Reading