Irons & Works series by EM Lindsey Contemporary Romance Self Published Reviewed by Melinda There is almost nothing better than finding a new author to you and then loving their writing. The only thing better is when there is a whole series to binge! One of my favorite tropes in romance is found family, I gravitate to books and series that have even a hint in them, and The Irons and Works series is just teeming with found family. This series starts with Free Hand, where we're introduced Continue Reading
Melinda’s Minis: Sun of a Beach by Mia Sosa and Abel by Katee Robert
Sun of a Beach by Mia SosaContemporaryApril 8, 2021, by AudibleARC This is another audible original, which seems to be more and more of a trend with romance authors. Donovan and Naomi are given an assignment for the swimsuit edition of the magazine they work on and things are interesting since they dislike each other. Naomi began the novella in an ‘I would never date a co-worker’ frame of mind and changed to ‘I am in love’ mindset in the length of 24 hours basically. Donovan changes from Continue Reading
Review: Hot Copy by Ruby Barrett
Hot Copy by Ruby BarrettContemporary RomanceApril 13, 2021, by Carina Press Review by Melanie I genuinely did not know how to start this review, to be honest. I’d heard so many things going into it, I was fully expecting to absolutely love this book and much to my dismay...I did not. First of all, the blurb and the cover do this book no favors. Both give off a lighthearted rom-com vibe but there is a whole heck of a lot of issues addressed in this book that could trigger a lot of Continue Reading
Review: Second First Impressions by Sally Thorne
Second First Impressions by Sally ThorneContemporary RomanceApril 13, 2021, by William MorrowReview by Angela It must be a very, very difficult thing for a debut novel to be a huge hit and beloved by many a romance reader. Expectations are set and readers want that same level of awesomeness over and over. Sally Thorne literally hit it out of the park with The Hating Game. Her sophomore effort, 99 Percent Mine, was just an okay read for me, mainly because the first chapter was so disjointed Continue Reading
Review: The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan
The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan Contemporary Romance April 6, 2021 by Berkley Reviewed by Kate The Intimacy Experiment is a novel with lots of promise. Unfortunately, I felt that Danan's sophomore book didn't quite deliver on the expectations I had. I'll start with what did work for me in The Intimacy Experiment. First, the characters. Naomi is a bad-ass boss bitch and Ethan is a cute cinnamon roll and neither of those things was the conflict between the two. I am a big fan of Continue Reading
Review: Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle
Twice Shy by Sarah HogleContemporary RomanceApril 6, 2021 by G.P. Putnam Review by Melinda I am a huge fan of Hogle’s debut, You Deserve Each Other, to the point that I was unsure how I’d feel about her next book, which is unfair to Hogle, but I wanted to love this one just as much. But Twice Shy is completely different from YDEO - in such a wonderful way. Because YDEO has an incredibly distinctive voice and you either love it or hate it, and Twice Shy has a much quieter voice, but one Continue Reading
Guest Review: Always Only You by Chloe Liese
Today Smexy welcomes Alyssa (Hi Alyssa!) who is talking about disability rep in her latest read. You can find her on Twitter at @measuredandslow Always Only Yoy by Chloe LieseBergman Brothers #2Contemporary RomanceAugust 4, 2020 I was really excited to read this one; you don’t see Rheumatoid Arthritis or Autism, let alone both, in romance that often. When it does show up it tends to be in older characters or a reason for the femme character to be benevolent and caring (there’s a Continue Reading
Review: Careless Whispers by Synithia Williams
Careless Whispers by Synithia WilliamsContemporary RomanceMarch 30, 2021 Review by Melinda First of all, this series has the most beautiful covers, I can't stop staring at the forehead touch on this one! And the colors are so gorgeous and exactly how I imagine Elaina and Alex. I've been really looking forward to getting Elaina's story because we've seen glimmers of her in the first two books of the series and it was clear that there was so much going on there. She's been so career-driven Continue Reading
Angela Minis: Reviews for books by KJ Charles, Kerrigan Byrne, and Sara Desai
The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by KJ CharlesLGBT Historical RomanceFebruary 24, 2021, by KJC Books Yeah, so I'm a KJ Charles fangirl. I admit it. Every new release I just want to grab up and read as soon as it hits my kindle, but on I also want to keep it in my pocket to look forward to when I need a pick me up after a bad day. The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting features the grumpy/sunshine trope to perfection. Robin Loxleigh, Mr. Charm, is in London with his sister in order to secure Continue Reading
Book + Wine Pairing: The Elite Kings Series by Amo Jones
I love to drink wine when I’m reading and thought it would be fun to try a new concept, book + wine pairing recommendations. Grab a glass and let’s begin. The Silver Swan by Amo Jones has been on my wish list for awhile and recently showed up as a freebie on Amazon. I’m a fan of dark romance and this book pushed all the right buttons. It was also absurd, completely improbable, introduced multiple characters and storylines, so many mysterious circumstances, relationships and numerous Continue Reading