Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

“What they valued had to do with the whole, not the individual, and the truth was the only way in.”

In the space of a week, I read three different rom-coms, and it’s clear: not all rom-coms are created the same. When you read Staci Hart’s For Love Or Honey, you know that, while her hero, Grant, and her heroine, Jo, exude the funny behind a enemies-to-lovers rom com; there is a gravity to Hart’s rom-com that challenges her readers behind a light-hearted laugh. 

For Love Or Honey is a story about honesty or truth. Staci Hart weaves this message through the story of Grant and Jo, playing with those ideas in ways specific to her characters. As the face of Flexion, the company keen on buying the Blum farm for its mineral rights, Grant lives a life wanting to please his father, a father incapable of loving him. In the pursuit of his father’s acceptance and love, Grant’s life is conscripted to being or doing anything to gain his father’s interest. This means that Grant lies to himself about what he truly needs. Even more, Grant lies for a living to gain control of people’s farms for Flexion. Basically, Grant’s life is one big lie…and until he comes to Lindenbach, Texas, his life is empty because it has no substance. Hart points us to his lack of authenticity. 

Jo is as real as they come. She sees Grant as a challenge to her generations-old family farm, and she has taken on the mantle to run him out of town. Unfortunately, she lies to herself initially about her attraction to Grant Stone. Their chemistry is undeniable, but as the face of the enemy, she must deny it and him…until she can’t. Instead, she helps Grant recognize his authentic self as she challenges him to farm life. As he becomes more honest with himself and his needs, Jo becomes honest too. When they acknowledge their interest, Hart creates another level of dishonesty when Jo and Grant grow feelings for each other, and they deny it. When their web becomes entangled, the depth of Hart’s storytelling moves us away from the comedy aspects of her small-town romance and moves us toward something more grave and serious. This is a convention of Hart’s brand of romance. 

As lighter fare on her booklist, Hart’s For Love or Honey still challenges her readers. With her newest story, she reminds us to be authentic whether it’s to our $exuality, our life choices, or our love. Through the scope of Grant and Jo’s journey, she tethers them to truth, and it feels like a response to our world right now where truth seems flexible. She highlights the consequences of living your lies and the discontent that follows. We need stories like For Love Or Honey whether it be for entertainment or inspiration. I love the world of Staci Hart’s Blums, and I cannot wait for more of their stories. 

In love and romance, 

Professor A

Overall Grade: 4.5 ⭐️

There are certain truths about Meghan Quinn’s brand of storytelling that are self-evident:

1. She writes the heck out of an ensemble romance or series of standalones, world-building like no other.
2. She can make you chuckle and tear up in equal measure in the space of one book.
3. She inhabits various sports romances seamlessly.
4. She writes romances that, while fictional, feel real to the reader. 

When you enter her newest story, Kiss and Don’t Tell, all of these truths are glaringly apparent. Page after page, you fall deeply for her hero, Pacey (no…not that Dawson’s Pacey), and her heroine, Winnie. But even more, you start to fall for Pacey’s fellow hockey player friends, Taters, Posey, Hornsby, and Holmes. In fact, this reader was ECSTATIC because Quinn’s flex is her capacity to reel you into her worlds of romance, and she makes it clear that stories are coming for Pacey’s friends. Even more, his friends are responsible for the levity of Pacey and Winnie’s story. While these two have a perfect mix of hilarity and seriousness, Pacey’s friends act as comic relief and wizened sages throughout Quinn’s book. In fact, my favorite moment comes when Pacey must earn back Winnie’s trust. Like a Rocky training montage, Pacey and his friends make a plan to win her back. I found myself chuckling out loud at their antics and banter. 

Like Pacey and his friends, Winnie has friends who are over the top fun. Let me say…Winnie’s friend, Katherine, steals any scene you find her in. She is ridiculous in her protectiveness, but her characterization ameliorates the severity of Winnie’s story. When the story gets too serious, you can count on Max and Katherine, just like Pacey’s crew, to bring wisdom or comedy to the situation. 

