Tag: small-town romance

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Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4.5 ⭐️ Review: Talia Hunter’s Tough Cookie ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: 4.5 ⭐️

Tropes: fake relationship; small-town romance; Penny Reid-inspired; STEM FMC; chronic illness; hurt/comfort trope; cinnamon roll hero

One of my favorite aspects of Penny Reid’s Smartypants romance, besides all of the fantastic stories born from Penny’s stories, is the introduction of new-to-me authors. Talia Hunter is one such author. Her offering to the SPR world, Tough Cookie, was captivating. Her story chronicles the fake relationship evolution of Noah and Carla. Carla rents and lives in Noah’s childhood home. When a leak in the ceiling leads to its disrepair, Noah who is in town healing from an on-set accident from his stunt actor work is tasked with repairing the roof and ceiling. He falls almost instantly for Carla. As their time treks toward Valentine’s Day and his eventual return to stunt work, Carla and Noah begin to fall hard for each other. Some of that transpires from their instant attraction. Some of it comes from Noah’s protection of Carla who suffers from ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) or chronic fatigue syndrome. Not one to shy away from loving hard, Noah must win Carla’s heart which is protected behind fortified emotional walls. Thankfully, his tenacity wins out, and these two find a happy ending, even though it’s hard-won.

In each of the SPR stories, authors focus on important topics that add gravity and dimension to small-town romances. In this story, Hunter deftly characterizes the difficulties of this disease as Carla fights against Noah’s love. She feels she has very little to offer, yet Noah loves hard and perseveres in loving Carla on her terms. Even more, Hunter lovingly proffers a heroine whose intellect and love for science feel necessary in stories wrought with romance. Carla’s braininess becomes a major attraction to Noah as well. Their coupling is dreamy with Noah’s fight for her, winning over your heart. 

There is so much to love about Talia Hunter’s Tough Cookie. Jethro and Sienna make a small appearance, underscoring one of this beautifully drawn book’s messages: perfection doesn’t exist; it’s simply created in the eye of the beholder. I’m thinking Hunter’s book will be one of the favs of this newest season of Smartypants Romance.

In love and romance,

Professor A

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Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4 ⭐️ Review: Stacy Travis’s Dough You Love Me?, a Smartypants Romance ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Tropes: second chance romance; small-town romance; Penny Reid-inspired romance; going home

Stacy Travis’s Dough You Love Me? has found an apt home in Penny Reid’s crafted Smartypants Romance world. Set in the Donner Bakery series, the story follows Julia, who has returned to Green Valley after her grandmother’s death. Julia ran from Green Valley when she was younger because she was spurned by her crush, Shane. Never realizing that Shane felt like he wasn’t good for her, she left town and stayed away. She realizes she has stayed away too long in the shadow of her grandmother’s death. When she encounters Shane at the Friday jam session, long-buried feelings rise to the surface, and she runs again. Thankfully, she only runs as far as her grandmother’s home. As a friend of Cletus Winston, he connects her with his love, Jennifer Sylvester nee Winston who needs her help making bread. It becomes immediately clear that Julia will be working with Shane. As these two spend time together, those buried feelings find flight, and Shane and Julia fall in love in the specter of their past. Eventually, Julia decides to stay in Green Valley, finding her future with Shane.

Dough You Love Me? provides enough of that tension between falling in love and fighting the hurt feelings of one’s past. Julia and Shane engage in a tug-a-war of feelings until they simply can’t deny their attraction and love for each other. Through their story, Travis deftly points to how young people often struggle with differences. Shane’s story is wrapped up in his finding self-confidence in himself due to his disability. He rejects Julie out of a lack of confidence. When he finds music, specifically the French horn, he finds himself. When Julia returns to town years later, he is now able to love her despite his disability. Travis handles this storyline well. 

I think Travis muted this message with the coincidence of Julia and Shane’s bread-making. On the one hand, she’s able to spend some time focusing on the importance of companies using local growers to source their ingredients. It’s an important message to consider, but I found it to undermine the larger message of Shane’s journey of self-acceptance. There were times when the story felt uneven as Travis had to balance what I felt were two storylines. 

All in all, though, I loved Stacy Travis’s Dough You Love Me? as it returns us to the world of Cletus and Jennifer (even if they are sitting in the background), and it keeps us wrapped in the world of the Donner Baker’s delectable pastries and bread. I’m hoping we see more stories from Travis in this new world for her. I think Clay deserves a story in the Smartypants Romance world.

In love and romance, 

Professor A

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Cover Reveal

✍🏻 I missed sharing this gorgeous cover for A.L. Jackson’s Love Me Today! I can’t wait for her new series. ✍🏻

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A.L. Jackson has revealed the gorgeous cover for Love Me Today!

Releasing: May 29, 2023

 

A jaded single dad. A woman returning to her small-town roots. Neither was prepared for their paths to collide…

I should have known I was in trouble when I backed my old, beat-up truck into the shiny Range Rover.

The driver looked like a gorgeous fallen angel – one who’d been booted right out of paradise for being a giant prick.

