This is going to be a fairly spoiler-y review. That said I think it is important to read the CWs for this one because I was not prepared for what stood in store for my reading experience based on the cover and blurb.

CW:

Spoiler

miscarriage/still birth (in the past, but described), scary pregnancy and delivery stuff (on page, secondary character), gas-lighting and emotional abuse (in the past), cancer mention.

You ever start reading a book and immediately go oh f*ck this is not going to work for me but then it is 1am and you're crying and holy sh*t, how did it work?

Well somehow Undone managed throw many of my big no's at me and I still could not put this book down and in fact finished it in one sitting.

The basics: Jess Cohen is ready to celebrate her best friend and business partner's wedding, but is concerned that she'll be in close proximity with their fellow friend and her former lover, Jake Winton. She and Jake had a secret four month long relationship that was entirely amazing but had to end because Jess didn't want to promise Jake forever, or even come clean to their friends. Jake, heart broken, moved across the country to the west coast.

Now Jake is back and their chemistry is still off the charts, but Jess still is convinced that they cannot ever work long term. Jake is confused, but is willing to wait for the woman he's always loved and is also willing to set her free if she truly is done with their relationship. And he refuses to sleep with Jess even for just one more time. His heart is too involved.

Now, why, with all evidence that Jake is 100% in for forever, is Jess so prickly and unwilling to be in a relationship? Both she and Jake have great jobs, they can basically live wherever they'd like, or at least try the long distance thing because they can afford airfare. Their friends would be completely onboard. What is the hold up?

Well here comes the spoilers.

Spoiler

During the wedding, Jake and Jess's friend, pregnant with twins after struggling with infertility, starts exhibiting signs of pre-eclampsia. Jess has to convince her, along with Jake (a pediatric oncologist), and the women's partner, that she needs to go to the hospital.

Jess has a panic attack about going to a hospital for some reason, and she knows her friend has pre-eclampsia for some reason...the reason we eventually find out after long drawn out pages is because Jess gave birth to a stillborn son in her eight month of pregnancy almost 20 years ago, when she was barely 18. This experience is fairly graphically described. We also find out Jess got pregnant because her boyfriend at the time compromised their condoms. He wanted to control her, get her to marry him, and was completely abusive. Jess's parents, fundamentalist Christians, were also terrible, and blamed her sins for her dead baby. Terrible stuff, awful stuff. Jess then moved to NYC to be with her grandmother and eventually through her grandmother's strength, therapy, and many years of work, Jess is doing great.

BUT. Jess will never ever get married again, and will never ever even consider having a child. She had a tubal ligation and never lets her partner open a condom, use their own condoms, or even put the condom on, something that Jake had noticed but never thought too much of. Jess was convinced telling him would cause him to run for the hills, or treat her differently, or basically ruin what they had. Jess believes Jake wants kids, a family, and marriage. All things she's unwilling to compromise on.

Jake, oh Jake. Jake simply loves Jess. He loves her so much, and he just wants to be with her, however she'll have him. I won't spoil how these love birds eventually get their HEA, but it is fantastic. "He always respected my no."

I'm sure we are going to see reviews claiming Jess is difficult, Jess is hard to like. I loved Jess. For all the reasons that make her "difficult."

So, if you can handle a whole lot of angst, kind of scary medical stuff, and an epic slow-burn (pays off in the end), give this one a try!

*Thank you to the publisher for the free advance review copy.

Unfortunately, despite the excellent premise this one fell flat for me. I liked the meet cute, with Rose finding Owen, furniture maker/restorer, sleeping in her bed, the one her dastardly ex is trying to sell under her nose, but the conflict about him being a struggling, independent craftsman versus Rose being an office drone to an IKEA-esque company didn't really work for me. I hated that Owen embarrassed Rose at her work gala after she explicitly told him not to confront her cheating ex. Boundaries?

Both Rose and Owen had money struggles and I was always feeling worried about Rose. Yes, she works at Owen's "enemy" but she does also need to worry about her bills, her future, and shoot, health insurance. I'm glad it all worked out in the end, but me thinking about these things took me out of the story and I felt the ending was too neatly and perfectly wrapped up.

Also, if you find sex toys, even if it is just ropes/restraints, used by your ex with people other than yourself, wouldn't you throw them away? I didn't like that Owen introduced Rose to uber-light kink with restraints they found hidden in her bed, by her cheating ex.

I've enjoyed some of the other books in this series, this one just didn't quite work for me.

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC.

A tense and emotional first-person YA novel about a Black teen who's twin brother goes missing and is later found dead after the police bust up a party they were both attending.