Pacey and Winnie’s story is equal parts steamy (oh boy…these two are dirty. There is a scene in the shower that will fog your glasses), sweet (while Pacey is a pro hockey player, he is far from a player, and his interest in Winnie will make you swoon), and sensitive (insta-love looks good until it doesn’t, and Pacey and Winnie’s path isn’t easy). By the end of the story, honestly, you’ll want more of Meghan Quinn’s world in Kiss and Don’t Tell. Having read Quinn’s baseball and football players, I had an inkling that she could also write the heck out of a hockey romance; and she did not disappoint. Instead, I’m rabid for more of Taters, Hornsby, Posey, and Holmes. Meghan Quinn makes you love her as she causes her heroes and heroines to steal your heart.

In love and romance,

Professor A

WILD HEART (Dirty Wild #3) by Laurelin Paige

Release Date: September 28th

Add to Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57530088-wild-heart

I promised her I could handle anything. Whatever she was hiding, my wild heart would always belong to her.

But I could never have imagined this truth.

AVAILABLE NOW!

Amazon: https://geni.us/WildHeartAmazon

Apple Books: https://geni.us/WildHeartApple

Kobo: https://geni.us/WildHeartKobo

Nook: https://geni.us/WildHeartNook

Google Play: https://geni.us/WildHeartGoogle

START THE SERIES WITH WILD REBEL #1

https://geni.us/WildRebel

WILD WAR #2

https://geni.us/DirtyUniverse

Blurb:

Book three in the Dirty Wild trilogy that began with Wild Rebel.

Secrets, surprises, and second chances.

This trip down memory lane with Jolie has mended as much as it’s torn up.

I promised her I could handle anything. Whatever she was hiding, my wild heart would always belong to her.

But I could never have imagined this truth.

And she can’t blame me for how this will all end.

About the Author:

With millions of books sold worldwide, Laurelin Paige is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestselling Author. She is a sucker for a good romance and gets giddy anytime there’s kissing, much to the embarrassment of her three daughters. Her husband doesn’t seem to complain, however.

When she isn’t reading or writing sexy stories, she’s probably singing, watching Killing Eve or Letterkenny, or dreaming of Michael Fassbender. She’s also a proud member of Mensa International though she doesn’t do anything with the organization except use it as material for her bio.

She is represented by Rebecca Friedman.

Connect w/Laurelin:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaurelinPaige/

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2knJOrx

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/laurelin-paige

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thereallaurelinpaige/

Facebook Fan Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/HudsonPierce/

Website: http://www.laurelinpaige.com

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MR. PARK LANE by Louise Bay

Release Date: September 28th

✔️ Friends/roommates to lovers

✔️ Opposites attract

✔️ Teenage crush reignited

✔️ Dating coach

AVAILABLE NOW!!!

Amazon US –

https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Park-Lane-Louise-Bay-ebook/dp/B09136NJ9Y

Amazon UK –

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mr-Park-Lane-Louise-Bay-ebook/dp/B09136NJ9Y

Amazon CA –

https://www.amazon.ca/Mr-Park-Lane-Louise-Bay-ebook/dp/B09136NJ9Y

Amazon AU –

https://www.amazon.com.au/Mr-Park-Lane-Louise-Bay-ebook/dp/B09136NJ9Y

Apple –

https://books.apple.com/us/book/mr-park-lane/id1560335736

Nook –

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mr-park-lane-louise-bay/1139106901?

Kobo –

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/mr-park-lane

Google Play –

https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Louise_Bay_Mr_Park_Lane?id=jKIlEAAAQBAJ

Add to Goodreads:

https://buff.ly/3t5OlmF

Blurb:

I haven’t seen him in over a decade, but Joshua Luca can still get to me. And I hate it.

At twenty-nine, I’m a doctor and I’ve traveled the world, but just the thought of him has me sliding my sweaty palms down my jeans and wishing I could steady my racing heartbeat.

Joshua was an almost obsession until, at seventeen, he cost me my future. In one night, I grew up and let go of my silly crush.

My infatuation for Joshua is dead and buried. Forever.

It doesn’t matter that he’s my new roommate.

Or that he still has that same sexy smile.

I barely notice how that, despite his billions, he’s the kindest man I know.

Or that when he touches me, a thousand tiny fireworks explode all over my body.

I’m completely over Joshua Luca.

About the Author:

USA Today bestselling author, Louise Bay writes sexy, contemporary romance novels – the kind she likes to read.

