Sadie on a Plate by Amanda ElliotContemporary Romance/Romantic FictionMarch 15, 2022, by BerkleyARC Review by Melanie The first line of the blurb of Sadie on a Plate reads as follows: A chef’s journey to success leads to discovering the perfect recipe for love in this delicious romantic comedy. It’s a cutesy opener to introduce the theme of the book, a pun on the fact that it’s about a chef. Here’s the problem though. While the book did make me laugh in parts, thereby earning the Continue Reading
Review: A Brush with Love by Mazey Eddings
A Brush with Love by Mazey EddingsContemporary Romance March 1, 2022, by St. Martin’s GriffinARC Review by Melanie When I first saw the premise of A Brush with Love being floated around social media, I will admit, I was more than a little curious. I’d read many a romance with law students and med students and art students and here, finally, was this untapped market where two people met and fell in love while…scraping plaque off someone’s teeth. Ok, well, when put like that, one does Continue Reading
Review: The Lady Tempts an Heir by Harper St. George
The Lady Tempts an Heir by Harper St. GeorgeThe Gilded Age Heiresses Book 3Historical RomanceFebruary 22, 2022, by BerkleyARC Review by Melanie The Lady Tempts an Heir, the third and, I’m happy to say, not the last book, in Harper St. George’s The Gilded Age Heiresses series is delightful and charming and sexy, with two incredibly engaging main characters who share loads of chemistry. If you’ve recently watched and enjoyed The Gilded Age on HBO, this entire series is worth Continue Reading
Review: Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon
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
Smexy Group Review: Archangel’s Light by Nalini Singh
Archangel's Light by Nalini SinghGuild Hunter #14Paranormal Romance10/26/2021 by BerkleyARC Review by Angela, Melinda, and Melanie Angela: I remember a couple of years ago when Bluebell and Sparkle started having their spats and disagreements and there seemed to be something afoot with their relationship. Like this author was setting something up for later in the series for them to have this big, wonderful romance and I can tell you right now I was HERE FOR IT. Every review after that 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