Tag: book review

Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Melanie Harlow’s Small Town Swoon, a Cherry Tree Harbor romance âśŤđźŹ»

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Overall Grade: A-/B+

Tropes: best friend’s brother MMC; hate to love; second chance romance; he spoils her; small town romance

Small Town Swoon is one swoon worthy romance. Melanie Harlow has created a small-town romance series in her Cherry Tree Harbor series that absolutely steals your heart. In fact, until this book, the first book in the series, Runaway Love, had been my favorite by quite a landslide. Now, Dash and Ari in Small Town Swoon have solidly inched up to right below my favorite in this series. To be clear, I’ve loved the love journeys of the Buckley siblings for various reasons; however, Dash’s intentional actions spoiling Ari, the young woman he’d scorned years earlier, makes this book special.

Dash and Ari’s story feels the lightest of the first four books in this series. Harlow has lightened up this series over her Cloverleigh series, but there is still a bit of angst. The underlying thread of trauma for the Cherry Tree Harbor series is the death of the Buckley’s mom when they are young. It informs their actions, so seriousness creates the tension of the story. However, Dash and Ari’s strife doesn’t match the earlier books of this series. As such, I inhaled Harlow’s Small Town Swoon because it vacillates between the initial reticence of Ari towards Dash, their explosive chemistry, their eventual spicy agreement, and their romantic acceptance of their feelings. Page after page, I was drawn further into exploring their romance. 

Add to all of this the continued relationships between the Buckley siblings. The humor, the wisdom, and the connection are grafted together to add depth to Harlow’s book. There is so much to love about this story, and I recommend a dive into it for your Monday reading.

In love and romance,

Professor A

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✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Adriana Locke’s Nothing But It All âśŤđźŹ»

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Overall Grade: A

Tropes: marriage in trouble; small-town vibes; second chance; blue-collar

Dear Adriana,

I decided to write this review as an open letter to you because it’s been a week and a half since I finished reading Nothing But It All, and this book continues to cling to my soul. Reading this book was like looking into a mirror and seeing my reflection. You deftly and beautifully captured the challenges of two middle-aged parents and the strife of marriage. Yes, Lauren and Jack find their happy ending again, but the book’s ending promises that life will continue challenging them, and they will need to continue working hard at their marriage. The truth and reality of this book are couched in the tenderness and spice of Jack and Lo’s reconciliation, so anyone who doesn’t want to read the reality of romance can still melt with the love portrayed between these two characters. Yes, Jack’s father and their kids are critical to your story in getting Jack and Lauren to the place where reconciliation can happen, but they aren’t necessary to Jack and Lauren’s journey. 

I have to be honest, though. I had to step away from the book several times because it was so real, and I saw myself in your story. My husband and I are essentially married roommates after 26 years of marriage. Unfortunately, my husband isn’t Jack, whose self-awareness is refreshing in your story. So the hope projected through Jack and Lauren’s story is a bitter pill for me. My choices for my marriage, though, are represented in the truth of your book: marriage takes dedication and work through the good and bad times. Lauren says something like she would rather have Jack in her life than a life without him, and I think that’s true for me too. 

Thank you for writing this book even though it was sometimes difficult to read because it’s so true to my life now. I am exceedingly grateful for the quality of your writing voice, and for how you create characters that look and sound like real people in real situations with the promise of finding their happy endings. Nothing But It All is a primer on how romances can be written about the challenges of middle-aged love and the hope for different outcomes.

Forever a fan,

Professor A

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✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Meghan Quinn’s The Reason I Married Him âśŤđźŹ»

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Overall Grade: B+

Tropes: marriage of convenience; small town; golden retriever MMC; emotionally protective FMC

I’m late in posting this review. I’ll admit it, and it isn’t that I didn’t love Meghan Quinn’s newest Almond Bay story, The Reason I Married Him (TRIMH); it’s because it hit close to home in a way. You see, I’m Aubree. Maybe not to the depth of her pain hidden behind walls of emotional stone, but I’m similar in that I erect those stone walls of emotion and let them down only when I feel safe. Meghan Quinn captures this reality beautifully in TRIMH, so much so, that, for someone who lives it, it felt tortuous at times. Quinn’s careful development of the breakdown of Aubree’s walls is easily the best part of the book, but it also has emotional gravitas. In fact, when Wyatt’s character flaw is revealed, it adds very little to the story. For me, it felt like it explained his poor choices away too easily. What was most important about Wyatt, what brought levity to Aubree’s difficult character journey, is his way of lightening and cajoling joy into Aubree’s life. 

