Overall Grade: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Do you ever have an author who whispers themselves onto your “must-read” list? You didn’t expect them, but they found a solid place with one book. For me, this is J.T. Geissinger. I read a blurb for her last book, Rules of Engagement, and something about it grabbed my attention. To be honest, I was hopeful, but I didn’t go into that read with high expectations. I simply wanted to read a new author to me. What happened was a revelation. I fell hard for that story and Geissinger’s easy, affable writing style. In fact, the review I wrote for that book has one of my highest review “like” counts on Goodreads. There was something that piqued my interest in her that cemented her place as a forever read. 

When the ARC sign-up was offered for her newest book, Beautifully Cruel, I jumped at the chance to read it. Like Rules of Engagement, she pulled me into the story and held me there much as her hero, Liam Black, holds Truvy “Tru” Sullivan “hostage” in his penthouse. I began it right before going to bed one night and woke up the next day to finish it. I hated to turn the page because I burned through the story, and I wanted to exist a bit longer in Liam and Truvy’s story. 

Truvy is a server in a diner. For almost a year, Liam Black comes to her diner, sits broodingly in a booth in Truvy’s section, and drinks coffee, while overtly staring at her. There is an attraction between these two, but Truvy, a bit of a loner, tries to avoid engaging him. She’s drawn to him, but his persona feels overwhelming. One day, these finally make small talk, and it’s clear there is a chemistry and a similarity between them. However, Liam’s life is complicated, and he knows he’s a danger to Truvy. He vows to keep his distance, except that this is easier said than done. The next night, Truvy is taking out the trash to a dumpster behind the diner, and she is brutally assaulted. Believing she will die, Liam unexpectedly shows up and saves her from certain death. From there, they begin a journey together, one set to end after twenty-eight days. The problem, though, is love is a certainty between these two. Will they find a future together, or are they destined for broken hearts at the end of their time together?

Every moment of this book is a carefully wrought story of love amidst challenges. Truvy and Liam come from two very different lives. However, they complete each other in ways that are unexpected. Truvy becomes the catalyst for Liam’s eventual life change; however, while these two come from two very different lives, their personal struggles are the same. Geissinger walks her reader beautifully through ideas related to justice and revenge. Both Truvy and Liam are faced with meting out justice when the system fails. There are profound moments in Truvy and Liam’s time together when they must examine their ideas on this, and in those moments, their relationship gains depth and gravity. 

At its surface, Truvy and Liam’s relationship is fiery. Truvy pushes back against Liam’s alpha-male tendencies, and her passion and obstinancy, along with her integrity and intelligence, spark their chemistry. Each moment these two exist on the page together, you’re pulled further into Geissinger’s book. When their twenty-eight days are nigh, your concern for a possible happy ending for these two is palpable (at least that was the case for me). I consider Geissinger’s ability to craft the anxiety and believability of this moment illustrates her capacity as a storyteller. 

There is nothing better in romance than a woman who, while introverted, knows herself, knows her mind, and stands in her indomitable spirit. When that is matched with a man with a tendency towards violence, a passionate will, and a focus so keen on the heroine that it overflows the story, you have, in my opinion, the perfect romantic story. The manner in which Truvy and Liam love each other in Beautifully Cruel is the power force for this book. I didn’t want to look away; I didn’t want to turn the page. I wanted to exist within the colorful, quiet, fierce love between these two. If you haven’t read J.T. Geissinger, honestly, start here especially if you love a bit of a dangerous romance. I think you’ll agree with me that Geissinger’s books should have a reserved space on your Kindle or bookcase. 

In love and romance,

Professor A

“Combining sweet nostalgia with the important issues Kennedy never shies away from, Queen Move is nothing less than wonderful. I couldn’t put it down and never wanted it to end!”

— Alexa Martin, Author of Intercepted

Queen Move, an all-new powerful second chance standalone from Wall Street Journal bestselling and RITA® Award-winning author Kennedy Ryan, is coming May 26th and we have your FIRST LOOK!

