Category: Review

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Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4 ⭐️ Review: Stacy Travis’s Dough You Love Me?, a Smartypants Romance ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Tropes: second chance romance; small-town romance; Penny Reid-inspired romance; going home

Stacy Travis’s Dough You Love Me? has found an apt home in Penny Reid’s crafted Smartypants Romance world. Set in the Donner Bakery series, the story follows Julia, who has returned to Green Valley after her grandmother’s death. Julia ran from Green Valley when she was younger because she was spurned by her crush, Shane. Never realizing that Shane felt like he wasn’t good for her, she left town and stayed away. She realizes she has stayed away too long in the shadow of her grandmother’s death. When she encounters Shane at the Friday jam session, long-buried feelings rise to the surface, and she runs again. Thankfully, she only runs as far as her grandmother’s home. As a friend of Cletus Winston, he connects her with his love, Jennifer Sylvester nee Winston who needs her help making bread. It becomes immediately clear that Julia will be working with Shane. As these two spend time together, those buried feelings find flight, and Shane and Julia fall in love in the specter of their past. Eventually, Julia decides to stay in Green Valley, finding her future with Shane.

Dough You Love Me? provides enough of that tension between falling in love and fighting the hurt feelings of one’s past. Julia and Shane engage in a tug-a-war of feelings until they simply can’t deny their attraction and love for each other. Through their story, Travis deftly points to how young people often struggle with differences. Shane’s story is wrapped up in his finding self-confidence in himself due to his disability. He rejects Julie out of a lack of confidence. When he finds music, specifically the French horn, he finds himself. When Julia returns to town years later, he is now able to love her despite his disability. Travis handles this storyline well. 

I think Travis muted this message with the coincidence of Julia and Shane’s bread-making. On the one hand, she’s able to spend some time focusing on the importance of companies using local growers to source their ingredients. It’s an important message to consider, but I found it to undermine the larger message of Shane’s journey of self-acceptance. There were times when the story felt uneven as Travis had to balance what I felt were two storylines. 

All in all, though, I loved Stacy Travis’s Dough You Love Me? as it returns us to the world of Cletus and Jennifer (even if they are sitting in the background), and it keeps us wrapped in the world of the Donner Baker’s delectable pastries and bread. I’m hoping we see more stories from Travis in this new world for her. I think Clay deserves a story in the Smartypants Romance world.

In love and romance, 

Professor A

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Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4 ⭐️ Review: Tijan’s A Cruel Arrangement ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Tropes: anti-hero; alpha hero; mafia romance; forced proximity; grumpy/sunshine; opposites attract; heroine in danger; tragic past

Tijan’s next Kings of New York story, A Cruel Arrangement is a fitting follow-up to Tijan’s A Dirty Business. Both books envelop the reader in a harrowing tale of mafia tribulations couched in sultry romance. Where Trace and Jess’s love story is fraught with the forbidden element of their relationship, Ashton and Molly’s romance is high adrenaline from the very start to its end. 

As Tijan does well, A Cruel Arrangement is full of minute-by-minute tension. Ashton and Molly are opposites: he’s the new head of a mafia family, and Molly is the owner of a local bowling alley. Her father is a street “rat,” owned by Ashton’s family due to his extravagant gambling debt, and Ashton has taken on the family business in the wake of the deaths of his uncles. They shouldn’t work; however, something in Molly matches Ashton’s darkness, and the two are drawn together like magnets. 

This book has much to be solved because danger is afoot at every corner. Tijan places her characters in sundry difficult situations, and Ashton and Molly must work their way out of them. A Cruel Arrangement is page after page of trials, yet Ashton and Molly forge ahead, their attraction palpable on the page. Even in its darkest moments, Tijan has grafted a sweetness in Ashton and Molly’s pairing. 

Given the suspense in this book, I didn’t figure out the villain’s accomplices until Tijan revealed it. This, thankfully, kept me turning the pages of her story. The ending, however, was abrupt and not fully fleshed out. Yet, I’d like to believe there might be another book. 

If you’re an avid reader of suspenseful, dark mafia, A Cruel Arrangement will give you some good feels, but I’m not sure the most dedicated reader of mafia romance will find it dark enough. In the end, I’m here for Tijan and her stories, and this newest book didn’t disappoint. 