Quinn carefully couches Aubree’s journey to feeling safe with Wyatt by crafting his character with humor and resilience. Even though Wyatt’s journey is laden with difficulties – his need for perfection doesn’t compare to Aubree’s. It allows him to empathize with her and challenge her, but his easy persona is the perfect foil to Aubree’s more challenging one. The light/dark motif of this book underscores their relationship well. 

My only challenge with the book is its necessity for a slow burn. There are deep trauma walls to burn down, and it can only happen with patience, resilience, and encapsulating moments. Quinn does this well, but it also slows the movement forward. I needed to take breaks from Wyatt and Aubree’s back-and-forth banter because their chemistry is a minefield. This is necessary for this book, but it makes it harder to read than the first book of the series, The Way I Hate Him. That’s still my favorite of the series. 

I adore Meghan Quinn’s romances. The Reason I Married Him adds more depth to the struggles of the Rowley siblings. Like an onion, Quinn is peeling each layer, revealing more to love about their lives in this delightful town of Almond Bay. Even more, she connects more of her universe, delighting fans like me repeatedly. 

In love and romance,

Professor A

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✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: L.B. Dunbar’s Sterling Brick âśŤđźŹ»

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Overall Grade: B

Tropes/Characteristics: standalone in an interconnected series; high school sweethearts; single mom FMC; second chance romance; small town romance; cinnamon roll MMC

L.B. Dunbar’s second book in her Sterling Falls series, Sterling Brick, is Hallmark romance-worthy with a huge helping of steam. This is the Hallmark story you wished you could watch on your television. Dunbar has written an evolving, emotional story about high school sweethearts who reunite in their hometown of Sterling Falls. She’s a divorcee, single mom of two kids, and he’s a volunteer firefighter, brick-laying man with his eyes set on winning the woman he’s never gotten over. Dunbar creates a driving story filled with reticent attraction, eventual forgiveness, and fated lovers finding their forever. Sterling Brick is everything you love about romance: happily ever afters in the midst of the difficulties of real life. 

Dunbar puts her MMC, Knox, and her FMC, Halle, through their paces which allows for the healing necessary for their eventual future. However, it also causes the story to drag at times, creating repetitious dialogue and actions as Halle struggles to forgive Knox’s early adulthood choices and Knox struggles to forgive himself. Honestly, the first half of the book is working through this emotional entanglement, and I found myself drifting away from their story. Once, Knox and Halle forgive the choices of their past, the book moves forward at a better pace. I would have pushed them along faster to retain the readers’ focus.

Dunbar is a masterful storyteller, utilizing a variety of metaphors to encapsulate Knox and Halle’s struggles. I would, however, like to see her avoid being so “on the nose” with them, i.e. Knox’s nickname/call sign is “Brick,” and there is dialogue about Halle building her life “brick by brick.” Dunbar has more skill than choices like that. With that said, she has written some moving moments about personal growth and the journey forward. I appreciate how Dunbar has written Halle’s relationship with her children, Violet and Tim. Even more, she’s drawn Halle in such a way that she’s strengthened by her love for Knox. It allows her to slowly stand in her own power with Knox as a support, not the only support. 

Overall, I enjoyed Sterling Brick, and I love how this series of siblings is shaping up. Entwining their stories within the supportive, but complicated small-town world of Sterling Falls makes it easy to fall in love with these characters, and L.B. Dunbar’s voice continues to shine with her silver fox romances.

