Category: Review

new release, Review

✍🏻Professor Romance’s Reviews: Jewel E. Ann’s From Air, book 1 of the Wildfire series – a top 5 read of 2024 ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: A

Tropes: close proximity/roommates; smokejumper MMC; travel nurse FMC; angst; second chance; grump/sunshine; age gap

“Sometimes, for something beautiful to take to life and grow, everything around it has to be sacrificed. All we see is the destruction, but if you wait long enough — if you’re patient — magic happens.”

These words, prophetic and beautifully drawn, embody the truth of Jewel E. Ann’s From Air. This newest book, the first book of a new series — The Wildfire Series — is one of my favorite stories in 2024. I began reading Jewel E. Ann with her book, Look the Part. The witty banter between the uptight MMC and the fluidly intriguing and beguiling FMC was the draw in that story. Their immediate chemistry, the hate to love, the emotionally uptight MMC drive that story forward. Until a moment that has often been characterized as the JEA Effect — the moment in the story that comes from nowhere and takes the reader out emotionally. It’s usually shocking and rarely forecasted, so it turns your head deeper into the pages of her book. For me, that moment is where I fall more deeply in love with Ann’s storytelling.

From Air has the same feel, for me, as Look The Part. It isn’t the same story. It inhabits new worlds in the JEA universe: travel nurse and smokejumper. It’s even set in a different space, one that changes due to the FMC’s occupation. However, the witty banter that Ann writes well and the chemistry that feels complicated and messy are the mainstays of From Air. In those spaces, you find Ann’s brilliance as a writer with crisp and quotable prose. There is the JEA moment —- and it comes from nowhere. I’m usually able to see the foreshadowing of plot points, but, once again, she kept me off-balance. As a multi-year reader of romance, I loved it. My heart hurt for the characters, and the only promise I had of surviving this turn of the story was the knowledge that I was reading a romance — the promise of a HEA. And that happily ever after is perfect, more poetry in storytelling motion.

Calvin “Fitz” and Jaymes “Jamie” took me on a complicated journey filled with humor, tension, sadness, and pain. Other beautifully written characters, like their roommates Will and Maren, Fitz’s grandmother, and Jamie’s best friend, Melissa, add dimension to the story and provide hope for the future stories in this series.

As I said at the beginning of this review, From Air is one of my top five romances of 2024. Jewel E. Ann illustrates her dexterity in drawing stories that interrogate social norms, incite intense emotions, and beguile her readers. I can only look forward to the other books in this compelling series.

In love and romance,

Professor A

new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Reviews: L.B. Dunbar’s Grouch-ish, a Holiday HOTTIES novella ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: B

Tropes: forced proximity; insta-attraction; first-responder MMC; silver fox; holiday romance; single dad; boss’s daughter FMC

L.B. Dunbar’s Holiday Hotties stories have engaged readers over the past couple of holiday seasons. This year’s offering, Grouch-ish, offers more of the same holiday spice with a fireman MMC who falls for his boss’s daughter while staying at the boss’s house. Her characters, Brock and Pear, aka Paradise, are shaded nicely in light and dark. Brock struggles with his guilt over the loss of a probie and the ending of his problematic marriage. He has been asked to his boss’s winter camp as a last-ditch effort to work through his issues. Pear has left her life behind, intent on reconnecting with her father over the holidays. Unfortunately, her father has other plans, leaving Pear lonely in his absence. When Brock arrives late and misses the shuttle to the camp, he’s left to earn his penance with Pear. It’s where Brock and Pear begin to fill something emotional and, eventually, physical in each other. 

I enjoyed Pear and Brock’s journey to falling in love. Dunbar has a way of creating highs and lows in her plotting that keeps her reader engaged. However, one of my criticisms of Dunbar’s storytelling lies in her need to draw a heavy-handed allusion through her story. She’s done this in many of her stories, which detracts from the natural storytelling. In Grouch-ish‘s instance, she alludes to the Twelve Days of Christmas. Unfortunately, given the timing of her story, she adds a note at the beginning of her story to make allowances for it. I understand it as a mechanism to attach meaning to a holiday tradition; however, it’s not necessary for us to fall in love with Brock’s grumpiness turned romantic or Pear’s acceptance of her circumstances and future choices. 