Marvin Johnson's experiences with police brutality, injustice, and trauma are difficult but important to read and will hit home, especially with teen readers. Readers will either be extremely frustrated with some of the dangling plot points that are never answered and left to the imagination or will delight in coming up with their own endings for Marvin, his mom, his father, and his friends.

My favorite parts of the book were Marvin's father's letters.

Tzipporah recently joined an Orthodox Jewish community, choosing to live her faith as closely to the rules as she can. She's also ready, five years after her divorce from her secular husband who also belittled her sexual needs, to find a husband. Her friend and the rabbi's wife leads her to consider the butcher, Elan, who is even more conservative than she is, and a widower.

They suit, and are quickly married, and find they share more than just their faith in common. What follows is an erotic and inspiration exploration of a love that grows through both BDSM and mutual respect.

Absolutely beautiful and stunning. I've never read a book like this before. Highly recommend.

*I won a copy from the author*

Listening to the audio of THE WORST BEST MAN was a pleasure for my ears and a delight for my heart. And not only did I enjoy a lovely and romantic adventure watching Max and Lina fall in love, I actually laughed and could see this entire novel thrown on to the big screen basically beat for beat. And while there are super big feelings, emotions, and hurdles for our couple to deal with, the story never lost its hope and lightness. There are no unexpected deaths, illnesses, or babies. Just grown-ups with jobs and families and feelings and their work to deal with all of these things. Plus, the sexy times are delicious yet also had the couple laughing and not being super serious all the time, which was lovely to see depicted. Showing lovers laughing together over silly things that sometimes happen during sex is so important, because it can't all be mind-blowing intensity all the time.

Best of all, the entire cast of characters, including the ex who jilted Lina and is a jerk to his brother Max, are completely fleshed out. This world Sosa has created is super fun and I cannot wait for more stories!

I did have an eARC which I flipped through, but I mostly listened to this on audio I checked out from Hoopla.

A+ banter, loved the contract negotiation scenes the absolute most, and Tom Severin realizing he has feelings was a delight. Also, please sign me up for sexy train sex.

Overall though this was fairly boring. When Tom and Cassandra weren't on page together I found myself losing interest and getting distracted. There is not a lot of external conflict, so if you are looking for a basically angst free they love each other and work it out romance, this is a perfect comfort read.

CW: fatphobia, constant talk about how Cassandra's weight

Thank you to Avon for the ARC.

I picked up this series based on a trusted Twitter mutual and holy moley I've followed it down the rabbit whole. If you are in the market for some huge ex-Navy SEALs who are called the "Sexy Six-Pack" for many reasons, including that they now own a BDSM club in Florida on top of their private security firm, go forth and one-click.

The first book in the series features Devon who helps introduce and falls in love with Kirsten, a romance novelist who decides to try BDSM for real to help her writing.

Super hot, I appreciated the consent a lot, and there is a good dog.

CW for past assault, violence, guns, physical violence.

Okay, so after a thoroughly enjoyable reread via Richard Petkoff's most excellent narration, I can confirm Malkolm Slaine is officially my favorite IAD hero. Carrow and he both have a lot of baggage to overcome and Kresley does an amazing job making their HEA feel almost unattainable but all the more satisfying when they do achieve it. Glorified camping on a demon plane? Yes. Sexy baths? YES. Heads on pikes? YEES!

Um, Malkom Slaine, vemon of my heart! I cannot wait to listen to this episode of Fated Mates and I'll do a more coherent review tomorrow!!!

Parker Brown needs a fake boyfriend to convince her misogynist billionaire investor boss that she's serious about becoming a full team member of the green technology company he's at the helm of. She hires the her perfect match from an escort service, only to have his livid former heavy weight prize winning boxer brother show up for their first business dinner "date."

Rhys Morgan is everything Parker is not. Huge to her tiny, gruff to her prim, and extremely adamant that she will NOT be hiring his brother. Plus, turns out Parker's boss is a huge fan of Rhys, so maybe Parker should hire him instead.

Their fake relationship quickly turns into real feelings as they realize that opposites do attract and both Parker and Rhys are more than stereotypes.

I loved the Boston setting and the chemistry is real and jumps off the page, but some of the rest of the plot fell flat. I wanted to know more about Parker's job and really hated her boss, as you were supposed to, but he's almost cartoonishly "evil." Rhys makes some very harshly judgey comments about sex workers when he confronts Parker about her "whoring" out his brother.

I listened to Outmatched on audio book because I wanted those Boston accents, and it took me a bit to get in the groove with the male narrator. I did not care for his "female" voices and his narration was very staccato at times. I did like the female narrator, so a bit of a mixed bag.