Tag: forced proximity

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new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4.5 ⭐️ Review: Catherine Cowles’s Glimmers of You ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: 4.5 ⭐️

Tropes: brother’s best friend/best friend’s little sister; small-town romance; hate to love; second chance at love; romantic suspense; forced proximity

“Kissing Grae was like downing a shot of whiskey set on fire. She burned through my system in a way that would leave scars in its wake.”

This is what Catherine Cowles does: she marries gorgeous prose with the type of romance that burns. Glimmers of You, the third book of her Lost & Found series, envelopes you like a warm blanket while you bear the brunt of the cold. Grae and Caden’s romantic journey is one fraught with unrequited love, familial trauma, and an outside threat. This is what Catherine Cowles does so well: she ingratiates her characters into your soul that you hate to leave her stories. Even more, other than the details of Caden’s wealthy family, her characters are relatable. 

The crux of Grae’s story lies in her Type 1 diabetes diagnosis. Cowles deftly shows the impact of this diagnosis throughout the book. It not only affects her physically; diabetes has changed her familial relationships, causing her to strive toward greater independence. Cowles highlights the overprotectiveness of her family and early in the story, Caden’s; yet, she uses Caden’s early awareness of Grae’s frustration to help develop the awareness of the larger group. This is thoughtful in that it cultivates a stronger bond between Grae and Caden.

Additionally, Cowles’s pacing of Caden and Grae’s attraction feels “just right” for this romance. While the reader waits on tenterhooks for Caden to allow his love for Grae, it never feels overly wrought. It blooms under Grae’s empathy and understanding of Caden’s pain derived from the relationships with his father and brother and the death of his sister. Cowles shows us the power of love to heal these hurts as Grae shows she knows Caden better than anyone.

If I have any criticisms of Cowles’s storytelling, it’s the sometimes repetitiveness of her story elements, Her heroines, in general, tend to bear the trauma of her stories which can be predictable. That each of her small towns is rife with a variety of nefarious individuals could be perceived as problematic (I mean, who wants to live in a small town with so many violent individuals?). Lastly, while she does an apt job of disguising her villains, if you’re familiar with her romances, you know where to look to find them. 

Even with those thoughts, Catherine Cowles is always a must-read for me. She suspends me in the time of her books, and she makes me fall in love with her characters. I pine for her stories, impatiently waiting for the next book to come.

“Loving people means exposing ourselves to the worst kind of pain […] But it also gives us the greatest beauty we’ll ever experience.”

In love and romance,

Professor A

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new release

✍🏻 Caden and Grae stole my heart. I had been waiting for their story, and Catherine has written their story in such as way as to steal your soul. It’s OUT NOW. Don’t wait on this one! ✍🏻

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Fall for Grae and Caden in their fake dating, brother’s best friend, small town romance from USA Today Bestselling Author, Catherine Cowles!

He hadn’t always just been my brother’s best friend. There was a time when he was mine, too. Until he disappeared from our small town when I needed him the most.

Now, Caden’s back. With his cocky smirk and infuriating nicknames. And I’m struggling to ignore his presence.

When my ex refuses to leave me alone, Caden steps in, suggesting that it will get my ex and Caden’s calculating father off both our backs if we just pretend to be madly in love.

There’s just one problem… Nothing I feel for Caden Shaw is fake—even when I thought I hated him. And there’s no denying how the touch of his lips sparks a flame I’ll never be able to extinguish.

As those pretend moments start to turn oh so real, someone’s watching. They’re not happy about Caden’s new role in my life. And they’ll do anything to rip me away from him—even burn us all to the ground…

Get Your Copy ➝ 

Amazon & Kindle Unlimited: https://geni.us/GlmmrsofYouAmzn

Audio: https://geni.us/GlmmrsofYouAdbl

About Catherine Cowles

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.

