Tag: book review

new release, Review

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

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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

new release, Review

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

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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

new release, Review

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

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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

new release, Review

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

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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

new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Max Monroe’s Cluelessly Yours ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: B

Tropes: single mom FMC; love triangle-ish; he falls first; friends to lovers; doctor MMC; interconnected series of standalones

There are two things about Max Monroe’s Cluelessly Yours that I didn’t realize I needed: a swoon and a nice guy MMC. I think I’ve been sitting with grumpy next-door neighbor MMCs or anti-heroes recently, so a character such as Noah reads like a breath of fresh air in a swamp of cranky male characters. He broke up the doldrums of my reading week, and I love Max Monroe’s thoughtfulness with that. Now, let me get down to my stream-of-consciousness review of this book:

  1. I’ve decided that I approve of a dual POV when the points of view are separated into parts. While I recognize the almost “melody” created with the back and forth of chapters for dual POV, there is also a formula to it that has become a bit staid in my romance reading. I appreciate Max Monroe’s choice to break the POVs into parts. It 1) builds anticipation, 2) makes the narrative journey more tension-filled, ramping up the story, and 3) allows them to hold off on the full reveal of Sammy’s true MMC until almost halfway through it. Again, this builds a narrative tension that drives the reader forward. Smart choice!
  2. Cluelessly Yours is my favorite story thus far in Max Monroe’s It’s A Funny Story series. It may have something to do with my age and life experience that I connect in some ways to Sammy, but I appreciate her journey more than her sister’s and son’s teacher. That being said, this series has such a different flavor from Max Monroe’s earlier stories, the billionaires that steal our hearts. One of the reviews commented on their popular culture references and how she/he/they don’t like it. Honestly, I paid attention to see if Max Monroe’s millennial poked through. And it’s only a little. Instead, Cluelessly Yours reminds us to ask for and receive the best for ourselves. We shouldn’t settle, and we shouldn’t allow others to bully us into relationships. Noah and Sammy together are pure rom-com poetry.
  3. There is a story point near the end that adds a twist to the book. This is my biggest criticism of the book: it made no sense. It was put there to “fix” a story point, but it was underdeveloped in the story, so it felt like Max Monroe “jumped the shark” by enacting it. This is the sole reason for the 4-star/B rating of this book. I’m hoping there is another book for one of the characters in the story who needs a happy ending right now, but I’ll wait and see how Max Monroe’s muse(s) speak to them. 
  4. Precious children in a romance? I love them. If you don’t, well…ignore them. They add flavor to Noah and Sammy’s romance.
  5. Again, Noah…thank you for being the sweetest, most chivalrous Max Monroe MMC.

I write this next sentence about Max Monroe’s stories quite often, but it continues to ring true: Max Monroe’s Cluelessly Yours is the read you want for this weekend to escape the seriousness of your world. It’s sweet and spicy and funny and charming, and it’s not really a love triangle (thank God!), but there’s enough tension around two men pursuing Sammy that you might be annoyed with Max Monroe; it’ll be transitory when you realize the true stars of the book.

In love and romance,

Professor A

new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Laney Hatcher’s Last on the List, the final book in the Bartholomew series ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: A-

Tropes: surprise pregnancy; best friend’s brother; sister’s best friend; banter; enemies to lovers to vibes; found family

Laney Hatcher has definitely saved her best for last. Last on the List, the final story of her Bartholomew series, offers an apt end to this touchingly irreverent historical romance series. The Bartholomew siblings have definitely captured my heart, and Silas and Mary are the cherry on the hot fudge of this delicious romantic sundae. 

