Title: The Playing GameSeries: Off the Ice #1 Author: Ainsley Booth Genre: Contemporary RomanceTropes: Second Chance/Hockey RomanceFriends to LoversRelease Date: March 9, 2023 BLURB NHL veteran player Kieran Marsh has had more relationships than trips to the sin bin, making him a player on and off the ice. And two years ago, I had a one night stand with him when I thought I would forever stay the anonymous girl in the hockey jersey. But now my city has an expansion team, and guess who's Continue Reading
Review: Broken Lines by Jagger Cole
Broken Lines by Jagger ColeNew Adult RomanceOctober 27, 2022Kindle Unlimited Review by Jen This book wasn’t on my radar at all. Until, someone told me the author was a guy and then I was super intrigued. Plus there's all kinds of delicious trope candy; big age gap, rockstar romance, enemies to lovers, forbidden love in many ways. Jackson Havoc is a huge star. His band is crazy popular. All the guys are friends. When Jackson’s best friend and bandmate dies, Jackson disappears. Continue Reading
Angela’s Minis- Duke Most Wicked by Lenora Bell and The Heart’s Blood Arrow by Kai Butler
Duke Most Wicked by Lenora BellWallflowers vs. Rogues #3Historical Romance09/27/22 by AvonARC For some reason, every book in this series has been a slow read for me. Maybe it's the low angst, maybe it's the pacing... I'm not quite sure. It took me a month and a half to finally dig in and finish reading. This is the story of the Duke of Westbury and his sister's music teacher, Viola Beaton. Westbury is rogue and a scoundrel and a wastrel. He pretty much gambles, drinks, and Continue Reading
Angela’s KU Update!
I don't know about you, but the choices in Kindle Unlimited can be daunting to wade through when you are looking for something new to read. Here are a few I enjoyed recently and would recommend. Contemporary: In a Jam by Kate CanterbaryPublished 9/20/22 Marriage of convenience, slow-burn, grumpy/sunshine... this romance has it all. After being dumped at the alter only hours before her wedding, Shay is depressed and hiding out in her best friend's house. Then she finds out she has Continue Reading
Iby’s Minis: Reviews for books by Mariana Zapata, Lauren Layne and Elizabeth Cadell
When Gracie Met the Grump by Mariana ZapataUrban FantasySeptember 15, 2022Kindle Unlimited Mariana Zapata is a stealthy author - she just randomly announces on instagram that she is dropping a book that day, and everyone rushes to read it. If you like Zapata’s writing, this book will definitely work for you. Highly slow burn, over 600 pages long, lots of dialogue between the two main characters. What’s different about this book is that it’s not contemporary romance - it’s a superhero Continue Reading
Scenic Sunday- Wicked Games by Jessica Clare
Amazon tells me I bought this book on April 7, 2014, but all I remember is gobbling up this series in one month and then writing a blog post about it on Fiction Vixen. Do y'all remember when we did the "If you like... then you should read?" posts? Those were fun. This series, which focuses on reality TV competition shows (think Survivor, Amazing Race, Big Brother) is laugh-out-loud AND romantic. True romantic comedies. This scene is one I think of even after 8 years. It's a challenge that Continue Reading
Scenic Sunday: All Rhodes Lead Here by Mariana Zapata
Mariana Zapata has a die-hard following on Bookstagram and BookTok. She self-publishes long, slow-burn books, and I think she is one of those authors where the writing will either work for you, or it won't. For me, her books really work for me - I like the focus on the hero and heroine, and I love a good slow burn. Her books are on Kindle Unlimited, so if you partake and are curious about checking her out - this is a great, low-stakes book to start with. This is her most recent book, and Continue Reading
Review: Rival Radio by Kathryn Nolan
Rival Radio by Kathryn NolanContemporary RomanceMay 20, 2022, by That's What She Said Publishing Review by Melanie I normally review a lot of ARCs for Smexy but I have to make an exception for this book, which came out in May of this year. I don’t know how I managed to miss a book that so very clearly tapped into all of my romance novel catnips but I’m glad I finally got my eyeballs on it because I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s a workplace romance with two bickering radio hosts Continue Reading
Jen’s Mini Reviews: Books by Lydia Michaels and Meagan Brandy
Love Me Nots is the third book in the Jasper Falls series. It can be read as a standalone and I haven’t read or listened to the other two books. No issues catching up with characters or complicated backstories. Go for it! I must be on a small-town romance binge because this is the third one in a row for me- and they’ve all been excellent! Perrin is a small town bar owner. She and her sister own the business and Perrin has big plans to expand. She’s also had her fill of heartbreak Continue Reading
Angela’s Minis- All Fired Up by Dylan Newton and A Deal with the Devil by Elizabeth O’Roark
All Fired Up by Dylan NewtonContemporary RomanceMay 17, 2022, by ForeverARC Although it's not indicated on Goodreads or Amazon, this is actually a follow-up to this author's previous release, How Sweet It Is. If you're interested you can check out my review here. All Fired Up features Imani Lewis, best friend to Kate and publicist to Drake Matthews from the first book, and Zander Matthews, Drake's younger brother. The two hooked up at Kate and Drake's wedding and then haven't really Continue Reading