Make sure to enter on Kennedy’s site to win a QUEEN BOX, stuffed with a signed paperback and all the things you’ll need to treat yourself like a queen!

Prologue

Kimba

Two Years Before Present

Is there anything sadder than a daddy’s girl at her father’s funeral?

My mother’s quiet sniffs a few seats down give me the answer.

A grieving widow.

“He was a good man,” someone in the long line of mourners offering condolences whispers to her.

Mama’s head bobs with a tearful nod. In this day and age, she still wears a pillbox hat and veil. It’s black and chic like Mama, channeling tragic Jackie Kennedy or Coretta Scott King. My father was not just a good man. He was a great man, and everyone should know he leaves behind a widow, grieving deeply, but ever-fly. I squeeze the funeral program between my fingers, glaring at the printed words.

Joseph Allen leaves behind a wife, Janetta, three children, Kayla, Keith and Kimba, and six grandchildren.

He leaves behind.

Daddy’s gone, and I don’t know how to live in a world my father does not inhabit. The casket is draped with sweet-smelling flowers in the center of the funeral tent. When we leave the cemetery, it…he will be lowered into the ground with unfathomable finality, separated from us by white satin lining, six feet of dirt and eternity.

Kayla, my older sister, sobs softly at the end of our family’s row. Her four children watch her carefully, probably unused to seeing their unshakeable mother shaken and reduced to tears. Even I’d forgotten how she looks when she cries—like she’s mad at the wetness streaking her cheeks, resentful of any sign of weakness.

It’s not weak to cry, Daddy used to say. It’s human.

“But doesn’t the Bible say even the rocks will cry out?” I’d challenged him when I was young, loving that something from Sunday school took. “So maybe tears aren’t just for humans.”

“You’re getting too smart for your britches, little girl,” he’d said, but the deep affection in his eyes when he kissed me told me he was pleased. He liked that I asked questions and taught me to never accept bullshit at face value.

I miss you, Daddy.

Not even a week since his heart attack, and I already miss him so much.

Humanity blurs my vision, wet and hot and stinging my eyes. I want this to be over. The flowers, the well-dressed mourners, the news cameras stationed at a distance they probably deem respectful. I just want to go to the house where my parents raised us, retreat to Daddy’s study and find the stash of cigars that only he and I knew about.

Don’t tell your mother, he used to whisper conspiratorially. This will be our little secret.

Mama hated the smell of cigars in the house.

“Tru.”

Who would call me by that name? Now, when the only people who use it, my family, are all preoccupied with their own pain? A tall man stands in front of me, his thick, dark brows bunched with sympathy. I don’t know him. I would remember a man like this, who stands strong like an oak tree. A well-tailored suit molds his powerful shoulders. Dark brown, not quite black, hair is cut ruthlessly short, but hints at waves if given the chance to grow. His prominent nose makes itself known above the full, finely sculpted lips below. His eyes are shockingly vivid—so deep a blue they’re almost the color of African violets against skin like bronze bathed in sunlight. No, a man like him you’d never forget. Something niggles at my memory, tugs at my senses. I’d never forget a man who looked like this, a man with eyes like that…but what about a boy?

“Ezra?” I croak, disbelief and uncertainty mingling in the name I haven’t uttered in years.

It can’t be.

But it is.

Keep Going!

Read the REST of the prologue and enter the QUEEN BOX giveaway on Kennedy’s website:→ https://bit.ly/35U65FL

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Synopsis

The boy who always felt like mine is now the man I can’t have…

Dig a little and you’ll find photos of me in the bathtub with Ezra Stern.

Get your mind out of the gutter. We were six months old.

Pry and one of us might confess we saved our first kiss for each other.

The most clumsy, wet, sloppy . . . spectacular thirty seconds of my adolescence.

