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Tag: slow burn
✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Karla Sorensen’s The Best Laid Plans ✍🏻
Overall Grade: A
Tropes/Elements: grump/sunshine; forced roommate/proximity; renovation romance; found family; slow burn; former pro football player
Karla Sorensen’s The Best Laid Plans begins like a lamb and ends with a lion’s roar. There is a quiet to this story even in the midst of the banter between her MMC, Burke, and her FMC, Charlotte, a back-and-forth that highlights their burgeoning attraction. It’s about what’s not being said in Sorensen’s newest story, the words and feelings that can’t seem to be spoken which captivates me. And I have so many words and thoughts about this book that I struggle to bring any structure to this review. Let me just go where I want to go, and I hope you follow it and grab this book fast.
Karla Sorensen has always been able to craft chemistry. She’s not an overtly erotic author. She infuses attraction and $ex into her books, but she doesn’t grant us full access to all the details of those scenes. Instead, she develops the relationships between her characters so much so that, oftentimes, at least recently, her MMC and FMC don’t consummate or give in to their attraction until late in the story. For this reader, this pacing is impeccable as it holds the reader in its thrall. I never get tired of the burgeoning relationship because every moment seems to matter for the future of her characters. Her ability to grab her readers quickly and keep them engaged throughout the story is her strength. This is definitely the case with Burke and Charlotte. And it is necessary for the depth and gravity of this book’s story.
Now, here’s where I might lose people but it can’t go without mention because, aside from Burke and Charlotte’s story, their fight against their attraction, their coming together, the falling apart, and their happily ever after, the true genius of Sorensen’s The Best Laid Plans is its exposition and interrogation of grief. Yes, she lays this at the feet of Burke. She fashions his grief to be palpable for her readers, and she shows the futility of language to process loss through his characterization. It’s brilliant. Having recently lost a very good friend, I understand Burke and his messy grief process. It’s complex and uncomfortable and forever incomplete, and Sorensen captures this well.
But here’s where her capacity as an author shines: the house, the one that Burke and Charlotte renovate throughout the book, is a representation of the gravity of loss. The juxtaposition of a house seemingly dead being raised to life with the fixed death of one of his favorite people is profound. It’s chilling how Sorensen crafts this. How do you live life without that person? Sorensen uses the house as a metaphor for dying. Then, in the specter of that house, she underscores the message about living other people’s dreams, both Burke’s father’s but also Chris’s dream. For much of this book, Burke doesn’t even know how to dream, so Sorensen gifts him one with the house. The depth of development in this analogy is brilliant and impactful and emotional. You cannot read this story and not feel the gravity of life. She even illustrates the multiple processes of grief through both Burke and Charlotte. It quite honestly left me spellbound.
Add to all of that some keen stylistic choices that excited this reader. Chapters Thirty-One and Thirty-Two are my two favorite chapters because Sorensen uses repetition in these chapters to feel like punches to the gut. As Burke and Charlotte struggle to handle the loss of their relationship, the repetition underscores it. The intentionality of these choices supports my contention that Karla Sorensen is an intelligent, intentional writer. And more people need to read her stories.
The Best Laid Plans has a flavor similar to Sorensen’s former stories but has its own voice. That voice is a reminder of the fragility of life. If you leave this book without hugging those you love a little tighter, you’ve missed the power of Karla Sorensen’s message and her provocative new story.