Overall, Grouch-ish is an enjoyable holiday romance for this holiday season. Brock and Pear will steal your heart for the holiday season.

In love and romance,

Professor A

new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Reviews: Melanie Harlow’s Slap Shot Surprise, book 5 of her Cherry Tree Harbor series ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: A-/B+

Tropes: ONS to more; accidental pregnancy; professional hockey player; opposites attract; small-town romance

Melanie Harlow’s Slap Shot Surprise is one of my favorite stories of her Cherry Tree Harbor series. Throughout this series, Harlow has written engaging characters fraught with outside issues, and this newest book is more of the same. Joe and Mabel are likable, drawing you into their journey of falling in love after a one-night stand of fun turned accidental pregnancy. Even as Joe struggles between his growing feelings for Mabel and his desire to remain single and free, Harlow held me in the thrall of her characters’ progression. Now, I did struggle with Mabel’s character development in that she readily forgoes her professional aspirations. I don’t want to reveal more of this, but it seemed incongruous with her characterization. I found myself questioning her final choices even though it intensified the romance of this book. 

There is something lovely about Joe and Mabel in Slap Shot Surprise, but it’s balanced well with their chemistry and desire – adding spice to all the right places. I would have also liked more of her brothers in this story, but I believe Harlow had a bit of a balancing act between the Buckleys and the Lupos.

Slap Shot Surprise is such a great book for a relaxing weekend read.

In love and romance,


Professor A

new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Reviews: Jewel E. Ann’s Sunday Morning, book 1 of her Sunday Morning series ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: A-/B+

Tropes: brother’s ex; preacher’s daughter; cheating; small town; 80s vibes

Jewel E. Ann surprises me. Over and over again, she writes stories that challenge the thinking of her readers. Sometimes, I wonder why her books don’t explode on “the charts,” and I’m certain it’s because they are hard to qualify or quantify. I’ve listed tropes above in this review, but honestly, her romances transcend tropes, oftentimes only focusing on a specific trope: cheating. She finds ways to write stories that play with the boundaries of cheating, challenging our views on it, especially for a reader like myself who typically eschews books that handle this topic. However, it’s Jewel E. Ann’s interrogation of this trope that constantly challenges me and helps me determine what I’m willing to accept. Her newest book, Sunday Morning, plays with this trope as her MMC and FMC circle the complications of it as their relationship evolves. 

However, that’s but a small portion of the significance of this newest book to her book list. Ann’s characters are fated with a chemistry clear from the beginning of the story. The MMC, Isaac, falls deeply for the FMC, Sarah, before she can understand or reconcile her feelings. They walk a balancing act of emotion and attachment for much of the book until their attraction becomes undeniable, and the chemistry overflows the page. Then, in true JEA form, someone dies, and their worlds are upended. Co-mingled with the journeys of her characters are themes about God (if God is in control, why does he allow bad things to happen to good people or good things to happen to bad people), the importance of living out your dreams on your terms, people pleasing, the complications of family relationships, etc. As her FMC, Sarah, begins to know herself, she challenges the beliefs of her parents and her small town society, and it’s her character growth that provides the “meat and potatoes” of JEA’s story. 

Throughout Sunday Morning, Jewel E. Ann shows us her capacity for storytelling as she weaves her tale with the gravity of her messaging. You are pummeled from all sides with her challenges. If I have any criticisms of this newest book, there are two. I’m still trying to determine why she decided to set this story in the late 80s other than to provoke nostalgia from her readers (or because she simply wanted to write about a time that is nostalgic for her). Additionally, her prose felt starker than her previous books. Her penchant for crafting reflective, quotable sentences is still in Sunday Morning, but more simple sentences and fewer transitional expressions sometimes cause an almost staccato feel to the story. It made it difficult to get lost in her story. 

Jewel E. Ann is a must-read author for me, no matter the story, no matter her insistence on bleeding the cheating trope on the page. I love that she forces me to unpack my thoughts and feelings about complex topics through the scope of her stories, and Sunday Morning dares us to upend our restrictive, inherited views of God, faith, and love. 