Get into our business and you’ll see two families, closer than blood, torn apart in an instant.

Twenty years later, my “awkward duckling” best friend from childhood,

the boy no one noticed, is a man no one can ignore.

Finer. Fiercer. Smarter.

Taken.

Tell me it’s wrong.

Tell me the boy who always felt like mine is now the man I can’t have.

When we find each other again, everything stands in our way–secrets, lies, promises.

But we didn’t come this far to give up now.

And I know just the move to make if I want to make him mine.

About Kennedy Ryan

A RITA® Award Winner, Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestselling Author, Kennedy Ryan writes for women from all walks of life, empowering them and placing them firmly at the center of each story and in charge of their own destinies. Her heroes respect, cherish and lose their minds for the women who capture their hearts.

Kennedy and her writings have been featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, Glamour and many others. She has always leveraged her journalism background to write for charity and non-profit organizations, but has a special passion for raising Autism awareness.The co-founder of LIFT 4 Autism, an annual charitable book auction, she has appeared on Headline News, The Montel Williams Show, NPR and other media outlets as an advocate for ASD families. She is a wife to her lifetime lover and mother to an extraordinary son.

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Blue Box Press

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“Rife with uproarious moments and banter that sings, this scorching contemporary will captivate Madden-Mills’s fans.” —Publishers Weekly

Wall Street Journal bestselling author Ilsa Madden-Mills delivers a smart and sexy contemporary romance about a smoking-hot professional football player and the small-town girl he can’t resist. Not my Romeo is coming August 18th and we have the incredibly hot cover!

We start off with a lie on Valentine’s Day.

My blind date isn’t the studious guy I expected: he’s a drop-dead gorgeous player with sinful amber eyes. Somehow we end up at his penthouse. I blame the gin and tonic.

The next day I learn he’s Jack Hawke—bad-boy professional quarterback with a murky past. The NDA he has me sign should be a warning that he isn’t a regular person. Please. I sign it Juliet Capulet, so goodbye, famous football player with abs of steel, and good luck tracking down this small-town librarian.

But Jack keeps showing up in places I least expect him. Just when I’m sure he’s gone, he waltzes into my community theater and wins the part of Romeo to my Juliet. How’s a plain, mostly innocent girl like me supposed to resist a man like him?

Is Jack my real Romeo…or will this gorgeous football player only break my heart?

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Cover Designer: Hang Le
Photographer: Daniel Jaems
Model: William F. Goodge

About Ilsa Madden-Mills

Wall Street Journal, New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Ilsa Madden-Mills is best known for her angsty new adult romances and romantic comedies.

Eight of her eleven novels have placed in the Amazon Top 10 Best-seller List: Dirty English #1; Fake Fiancée and I Dare You #2; I Bet You, Filthy English, and Very Bad Things #6; Boyfriend Bargain #8; The Last Guy, her collaboration with Tia Louise, #4.

A former high school English teacher, she adores all things Pride and Prejudice, and of course, Mr. Darcy is her ultimate hero.

She’s addicted to frothy coffee beverages, cheesy magnets, and any book featuring unicorns and sword-wielding females. Feel free to stalk her online.

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“Reader be warned: Catherine Cowles will steal your heart with this overflowing-with-feels second chance romance and you won’t ever want it back.”
– Karla Sorensen, author

Reckless Memories, an all-new beautiful and heartwarming not-to-be-missed friends-to-lovers romance from Catherine Cowles is available now!

Read my 5 ⭐️review for this book that will pull at your heart here.

I loved him before I knew what the word meant.
From skinned knees to first dates and everything in between.
But he was never mine to love.
I settled for friendship, even though I always wanted more.

That was before.

Before he ripped my world apart and didn’t bother sticking around to help me pick up the pieces.
I knit every last shred back together all on my own.
And I’ve all but forgotten his name.