Connect with Catherine

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2IEQXSw

Facebook: http://bit.ly/2Lc4mU0

Twitter: https://twitter.com/catherinecowles

Pinterest: http://bit.ly/2RFY7Jv

Instagram: http://bit.ly/31TE3rJ

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2xdUZLn 

BookBub: http://bit.ly/2J3dWWF

Website: https://www.catherinecowles.com/

Stay up to date with Catherine by joining her mail list: 

http://bit.ly/2JZE0DH

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Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4 ⭐️ Review: Jolie Vines’s Touch Her and Die, book 1 of her new McRae Bodyguards series ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Tropes: bodyguard romance; grump/sunshine; forced proximity; forbidden-esque; found family; band of brothers; romantic suspense

Jolie Vines’s newest story, Touch Her and Die, harkens back to her earlier Wild Scots and Wild Mountain Scots series. Having spent the last year gobbling her darker romance series, Dark Island Scots, it was refreshing to jump into Touch Her and Die, the first book of her newest series, McRae Bodyguards, because it reminds us what Vines does well: craft heroes who fall hard and deep for their heroines and heroines whose emotional intelligence brings out the best in their heroes. This story takes us into the world crafted by Gourdain, the second eldest brother of Vines’s popular Marry the Scots series (see Hero – one of my favorite of her stories in that series). Vines’s hero is Ben, a character who has shown up in prior stories as a background character, and she makes him shine in this one. Throughout Touch Her and Die, Ben must work through the trauma of his past and the unresolved feelings he has for his birth mom. These issues hinder his ability to have a meaningful relationship with the story’s heroine, Daisy.  Vines deftly creates grump/sunshine personas for her main characters which allow for a balanced story.

While Ben works to avoid his attraction and instant chemistry with Daisy, Daisy’s journey involves finding her own space in the world. Escaping a mafia-esque family to pursue cleaning houses, Daisy must continue to make choices that are best for her. Even more, Vines’s adding in her love for helping people clean their homes to create order ingratiates her to readers. Daisy reminded me of the character in the movie, Maid, in that she recognized the power of bringing order into people’s lives that felt disordered. It’s impossible not to love Daisy’s character in this story. 

Another broader stroke I enjoyed in Touch Her and Die is the inclusion of the McRaes into this series. While they played small parts in the Dark Island Scots series, it was tertiary at best. In this book, we are reminded of how much we love Gourdain McRae and the greater McRae family. Connecting us back to the original characters whom Vines made us love breathes a touch of nostalgia into her story.

As a total addendum, I loved the small graphics at the start of each chapter. I know it’s a minor detail, but it shows the care that Vines takes with all aspects of her story.

If I had ONE criticism, it would be the inclusion of Ariel’s point of view in this book. It detracts from Ben and Daisy’s journey, especially at its beginning. I understand it to be set up for Ariel’s story, but it does nothing more than distract the reader.

I’m excited about the future McRae Bodyguard romances. If Touch Her and Die is any indication, I predict another successful series.

In love and romance,

Professor A

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Cover Reveal, Uncategorized

✍🏻 I’m obsessed with this cover for Penelope Ward’s next book, I Could Never. I can’t wait to read this one! ✍🏻

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Title: I Could Never
Author: Penelope Ward
Genre: Standalone Contemporary Romance
Tropes: Forbidden Romance/Enemies to Lovers
Cover Design: Letitia Hasser, RBA Designs
Photographer: Anders Kavin
Release Date: August 21, 2023
BLURB
From New York Times bestselling author Penelope Ward comes a new forbidden, enemies-to-lovers story…
It all started with an unexpected phone call.
Two years after my fiancé passed away in an accident, his father died suddenly, leaving Brad’s adult, special-needs brother with no one to care for him.
The next thing I knew, I was on a cross-country drive to New Hampshire where I’d be moving in to look after Scottie until I could get him into a group home.
The last thing I ever expected?
I wouldn’t be taking care of him alone.
Josh Mathers, my fiance’s best friend—who also happened to be my sworn enemy—insisted he was the better person for the job. He told me to go back to California, and I told him where he could stick that demand.
Our disdain for each other wasn’t anything new. It dated back to a text I’d accidentally read years ago.
We hated each other. But we both loved Scottie, so neither of us budged.
Now we were living together in a tiny house—with one available bedroom. Thank goodness it was only temporary.
Over time, I realized the broody jerk I thought I knew was different than I’d imagined.
I found myself slowly growing attached to someone I once considered the enemy…and growing attracted to him.
Sure, both of us were guilt-ridden over Brad. We were also two grown people with pent-up frustration toward one another—stuck in a cabin in the woods.
But this was Josh.

