Breaking Badger by Shelly LaurenstonHoney Badger Chronicles #4Paranormal RomanceAugust 31, 2021KensingtonARC Breaking Badger is the 4th in Shelly Laurenston’s Honey Badger series that I absolutely have loved. They’ve all been books that make me literally laugh out loud to the point that I can’t listen to these books in public because I always get awkward stares. Laurenston’s humor is definitely hit or miss, if you look up her reviews they are filled with either ‘what the hell is this’ or Continue Reading
Review: Portrait of a Scotsman by Evie Dunmore
Portrait of a Scotsman by Evie DunmoreA League of Extraordinary Women #3Historical Romance09/07/2021 by BerkleyARC Review by Angela This series has been a mixed bag for me. On one hand, I simply adored the first book in the series and loved the premise of this group of women who are fighting for suffrage and women's rights. On the other hand, book two left me irritated and angry after getting almost to the end and running into the tried, cliche gay villain trope. Did not like at all. Continue Reading
Angela’s Minis- The Royals Next Door by Karina Halle and Battle Royal by Lucy Parker
The Royals Next Door by Karina HalleContemporary Romance08/31/21 by BerkleyARC This author is hit or miss for me, but I couldn't pass up a romantic comedy where the heroine's new neighbors are Meghan and Harry-inspired royals and her love interest is their bodyguard. That's just catnip for me as a reader. Piper Evans is a school teacher with a lot on her plate. When royalty moves in next door her life gets a whole lot more complicated. Despite living in a small town there isn't a real Continue Reading
Angela’s Minis- The Devil You Know by Kit Rocha and Breaking Badger by Shelly Laurenston
The Devil You Know by Kit RochaMercenary Librarians #2Fantasy/DystopiaAugust 31, 2021, by Tor BooksARC Being a Kit Rocha fangirl, I'm super excited for pretty much any new release by this author duo. The Devil You Know is the second book in the Mercenary Librarians series, and focuses on Maya and Gray. Maya's brain is a weapon, she was trained to carry data, and anything she has seen, heard, read, and experienced is stored in her memory and she literally can not forget. She is also 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
Review: What if You & Me by Roni Loren
What If You & Me by Roni LorenContemporary RomanceJuly 6, 2021, by Sourcebooks CasablancaAudio ARC Review by Melinda I really love parts of this book so much. This continues the Say Everything series and examines mental health, trauma, and disability in really interesting, yet romantic, ways, and I love all of that. I love that both Andi and Hill felt like real characters, they were fully fleshed out with realistic issues and flaws. Messy characters are my favorites, and these two Continue Reading
Kate’s Minis: Very Sincerely Yours by Kerry Winfrey and A Lowcountry Bride by Preslaysa Williams
Very Sincerely Yours by Kerry Winfrey June 15, 2021 by Berkley Contemporary Romance Very Sincerely Yours is an adorable book. Unfortunately, I don't have that much more to say about it. It follows romance novel conventions, including the third act break-up, has one of my favorite tropes (hidden identity), and is very sweet. This is obviously not a negative - sometimes this is what you're looking for in a book! But not a ton happens in Very Sincerely Yours, and despite the aforementioned Continue Reading
Melanie’s Minis: Happy Endings by Thien-Kim Lam & Talk Bookish to Me by Kate Bromley
Happy Endings by Thien-Kim LamContemporary RomanceMay 18, 2021, by Avon Up until about the last 20% of this book, I really loved it and it was a solid 5-star book for me. The female main character, Trixie, is a Vietnamese American who, much to her parent's dismay, sells sex toys for a living. It was a second chance romance with her ex-boyfriend, Andre, who had dumped her via a post it note when he learned about his mother’s cancer diagnosis (this all happens way before the book begins). I Continue Reading
Review: The Duke Undone by Joanna Lowell
The Duke Undone by Joanna LowellHistorical RomanceApril 6, 2021, by BerkleyARC Review by Angela I think the cute, artsy covers have confused me at this point, I just do not know what to expect when I open a book anymore. Joanna Lowell is a new to me author so that was no help either. The Duke Undone is waaaaaay more angsty (like whoa) and filled with dark themes than I expected. This isn't a bad thing, but between the alcoholism, PTSD, dyslexia, family members being locked away against Continue Reading