Ruined by bonk-busters and sexy mini-series of the eighties Louise loves all things sexy and romantic. There’s not enough of it in real life so she disappears into the fictional worlds in books and films.

Louise loves the rain, the West Wing, London, days when she doesn’t have to wear make-up, being on her own, being with friends, elephants and champagne.

She loves to hear from readers so get in touch!

Connect w/Louise:

Website: https://louisebay.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorlouisebay

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/louisesbay

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louiseSbay

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2VSsbDb

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8056592.Louise_Bay

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/louise-bay

Mama’s Boy by Avery Flynn is now live!

He’s exactly who you want to take home.

Top three lies about mama’s boys:

1. That we don’t know what we want. That one is straight up BS. I know exactly what I want—to win this bet with my cousins by any means necessary even if it means finding the worst possible date in all of Harbor City and agreeing to whatever she asks in exchange for her pretending to fall for me.
     
2. That we are soft, little wimps. Yeah, you don’t get to be CEO of a multibillion dollar company by letting other people take advantage of you. So as soon as I realize my date Fiona Hartigan isn’t exactly who she appears to be, there’s nothing that will stop me from figuring out the truth—no matter how many dates it takes to unravel that mystery.
     
3. That we don’t know how to kiss. Oh yes we do. The only problem is that once I start kissing Fiona, I don’t want to stop and I have to because we’ve already agreed that all of this is temporary.

Now I’m the guy that every woman wants to bring home to mom—except for the woman I’m fake dating and falling in love with for real.

Download today!
Amazon: http://mybook.to/mamasboy
Apple Books: https://apple.co/3rPmeWo
Nook: https://bit.ly/3cUtVGH
Kobo: https://bit.ly/3rQhlMV

Preorder the next two books in the Last Man Standing series today!
Neanderthal: http://mybook.to/neanderthal
Mansplainer: http://mybook.to/mansplainer

Meet Avery Flynn

When Avery Flynn isn’t writing about alpha heroes and the women who tame them, she is desperately hoping someone invents the coffee IV drip. She has three slightly wild children, loves a hockey-addicted husband, and has a slight shoe addiction. Find out more about Avery on her website, follow her on Twitter, like her on her Facebook page, or friend her on her Facebook profile. Also, if you figure out how to send Oreos through the internet, she’ll be your best friend for life. Contact her at avery@averyflynn.com. She’d love to hear from you.
 
Connect with Avery
Website | http://averyflynn.com
Goodreads | https://bit.ly/3wAEneb
Amazon | https://amzn.to/3cVovLo
Facebook | https://bit.ly/2PZlBfH
Instagram | https://bit.ly/2PZlwZr
Twitter | https://bit.ly/3ux8xwY
Bookbub | https://bit.ly/3mvJdoy

Surprise!
Wish Upon a Star, an all-new moving and poignant must-read from New York Times bestselling author Jasinda Wild is coming October 15th and we have the SURPRISE cover!

Add Wish Upon a Star to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/2Wk9XzG

Grandma always said dying is the easy part; it’s the living that’s hard. I’ve been fighting to live since I was seven years old, and now the doctors say I’m gonna lose that battle soon. I’ve crossed off just about everything on my bucket list—I’ve seen the Eiffel Tower and the Coliseum and I’ve been swimming in the Caribbean; I’ve lived like I’m dying, because I am.

There’s just one thing left on my list: I want to be a bride. I want to wear white and have my dad walk me down the aisle. I want a first dance and cake and a night to feel like a princess…and I want it with Westley Britton.

The perfect guy. Musician, actor, and every girl’s dream man. My dream man. Only, he doesn’t even know I exist.

It’s the start of a strange, improbable fairy tale. When you’re talking about terminal leukemia, happily ever after seems impossible, but when your celebrity crush and the man of your dreams shows up out of the blue and proposes to you, it makes you feel like anything is possible. Even that hardest thing: living.

Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Helena Hunting’s When Sparks Fly reminds us how much we love Hunting’s brand of stories. In her newest book, her heroine, Avery, and her hero, Declan have been best friends since college. They live together, and their lives are deeply entwined. When Delcan fails to keep plans with Avery, she ends up in a serious car accident. Feeling guilty and knowing that he let her down, he decides to become her caretaker as she recovers. Very quickly, Declan and Avery’s forced proximity and latent feelings of attraction create “sparks” that “fly.” Best friends turned lovers, Avery and Declan begin a journey of love until complications from the past along with Declan’s unresolved issues related to relationships undermine their future. 