In love and romance,

Professor A

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✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Karla Sorensen’s Head Over Heels âśŤđźŹ»

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Overall Grade: A

Tropes/Characteristics: opposites attract; cinnamon roll MMC; city girl stuck in a small town FMC; found family

“I wasn’t trying to change who she was; I just wanted her to trust me with the parts she kept hidden.”

Karla Sorensen’s newest book, Head Over Heels, is a treasure. I’ve been marinating on it since I finished it because she did something special with this story. This book continues to follow the Wilder family. We’ve met the first of these siblings in her books, The Plan, The Crush, and One and Only. I have delighted in the emotionally wrought stories in these books. But something important is happening in Head Over Heels, and I believe this is one of Sorensen’s best books. Let me try to find the words to tell you why I loved it so much.

  1. Her FMC, Ivy, is a complicated character. She is like a crab: she has a soft underbelly with a hard outer shell. This isn’t her doing; she was raised this way. Her journey involves recognizing that vulnerability is not weakness; it’s actually a way to connect with people who want to love you. Sorensen has drawn her in such a beautiful way that you can’t help but see her unraveling and reveling in it. Her journey into feeling her emotions and sharing them underscores an important part of this book: intimacy. 
  2. The manner in which Sorensen approaches the depiction of intimacy is impeccable. In reflecting on how romance authors create intimacy between two characters, it’s often charged and grounded in $ex. However, Sorensen builds Ivy and Cameron’s intimacy and, by extension, vulnerability with each other quietly. It’s nuanced, and it’s built with actions. As Ivy’s journey moves her further into acknowledging her feelings, had Cameron spoken directly of his feelings for her, it would have ground their burgeoning to a halt. Instead, Cameron builds a relationship with her through his quiet actions. When I think of Head Over Heels, these moments steal my breath. Her characters don’t need to speak their feelings; instead, they know them because the actions are present. I found it built a foundation in the book that made it easy for Ivy to eventually accept she loves Cameron. There’s a quietude in that realization, and it makes you feel as though you’re wrapped in a fuzzy blanket.
  3. Head Over Heels doesn’t have a predictable happy ending. Instead, Sorensen leaves us with a happy-for-now ending. We can decide that, given some final choices by Ivy, they will have a happy ending, but they have peace in the now without needing the predictability of marriage and babies (although it’s hinted at in the story). I found I enjoyed this ending. It feels different from other romance books that want to wrap up the story in a red bow of a wedding ceremony and pregnancies. We don’t know the exact nature of Ivy and Cameron’s future; instead, Sorensen shows us that, at this moment, they are ridiculously happy.
  4. Lastly, and one of my favorite parts of this story is Cameron’s ability to love Ivy just as she is. This is a common message in romancelandia, but Sorensen has written it so that it steals your breath. He truly accepts her self-protection and struggle with vulnerability. He simply lets her be and loves her through it. A cinnamon roll hero, he is. 

Karla Sorensen continues to grace her readers with emotional, compelling stories. Head Over Heels gifts us with more entrance into the compelling Wilder family. You will need tissues for this story, but you will also end it with hope. I am so thankful for a writer such as Karla who grants me access to a world of small-town love and family.

In love and romance,

Professor A

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✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Kristen Ashley’s Rock Chick Rematch, a 1001 Dark Nights/Blue Box Press novella in the Rock Chicks Universe âśŤđźŹ»

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Overall Grade: A

Tropes/Characteristics: soulmates; morally gray MMC; single mom; standalone in an interconnected series; found family

I didn’t realize how much I needed to read Kristen Ashley’s Rock Chick Rematch. If you’ve read her Rock Chicks series, Darius Tucker is the silent yet present, morally gray character who keeps on giving to the resolution of trepidatious situations. Yet, until now, his story along with his soulmate, Malia’s, has been unknown. Reading Rock Chick Rematch was like returning home after a long time away. Unlike many of my fellow Rock Chicks, I don’t do an annual re-read of Ashley’s stories. That’s simply because her book list is so prolific that I find myself working through it still after beginning to read her a year and a half ago. Even more, whether you are reading one of her novellas from 1001 Dark Nights/Blue Box Press or independently published full novels, Ashley treats her readers to a full meal of story. I can’t tell you the number of times I leave a novella wanting more. This isn’t the case with Rock Chick Rematch; instead, she gifts you a story between two long-suffering, but deeply-in-love characters who receive the happiest of endings. It has everything you love about the Rock Chicks and the Hot Bunch: an undying love, an MMC who protects beyond any measure of his own happiness, and a quirky, but independent FMC who keeps him and his “brothers” on their toes. 