Now, he’s back, and everything is torn apart once more.
But he’s not the only one doing the tearing this time.
And there might be no stopping the person who has it out for us both.

Download your copy today!

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Excerpt:

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I stood to pull it out. My brother’s name flashed on the screen, and I winced. My finger hovered for a count of three before I hit accept. “Hey, Hunter. What’s up?”

“You need to come home.”

My blood turned to ice. “Dad?” My voice grew hoarse on the single word. Memories of the call I’d gotten from my hysterical mother, telling me that my father had suffered a stroke, flooded me.

“He’s okay. The same. But I need you to help out at the bar.”

I eased back in the chair, my gut souring. “I can float the bar some money to hire more permanent help.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you, Ford? This is your family’s legacy. The Catch has been run by a Hardy for generations. We don’t need your fancy Hollywood money, we need you. Or are you too good for your family now, too?”

I gripped the arm of my chair, the sleek metal frame biting into my palm. “You know that’s not why I left.”

Hunter blew out a long breath. “You were never going to be able to avoid this place forever. Mom and Dad miss you, and I can’t keep covering for your ass.”

“I see Mom and Dad plenty.” It was true. I regularly flew them out to LA or some other place they’d been dying to visit, but I hadn’t set foot on the island in years. Shit, it had been over a decade now, eleven years. At first, my parents hadn’t minded. They’d understood. And they’d gotten a kick out of seeing new and exciting places. But over the years, I’d seen the sadness, the disappointment.

“They need their sons. Both of us. I’ve been trying to run the bar and my construction business at the same time, and I just can’t do it anymore. They’re both suffering. It’s time for you to step up.”

A vise tightened around my rib cage. “I can’t.”

Hunter was silent for a few moments. “If you don’t come home, we’re going to have to sell.”

His words seemed to slice at my chest. I hadn’t seen the bar in what felt like forever, but somehow, the idea of losing it, letting go of something else that felt like it was a part of me, was more than I could take. “Okay.”

“Okay?” There was shock in my brother’s voice. Maybe he’d expected me to tell them to sell, but I couldn’t. Because he was right. The Catch was our family’s legacy. I wasn’t going to let them down because I couldn’t deal with the ghosts of my past.

“Yeah, okay. I need a couple of days to close up shop here and get a manager in place at my LA bars. But I’ll be there soon.”

Hunter cleared his throat. “Thanks, man.”

The words seemed to be dragged out of him. And didn’t that make me feel like an asshole? When had things gotten so strained with my brother that thanking me was akin to pulling teeth? “Thank you for all you’ve been doing. I’m sorry I haven’t been pulling my weight.”

“You covered all the medical bills, that helped a lot.”

I heard the unspoken words, “but you haven’t been here.” God, I was a selfish prick. Sure, I’d spent a month in Seattle with my parents when my dad was in the hospital and then a rehab clinic, but as soon as they’d returned to the island, I’d run straight back to LA like the coward I was. I couldn’t pull that this time. I’d just have to hope that I could get the bar back on its feet quickly.

“I won’t leave the hands-on stuff to you anymore, Hunt.” I’d get the pieces we needed in place before I came back to LA so there wasn’t such a heavy load on my brother’s shoulders.

“It’d be a nice change,” he grumbled.

Shit. I had a lot to make up for with my brother. “I’ll see you in a few days.”

“In a few days.”

Hunter hung up without a goodbye, and I let my phone clatter to my desk. A few days. Seventy-two hours to wrap up my life in LA. Four thousand, three hundred, and twenty minutes before I had to face a daily reminder of the cruelest truth. I’d killed the one person I should’ve protected above all others.

About Catherine

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.

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“The queen of enemies-to-lovers strikes again. I devoured every page, hooked on the sizzling chemistry between Hunter and Sailor. A ten star read.” –Parker S. Huntington, Wall Street Journal bestselling author

The Hunter, an all-new compelling and must-read contemporary romance from USA Today bestselling author L.J. Shen is available now!