I could never.
PRE-ORDER LINKS
**No Amazon e-book preorder. 
Will go live on/around release day
AUTHOR BIO
Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling
author of contemporary romance.
 
She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a
television news anchor. Penelope resides in Rhode Island with her husband, son,
and beautiful daughter with autism.
 
With over two million books sold, she is a 21-time New York Times bestseller and the author of over twenty novels. Her books have been translated into over a dozen
languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.
AUTHOR LINKS
OTHER BOOKS BY PENELOPE WARD
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
SEE MORE BOOKS HERE
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Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4 ⭐️ Review: Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone’s Snow Place Like LA, a Christmas Notch in July novella ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Tropes: second chance romance; forced proximity; working with an ex; Christmas in July feels; mm romance; miscommunication and misunderstandings

Snow Place Like LA begins where Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone’s A Merry Little Meet Cute leaves us. Angel and Luca have enjoyed themselves thoroughly in Christmas Notch, but it’s time to return to the “real world,” and Luca is curious and anticipatory about his future with Angel. However, at the airport, at the last minute, Angel seems vague. The two separate with Angel going to Paris and Luca returning to Los Angeles. When Luca tries to connect with Angel via messaging and hears nothing, he doubts their connection. When he finds an incriminating photo on social media, he makes the heavy decision to block Angel, and he feels heartbroken.

Snow Place Like LA is a deliciously dirty rom-com highlighting the disastrous effects of misunderstandings and spur-of-the-moment actions. Set in the backdrop of Teddy Ray Flectcher’s “corn” business, Murphy and Simone use the epic Pretty Woman to craft moments of hilarity for their story. They incorporate many of the characters from the first book of the Christmas Notch series as a way to connect readers who loved that book to this expanding world. When Angel and Luca are forced to work on the “corn” version of Pretty Woman, Luca’s anger and heartbreak create tension in the story, but it never overwhelms its rom-com designation. Unfortunately, Angel and Luca cannot keep their hands off each other.

When Angel and Luca finally talk about their falling out, it becomes clear that there were misunderstandings. As these two reconcile, Murphy and Simone use Luca’s emotional journey to highlight the impact of past traumas on present-day choices. Luca shows us that feeling misunderstood and not being accepted by his family has left him to create walls with the people around him. He uses humor to mask his feelings. When he doesn’t feel “seen” by Angel as they leave Vermont, he recognizes it replicates his feelings to his family’s disinterest in him. Just when it feels as though they will find their happy ending, Angel has more news, and he invites Luca into a future with him. However, Luca’s love for the people who have loved and accepted him makes it difficult to choose Angel’s proposition. Murphy and Simone deftly walk us through Luca’s journey of self-awareness, and Angel and Luca find their happy ending.

Snow Place Like LA is irreverently funny. It’s impossible not to love Luca and Angel, and there are truths in this book that feel necessary for us to read and apply to our own lives. I cannot wait for more stories from Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone’s Christmas Notch series.

In love and romance,

Professor A

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Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 5 ⭐️ Review: Kandi Steiner’s Meet Your Match ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Tropes: enemies to lovers; opposites attract; hockey romance; sports romance; forced proximity; workplace romance

After reading Kandi Steiner’s Meet Your Match, two things are very clear: Steiner is an impassioned and emphatic romance writer. Every word, every sentence, every plot point or beat is a pulse driving her readers into the rabid consumption of her story. Meet Your Match is dramatic and spicy and energized from the beginning to the end. 

You can’t help but gobble Maven and Vince’s story from their meet-cute at the gala when Maven turns her nose up at an enigmatic, but enticing Vince, to the drama of their possible end. We learn through their journeys several lessons: never judge a book by its cover (a bit pedantic but an important reminder), past relationships can inflict traumas that undermine future relationships, people need to be honest with their feelings, and opposites can find a harmonious and beautiful happy ending.  