What did I love about Rock Chick Rematch?

  • Malia is fierce. Kristen Ashley knows that you can’t gain entry into the Rock Chick world unless you can go toe to toe with a possessive, alpha-male Hot Bunch guy. I love strong female characters, and Kristen Ashley’s portrait of Malia and the Rock Chicks is exactly that. While Malia doesn’t know herself when she’s young, she figures it out quickly, and she doesn’t suffer fools, namely Darius. In fact, my only disappointment was how quickly she forgives Darius for a secret, and I understand this is a novella so KA has only so much space to write this story. However, I felt Malia’s pain and hurt, and I wanted her to revel in it a bit more. Even more, I wanted it seen and acknowledged more by the participants in that secret. Kristen Ashley has written a saint in Malia.
  • I loved Darius’s journey. That we are gifted his story is a treasure. My favorite moments of Rock Chick Rematch are Malia’s realization that Darius has become the best of his father. I won’t divulge more details, but Darius’s swooniness comes through his need to protect and care for Malia and their son, Liam. A morally gray character is always one of my favorites, and Darius has taken a top 10 spot of morally gray romance heroes for me after this book. 
  • The reunion with the Rock Chicks and Hot Bunch. This is the sweet cream of this story. If you’ve read this series from Kristen Ashley, you know that it never lets go. It sticks to your ribs forever. Being granted the opportunity to return to it, to recognize the parallels of other stories as Kristen Ashley divulges Malia and Darius’s story is the thing that will make bubbles in your soul. Everyone is here. Everyone. And there’s a nod to the future. For me, this is Kristen Ashley’s superpower: developing her universe and allowing us continued access to it even when a particular world seems closed. She knows her reader fans, and she gifts us stories such as Rock Chick Rematch constantly, earning our undying love.

Rock Chick Rematch is all caps DIVINE. I inhaled this story of lost love and love regained. I am so thankful to Kristen Ashley for writing this beautiful book about soulmates who needed to wait for their time. In the end, they find it and a wealth of happiness that will absolutely warm your soul.

In love and romance,

Professor A

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✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Pippa Grant’s The Bride’s Runaway Billionaire, a Three BFFs and A Wedding Romance âśŤđźŹ»

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Overall Grade: A

Tropes/Characteristics: runaway bride FMC; movie star MMC; close proximity; surprise baby; second chance; small town; found family; opposites attract

Throughout reading Pippa Grant’s The Bride’s Runaway Billionaire, I kept asking myself what is it about her romances that tug at me. At face value, Pippa Grant writes quirky rom-coms. The group of writers I put her in is Penny Reid and Lucy Score. They have a distinct writing voice and presence in their stories. Oftentimes, the face of the story is laden with quirky characters and inconceivable plot points. However, by the end of the romance, it’s clear this is a facade. Beneath cute animals such Yolko Ohno, the one-legged chicken, in Grant’s newest offering and the over-the-top antics of the supporting cast of characters abides a deep, loving relationship between her MMC and FMC. There is always something deep below the surface of Pippa Grant’s romances, and the marriage of the light facade with the depth of character rendering is why I always come back for more. 