Boston’s debauched elite is going up in flames, and it’s the Fitzpatrick family that set it on fire.

Hunter

I didn’t mean to star in a sex tape, okay?

It was just one of those unexplainable things. Like Stonehenge, Police Academy 2, and morning glory clouds.

It just happened.

Now my ball-busting father is sentencing me to six months of celibacy, sobriety, and morbid boredom under the roof of Boston’s nerdiest girl alive, Sailor Brennan.

The virginal archer is supposed to babysit my ass while I learn to take my place in Royal Pipelines, my family’s oil company.

Little does she know, that’s not the only pipe I’ll be laying…

Sailor

I didn’t want this gig, okay?

But the deal was too sweet to walk away from.

I needed the public endorsement; Hunter needed a nanny.

Besides, what’s six months in the grand scheme of things?

It’s not like I’m in danger of falling in love with the appallingly gorgeous, charismatic gazillionaire who happens to be one of Boston’s most eligible bachelors.

No. I will remain immune to Hunter Fitzpatrick’s charm.

Even at the cost of losing everything I have.

Even at the cost of burning down his kingdom.

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Excerpt

“Why?” I asked, blinking at him in confusion. I had two left legs and the coordination of roadkill. I couldn’t dance if my life depended on it. I’d tried dancing at the only party I’d ever gone to—sophomore year—and was subjected to such thorough humiliation. People took videos of me dancing and forwarded it to half my school. Saggy Sailor, they’d graffiti-ed on my locker. Apparently, my back looked hunched and droopy when I danced.

“Because…” He tilted his chin down, his voice low, smoldering. “You’re obviously bored, and my family is watching us, and I’m partial to fondling you.”

“It’s the dress,” I muttered.

“I’d actually prefer fondling you out of it.”

I sliced my gaze sideways, noticing that Aisling and Persy hadn’t picked up on my exchange with him. They were now watching a video, probably of the reality show they were arguing about. Even though Hunter was just after a friendly dance to show his family we were getting along, I couldn’t unglue my butt from my chair.

“No fondling.” I crossed my arms over my chest, buying time.

“No promises. Get up.”

“Did you tell anyone we live together?” I accused, my eyes narrowing into slits.

He stared at me, wide-eyed, mouth parted. “Negatory.”

“Did you tell anyone we were dating?”

“This is the lamest twenty-questions game I’ve ever participated in. No.”

“Well, people are talking about us.”

“That’s what people do. They fill the air with useless words to entertain each other. It’s called gossip, and it sucks all the asses in the world. Doesn’t mean it was me. Our building employs more than a hundred people. All of them work for my father. That means he’s spreading whatever the hell he wants to spread.”

About LJ Shen

L.J. Shen is a USA Today, Washington Post and Amazon #1 best-selling author of contemporary, New Adult and YA romance. Her books have been sold to twenty different countries.

She lives in California with her husband, son, cat and eccentric fashion choices, and enjoys good wine, bad reality TV shows and catching sun rays with her lazy cat.

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Catch Me When I Fall

A Falling Stars stand-alone romance from A.L. Jackson

Coming June 1st

Get Caught Up on the First Stand-Alone in the Falling Stars Series!

 

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Win an A.L. Jackson Collection box + $50.00 Amazon Gift Card! Packed with a Collector’s Edition Fight for Me paperback, tote, and goodies!

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A.L. Jackson is the New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance. She writes emotional, sexy, heart-filled stories about boys who usually like to be a little bit bad.

Her bestselling series include THE REGRET SERIES, CLOSER TO YOU, BLEEDING STARS, FIGHT FOR ME, CONFESSIONS OF THE HEART, and FALLING STARS novels. Watch out for her upcoming stand-alone, CATCH ME WHEN I FALL, releasing June 1st.

If she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the pool with her family, sipping cocktails with her friends, or of course with her nose buried in a book.