Hunting’s story is simple, and it makes for the perfect weekend read. Avery and Declan’s chemistry isn’t as profound as you expect, but you fall in love with them as they navigate a change in the status of their relationship. When Declan, given his family history, causes problems in their burgeoning relationship, it creates these moments of gravity for her characters. Hunting deftly balances the familiarity and humor of their relationship with her requisite steam and a broken relationship’s angst in her story. However, Hunting also isn’t doing anything different here, thus my reason for the solid 4 rating. 

That being said, I will always trust Helena Hunting as a storyteller as she writes stories that provide a mix of hilarity, romance, and seriousness. With a mix like that, you will want to read When Sparks Fly. 

In love and romance, 

Professor A

RELEASE DATE: MARCH 15, 2022

What I meant to do in Vegas: Let my hair down for once and celebrate winning a medal at my first women’s hockey all-stars competition.

What I actually did: Got senior prom drunk and woke up married to Brooklyn’s star winger, the great Neil Drake. 

He’s the heir to a billion dollars, and I barely survived my childhood. Our friendship is based strictly only on hockey, takeout food, and smack talk. 

And now holy matrimony. Although we both know it can’t last, especially once his evil family gets wind of our Vegas shenanigans… 

Contains: Meddling teammates, meddling parents, ugly jewelry and a pretend-kiss that nearly sets the world on fire.

Preorder your copy TODAY!

Amazon: https://geni.us/AmazonShenanigans
Apple: https://geni.us/AppleShenanigans
Kobo: https://geni.us/KoboShenanigans
Nook: https://geni.us/NookShenanigans
Google: COMING SOON!
Audio: COMING SOON!

ADD TO GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57574313-shenanigans

When Sparks Fly, an all-new sweet and sexy best friend standalone romance from New York Times bestselling author Helena Hunting is available now!

Charming, hilarious, and emotional…When Sparks Fly is Helena Hunting at her very best!

Avery Spark is living her best life. Between her friends, her sisters, and Spark House, the event hotel her family owns, she doesn’t have much time for anything else, especially relationships. She’d rather hang out with her best friend and roommate, Declan McCormick, than deal with the dating scene. But everything changes when she is in a car accident and needs someone to care for her as she heals.

Declan avoids relationships, giving him a playboy reputation that he lives up to when he puts a one-night stand ahead of a promise he made to Avery. While he may not have been the one driving the car, he feels responsible for Avery’s injuries and is determined to make it up to her by stepping into the role of caretaker.

Little did they know that the more time they spend in compromising positions, the attraction they’ve been refusing to acknowledge becomes impossible to ignore. When they finally give in to the spark between them, neither is prepared for the consequences. Their love is fragile and all it will take is a blow from the past to shatter it all.

Grab your copy today!
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3nHiCo8
Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/Whensparksfly
Apple Books: https://apple.co/3CrAwlU
Nook: https://bit.ly/3fIUnEe
Kobo: https://bit.ly/3jxt1St
Google Play: https://bit.ly/3rZKDu0
Amazon Paperback: https://amzn.to/3xwqBZo
Barnes & Noble Paperback: https://bit.ly/3Cu0uWq

Add When Sparks Fly to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fHNhQ7