Throughout Grant’s most recent series, Three BFFs and a Wedding, she’s crafted a small-town world where everyone knows everything and everyone else, and it feels tempestuous at times. In the first two books of the series, she has a big problem: how to handle the upended wedding between Emma and Chandler. Book 2, The Gossip and the Grump, is where she holds us in suspense about Emma’s situation, and she wallops us at the end of that book with a surprise. Crafting this series in this way sets up The Bride’s Runaway Billionaire to be the most anticipated story of the series, which has the potential to cause a problem: what happens if Book 3 doesn’t live up to the hype? Well, you need not fear because, for this reader, The Bride’s Runaway Billionaire is my favorite of the three. Grant definitely saved the best for last, and she fulfilled the promise of creating a series that ends with the cherry on top of the sundae. Why did I love it so much?

  1. Emma makes her MMC work for it. I love that. I’m not a fan of second-chance romances where the hurt FMC lets go of her pain too easily. It undermines the tension of the reconciliation, and Grant superbly takes her reader through the paces of the MMC’s groveling.
  2. What this does is make us fall deeply in love with her MMC. Here’s the thing: I am attempting to write this review without naming him. I know others will do it in their reviews; however, I won’t. Grab the book and find out for yourself. Just know that the inclusion of this MMC into this book is pure genius. It connects the Pippa Grant universe (which I’m a particular fan of doing – it shows me that an author has a distinct and intelligent plan for her stories, even if she figured it out at the last minute. Plus it allows us re-entry into a book world that we previously loved). Secondly, Grant has written this MMC to be everything we need him to be for Emma’s journey. He takes responsibility, he recognizes his shortcomings, there is no gas-lighting, and he accepts his reckoning, all while falling deeply, madly in love with a character who has suffered previously. This is the type of heroic characterization that makes a reader swoon. 
  3. The family of friends in this series is pure joy. The needling, the love, the respect – everything with this cast of friends adds another layer to The Bride’s Runaway Billionaire. The reflections and the reconciliations make for a feel-good read.

Almost a week out from reading Pippa Grant’s newest book, and it still swims in my mind. Emma and her MMC were a delight to read, and I’m so thankful that Pippa Grant knows who she is as a writer because her books bring so much light into a world that oftentimes feels dark. The Bride’s Runaway Billionaire is simply a must-read.

In love and romance,

Professor A

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✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Jessica Peterson’s I Wish You Were Mine, book 2 of the Harbour Village series âśŤđźŹ»

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Overall Grade: A- / B+

Tropes: single dad MMC; small town; grump-sunshine; nanny FMC; surprise baby; age gap; insta-attraction; close proximity

Jessica Peterson’s I Wish You Were Mine is the type of romance you expect from a socially-conscious, writer such as herself. Tuck and Maren’s story is a tangled mess of forbidden feelings, combustible chemistry, and charm. This is a complicated bind that leaves you with whiplash as Tuck and Maren find their way through a messy love. 

I enjoyed the first book of Peterson’s newest series, I Wish I Knew Then, but nothing prepared me for how much I would love Maren and Tuck’s romance. And Peterson doesn’t make it easy on her readers’ emotions. She has incorporated the theme of fear into Maren and Tuck’s characterizations. Their fears are different, but the idea of fear, to a certain degree, binds them, allows them to cling to each other. Peterson beautifully shines the differences in approaches to handling their fears: one who resolves it through the buoy of love and the other who momentarily destroys because they don’t lean into love. 

Throughout the story, Peterson intertwines Katie as an amelioration of the tension and chemistry between Maren and Tuck, and she provides the reality. Even more, Katie’s characterization provides humor when the book feels heavy. Add to all of that a supporting cast of characters in Tuck’s family and friends as well as Maren’s parents to add both the flame to the tension but also the wizened guides necessary to helping Tuck overcome the shadows of his past. 

Jessica Peterson deftly and carefully ties together a romance that tugs at your heart in I Wish You Were Mine. One of the things I love about Peterson’s romance voice is her willingness to dive deep into difficult situations, showing us all sides of an issue through her characterizations and plotlines. Of the two books in her Harbour Village series, I Wish You Were Mine is my favorite thus far.

In love and romance,

Professor A

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✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: J. Saman’s Irresistibly Dangerous âśŤđźŹ»

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Overall Grade: A- / B+

Tropes: forbidden relationship; marriage of convenience or fake marriage; band of brothers; best friends’ cousin; romantic suspense

“She’s my beauty, and I’m her beast.”