In love and romance,

Professor A

new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Reviews: J. Saman’s Undeniably Infatuated, book 3 of her Boston’s Irresistible Billionaires ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: A-

Tropes: forbidden; brother’s ex; forced proximity; second chance; secret romance; FMC in trouble; grump/sunshine; opposites attract; he falls first

J. Saman’s newest series, Boston’s Irresistible Billionaires, is not disappointing. This next-gen series invites her readers back into her previous book worlds, mixing former characters’ children into love matches. Her newest story, Undeniably Infatuated, I believe is my favorite to date. Saman carefully interweaves some romantic suspense with a spicy, secretive, forbidden relationship with “undeniable” chemistry between her main characters, Stone and Tinsley. From the outset, the big question is…how will Saman handle the complicated relationship between Stone and Tinsley, given that Tinsley is Stone’s brother’s ex-girlfriend, who he’s still obsessed with? I’ll be honest. I was nervous because, if mishandled, the believability of Stone and Tinsley’s relationship would be undermined. It created a complex problem for Saman, and she handled it well because she granted them space and time to process their feelings about it. She also allowed Stone to acknowledge the complication without wasting his opportunity with Tinsley. This situation required a careful balancing act with intentionality and decisive writing, and Saman did this well. 

I love a romance where the gruff playboy of an MMC falls hard for the erstwhile, independent FMC, and Saman crafts this well in Undeniably Infatuated. I loved the tension of their coupling as well as their fire and eventual romantic happy ending. Undeniably Infatuated is exactly what the doctor ordered for a weekend of reading. 

In love and romance,

Professor A

new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Reviews: Karla Sorensen’s Forever Starts Tonight, book 4 of her Wilder Family series ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: A

Tropes: best friend’s sister; workplace romance; surprise baby; small town romance; one night to get over it; age gap

It’s a travesty if you haven’t read Karla Sorensen yet. It’s something that should be rectified as soon as possible. I’d love to tell you to drop everything and grab her most recent book, Forever Starts Tonight, but that’s a terrible place to begin. Instead, jump into the Wilder clan with The Plan and move into her Wilder series, landing on this most recent story. I will tell you right now that you will NOT put this series down once you begin. Sorensen has written a set of books that pick off parts of your soul little by little, replacing it with their decadent stories. After finishing Forever Starts Tonight, there are two main reasons why people should read Karla Sorensen.

  1. Her story pacing is impeccable—that’s a capital “I” impeccable. The two books before Forever Starts Tonight, Head Over Heels and Promise Me This, were two of the slowest burns I’ve read from her (especially Promise Me This—Ian made Sorensen’s readers work for their patience). As I read those former books, the pacing was precisely what was required to develop Sorensen’s character arcs. Setting up the issues of their pasts and helping them move past it even though their attraction and chemistry could potentially derail that work is where Sorensen’s superpower exists. This is also the case with Forever Starts Tonight. While this isn’t a slow burn like the previous books in the series, there is character work to be done, causing Jax and Poppy to work hard at finding their HEA. Every moment of this story is carefully drawn and quartered. The intentionality behind Sorensen’s progression is the heartbeat of Forever Starts Tonight, which compels her readers through the story. If you think this is indicative of this newest book, it is not. It is a cornerstone of Sorensen’s storytelling and why she has a rabid reader fanbase.
  2. Besides her story pacing, her ability to craft compelling characters is another strength. Sorensen writes emotionally messy characters, but not in a way that levels heaps of angst on her readers. Instead, she reminds us about the humanity of her characters and shows us a pathway through our challenges. In Forever Starts Tonight, I connected with Jax, her MMC, a man of few words but big hidden emotions. Jax has a long journey ahead of him from her Prologue. The difficult situation of his upbringing shades his present, and it takes the joy and intuitive nature of Poppy to unwind complex feelings. Sorensen makes her characters do the hard work of unraveling feelings and putting voice to them. She writes them in a way that makes them real and palpable for her readers. When Jax finally gets to a moment when he can accept himself for Poppy, their character development transitions away from uptight tension to a nuanced, impassioned love affair.  Through Sorensen’s writing, we become emotionally invested because we see ourselves in her characters’ struggles, which helps us recognize and/or resolve our own emotional issues. 

I introduced my elderly mom to Karla Sorensen over a year ago, and she has become one of her favorites. She recently devoured the Wilder Family series (the first two books), and she looked at me and said, “how does she write such amazing stories with such loveable characters?” I could only smile and say because I imagine Karla Sorensen knows life and people, and she makes us fall in love with both when she writes stories such as Forever Starts Tonight. 