In love and romance,
Professor A
✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4 ⭐️ Review: Allie Winters’s Can’t Fight It, a Smartypants Romance ✍🏻
Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Tropes: friends to lovers; opposites attract; slow burn; close/forced proximity; college romance; new adult romance; contemporary romance; STEM FMC
Allie Winters’s Can’t Fight It is a bit of a revelation. There are some tropes that don’t entice me as much as others, namely friends to lovers and sometimes slow-burn (specifically when the pacing is off). However, with Winters’s newest Smartypants Romance book, I found Winters’s pacing appropriate and chemistry-inducing. I was compelled forward through Winters’s romance as her main characters, Tessa and Austin, navigate moving past first impressions (Tessa is initially frightened by Austin’s large stature), learn the complexities of each other, move through life (she’s a student researcher/future grad student and he’s a boxer turned eventual business person), and fall in love. What grounds their story is their mutual respect for each other which begins as neighbors turned friends but eventually becomes attraction due to Austin’s protection and kindness for Tessa. Winters crafts Austin to be physically overwhelming, but he has the biggest heart and shows unending kindness towards Tessa. And Tessa becomes Austin’s motivation to consider more for his life. She impresses on him to stand up for himself with his father and challenge himself to attend school. Before there is love and attraction between Tessa and Austin, they are the other’s biggest ally. And this is why I fell in love with their story.
Readers should know that this is a serious slow-burn romance. In fact, Can’t Fight It is a romance between introverts, but it felt real to me. There are several lessons to be learned from this story: overcoming fear (literal and perceived); accepting that failure is a part of the learning process; and recognizing that loving and protecting someone doesn’t make them a burden; it’s a byproduct of one’s love for the other. Smartypants Romance continues to tell compelling stories.
In love and romance,
Professor A
✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4 ⭐️ Review: Allie Winters’s A Mountain Divides Us ✍🏻
Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Tropes: single parent (mom); slow burn; forced proximity; small-town romance; insta-attraction; wounded hero; found family
Allie Winters’s A Mountain Divides Us, book 2 of her A Crescent Pass series, is exponentially stronger than book 1 of the series. From the outset, Winters has crafted a clear chemistry between Kristen, a single mom of twins, and Eli, an unexpected visitor turned roommate. Through her careful characterization, Winters has created Kristen as a woman who feels as though she can only count on herself to provide for and raise her children. While she has a strong family, Kristen believes people will disappoint and leave her, this having been taught to her through the deaths of her father and husband. As such, Winters has infused her with a stubbornness in the face of Eli.
From the moment they meet, it’s clear that Eli and Kristen are drawn to each other, and Winters takes the span of much of A Mountain Divides Us to bring the together. Overall, her romance is sweet with small helping of spice…eventually.
I enjoyed this book more than book 1 which I thought had some issues with development, and A Mountain Divides Us has more story development on the front end, as she builds her slo- burn romance. However, once Eli and Kristen figure their “ish” out, it drops off quickly, and the story comes to a quick end. Yes, there is the promise of an HEA, but I thought it could have had more story development after they realize they can be together. It’s a bit too neat.
I found Allie Winters’s A Mountain Divides Us to be a sweet romance. Kristen’s struggles did have a tendency to become frustrating, but Winters’s character development of Eli balances that struggle. In fact, Eli is a huge reason to read this book. If you’re a fan of small-town romance, you will like this book.
In love and romance,
Professor A
✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4 1/2 ⭐️ Review: Winter Renshaw’s The Best Man – LIVE Today! ✍🏻
Overall Grade: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2
When Winter Renshaw’s ARC for The Best Man hit my Kindle, I was salivating for it. Unfortunately, I had other more pressing ARCs to read so as to meet my deadlines for those reviews. Yesterday, when it went LIVE EARLY was the first time I could finally sit back and read it. I was nervous. It’s 50ish chapters. I knew I needed it read by last night, and I worried that I would have to pull an all nighter.
Yet, I needn’t worried BECAUSE in true Winter Renshaw fashion, The Best Man is a book that you simply cannot put down. It’s pacing and story draw you in, and you keep reading until you have gobbled every page.
The story follows Cainan and Brie. Initially, these two meet in a bar where Cainan proceeds to “hit on” Brie, and she spurns his one-night stand intent. He ends their connection with a comment: “Next time we meet, we won’t be strangers.” Unbeknownst to them both, Brie and Cainan meet when she witnesses a horrible crash and saves the life of the man in the crash, not realizing it is Cainan. Worried over him, she stays in the hospital to receive updates on his status and meets Cainan’s best friend, Grant. These two live in the same state and end up engaging in a relationship.