Excerpt

Commotion from across the field catches my eye. Two of the riders seem to be at odds with each other. The hand on hip, head tip, nose-to-nose business gives me reason to believe there’s some kind of disagreement happening.
“That doesn’t look very friendly.” I nod in their direction.
“Maybe the horses need a time-out,” Harley mutters.
I give her the side-eye, and she fights a smirk.
“Uh-oh, we have hand and hobbyhorse flailing,” London says, pulling my attention back to the field. The argument seems to be heating up, not cooling down.
“You need to deal with that.” London gives my shoulder a shove. She’s amazing with finances and she’s great at connecting me with the right vendors, but dealing with conflict is not her strong suit.
“Not in the mood to mediate stuffed horses?” I drop my bag on the ground beside Harley’s feet and briskly cross the field as the argument escalates to yelling. I’m about twenty feet away when one of the men hauls off and whacks the other one with his hobbyhorse.
“Whoa! Whoa! Gentlemen! Time-out. That’s not very sportsmanlike conduct!” I call.
My admonishment goes unheeded, and the two men begin dueling with their hobbyhorses. The bigger of the two jabs the other man in the stomach and snatches his hobbyhorse when he loses his grip on it.
“Gentlemen! Please!” I shout, but it’s hard to be heard over their yelling and the newly formed crowd of hobbyhorse enthusiasts who have gathered and are now heckling the fighters.
Two other men toss their hobbyhorses to the hobbyhorse-less man with shouts of “Kick his ass!”
And here I thought this was a chill sport. Apparently I’m very, very wrong.
The hobbyhorsers face off again, each one holding a broom horse between their legs and another like . . . a sword, maybe? It reminds me of medieval jousting. Especially when they start stomping their feet, pawing at the ground, and prancing in place. I know things are about to escalate when they shake their heads back and forth, braying loudly and breathing out through their noses in a hardy snort.
Then they run toward each other, while yelling. Even if they’re beating on each other with stuffed horse heads, I’m not interested in anyone ending up with a concussion.
I jump in between them before they collide, which I realize a second too late puts me in a very perilous position. However, the man on my right swerves at the last second and ends up crashing into the trough, toppling it and at least half a dozen of the “feeding” hobbyhorses. The other man skids to a stop mere inches from me, loses his balance, and falls backwards onto the ground. It rained yesterday, so while it’s sunny and dry now, the ground is still soft and mucky. And he happens to land in a seriously squishy pile of muddy grass.
He also manages to hit himself in the family jewels with the hobbyhorse. He rolls onto his side, clutching the muddy horsehead and his junk. It’s quite the spectacle. Before it turns into absolute mayhem, I grab the megaphone from the group MC and shout, “Whoa, Nelly!” like an idiot.
However, it does the trick. Every single one of them freezes. “Rider number seventeen and twenty-three, you are disqualified from this round for roughhousing and inappropriate use of your hobbyhorse!” I’m totally making this up on the fly, but someone needs to get these guys under control, and they don’t seem to be able to manage it on their own.
The guy who nut slapped himself—number twenty-three—picks himself up off the ground and hobbles gingerly over to the bench, which is now assigned to disqualified hobbyhorsers. Number seventeen throws himself down on the other end with a huff.
I lower the megaphone and cross my arms. “This is supposed to be about team building and sharing something you’re passionate about. If you want to joust, I suggest you either join a club or interview for a position at Medieval Times.”

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About Helena Hunting

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of PUCKED, Helena Hunting lives on the outskirts of Toronto with her incredibly tolerant family and two moderately intolerant cats. She writes contemporary romance ranging from new adult angst to romantic sports comedy.

Connect with Helena
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Website: http://www.helenahunting.com/

“This book has the perfect blend of small-town feels, an unputdownable mystery, and a love story that will have you cheering for the happily ever after. I loved this book!”
~Willow Aster, USA Today bestselling author

Beneath the Wreckage, an all-new moving and incredible love story from bestselling author Catherine Cowles is available now!

Read my review HERE.

It was supposed to be a summer we’d never forget.
Instead, everything was stolen from me.
The best friend who was more like a sister. The innocent way I looked at life.
Leaving me with only unanswered questions.

Returning to the island is the second chance I didn’t know I needed.
And Hunter is the surprise that knocks me sideways.

There’s a hurt in him that calls to my own.
A strength I find in sharing our scars.
Igniting a spark that turns to flame.

But someone isn’t happy about the world I’m building for myself.
And nothing will stop them from tearing it all apart…

Fall in love today!
Amazon: https://amzn.to/39IaCyA
Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/BeneathWreckage
Apple Books: http://apple.co/3rjuZYZ
Nook: http://bit.ly/3aobVSk
Kobo: http://bit.ly/3rb675E

Add Beneath the Wreckage to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3aqCtm6

About Catherine Cowles

Writer of words. Drinker of Diet Cokes. Lover of all things cute and furry, especially her dog. Catherine has had her nose in a book since the time she could read and finally decided to write down some of her own stories. When she’s not writing she can be found exploring her home state of Oregon, listening to true crime podcasts, or searching for her next book boyfriend.

Connect with Catherine
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