Be sure not to miss new releases and sales from A.L. Jackson – Sign up to receive her newsletter http://smarturl.it/NewsFromALJackson or text “aljackson” to 33222 to receive short but sweet updates on all the important news.

Connect with A.L.

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Overall Grade: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

“‘The differences are what make us truly special.’ Her thumb strokes my thigh. ‘I like your differences, Wes, even if you find some of them to be embarrassing. They show your character, and I truly like the character I’m seeing.’” 

As a reviewer/blogger of romance AND a holder of a master’s in literature, I read romance looking for greater meaning, scouring the writer’s style for eloquence and intentionality to offer their message. Yet, that isn’t really the purpose of blogging/reviewing stories. Sometimes, the goal is simply to offer up a fairly unbiased opinion about a book so that readers will want to read it (or avoid it). Sometimes, reading should just be a pleasurable experience meant to gift you with some time away from the stresses of life. Sometimes, reading is strictly entertainment and you laugh or cry or throw your Kindle across the room. When it comes to Meghan Quinn’s newest book, The Modern Gentleman, you are meant to double-over laughing at the revelation of a burgeoning relationship. And you do…over and over again. 

In the world of dating apps and technology that influences relationships, Meghan Quinn’s The Modern Gentleman to a certain degree imagines a modern world with old-fashioned courting tactics. That right there is my first favorite part of this book. Quinn is taking something new and adding something old to it. In doing so, she offers up a plate of good old fashioned wooing, created at the whim of her heroine. 

June July Lacy is everything you love about a rom-com heroine: insightful, reflective, quirky, and a challenge for the hero. Thankfully, June’s reticence towards relationships provides the comedic fodder for her burgeoning love connection with Quinn’s hero, Wesley Waldorf Williams. It is June who pushes Wes to embrace a slower-paced dating experience. It is June who “sees” Wes’s strengths in the midst of his weaknesses, and it is June who pushes Wes to be better. She is the true powerhouse of this story. 

In contrast, Wes is the conundrum of the story. As the writer of The Modern Gentleman column, he has created a persona who seeks to be debonair, respectful, and always in control. Except that Quinn unravels him so quickly under June’s machinations. In doing this, Quinn points to the idea of “masks,” meaning the personas we create for different situations. Wes tries his column-created dating mask with June but finds out quickly that dating June requires more authenticity. And the true Wes is pretty doofy (June’s word). It is here in this space between authenticity and spuriousness that the magic of The Modern Gentleman happens. 

The magic of this book is in the moments where Wes’s intent is undermined by unfortunate circumstances. It is there where I was doubled-over in laughter at the ridiculousness of each situation. Yet, in those moments, there is a sweetness to the romance. It’s where June and Wes find themselves as a couple; it’s where they fall in love. Quinn uses this to assert that love is messy and we must simply laugh in those moments. And so…the reader does. There are many hilariously wonderful moments between June and Wes, and it breathes some fun into a day rife with COVID-19 updates, working from home, homeschooling kids, and searching for hard-to-find groceries. 

Ultimately, that is what The Modern Gentleman is. It’s a break from the seriousness of our world. If we can laugh at the ridiculous situations in Wes and June’s relationship, then we can find the funny in our own. If you want to laugh and gobble up a book in one sitting, then you MUST read Meghan Quinn’s The Modern Gentleman. 

In love and romance,

Professor A

THE MODERN GENTLEMAN by Meghan Quinn
Release Date: May 14th
Genre: Contemporary Romance

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Blurb:
Have you ever hit rock bottom?

I embarrassingly have.

It’s why I’m wearing my girl’s decorative scarf over my head, clutching her lady drink to my chest, and singing ever so softly to Joni Mitchell while swaying back and forth.

This is what therapists refer to as LOSING IT.

Oldest story in the book: boy meets girl, boy falls for girl, boy screws up MASSIVELY, girl tells boy to suffocate in the fruits of his very own unborn children.