Now, excuse me while I run to Amazon to purchase this story for my mom…she has some reading to do…just like you.

In love and romance,

Professor A

new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Reviews: Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward’s The Rules of Dating a Younger Man, the final book of The Law of Opposites Attract series ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: B-

Tropes: age gap; close proximity; cinnamon roll MMC; “forbidden” relationship; he falls first; friends to lovers

Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward’s The Law of Opposites Attract series has come to a close with their final book, The Rules of Dating a Younger Man. Throughout this series, their readers have been gifted with the found family/band of brothers trope that tends to be popular. From Colby to Holden to Owen to Brayden, Keeland and Ward have ingratiated their lives into our lives. Here’s the thing about this series, though. This series started strong with Colby/Billie and Holden/Lala’s stories, but the magic of those books feels lost in Owen and now Brayden’s book. With The Rules of Dating a Younger Man, for me, the highlight is Brayden. In their friend group, Owen and Brayden seem the most level-headed and secure of the bunch, but Brayden, especially, is one of the quietest of the stories going into his book. Keeland and Ward draw him as a wildly handsome, thoughtful, humble, kind man. You have no heart if you leave TRODAYM and don’t love Brayden. It’s impossible to dislike him because he cares so much for his friends, the kids he develops prostheses for, and the project of Ryan’s House. Alex, the FMC, cannot help but fall in love with someone like Brayden. 

The issue with this book is two-fold: Alex’s journey can be challenging to understand. She is not readily likable because she spurns Brayden at every turn. I found it tiring as it continues for 80 percent-ish of the book. The second issue is their chemistry. Keeland and Ward create more tension between Brayden and Alex than they create their love. Yet, these two fall in love after three weeks (weekends only). I struggled with this inconsistency, making it difficult to believe they were indeed in love. As situations play out, Alex readily denies Brayden for much of the book, even though she allegedly loves him. Again, the credibility of their relationship created issues for me. 

Did I love the camaraderie of the friends? Yes.

Did I enjoy their antics and the way they loved each other? Absolutely!

Did I love Alex and Brayden when they finally got where they needed to go? Yep. However, this takes up most of the book and adds a huge helping of frustration. 

Do I think The Rules of Dating a Younger Man a fitting end to this series? I’m not sure. I believe this series began strong and lost its magic in the two later books. 

As always, however, I adore Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward’s storytelling prowess, and I will continue to read their works. I’m just not sure I loved The Rules of Dating a Younger Man as much as I wanted to.

In love and romance,

Professor A

new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Jessica Peterson’s Cash, book 1 of the Lucky River Ranch series ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: A

Tropes: enemies to lovers; hate to love; cowboy; opposites attract; small town; boss/employee (owner/foreman of the ranch)

Jessica Peterson seemed to have cornered the market on intelligent, spicy romance set in the Carolinas. Whether she writes chefs, romance writers, farmers, lux resort owner siblings, or bonds people, she finds a way to infuse romance tropes with deep issues. When she announced her foray into cowboy romance, this reader was excited because I knew she would put her storytelling stamp on this genre. And she did this beautifully in the first book of her newest series, Lucky River Ranch, Cash. What Jessica Peterson didn’t know, through the scope of Mollie and Cash’s wild journey of hate to love, was her impressive ability to capture the trauma of divorce and death in the lives of the children of divorced couples.  Cash provided an apt mirror of my own story; this capacity for storytelling leaves me wanting more stories from Jessica Peterson. 

Peterson’s newest book, Cash, is spicy, perfectly paced, and engaging. Mollie and Cash’s immediate chemistry is the initial draw to the story. Their meet cute when Cash assumes Mollie’s a spoiled socialite who turned her back on her father, sets up the emotional tether between these two. As Mollie moves between grief and ire and grief and loyalty, you can’t help but champion the coupling of Mollie and Cash. From the start of this story, Peterson held me in the thrall of her story. It’s funny, it’s tear-invoking, and it’s sweet. By the end of Cash, you will be hoping for a short time until the next book of the series, Wyatt, because the other characters in the story are just as compelling and engaging as Mollie and Cash. 

There is so much more to this new series from Jessica Peterson. I love a cowboy romance, but I’m sure she will be one of my favorite authors of this subgenre of romance. 