In love and romance,

Professor A

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Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4.5 ⭐️ Review: J. Saman’s Irresistibly Perfect ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: 4.5 ⭐️

Tropes:  friends to lovers; forbidden romance; opposites attract; forced proximity; band of brothers; found family; rockstar romance

I’m in love. I’m in love with J. Saman’s Greyson from her newest book, Irresistibly Perfect. If you had told me that I would not be able to put down a friends to lovers romance, I would have laughed at you. It isn’t my favorite trope, but I’m a fan of J. Saman’s stories. And Greyson and Fallon don’t disappoint. This is delicious friends-to-lovers romance. Greyson is swoony in that he adores Fallon even after years of estrangement. When Fallon decides to break her engagement and end her engagement, Greyson becomes her “ride-or-die” and the deliciousness of their attraction takes center stage in this book. 

What did I adore about this story?

*Once Fallon knows she’s not marrying her fiance, Greyson is intent on wooing Fallon. I was drawn into their relationship even as Fallon was denying her feelings for Greyson. His ability to win her over through spice and care is pure swoon!

*I love Fallon’s journey because I relate to her need to do what others expect. She’s the good girl, doing everything her parents want for her even if it’s at the expense of her happiness. As the details of her life unfold, J. Saman invests us in Fallon’s resolve to live her life on her terms. This quickly evolves into Greyson and Fallon acknowledging their feelings. This happens about 70 to 80% into the story, and they become a power couple through the book’s end. 

*I will always love the found family/band of brothers trope. In Saman’s series, she’s writing the camaraderie of Greyson’s former boy band members and brother in a way that begs for more stories. Their ability to be real with each other, while advising and protecting each other is a huge draw in Irresistibly Perfect. 

If you haven’t read J. Saman yet, grab this book. Even better, start with book 1, Irresistibly Broken. I dare you not to fall in love with the guys of Central Square. I can’t wait for future stories in the Irresistibly Yours series.

In love and romance,

Professor A

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Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4 ⭐️ Review: L.B. Dunbar’s Parentmoon ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Tropes: single parents; forced proximity/one bed; over 40 romance; tropical destination; insta-attraction; opposites attract; mother of the groom/father of the bride

It’s guaranteed that L.B. Dunbar is quickly cornering the market on all things over 40 romance. Her latest tome, Parentmoon, reminds us that parents can have fun too in the shadow of their children’s love. The story begins on a luxury island, where Dunbar’s FMC has agreed to take her son’s honeymoon after he and his fiancee call off their wedding. When the bride’s father comes to the island, she finds out quickly that she’s staying in his island retreat. Even though the MOG believes the FOB doesn’t like her, we find, over the course of the story, that isn’t true. What happens over the course of a 10-day island retreat is sun, spice, and sentimental promises. 

What did I love?

  • Dallas, the MMC of Parentmoon, is a force. He pushes the FMC, Keli, to embrace her sensuality and make choices for herself. While he can be frustrating at times as he doesn’t easily reveal that he hopes for Keli to be his end game, he seeks to let her know how much he admires her. As a single mom, Keli has accepted the dregs of her former marriage and lived her life to raise her son. Dallas admires her strength and tenacity, and he uses their time on the island to woo her. Nothing is more swoony than a hero who wants more than the heroine imagines.
  • Keli is an “every woman.” As you read her story, Dunbar has drawn her in such a way that readers see themselves through her experience. Just as Dallas holds back his feelings, so does Keli. And this builds the tension of the story as Dallas and Keli both share their adoration but also hold back due to their geographical distance. Dunbar chooses to enact the resolution through Keli’s character because she has the furthest to go in falling in love with Dallas. Dunbar knows that Keli’s agency is important.
  • The fun of an island setting provides the perfect backdrop for Keli and Dallas’s fierce attraction. Dunbar has inundated her story with the effects of that attraction. It’s sensual and spicy in all the best ways. I love that Keli and Dallas are over 40 and physicality is as necessary to their relationship as a character in their 20s. It allows for an older readership to find themselves in her stories.

I enjoyed L.B. Dunbar’s Parentmoon. If I had any criticism, it would be repetitiveness. This is a tendency in this book as Keli vacillates with revealing her feelings for Dallas. She recognizes her “back and forth” with him, and it becomes redundant midway through the story. However, Dallas’s sweetness at the story’s end rescues the reader from losing interest. As far as I’m concerned, Dunbar can continue to write romances for the over-40 set.