Heard it before? I’m sure you have.

So what’s so different about this story? Well, it’s about me, The Modern Gentleman, New York City’s top advice columnist, and my rather ungraceful downfall from my pristinely polished pedestal

It’s about a girl I met who threw all my proven theories to the wind and left me awkward, needy, and absolutely head-over-wingtipped shoes in love.

This is a story about June Lacy and how she single-handedly dismantled The Modern Gentleman.

Prologue:
Dear Gents,

See that remote in your hand? Yeah, the one that’s covered in pizza sauce and last night’s Buffalo wings? I want you to take a good look at it. Do you have it memorized? Good, now bend at the waist, set it on the coffee table, and stand up. Don’t you dare look at that remote again, don’t even glance at it. And the Xbox that’s calling your name, go ahead and forget about that as well, because guess what? You’re starting a new journey and it doesn’t include television, video games, or high-fiving over a bubbly belch from the bowels of your intestinal tract. Forget everything you’ve ever known about being a man, forget the hall passes you have for being a man, and forget every natural instinct you carry inside your bones. Because I’m here to refine you, replenish your knowledge on the male species, and turn you into a modern gentleman: a well-respected, polished, and confident individual with an epic sex appeal and killer style that will woo any female with a simple flash of your honest charm.

Stick with me, gents. I’m starting a revolution and it begins with you.

Sincerely,
The Modern Gentleman

About the Author:
USA Today Bestselling Author, wife, adoptive mother, and peanut butter lover. Author of romantic comedies and contemporary romance, Meghan Quinn brings readers the perfect combination of heart, humor, and heat in every book.

Connect with Meghan:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meghanquinnauthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7360513.Meghan_Quinn
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authormeghanquinn/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorMegQuinn
Website: http://authormeghanquinn.com
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/meghan-quinn
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2LitE4x

Overall Grade: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If I had to characterize Saffron A. Kent, I would call her one of the queens of the forbidden romance. Honestly, if you’ve read any of her books, then you know that she loves to toe the line of relationships that might make the average reader quirk their eyebrow. One of my favorite Saffron A. Kent romances is Medicine Man, which tells the story of a psychiatrist and his young patient. In that book, we are introduced to their daughter, Fallon, who at 3 years old, has eyes for Dean, their surrogate 17-year-old son. When you read this moment in Simon and Willow’s epilogue, you chuckle at it and think “awww…that’s cute.” 

Then, being one of the queens of the forbidden romance, Kent decides to write a novella for the Mixtape Anthology and she imagines a future where an 18-year-old Fallon decides to confess her love for a now thirty-two-year-old Dean, while road-tripping from California to the East Coast. I waited patiently for that anthology because I wanted a future for this seemingly forbidden relationship, and Kent did not disappoint in its creation. In fact, she did such a wonderful job that we, her loyal readers, wanted more of their story. Hence, California Dreamin’ was born, and the parts of her storytelling that you love are found in this fleshed out story. 

Should you read Medicine Man first before reading California Dreamin’? Probably. You might also want to read Dreams of 18 too because the surprise of this newest book (it is my favorite part) is Kent brought back many of our favorite characters while introducing us to new character voices from the Heartstone world. For this reader, I love when writers build universes for their characters to exist together, and the revised and expanded California Dreamin’ gives us a bit of Fallon and Dean’s story (Kent offers up a more concrete happy ending for them), but she also provides the voices from the other stories. I won’t divulge who’s included, but, if you’re a devoted Kent reader, you’ll be overjoyed with her choices. 

Additionally, through this revised story, Kent revisits the truths of Medicine Man: the idea that one person can advocate for themselves while also wanting to be loved and cherished by a lover. Without giving too much away, Fallon and Dean’s story runs parallel to Fallon’s parents. They have many of the same struggles, yet now Willow and Simon must negotiate this new relationship from an advisor and parental position. I loved this added aspect to their story because, being a parent, I too would worry over this relationship. This shows Kent’s prowess at anticipating her readers’ questions about this May-December relationship. 

