Overall Grade: A-/B+
Tropes: small town romance; marriage of convenience; bad guy/good girl; found family; he falls first; touch her and die
Tia Louise’s Hamiltown Heat series had all the angsty feels mingled with a huge helping of spice. Coming out of that series, I needed some levity, and she didn’t disappoint with her Be Still series. From the first book of the series, A Little Taste, I found myself engaged with Tia Louise’s rendering of small-town couples finding love against the odds. It is a lighter series than her Hamiltown Heat series, but its power lies in the sometimes light-angsty nature of the couplings.
Her final book of the series, A Little Naughty, is the perfect exclamation point to the series. It happens to be my favorite. Jemima and Raif are magical in that they know they want each other from the start, and they don’t allow outside forces to keep them apart. Even more, Tia Louise has drawn Raif as a good man from a “bad” family, and the protectiveness that Jemima shows him draws you into their relationship. The complications of Raif proving to people he isn’t his family makes you fall hard for him, but it’s also how he falls hard for Jemima, protecting her at all costs that really cements it. To me, this is the lightest feeling book of the series, and I believe it’s because Tia Louise brings Raif and Jemima together and keeps them there. A Little Naughty sets out to offer you a marriage of convenience, and she has underscored the found family/community of the special small town of Eureka. That’s really the gem of this story. As the happy ending unfolds, you cannot help but be filled with all the good feelings. Tia Louise’s Be Still series is a feel-good series of special romances that will absolutely steal your heart.
In love and romance,
Professor A
Professor Romance 