In love and romance,

Professor A

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Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4.5 ⭐️ Review: Pippa Grant’s The Worst Wedding Date ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: 4.5 ⭐️

Tropes: enemies-to-lovers; hate-to-love; forced proximity; one bed; best friend’s brother; opposites attract; bad boy-good girl; rom-com

I adore Pippa Grant. Her romances, aka rom-coms, are never what you expect but exactly what you need. Enter her latest story, The Worst Wedding Date. At first glance, Grant’s rom-coms are quirky and silly. However, below the surface, Grant works through common human troubles. This is definitely the case with The Worst Wedding Date. Some of the silliness of this story involves kittens rescued from a tropical island getaway, a tropical island getaway that is on the verge of going out of business as the backdrop for the story, an MMC who is a loud sneezer and who sneezes at the most inopportune times, and a variety of mishaps that seek to undermine the MMC’s sister’s wedding. Don’t get distracted by these moments of hilarity. If you do, you’ll miss out on the gravity of this story: a message about the impact of high or low expectations on one’s sense of self. 

The most beguiling part of Pippa Grant’s The Worst Wedding Date is Theo and Laney’s attraction and falling in love. Grant has crafted them as two sides of the same coin. Laney has been raised with perfectionistic expectations. In contrast, Theo has been raised to believe he wouldn’t amount to much. He becomes the “bad boy” to Laney’s “good girl.” And I LOVED this part of the story because Theo gets to teach Laney how to be a little bad, embracing the things she’s always wanted to do but never empowered to do so, and Laney gets to protect Theo, advocating for him when he’s blamed for every mishap. It’s these places where Grant’s deft and enjoyable storytelling grabs your heart. 

What I also loved about The Worst Wedding Date is the promise of more stories in this world. Besides Laney, the other ugly heiresses, Stella and Emma, have promises of their own stories, more quirky, charming antics to make Grant’s readers laugh while also challenging them to recognize the challenges of human nature. 

In the end, if you walk away from Pippa Grant’s newest book without that warm feeling in your chest, you may need to check your pulse.

In love and romance,

Professor A

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Review, Uncategorized

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4 ⭐️ Review: Tia Louise’s A Little Taste ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Tropes: grump/sunshine; single dad; small-town romance; age-gap; family feuds; romantic suspense; insta-attraction

Tia Louise’s A Little Taste has some of the magic highlighted in its pages. I’ll be honest. I liked Louise’s last series, Hamiltown Heat, but I didn’t love it. It was missing the levity you find in A Little Taste. There is something charming about Aiden, her MMC in this newest book, and Britt, the erstwhile FMC who steals his heart. I find the grump/sunshine or grumpy single dad tropes to be fairly charming, as a character such as Britt easily wins Aiden’s stubborn heart. And, honestly, it happens quickly in this book, a marker of Louise’s romances. 

In fact, it’s one of the aspects of Tia Louise’s books of which I’m not a fan. I prefer stories that require a bit more physical restraint initially, but Louise loves raising her steam level quickly. And boy, does she do it with Aiden and Britt. From apartment hallways to trucks to bedrooms to any available surface, Tia Louise’s requisite spice level doesn’t disappoint. 

Steam-level aside, A Little Taste charms its readers through a small-town feud between the town’s mystics and the town’s legal arm. It engages with a story couched in romantic suspense, as Britt finds herself embroiled in the secrets of her father’s death. Overarching all of this is the chemistry between Aiden and Britt, and the sweet ways Britt loves Aiden’s son giving him reasons to fall hard for her. 

I found myself entertained and titillated in equal measure with Tia Louise’s newest offering, A Little Taste. I’m very excited about the next book in the series because I loved Britt and Aiden’s story.   

In love and romance,

Professor A

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Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4 ⭐️ Review: Adriana Locke’s Fluke, a Carmichael Family series romance ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Tropes: friends to lovers; childhood friends; fake ex-boyfriend relationship; he falls first; small town romance; found family

If you love a hero who is fairly uncomplicated, a fixer, incredibly handsome, and a master in the bedroom, then Adriana Locke’s Fluke is exactly the read you need right now. Jess Carmichael falls first, loves hard, and f[bleeps] like a king. Pippa has no chance against Jess’s capacity to love her, which makes Locke’s newest Carmichael Family’s story easy to get lost in. 

In terms of romance angst, there isn’t much between Jess and Pippa. The tension of Locke’s story lies in Pippa’s past and the ways it informs her ability to be loved. Locke crafts Jess in such a way he uses the depths of his tenacity to love Pippa to break down her walls. This is why it’s hard NOT to fall in love with Jess and claim him as the best Carmichael. He’s fairly uncomplicated and knows he wants Pippa from the beginning of the story. For readers looking for a more complicated love story, you won’t find it in Fluke. 

Besides Pippa’s arc which lands her in the arms of Jess, the addition of the Carmichael family along with Pippa’s best friend, Kerrisa, adds the supporting network needed for Pippa to recognize what it means to feel loved. I’m certain that Locke does several things right with her stories: creating mother figures who love their children’s significant others as hard as their children and developing the found family trope in ways that heal the hurts of the heroines of her stories. This is very true for Fluke. 