Whenever you write a couple with the type of fiery banter that Mary and Silas engage in, you know the story will be engaging. Hatcher deftly carries us through their “hate to love,” fiery attraction, friends with benefits, and angsty romance. I loved the pacing of their journey even though Mary’s secrecy and want to protect Silas would frustrate any reader. Yet, this is the crux of the surprise pregnancy trope, and Hatcher allows us to rest in that tension for much of the book. She needs this space, however, to help Silas recognize his love for Mary (no surprise!), but even more, understand her background and its impact on Mary’s sense of self so he can love her the best. Even more, Hatcher grants them the space to learn to “see” the other better than anyone else. This takes a careful hand and decided storytelling to do it well, and Hatcher, in my opinion, has done it in Last on the List. 

The ending of this story is poetry as we say goodbye to the Bartholomew siblings while also celebrating who Mary and Silas have become as a couple and parents. Laney Hatcher has done nothing more than make me fall deeper in love with her brand of historical romance. Hoping for more stories from her soon.

In love and romance,

Professor A

Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Skye Warren’s White Lies, book 2 of her Smoke and Mirrors trilogy ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: B- / C+

Tropes: age gap; dark romance; small town vibes; found family; circus romance

Skye Warren’s White Lies is the second book of her newest Smoke and Mirrors trilogy. It features the commanding Logan and the beguiling Sienna embroiled in test after test of their love. White Lies handles the cliffhanger left at the end of book 1 of the series, Red Flags, but it inevitably leaves us on another one at the end of this story. 

I want to be frank. I struggled with White Lies. I love Skye Warren’s brand of dark romance, and I’ve read most, if not all, of her book list. I’ve been consumed with her Tanglewood world romances in the past, and I will never forget the impact of those stories on my sense of dark romance. I share this because I will continue to read her even though White Lies is one of the most inconsistent stories I’ve read from her. It felt cobbled together, and there were transitions between certain chapters that slowed her narrative pacing. Several chapters of White Lies were repetitive: Logan asking for forgiveness and Sienna vacillating between continuing to distrust him or granting it. Warren tethers Logan and Sienna together with $ex, and it’s difficult to understand and accept Logan’s undying love for her. In a word, White Lies felt rushed. 

Here’s the thing: I want to love this trilogy (it’s my first one set in the realm of a circus, and that intrigues me), but thus far, I’ve been underwhelmed by it. I will continue to read Skye Warren because I know she’ll pull it all together in Black Sheep. I was simply disappointed with White Lies. Sienna and Logan’s story deserves better.

In love and romance,


Professor A

new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Jolie Vines’s Save Her from Me, book 2 of the McRae Bodyguards series ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: B

Tropes: bodyguard MMC; close proximity; romantic suspense; brother’s best friend; band of brothers; found family

Jolie Vines’s Save Her from Me provides another exciting story in her McRae Bodyguards series. Jackson, her bodyguard MMC, and Ariel, the FMC with a streak of moxie and independence, create a combustible romance from its very first chapter. Vines has deftly and consciously progressed in her capacity to write an erotic story. In her journey as a romance writer, she has developed a distinct writing voice: creating reticent heroes who fall deeply for their heroines at almost first glance and heroines who find themselves under the protection and love of their partner. 

What I loved:

*The chemistry and reticent connection between Ariel and Jackson. This provides the energy of Vines’s romance.

*the connections between current and past characters in the world of the McRaes. Getting peeks of former McRae heroes and heroines reminds us of this intricately woven universe that Vines has carefully crafted. This is one of the many reasons Vines’s star has risen in romancelandia.

*the forward motion of this narrative. There is a resolution to the issue of Ariel’s father and the shadow who threatens her for most of the story.

What I thought could use a bit more work:

*There was an inconsistency in Jackson and Ariel’s progression at times. One minute, there appeared to be a path forward which becomes erased by the overthinking of the other one. 

*The resolution to the story felt rushed. It seemed like an easy resolution that could have been meted out sooner. Ariel held the power all along, meaning she could have resolved her confinement sooner. Granted, we would not have been gifted Jackson and Ariel’s story, but this underscores the quick remedy to the issue of her father.