In love and romance,

Professor A

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✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Reviews: Devney Perry’s Rally ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: A-/B+

Tropes: one-night stand to more; opposites attract; surprise baby; new adult romance; sports romance; cinnamon roll MMC; down on her luck FMC

Rally, Devney Perry’s third book in her Treasure State Wildcats series, gifts us with the story of Faye and Rush. If you have read the first book of this series, Coach (my favorite of the series to date), you’re familiar with the broad strokes of their story. However, Rally takes us deeper into its beginning, middle, and beautifully written ending. Seriously, Perry’s endings and bonus epilogues are some of my favorites in romancelandia, and Rally exemplifies this gift well. 

Faye and Rush’s story is one of complication. Perry has beautifully penned the trials of Faye becoming pregnant while struggling through life. Thankfully, Perry partners Faye with Rush whose background is less uncomplicated and filled with love so he can learn to love her through her struggles. Rally is a roller coaster ride of emotions as Faye learns to depend on Rush, even though she struggles to become vulnerable and willing to rely on someone. Thankfully, Perry crafts Rush to be uncomplicated and stalwart through Faye’s journey. This adds a sweetness to Rally that feels quintessentially Devney Perry. 

My only issues are the oft-used “we’ll rally” or “need to rally” as it feels a bit “on the nose” in this story. I know it’s the battle cry of their relationship, but it seemed too pedantic for Perry. Secondly, there are moments when Rush’s actions are inconsistent with the overarching sense of his character as a noble, compassionate fellow. He sometimes retreats from Faye when, as the quarterback of a successful college team, that seems contrary to who he is. Beyond these issues, I loved Faye and Rush’s story.

Devney Perry’s Rally and its predecessors continue her tradition fo writing palatable, engaging romance. I love her stories, and given Rally and her story, Crossroads, published earlier in the year, I won’t stop reading her stories anytime soon.

In love and romance,

Professor A

new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Reviews: Karla Sorensen’s The Best of All ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: A

Tropes: hate to love; enemies to lovers; forced/close proximity; grump/sunshine; slow burn; he falls first; sports romance (football)

I am always thankful when God grants Karla Sorensen the words, story, and characters for her next book. There is something special about her stories that attach themselves to you. When I pick up one of her books, honestly, it’s almost impossible to stop reading it, and, when required to adult, I mourn for my time in her stories. Her newest book, The Best of All, is more of all of this. 

While it borrows a plot point from the 2010 movie, Life As We Know It, starring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel (a movie I adored), Sorensen writes her way through it with her brand of romance. You may ask, what is Sorensen’s brand of romance? Well, recently, her stories showcase grumpy, protective MMCs who love their FMCs hard from afar, hiding their emotions behind walls that reach the heavens; FMCs who are so beguilingly independent and amazing that everyone falls in love with them; and so much slow burn that you don’t know if they will ever find their way into each other (wink wink!). Seriously, Sorensen knows exactly how to craft a slow burn which doesn’t lead you to want to send her DMs, cursing her for keeping her MMC and FMC apart. Instead, she inches them closer at a pace that feels organic to her characters’ story. At least, that’s my impression, although 73% for a first touch was eye-opening. 

What I loved the most about The Best of All (and having fallen deep for the predecessor book to this one, The Best Laid Plans – I loved this book more) is Liam. Oh how I loved Liam. He’s so emotionally buttoned up, denying himself of his heart’s desire for much of the book that you cannot help but fall in love with him because he is protective and intentional even when it’s misguided. Through Liam, Sorensen showcases the power of therapy to find the words for feelings. His journey is the foundation of this book even though Zoe has her own important Zoe. For me, though, what drew me to him a bit more over Zoe is the way he loves her to his bones. He hides it behind acrimony and derision, but it’s all an act meant to turn her away. I have found that this brand of MMC is my favorite by far. My therapist had a bit to say about the reasons for this, but we agreed that, in fiction, MMCs such as Liam make for swoon-worthy romances. And that is definitely the case. 

Once again, Karla Sorensen showcases her ability and passion for writing romance in The Best of All. I loved every page of this book, and it’s been one of my fastest reads in recent months. The ending felt poetic and beautiful, and it receives the highest marks from this reader.

In love and romance,

Professor A