If I have any criticism of this book, it’s the pacing of the story. While Jess and Pippa have known each other for years, much of that past isn’t developed in the story, and Locke makes assumptions that her readers will accept the later choices of her characters. Jess comments that Pippa is Kixx’s favorite, but we only see them together once before that. I struggled with the believability of these moments. The book would have been stronger had more of the past been developed. 

Finally, Fluke feels more like a vehicle for Banks’s story (Flaunt, releasing in June) than a fully fleshed-out romance for Jess and Pippa. Don’t get me wrong. Jess Carmichael is the dreamiest Carmichael brother to date. He knows how to love Pippa, and he perseveres in his pursuit of her. The way that Locke has written him brings to mind the term “swoony.” 

If you’re a fan of the band of brothers meets small-town romance, you’ll want to read Fluke. Even more, I dare you NOT to fall hard for Jess Carmichael. Adriana Locke makes it an impossibility.

In love and romance,

Professor A

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Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4 ⭐️ Review: Jewel E. Ann’s If This Is Love ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

“Every cell in my body, every thought in my head, every fiber of my being tells me she’s mine.”

Every review I’ve ever written about Jewel E. Ann’s stories goes a little something like this: “I’m never sure of my ‘why’ for loving her stories, other than, they have a different feel/vibe than other books.” It’s hard to put into words the power of her stories. At face value, her books seem simplistic. Honestly, her prose is decadent in almost a Hemingwayian manner. Wrapped in pared-down prose, Jewel E. Ann hits her readers with truth bombs that cause you to fall deeply in love with her. Take her newest book, If This Is Love, and consider this gem: “Don’t look back, Indie. Didn’t you hear me? It’s a slow death. Look forward. Chase something better. Don’t ever [f’ing] look back.” “If I don’t know where I’ve been, how will I know where I’m going?” […] You’ll know where you are when you get there not because you know where you’ve been. You’ll know it because it’s where you’re supposed to be. It will be a feeling of belonging that can’t be explained. It’s just a feeling you’ll know. And all you have to do is keep following that feeling, and you’ll be fine.” At the surface, the words portend an easy truth; yet, below the surface, the truth about living in the present is challenging. This moment in Jewel E. Ann’s book is ironic because Milo lives his life in the past even though he believes he’s moving forward further away from it. He tells Indie to keep looking forward when he’s actually stuck (not really by his choice) in the choices of his past. 

The genius behind this type of writing is the reason readers of Jewel E. Ann continue to gobble her stories. Her romances are anything but simple, and she doesn’t take it easy on them. In If This Is Love, she does what she does best: she makes her readers cry, hold their breath, throw their kindles at walls, etc. This newest book is two parts of epic fated love wrapped in the barbed wire of angst. Do not believe for one minute it is light-hearted. When Indie and Milo engage in a seemingly innocent butter-smashing episode, it’s undergirded by the tension of the forbidden relationship. Everything that seems positive for her characters, the promise of their love, meets an equal reaction of malice. And so it goes back and forth, tethering her readers’ hearts deeper to Milo and Indie’s journey. 

I disagree that If This Is Love is a cowboy romance. Is Milo a cowboy? Sure. Does much of the story exist on a ranch? Yes. But honestly, you could place this same story in a city or a suburb, and you’d get the same result: bittersweet love that finds its beautiful ending…eventually. It wouldn’t matter whether Milo wore a cowboy hat and chaps or a three-piece suit, the emotion of this story would be the same. 

Did I enjoy this book? Absolutely! However, I did find a couple of areas underdeveloped. For one, I never fully understood Fletcher’s need for revenge on behalf of Milo’s brother convincing. I kept asking myself “why”…Why did he care so much? Secondly, for me, the ending was wrapped up a bit too neatly. I left If This Is Love swooning at Milo and Indie’s HEA, but I had too many questions. 

You must know that I will read Jewel E. Ann’s stories until she no longer writes them because she has a voice that distinguishes itself from the rest. She captivates, challenges, and charms her readers with the ease of a practiced author who knows exactly who she is. 