They say, “Be careful of the quiet ones.” J. Saman’s Irresistibly Dangerous showcases this truth through its sweeping drama for Lenox and Georgia. In fact, for me, this final book of her Irresistibly Yours series is my favorite, thanks to its driving plotline, detailed characterizations, and eroticism. Lenox is a dirty, dirty man.

Likes:

  • Lenox and Georgia’s journey of recompense. The upheaval of their constant back and forth makes for enjoyable reading.
  • The band of brothers situation that has been the foundation for this series. It’s on full display here with the added complication of the forbidden nature of Lenox and Georgia due to her cousins.
  • The general storyline. This is the romantic suspense of this series. While it isn’t much of a surprise, the suspense elements add another entertaining plotline to the book. Lenox working to find all the dirt on her CEO and his son is engaging.
  • Lenox’s protectiveness over Georgia. There is nothing more swoon worthy than a protective, fully consumed MMC. Saman has drawn Lenox well. Add to his characterization dom-feels, and it’s pure erotic fire.

Criticisms:

  • Georgia’s easy forgiveness of Lenox. I’m not partial to an FMC who forgives and forgets so easily or who is ready to get intimate with the MMC after he’s treated her with indifference. It always tweaks me.
  • Lenox’s constant reminders that he can’t be with Georgia. Saman took this further than I think it needed. When he finally decides to live his life on his own terms, I whispered a “finally” as it should have happened sooner. 

I have absolutely loved J. Saman’s Irresistibly Yours series. Generous stories coupled with keen character journeys have ingratiated themselves into my heart, and Lenox and Georgia’s Irresistibly Dangerous is the icing on the cake of this compelling series.

In love and romance,

Professor A

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✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Vi Keeland’s What Happens at the Lake âśŤđźŹ»

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Overall Grade: A- / B+

Tropes: small town romance; grump-sunshine; insta-attraction; he falls first, but reluctantly; overcome the past; neighbors/close proximity

Overcoming the traumas of our past is a continuous theme in literature. The power the past holds to keep us from experiencing the depths of our present impacts almost all of us. In her newest story, Vi Keeland wraps up the truth about letting go in a simmering, spicy romance replete with witty banter, an interfering small town, and a dose of angst. What Happens at the Lake is everything we’ve come to love in a Vi Keeland contemporary romance. She entices you with a beginning that piques your curiosity with its light-heartedness, and she wallops you in the middle with the depths of “life.” Marrying the congeniality of fiction with the emotional gravitas of real life, Keeland engages her readers easily. 

And it’s easy to love Josie and Fox, her main characters. These are not simplistic renderings as trope titles and blurbs would assert. While Josie is the light to Fox’s dark, she holds gradients of both. Fox is no different. When Keeland writes him at his grumpiest, there is still a charm and humor in his characterization. It’s difficult to dislike him even at his most churlish. Keeland has deftly woven his backstory throughout the romance so motivations are understood and sympathy granted to the hard-hearted, emotoinally unavailable Fox. She further showcases her adeptness at drawing complicated characters in making him the first to fall. The relationship-allergic becomes the most emotionally incapacitated by it. While Vi Keeland’s characters first inhabit the pages of her stories as enemies or opponents, she carefully plots to unwind that tension so as to draw the emotions out of her readers. And she succeeds every single time. 

Along with the capable rendering of her characters, in this book, she gifts us with the ameliorating power of the found family in the small town, Laurel Lake, America’s Friendliest Town. Incorporating various characters adds humor to the story as well as wizened guides for both of the characters. This setting is key to undermining the tension between Josie and Fox, and it provides a respite when the story becomes emotionally difficult. There is wisdom in adding this “found family” to both Josie and Fox’s journey. 

Vi Keeland’s What Happens at the Lake is a wonderful read, one that warms your soul and steams your glasses (or panties). The strife, the spice, and the tomfoolery conspire to remind you why you can never pass on a Vi Keeland story.

In love and romance,

Professor A