Jolie Vines continues to wow her readers crafting romances in a beloved world. This newest series offers reticent MMCs who can’t help but fall hard for their FMCs. Her Save Her from Me ties together a swoony romance, a community of people who fight for each other, and an edge-of-your-seat romantic suspense into one. I have been honored to read her since almost the beginning, and she continues to grab my attention with her storytelling.

In love and romance,

Professor A

new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Devney Perry’s Sable Peak, the final The Edens series romance ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: A

Tropes: unrequited love; small town romance; found family

Without a doubt, Devney Perry’s Sable Peak, the final book of her The Edens series, is phenomenal. In totality, this series has been a breath of fresh air in romance reading over the past year as it focuses on a generational family, the central focus of a small town in Montana. But Sable Peak did something that the other books in the series, even more than the other books in Perry’s booklist, don’t: change her formula.

For the most part, Perry follows a pretty standard 3 act structure with some type of separation of her MMC and FMC at the 80% mark. Many romance authors follow this narrative structure, and we, the readers, love it…except that it can be tiresome. With Sable Peak, Perry’s structure still follows a 3 act structure, but the packaging looks a bit different. Add to it the unrequited love of Vera, an exceptionally complex character in her stable of characters, and it makes for emotional peaks and valleys between Mateo, her MMC, and Vera. Perry first creates the tension through Vera’s point of view when she realizes Mateo only sees her as a friend or sister-figure. Perry stays away, at the beginning of the story, from flipping between Vera’s and Mateo’s points of view, instead building the tension of her story solely through Vera’s point of view. I found it compelling. Once the inciting incident begins, the story between Vera and Mateo ignites and turns into the type of story we love from Perry. Adding in the complication of Vera’s relationship with her father simply adds another layer of tension to the story, actually drawing Vera and Mateo closer together. 

Everything you love about a Devney Perry romance is found in Sable Peak: a sweet, yet spicy romance set in a small-town setting, a family that loves beyond its members, and an ending that steals your breath as her FMC and MMC find their way to an epic happily-ever-after. This time, Devney Perry broke her mold a bit, and it worked for her (at least it did for this reader). Here’s to hoping for more story experimentation while offering the type of romances we expect from her.

In love and romance,

Professor A

new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Rebecca Jenshak’s In Your Wildest Dreams, a Wildcat Hockey series story ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: B/B-

Tropes: pro hockey romance; troubled ex-; he falls first; cinnamon roll hero; found family; band of brothers

Rebecca Jenshak’s next story in her Wildcat Hockey series, In Your Wildest Dreams, is an apt reminder that a golden retriever/cinnamon roll hero who falls first is a pure delight. Jenshak’s newest book focuses on the difficulty of her hero, Ash Kelly, falling for her heroine, Bridget, first. Jenshak deftly takes her readers through Bridget’s story about relationship violence and a manipulative ex. She complicates it for Ash when she makes the ex-boyfriend, the newest assistant GM for Wildcat Hockey. This sets in motion a secreted relationship with tons of spicy. In fact, that’s the failsafe for In Your Wildest Dreams. Ash and Bridget are pure fire. 

Where I think the story finds trouble is the machinations of the ex. Yes, Jenshak highlights the power of relationship abuse to keep a victim silent. Bridget’s eventual willpower and courage are commendable. However, throughout the story, I thought Ash’s inaction was a flaw. He has power through the entirety of the story, and it’s his agent and/or manager. Yes, Ash struggles with understanding his role on the team and the power of his generosity with his teammates. However, it was difficult to accept that he’d readily allow a new assistant GM to harm his professional life. With so many hockey books in the romance market, it’s difficult to accept this narrative flaw. 

That being said, I did enjoy Ash and Bridget’s journey in In Your Wildest Dreams. It’s possible that I loved the band of brothers trope even more, as Rebecca Jenshak has crafted a hockey series that underlines the power of brotherhood.

In love and romance,

Professor A