In love and romance,

Professor A

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Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4 ⭐️ Review: Allie Winters’s A Mountain Divides Us ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Tropes: single parent (mom); slow burn; forced proximity; small-town romance; insta-attraction; wounded hero; found family

Allie Winters’s A Mountain Divides Us, book 2 of her A Crescent Pass series, is exponentially stronger than book 1 of the series. From the outset, Winters has crafted a clear chemistry between Kristen, a single mom of twins, and Eli, an unexpected visitor turned roommate. Through her careful characterization, Winters has created Kristen as a woman who feels as though she can only count on herself to provide for and raise her children. While she has a strong family, Kristen believes people will disappoint and leave her, this having been taught to her through the deaths of her father and husband. As such, Winters has infused her with a stubbornness in the face of Eli. 

From the moment they meet, it’s clear that Eli and Kristen are drawn to each other, and Winters takes the span of much of A Mountain Divides Us to bring the together. Overall, her romance is sweet with small helping of spice…eventually. 

I enjoyed this book more than book 1 which I thought had some issues with development, and A Mountain Divides Us has more story development on the front end, as she builds her slo- burn romance. However, once Eli and Kristen figure their “ish” out, it drops off quickly, and the story comes to a quick end. Yes, there is the promise of an HEA, but I thought it could have had more story development after they realize they can be together. It’s a bit too neat. 

I found Allie Winters’s A Mountain Divides Us to be a sweet romance. Kristen’s struggles did have a tendency to become frustrating, but Winters’s character development of Eli balances that struggle. In fact, Eli is a huge reason to read this book. If you’re a fan of small-town romance, you will like this book.

In love and romance,

Professor A

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Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4 ⭐️ Review: Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward’s The Rules of Dating My Best Friend’s Sister ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Tropes: opposites attract; brother’s best friend; brother’s little sister; forbidden; close proximity; band of brothers; series of standalones; childhood friends; contemporary romance

Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward’s The Rules of Dating My Best Friend’s Sister has two distinctions from other stories on their booklist: 1) it’s probably one of their spiciest (there is one scene in a van that will make your jaw drop, and 2) it’s a book set in a bit of a series. That last point might seem peculiar, but my experience with Keeland and Ward is they write a one-and-done story, even if they have other compelling characters in the book. That they are taking the time to gift us with stories in a connected universe is fun. 

The foundation of Keeland and Ward’s The Law of Opposites Attract series is Ryan, the deceased friend of a group of guys. Each of them has been impacted by his death, and it has drawn them together. In fact, they own an apartment building together, thanks to him. The other tie thus far between The Rules of Dating and this newest book is the notion of opposites of attracting. In The Rules of Dating My Best Friend’s Sister, the heroine/FMC, Lala, is a buttoned-up scientist while Holden, its hero/MMC, is a musician and the “super” of the apartment building. Lala is interested in a structured, dependable life, while Holden lives by the “seat of his pants.” However, after reconnecting, their attraction is combustible. In fact, as they fight their chemistry, Lala comes to realize that she cannot marry her fiance because, while she wants a structured life, she also needs the attraction she feels with Holden. Once Lala calls off the engagement, she and Holden explode. From there, what felt like a slow burn at first, becomes a total inferno. 

What did I like about the story?

  1. Holden’s journey. In The Rules of Dating and The Rules of Dating My Best Friend’s Sister, it’s clear that Holden is a playboy, a f*ckboy. He doesn’t appear to be “relationship” material, hence the reason that Lala fights her feelings for him. However, as Lala and Holden develop their relationship, it becomes clear that Holden wants more with Lala. He has pined for her for a long time. His evolution from player to dedicated boyfriend adds a huge dose of emotional gravitas to this story.
  2. Lala’s evolution also adds to the emotional depth of The Rules of Dating My Best Friend’s Sister. Through her characterization, Keeland and Ward interrogate the pre-determined, planned life. Her journey begs the question: “should one forgo attraction for safety?” As Lala struggles with this question and her feelings for Holden, while letting go of her plan with her fiance, Keeland and Ward compound the drama of their story, creating an emotional tug to the story. As Lala navigates the choices of her life, it compels the reader forward.
  3. The band of brother relationship. I love the friends: Colby, Holden, Owen, and Brayden. Keeland and Ward have drawn them as both the humor and wizened guides of these books. When they need to break up the emotional tension of their story, they bring the guys together to add humor. The intentionality of this relationship points to the authors’ writing genius.

One of the biggest issues I found with The Rules of Dating My Best Friend’s Sister is the immaturity of the characters, specifically Holden. Thankfully, Holden matures by the end of the story, but there were several moments when I wasn’t sure that Lala should work out a relationship with Holden. I found this to undermine the impact of their coupling. 

All of that said, though, I enjoyed this book just as much as I loved the first book. I’m excited about the stories for Owen and Brayden. The promise of more stories from Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward in this small world should put a smile on any romance reader’s face.

In love and romance,

Professor A