Steiner creates such delicious tension between Maven and Vince, one that pushes and pulls readers through their journeys. One minute, they can’t keep their hands off each other (and quite frankly, this book reads like one of Steiner’s spiciest), and the next minute, they struggle to find common ground. I love that Steiner makes them work for their happy ending. It is hard fought and almost lost in the end, but that’s the genius of Steiner’s storytelling: she doesn’t make her stories easy on her readers. It’s why her fan base is rabid for her romances. 

I’m “over the moon” for Steiner’s new series, the Kings of the Ice, because the potential for compelling romances has been set with Meet Your Match. She teases the next story at the end of this book, and I can’t wait for it to hit my greedy hands. Once again, Steiner has reminded us why she’s so beloved: she brings the drama and wills us to fall in love with her characters. And she does it beautifully.

In love and romance,

Professor A

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Cover Reveal

✍🏻 This is the book I’ve been waiting for in Catherine Cowles’s The Lost & Found series. There is nothing better than a broody hero. Add a precocious little girl as the heroine’s daughter to counter him, and you get romance dynamite. Check out the cover for Shadows of You, coming October 24th. ✍🏻

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💜SHADOWS OF YOU COVER REVEAL💜

USA Today bestseller, Catherine Cowles, has revealed the cover for the next suspenseful small town romance in her bestselling Lost & Found series, coming October 24th!

✔️ Grumpy x Sunshine

✔️ Single Mom

✔️ Heroine in Hiding

✔️ Forced Proximity

Pre-Order Now ➝ https://geni.us/ShdwsofYouAmzn

Cover Design by Hang Le

Photography by Wander Aguiar

It was supposed to be a fresh start. A small town where I could hide my little girl from the shadows that haunt us. A place where I could keep us safe.

The last thing I expected was him.

A surly, broody mountain of a man who helps me save an injured deer in a snowstorm.

Now, Roan Hartley keeps showing up with his glowers and grimaces. But they only make his rare smiles and the gentle way he talks to my daughter mean that much more.

When forces from my past find us, Roan is determined to keep us safe—even if that means sleeping on my ancient couch every night.

As days turn to weeks, his touch has my walls crashing down. But someone out there doesn’t want me to find happiness. He doesn’t want me left breathing at all…

Pre-Order Now ➝

Amazon: https://geni.us/ShdwsofYouAmzn

About Catherine Cowles

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.

Connect with Catherine

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2IEQXSw

Facebook: http://bit.ly/2Lc4mU0

Twitter: https://twitter.com/catherinecowles

Pinterest: http://bit.ly/2RFY7Jv

Instagram: http://bit.ly/31TE3rJ

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2xdUZLn 

BookBub: http://bit.ly/2J3dWWF

Website: https://www.catherinecowles.com/

Stay up to date with Catherine by joining her mail list: 

http://bit.ly/2JZE0DH

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Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 5 ⭐️ Review: Melanie Harlow’s Runaway Love ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Tropes: runaway bride; single dad; dad of twins; forced proximity; grump/sunshine; opposites attract

“It’s me choosing you —- just you. As you are.”

Thus far, in the month of May, Melanie Harlow’s Runaway Love is my favorite romance book. This is part Runaway Bride, Sound of Music, and Notting Hill. Two tropes that instantly grab my attention are found in this book: single dad and grump/sunshine. And Austin, Harlow’s MMC, is drawn as deliciously hot, but a grumpyumpleton to his core. Harlow balances his curmudgeon nature with two precocious twins and a family who humbles him daily. Her FMC, Veronica aka Roni, challenges him, through her sunny disposition, to recognize his self-sacrifice and consider choosing his dreams. Conversely, Austin helps Roni recognize the importance of expecting people to love her on her terms. As they work through their separate issues, Harlow infuses spice and humor, sweetness and challenge to engage her readers’ feelings, and the combination of these things causes the reader to gobble the book. At least, I did. Austin and Roni excited me, and I didn’t realize that I’d been missing the draw of reading until I fell into Austin ad Roni’s story. I felt indignant for Roni’s betrayal, cheered Austin’s sister when she decided to invite Roni to be a nanny for Austin’s children, grew annoyed with Austin’s instant judgment of Roni, became elated when Roni showed her beautiful soul, was titillated by Austin and Roni’s chemistry, and grew emotional as both Austin and Roni recognized that he needed to choose himself and his dreams and she needed to be chosen period. 

