I’m back! I’ve read a few books lately but haven’t quite felt like talking about them. Sometimes even writing mini reviews can feel stressful. Review content warnings: references to emotional abuse, abortion, grief/death Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes- Although not a straight romance, more fiction with romantic elements, it does have a happily ever after. CW: grief, emotional abuse by an intimate partner & parent. The heroine, Evvie like Chevy, is a widow but she is not Continue Reading
Weekly Wrap Up
Here's what happened on Smexy this week: New Release Monday Angela’s Tuesday Thoughts- Give Up the Ghost by Jenn Burke and TBR update Release Day Excerpt: Waiting For Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey Guest Post: Queer Romance Recs for your Pride Month Reading by Layla Reyne Once Upon a Wedding- Guest Post by Barbara Samuel Kini’s Friday Kisses From Kini: What's Happening in Romancelandia? I went on a road trip last week to visit my family in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Midwest is Continue Reading
Smexy Deals
Bittersweet by Sarina Bowen- This is a new cover for a great book. I have enjoyed this whole series. The last person Griffin Shipley expects to find stuck in a ditch on his Vermont country road is his ex-hookup. Five years ago they’d shared a couple of steamy nights together. But that was a lifetime ago. At twenty-seven, Griff is now the accidental patriarch of his family farm. Even his enormous shoulders feel the strain of supporting his mother, three siblings and a dotty Continue Reading
Smexy Deals
Hard Hitter (Brooklyn Bruisers) by Sarina Bowen He’s a fighter in the rink, but he’s about to learn that playing nice can help you score... As team captain and enforcer, Patrick O'Doul puts the bruise in the Brooklyn Bruisers. But after years of hard hits, O'Doul is feeling the burn, both physically and mentally. He conceals his pain from his coach and trainers, but when his chronic hip injury becomes too obvious to ignore, they send him for sessions with the team’s massage Continue Reading
Smexy Deals
Brooklynaire by Sarina Bowen. Kindle You’d think a billion dollars, a professional hockey team and a six-bedroom mansion on the Promenade would satisfy a guy. You’d be wrong. For seven years Rebecca has brightened my office with her wit and her smile. She manages both my hockey team and my sanity. I don’t know when I started waking in the night, craving her. All I know is that one whiff of her perfume ruins my concentration. And her laugh makes me hard. When Rebecca gets hurt, I Continue Reading
Kini’s Friday Kisses
I finished two ARCs for upcoming releases, DNF one older book from my TBR, and I am 70% on another book. Snowy weekends allow lots of reading time. Overnight Sensation by Sarina Bowen- This is part of her Brooklyn Bruisers hockey series, which I have mostly enjoyed. This was a miss for me. Not enough that I DNF it, but I can’t say I truly enjoyed it. I did like seeing, even minimally, some of the characters from previous books. Heidi, the heroine, is kind of a Mary Sue. She is a Continue Reading
Kini’s Friday Kisses
I read some better books in the last week, but my reading is still meh. It is hard to not let the events of the world bleed in to how I feel about reading. Fireworks by Sarina Bowen. (Pubs 11/13) There is a note in the beginning of the books that says “For every survivor everywhere”. Take that as a content warning. There are mentions of verbal and attempted sexual assault in this book. They are strong in this book. It was heavy and at times, it was hard for me to read. But I did mostly Continue Reading
Review: The Accidentals by Sarina Bowen
The Accidentals by Sarina Bowen Contemporary Romance /YA June 10, 2018 Tuxbury Publishing, LLC Reviewed by Tori Favorite Quote: Music has always been my only connection to him. And in a weird way, he’s never let me down. Rachel has always known who her father was but never saw him, only the checks he sent. When her mother passes away right before Rachel's 18th birthday, her father suddenly appears and takes her home with him. Suddenly Rachel is thrust into a relationship with the Continue Reading
Tori’s Tuesday Teasers
The Varlet and the Voyeur by L.H. Cosway & Penny Reid Rugby, #4 Contemporary Romance June 14, 2018 When William Moore, a sweet and quiet pro rugby player from America, is discovered to be a voyeur, the tabloids have a field day with him. Labeled a pervert and worse, the team decides some PR is needed and Willam agrees to a live-in companion to help him break his need to watch (consensual) couples having sex. Josey Kavanaugh has just learned her parents have lost their life savings in Continue Reading
Review: Brooklynaire by Sarina Bowen
Brooklynaire by Sarina Bowen Brooklyn Bruisers, #4 (Novella) Contemporary Romance February 12, 2018 Rennie Read Books Favorite Quote: “Hey Bingley.” “Yes, miss?” “Can you give Nate a message for me?” “Voice or text?” “Uh, text. Tell him Rebecca sends her congratulations.” “Certainly, my dear. Are we adding any emojis?” “No, because we’re not twelve.” “Noted.” Reviewed by Tori You’d think a billion dollars, a professional hockey team and a six-bedroom mansion on the Promenade Continue Reading