Tag: Contemporary

[New Post] ARC Review: Because of Her by Jewel E. Ann

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Title: Because of Her

Author: Jewel E. Ann

Page count: 388

Published: November 2nd, 2023

Publisher: Valentine PR

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Received: From the Publisher/Author in exchange for an honest review

Rating: 5/5

“If sin weren’t pretty, it wouldn’t be so tempting.”

I was an accomplished music professor.
Happily single.
Perfectly content.

Now, I’m unemployed.
Pining for a dark, brooding guy named Jack who lives in a garage with a piano.
And I’m plotting to seduce a married man because his daughter is responsible for my nephew committing suicide.

I don’t know why teenage girls are so mean.
I don’t know why rich men cheat on their wives.
And I don’t know why Jack has serial killer vibes, even though he leaves me speechless every time he speaks.

All I know for sure is that I feel safe in a stranger’s arms and understood by someone I don’t understand.

“You should be a little scared of everyone because humans are unpredictable.”

How far will I go for revenge? More than that …
How far will he go to save me?

*This book contains material involving sexual assault and suicide. Reader discretion is advised.

I want to start by saying that I haven’t read any books in this series, and I will now need to do so, so that I can meet Jackson because he really intrigued me, and I want to know more about him and see his backstory. Francesca comes back to town after her brother’s death to clean his home and get it ready to be sold. While there she meets the handsome Jackson. These two have one hell of a ride with all they delt with.

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[New Post] ARC Review: The Map from Here to There by Emery Lord

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Title: The Map from Here to There

Author: Emery Lord

Page count: 368

Published: January 7th, 2020

Publisher: N/A

Genre: Contemporary YA Romance

Received: local library

Rating: 3/5

Acclaimed author Emery Lord crafts a gorgeous story of friendship and identity, daring to ask: What happens after happily ever after?

It’s senior year, and Paige Hancock is finally living her best life. She has a fun summer job, great friends, and a super charming boyfriend who totally gets her. But senior year also means big decisions. Weighing “the rest of her life,” Paige feels her anxiety begin to pervade every decision she makes. Everything is exactly how she always wanted it to be–how can she leave it all behind next year? In her head, she knows there is so much more to experience after high school. But in her heart, is it so terrible to want everything to stay the same forever?

Emery Lord’s award-winning storytelling shines with lovable characters and heartfelt exploration of life’s most important questions.

The first half of the book was kind of a snooze and in the second half I was more interested but it was lacking something that made this a good read for me.

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[New Post] ARC Review: Somebody to Love by Lea Coll

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Title: Somebody to Love

Author: Lea Coll

Page count: 232

Published: October 10th, 2023

Publisher: Self Publishing

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Received: From the Publisher/Author in exchange for an honest review

Rating: 3/5

Don’t sleep with your best friend’s brother.

My best friend, Gia, has a rule for her employees and her friends: No dating her brothers.

But Leo Giovanni is the guy I’d secretly crushed on since high school—who also happens to be Gia’s eldest brother.

The Giovannis are the family I never had, and I refuse to do anything to mess that up.

Leo has always had a special relationship with my daughter, but when he starts coming around more, taking us out on dates, building Evie a playhouse, and whispering sweet Italian words to me, I find myself lowering the walls I’d erected around my heart.

He says all the right words and has made it clear he wants both Evie and me, knowing we come as a packaged deal. The only problem is, he wants to keep our relationship a secret.

His parents want him to marry a nice Italian girl, and his sister—my best friend and employer—would feel betrayed if she ever found out. Not to mention, the expansion of his family’s restaurant hinges on his parents’ approval.

We both have a lot on the line if this goes south, but I refuse to be anybody’s dirty little secret.

How can we make a relationship last when everything is so stacked against us?

Best Friends brother to lovers and add a small town romance you get the story of Harper and Leo. Harper and Leo know one another from his sister Gia so that makes them off limits to one another. Harper had a hard childhood, she is trying to make a better life for herself and her daughter, so she would spend a lot of time with Gia and her big loud Italian family, I’m so glad that Harper was able to find a family that took in her and her daughter and treated her as their own nipote. Leo has two sides on one hand he’s a one track mind guy and on the other hand, when he is with Harper he is caring and kind, when he’s with Harper’s daughter he’s wrapped around her little finger. While reading their story you go on a crazy ride of love, laughs, and slow burn that leads to a HEA.

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[New Post] ARC Review: Mama’s Boy by Avery Flynn

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Title: Mama’s Boy

Author: Avery Flynn

Page count: 356

Published: September 27th, 2021

Publisher: N/A

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Received: From the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Rating: 5/5

MUST HATE DOGS
Do you hate dogs? Only want to talk about yourself? Is having a sense of humor something you’ve never been accused of? Think eating for pleasure is a complete waste of time? Agree that tipping is for suckers? Then you’re the date for me.

Dixon Beckett is the kind of guy who loves his mama, treats women right, and never ever wants to fall in love again. That’s why he’ll do anything to win a bet to be the last single man standing by Christmas.

He’s got a plan, too. Create the most no-good, horrible, very bad dating profile in existence. Only someone actually responds to his ad…

The rules say he has to go on six dates with the first (or in his case, only) person who answers—even if that person is Fiona Hartigan: Hater of dogs, non-lover of any delicious food, and zero sense of humor.

But something feels off about this pariah. In fact, Dixon is almost positive Fiona is just pretending to be awful. Pretending to be the most horrible date in existence. And she’s most definitely pretending to not be as interested in him as he is in her.

The more Dixon Beckett starts to unravel the mystery of why Fiona answered his ad in the first place, the more he starts considering the most vile, awful, terrible idea ever…falling in love.

This is the first book that I have by this author, and I have to say it was more then I had expected.
Dixon is CEO of Beckett Cosmetics, widowed and has vowed to never fall in love again because he doesn’t want to feel that kind of heartache ever again, but with this dare that he has going on with his cousins Griff and Nash he has to do it because he has to win this one last gift that his grandmother has left before her passing. He thought that it was going to be a piece of cake since he doesn’t want to fall in love ever again but once he meets a third-grade teacher named Fiona that changes everything for them both.
This book had me laughing and smiling from ear to ear. This was a great introduction to a new series and new author.

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[New Post] ARC Review: Saving Everest by Sky Chase

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Title: Saving Everest

Author: Sky Chase

Page count: 360

Published: October 22nd, 2019

Publisher: Netgalley

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Received: From the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Rating: 2/5

From the outside, Everest has it all, but there’s only one person who can see him for who he truly is . . . and it changes his life forever.

In this tender, poignant debut novel by newcomer Sky Chase, two teenagers on the cusp of adulthood learn to embrace life in ways neither of them ever anticipated.

Everest is the most popular boy in school. He’s handsome, wealthy, and captain of the football team—he has the world at his fingertips, but he’s desperately unhappy. And when those feelings become too much to bear, he tries to take his own life.

On the surface, Beverly’s different from Everest in every possible way. She’s quiet, shy, hard working, and keeps to herself on campus, focusing on her schoolwork and her part-time job, distracting herself from her less-than-perfect upbringing.

When Everest returns to school after his attempt, he’s in more pain than ever. Discarded by his friends, he draws little empathy and too much attention from those who surround him. But when Beverly and Everest meet unexpectedly in a dusty corner of the old library, they discover together just how rich life can be when given the freedom to just be yourself.

Before I get into my review, this could have just been the mood that I was in when I had read it, that being said. This book wasn’t as good as I thought it was going to be. The synopsis made it sound more interesting than it actually was.

There were a lot of moments that could have been improved imo.

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