Good thing I’ll never have to see him again.

Except when I show up for my new job to teach a little girl how to ride her horse, I find the same icy blue eyes glaring back at me.

Paisley Dae is completely reckless. She’s also the best trainer in this small town. And Evelyn gets the best.

Protecting the little girl is my one focus.

Only the sassy trainer in her cut-offs and cowgirl boots quickly gets under my skin. Distractions are dangerous, but she soon becomes everything I crave.

One reckless night of giving in, and Caleb and I spiral into a web of passion.

But when I begin to unravel the secrets hiding in this place, I find there is more riding on this job than I thought.

Caleb and Evelyn are worth any sacrifice – only Caleb has to decide what he will sacrifice for me…

 

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Meet A.L. Jackson

A.L. Jackson is the New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance. She writes emotional, sexy, heart-filled stories about boys who usually like to be a little bit bad.

If she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the pool with her family, sipping cocktails with her friends, or of course with her nose buried in a book.

Connect with A.L. Jackson

Website: www.aljacksonauthor.com

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Text “ALJACKSON” to 33222

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Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4 ⭐️ Review: Allie Winters’s A Mountain Divides Us ✍🏻

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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

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Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4 ⭐️ Review: Adriana Locke’s More Than I Could ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Tropes; single dad with teen daughter; one month nanny; forced proximity; grump/sunshine; small-town romance

I’ve decided that there is one thing that will make my heart sing: a grump/sunshine small-town romance written by Adriana Locke. Now, I’d LOVE for her to stop writing compelling family stories because, as a reader, I want them all, a story for each new character that inhabits the pages of her books. But…but she is but one author and it takes time…time that I often hate to pass awaiting the next story in a new series of intriguing characters. This is More Than I Could, Adriana Locke’s newest story. 

Think grumpy single dad trying to parent a witty, intelligent, but complicated young woman. Add in a willful, sunshiney, intelligent, beautiful woman from the big city of Los Angeles who comes to small-town Peachwood Falls, Indiana to act as a nanny for the grumpy single dad’s thirteen-year-old daughter. From the moment they meet, Chase and Megan are combustible. Whether it’s Megan challenging Chase’s hard-headed ways or gruff communication, or it’s Chase trying but failing to stay away from Megan, they simply cannot help their attraction to each other.

Unfortunately, Megan’s situation is temporary, so Chase and Megan have to navigate their attraction while avoiding becoming serious. Best laid plans, right? This is the magic of More Than I Could. That fraught space along with Chase’s grumpiness in contrast to Megan’s spiritedness engage the reader. You don’t want to put this story down because (1) you love the characters – Megan, Chase, his brothers, the town folks and (2) you know that Locke will serve up a huge helping of a romancelandia happy ending. Which she does with aplomb. 

In her acknowledgments, Locke had hoped to craft and release a story that would allow an escape from the nastiness of the world. And she does this well in More Than I Could. It’s a story that eases along with moments of triumph for its characters that keep you suspended all the way to the sweet and spicy final page. If you’re looking for a feel-good romance with a minor side of tension, you’ll want to read Adriana Locke’s More Than I Could.

In love and romance,

Professor A

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Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4.5 ⭐️ Review: K.K. Allen’s Blanket of Stars ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: 4.5 ⭐️

Tropes: opposites attract; forced proximity; virgin hero; MMC falls first; small-town romance; neighbors-to-friends-to-lovers

If you haven’t yet journeyed into K.K. Allen’s Camp Bexley series, right now is the perfect time to jump in. With her latest release in this series, Blanket of Stars, Allen deftly ends this series under the sparkle of stars reticent of a good romance. 

In this final book, we are introduced to Cayson Bexley, the youngest of the Bexley brothers, and quite frankly, he is the most innocent and empathic of the brothers. Even with his years in the Air Force, a usual masculine endeavor, there is something pure about Cayson, and it doesn’t make him a “beta-hero;” rather, he acts as a foil to his FMC’s typical boyfriend type. It creates this great complication and the ultimate struggle between Cayson and Olivia. K.K. Allen must reconcile Cayson’s immediate adoration and eventual love for Olivia, as she determines her worthiness of Cayson’s love. All of this is deliciously wrapped in a steam-fest that begins with Cayson’s innocence and ends with his control of their physical relationship. I know some readers might not appreciate a virginal hero; however, something about it feels female-forward, as Olivia teaches Cayson how to pleasure her. Allen is careful to balance a potential emasculation with Cayson’s growing confidence in the bedroom, so, while at first their experience is uneven, it eventually becomes a balanced partnership.

If you’re a fan of a compassionate, thoughtful good guy hero and a heroine who has enough moxie for both of them, then you’ll love K.K. Allen’s exclamation point with Blanket of Stars. She took all the threads of this series and tied them into a bow of pure romance completion.

In love and romance,

Professor A

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new release

✍🏻 Grumpy/Sunshine, Single Dad/Nanny, Adriana Locke small-town romance. What’s not to love about all of this? Grab More Than I Could TODAY! ✍🏻

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MORE THAN I COULD by Adriana Locke

Release Date: February 27th

Genre/Tropes:

Grumpy + Sunshine, Single Dad + Nanny, Small Town Romance

MORE THAN I COULD by USA Today bestselling author Adriana Locke is NOW LIVE!