Grab Melanie Harlow’s Runaway Love if you need something to read that feeds your soul. This book will make you laugh, become misty-eyed, and fog your glasses all in one pass. This book is a total homerun.

In love and romance,

Professor A

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Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4 ⭐️ Review: Tijan’s A Cruel Arrangement ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Tropes: anti-hero; alpha hero; mafia romance; forced proximity; grumpy/sunshine; opposites attract; heroine in danger; tragic past

Tijan’s next Kings of New York story, A Cruel Arrangement is a fitting follow-up to Tijan’s A Dirty Business. Both books envelop the reader in a harrowing tale of mafia tribulations couched in sultry romance. Where Trace and Jess’s love story is fraught with the forbidden element of their relationship, Ashton and Molly’s romance is high adrenaline from the very start to its end. 

As Tijan does well, A Cruel Arrangement is full of minute-by-minute tension. Ashton and Molly are opposites: he’s the new head of a mafia family, and Molly is the owner of a local bowling alley. Her father is a street “rat,” owned by Ashton’s family due to his extravagant gambling debt, and Ashton has taken on the family business in the wake of the deaths of his uncles. They shouldn’t work; however, something in Molly matches Ashton’s darkness, and the two are drawn together like magnets. 

This book has much to be solved because danger is afoot at every corner. Tijan places her characters in sundry difficult situations, and Ashton and Molly must work their way out of them. A Cruel Arrangement is page after page of trials, yet Ashton and Molly forge ahead, their attraction palpable on the page. Even in its darkest moments, Tijan has grafted a sweetness in Ashton and Molly’s pairing. 

Given the suspense in this book, I didn’t figure out the villain’s accomplices until Tijan revealed it. This, thankfully, kept me turning the pages of her story. The ending, however, was abrupt and not fully fleshed out. Yet, I’d like to believe there might be another book. 

If you’re an avid reader of suspenseful, dark mafia, A Cruel Arrangement will give you some good feels, but I’m not sure the most dedicated reader of mafia romance will find it dark enough. In the end, I’m here for Tijan and her stories, and this newest book didn’t disappoint. 

In love and romance,

Professor A

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Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4.5 ⭐️ Review: J. Saman’s Irresistibly Perfect ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: 4.5 ⭐️

Tropes:  friends to lovers; forbidden romance; opposites attract; forced proximity; band of brothers; found family; rockstar romance

I’m in love. I’m in love with J. Saman’s Greyson from her newest book, Irresistibly Perfect. If you had told me that I would not be able to put down a friends to lovers romance, I would have laughed at you. It isn’t my favorite trope, but I’m a fan of J. Saman’s stories. And Greyson and Fallon don’t disappoint. This is delicious friends-to-lovers romance. Greyson is swoony in that he adores Fallon even after years of estrangement. When Fallon decides to break her engagement and end her engagement, Greyson becomes her “ride-or-die” and the deliciousness of their attraction takes center stage in this book. 

What did I adore about this story?

*Once Fallon knows she’s not marrying her fiance, Greyson is intent on wooing Fallon. I was drawn into their relationship even as Fallon was denying her feelings for Greyson. His ability to win her over through spice and care is pure swoon!

*I love Fallon’s journey because I relate to her need to do what others expect. She’s the good girl, doing everything her parents want for her even if it’s at the expense of her happiness. As the details of her life unfold, J. Saman invests us in Fallon’s resolve to live her life on her terms. This quickly evolves into Greyson and Fallon acknowledging their feelings. This happens about 70 to 80% into the story, and they become a power couple through the book’s end. 

*I will always love the found family/band of brothers trope. In Saman’s series, she’s writing the camaraderie of Greyson’s former boy band members and brother in a way that begs for more stories. Their ability to be real with each other, while advising and protecting each other is a huge draw in Irresistibly Perfect. 

If you haven’t read J. Saman yet, grab this book. Even better, start with book 1, Irresistibly Broken. I dare you not to fall in love with the guys of Central Square. I can’t wait for future stories in the Irresistibly Yours series.

In love and romance,

Professor A