If I had to give a final conclusion about California Dreamin’, I would say that this book is simply an ode to Saffron A. Kent’s readers. There is still depth and gravity to Dean and Fallon’s story, but this book reads like a love letter sent from Kent to us. When you finish this book, you feel settled. However, she also opens some windows of opportunity for future stories. I, for one, would love to read those too. So, thank you, Saffron, for bringing us more of this world. It was one of the highlights of my reading this week. 

In love and romance,

Professor A

Overall Grade: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Who doesn’t love a “bad boy” meets “good girl” story? You know the one where you hope the bad boy dirties up the good girl and the good girl helps the bad boy embrace a life that toes the “straight and narrow”? If that’s your romantic interest, then Piper Rayne’s The Rival Roomies is your book. Now, the title is a little misleading. Quite honestly, it doesn’t quite match the book’s blurb. The rivalry exists between Rian’s new roommate, Jax, and her friend (and crush), Dylan, although that rivalry isn’t necessarily for Rian’s attention. It’s a ploy to get Dylan to go after Rian. 

Now, to be fair for this review, you must know that I did not read the first two books in The Rooftop Crew series. Thankfully, Piper Rayne does a brilliant job of offering enough of the backstory for the first two books that, if you haven’t read them (as I did), you will not be lost in the story of The Rival Roomies. Maybe you don’t fully understand the depth of Rian’s interest in Dylan or Dylan’s reticent towards relationships, yet Piper Rayne doesn’t make you feel like you missed too much, which is a huge plus for this book. 

This story is the classic heroine has a huge crush on the hero and she wants more from him, but he doesn’t “do” relationships because his background makes it impossible for him to do them well. Even more, he worries that the heroine and he have nothing in common, so how would a relationship work between them? Instead, the hero denies himself, and his $exual frustration over her grows deeper as each day passes. Eventually, the hero pulls his head out of his ar$e, and they fall deeper into the relationship. I’m not sure that Piper Rayne is doing anything different with this story, but they’ve placed it in the midst of a series that allows the focus of this story to really be more about friends as family. 

Since I am Professor Romance, I am always looking for the meaning behind the words of a romance. In this case, The Rival Roomies is a layered story about friends to lovers or opposites attracting. For one, Dylan, the hero, and Jax, his former best friend and current nemesis, are former foster children. Struggling with the insecurities of their pasts, they make choices that derail their happiness. They do this because, as Piper Rayne suggests, they don’t feel worthy of the good life may bring them. Dylan has huge abandonment issues that almost destroy his eventual relationship with Rian. Even more, he uses those fears to keep him away from a relationship with Rian. Piper Rayne deftly crafts his character to illustrate the fears so often found in relationships, and they offer him a meaningful, fulfilling relationship to show how love can bind our wounds. 

While Dylan struggles with personal insecurities, Rian’s characterization underscores the message of friends who become family. Her vulnerabilities exist because her parents’ expectations for her life are founded in their own selfishness. While her past looks vastly different from Dylan’s, we learn quickly that Rian’s struggles are no less profound. Again, Piper Rayne’s careful storytelling highlights the idea that challenges exist no matter background and income level. Both Dylan and Rian carry hurts into a relationship that could easily derail their relationships, but Piper Rayne intuits the power of friends to help us through our pain. Even though Rian’s parents are awful, her friends act as her family and empower her to love Dylan. 

The Rival Roomies is a good story. It utilizes some of our favorite tropes in romance, and it manifests the continued idea that our family can be whomever we want it to be. Woven through that idea is a story of two friends who eventually embrace their attraction and, in the end, find the happiest of happy endings. If you love a little salty with your sweet romance, then grab Piper Rayne’s The Rival Roomies. 

In love and romance,

Professor A