Cainan wakes up from his coma and believes he is married with two kids. His visions/dreams while sleeping are so vivid that he can’t believe he isn’t. For weeks and months after his surgery, he thinks about this woman in his dreams. Eventually, after healing and therapy, he returns to his life where one night he runs into her again at the same bar, only he doesn’t remember their first meeting, but he knows her face. She ends up leaving him again out of duty to life, and he struggles to move on from her. When his friend, Grant, tells him that he is getting married, Cainan eventually sees a photo of Grant’s fiancee, only to realize it’s the woman of his dream and the woman in the bar. Knowing that she is Grant’s, he resolves to move on from her. However, circumstances conspire to make it difficult.
Above all, this story is a slow-burn romance. If you are looking for $exy bedroom scenes, this isn’t the book. The beauty of this book is its story that keeps you suspended in anticipation because Renshaw designs characters that MUST be together. As the reader, you NEED Brie and Cainan to find their happy ending because Renshaw forms them to complete each other. If you’re worried that Brie cheats on Grant, you need not worry. Even more, this romance doesn’t even read as a romance where she must choose between two men. This isn’t the point of Renshaw’s The Best Man. Her purpose is telling a story of two people completely fated for each other that it takes on almost a paranormal feel. I hate using that word as it instantly reduces this story because that isn’t this story. Brie and Cainan are completely made for each other that their story reminds us that love shouldn’t be an obligation, but a source of power, pleasure, and peace.
Renshaw’s style is such that it almost feels quiet at times. I’ve observed this in her other books. Even when the hero (actually, usually the hero) or heroine is raging in the story, the romance whispers across the page. It’s this quietude that allows for the story to flow, so that a reader like me easily crushes the book. Like I said at the beginning of this review, I began it in the early evening hours and finished it before I went to sleep at midnight. As I also mentioned the number of chapters in this book, you should know that many of them are short, so that you breeze easily through them on your way to the ending. Every chapter seemed necessary as it lays out both Brie and Cainan’s point of views. The structure of this story along with her prose offers up The Best Man as an extravagant read.
Winter Renshaw’s The Best Man is a perfect read for our times. It allows you to fall into Cainan and Brie’s journey as you pass your time at home. It will grab your heart and pull you into its charms, as it reminds us all that we should always choose love first.
In love and romance,
Professor A
✍🏻 It’s a happy release day for Kylie Scott. The Rich Boy is LIVE and available on multiple platforms. Download your copy of it! ✍🏻
“Rich Boy takes you on a literal ride! Funny. Angsty. It’s a definite recommendation from me!
–Tijan, New York Times bestselling author
The Rich Boy, an all-new slow-burn standalone with white-hot chemistry and witty banter from New York Times bestselling author Kylie Scott, is out now!
I’m the type of girl who’s given up on fairy tales. So when Beck – the hot new busboy at work – starts flirting with me, I know better than to get my hopes up. Happily ever afters aren’t for the average. I learned that the hard way.
But how can I be expected to resist a man who can quote Austen, loves making me laugh, and seems to be everything hot and good in this world?
Only there’s so much more to him than that.
Billionaire playboy? Check.
Troubled soul? Check.
The owner of my heart, the man I’ve moved halfway across the country to be with, who’s laying the world at my feet in order to convince me to never leave? Check. Check. Check.
But nobody does complicated like the one percent.
This is not your everyday rags-to-riches, knight-in-shining armor whisking the poor girl off her feet kind of story. No, this is much messier.
Download your copy today!
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2O54ogZ
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Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/RichBoy
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About Kylie
Kylie is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author. She was voted Australian Romance Writer of the year, 2013, 2014 & 2018, by the Australian Romance Writer’s Association and her books have been translated into eleven different languages. She is a long time fan of romance, rock music, and B-grade horror films. Based in Queensland, Australia with her two children and husband, she reads, writes and never dithers around on the internet.
Connect with Kylie
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Website: https://kyliescott.com/
Professor Romance 