Grab this all-new grumpy/sunshine, single dad + nanny, small town romance TODAY!

NOW AVAILABLE! FREE IN KU!

Grab it here: https://amzn.to/3SzEToa

Add to Goodreads:

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EXCERPT

As soon as we’re alone, the air shifts. Shadows dance across the tabletop. Megan’s jasmine perfume scents the air, and my body temperature rises.

I struggle to remember our conversation yesterday. I remind myself that my child—the same one that occupied the seat next to me a minute ago—is my priority. Over and over, I replay all the reasons why I can’t afford to get off track.

Why I can’t touch Megan Kramer.

My muscles tighten in my stomach and across the back of my neck as I lift my gaze from the tabletop to her.

She grins. It’s simple, but when coupled with the heat in her eyes, there’s nothing sweet about it. “That was fun.”

I hold her gaze, unable to look away.

This is the first day, Chase. Twenty-nine more to go. Don’t blow it already.

I smirk and push away from the table.

I need to put some distance between us before things get really fun.

Blurb:

This nanny makes things hard for her boss.

Chase Marshall is many things:

An attentive single dad

Jaw-droppingly gorgeous

My employer for the next thirty days

He’s also the bane of my existence.

He swears I’m a never-ending headache—the most infuriating woman he’s ever met.

If I’m so irritating, then what’s up with the lingering looks when he thinks I’m not watching?

The seemingly innocent touches while making breakfast?

The smirk that graces his kissable lips after one of our verbal spars after his daughter has gone to bed?

One minute he’s coming to my rescue. The next second he’s complaining about how I fold his work shirts. Fine. Fold them yourself.

It turns out that the only time I don’t get under Chase’s skin is when I’m under him.

And that’s where things get complicated.

From USA Today Bestselling author Adriana Locke comes a grumpy, blue-collar single dad that falls hard for his new nanny. This small-town romance is a standalone novel with tons of heat and even more heart.

About the Author:

USA Today Bestselling author, Adriana Locke, writes contemporary romances about the two things she knows best—big families and small towns. Her stories are about ordinary people finding extraordinary love with the perfect combination of heart, heat, and humor.

She loves connecting with readers, fall weather, football, reading alpha heroes, everything pumpkin, and pretending to garden.

Hailing from a tiny town in the Midwest, Adriana spends her free time with her high school sweetheart (who she married over twenty-five years ago) and their four sons (who truly are her best work). Her kitchen may be a perpetual disaster, and if all else fails, there is always pizza.

Learn more at adrianalocke.com.

Connect w/Adriana:

Website: https://adrianalocke.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authoradrianalocke

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/booksbyadrianalocke

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Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 5 ⭐️ Review: Catherine Cowles’s Whispers of You, book 1 of The Lost & Found series ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Tropes: small-town romance; second chance romance; romantic suspense; forced proximity; found family; band of brothers

Have you ever seen that episode of Grey’s Anatomy where the active shooter invades the hospital? The one that incites terror in you as you watch it. I will never forget that episode of television. Catherine Cowles’s Whispers of You has shades of that episode with its compelling, terror-inducing hook, incremental slow-burn second chance journey, and the story twist that you don’t quite see coming. For me, Whispers of You is my favorite Catherine Cowles story of her recent stories. In simple terms, this book is the rib-eye of books to her former porterhouse stories. Whispers of You held me in its thrall and engaged me to the very last page of her bonus epilogue.

Here’s the why:

  1. The hook of this book is terrifying and heartbreaking. Don’t let that dissuade you from reading it. Like I said earlier, it felt inspired by that emotional and anxiety-inducing episode of Grey’s Anatomy. I originally read this book’s beginning in one of last year’s books, and I couldn’t WAIT to read Whispers of You because of it. 
  2. I adore a resilient character. Wren is the embodiment of it. Instead of becoming a victim who lives in the shadow of her trauma, she becomes an advocate, instead. Holt is lucky to earn her heart because, honestly, she is too good for him given his choices. Cowles grants Colt grace for these choices due to his age. But had this been real life, he might not have won over his love. 
  3. The balance, however, of this story is Holt’s capacity to love and cherish Wren. Once he recognizes his former short-sightedness, he’s a delicious male character: all alpha-hero with a protective streak. Cowles deftly balances Wren’s strength and resilience with Holt’s adoration and compassion. So incredibly good!
  4. I didn’t see the depth of Cowles’s revelation coming. Yep. I’m usually attuned to the story, but I gasped at the story’s twist. I love that Cowles doesn’t take it easy on her reader.

Catherine Cowles knows herself as a writer as well as the interests of her fans. Whispers of You was an unputdownable read. It was impossible to walk away from Wren and Holt because their story is just that compelling. Fans of small-town romantic suspense – this story is for you! Oh, and there’s an impressive husky to boot!

In love and romance,

Professor A