Overall, this is a confusing book to review. The cover is gorgeous, but is not really reflective of the content. I for one am all about steamy, small town romances, but ymmv.

The blurb on the back does promise high angst and tough topics, which I'm grateful for, but also I neglected to read it before jumping in (which is my fault). I love Naima Simone's writing, and I eat up her words even when the story makes me want to yell. She's a wizard like that.

I loved the immediate chemistry between Sydney and Cole and the sheer uncomfortable anguish and lust Cole struggles with due to his attraction. Sorry, I like to see em' suffer. Sydney is pregnant and never, not once is Sydney judged for her choices by Cole (but oh wow she is by a lot of the other characters in this town).

There is a lot of heavy plot, including Cole's dead wife and baby, Sydney's little sister who died from cancer and whose death Sydney believes her parents blame her for, and Sydney's ex-husband threatening to take legal action to sue for custody rights because she's isn't a "fit parent." I felt a bit overwhelmed by all of these on top of the struggle for Cole to realize he is ready for another romantic relationship. There's also the inclusion of a jealous woman who is awful to Sydney because she wants Cole.

There's so much trauma for everyone that the HEA, when it came, felt really sudden at the end, and we are left without an epilogue to reassure all is still well after the birth of Sydney's baby. This was especially tough for me as Cole lost both his wife and baby to childbirth, so I was left a bit worried about how he would be dealing with that.

All in all, a mixed bag but I definitely was riveted by the writing and wanted to see how it all ended up.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC

Law and Maya have a long standing feud. He rigs the Mermaid Queen vote to make sure she's the winner every year; she tries to get his wood-fired pizza oven banned for having too much smoke. But underneath it all is a simmering awareness that their hate might actually be a bit closer to attraction.

Now that Maya is at the risk of losing her beloved theater AND having to compete with Law for a local small business grant, she surely should not be kicking her heels up at his apartment even if he does have the good cable with the premier league football she loves watching. And she absolutely should not be thinking about kissing him...

As for Law, he's always kind of pined for Maya and cannot fathom why she is so mad at him all the time. But as they finally start to have a gradually detente leading to friendship, can he risk making a move and scaring her away forever?

This was fun, with a returning cast of characters and a lot of trope-y deliciousness. I was yelling at these two to put their faces together but I had to wait for the slow-burn to spark. I was also glad to return to Matchmaker Bay and have a fun romp, as the previous installment, while an excellent romance, hit a topic that was personally very hard for me to read.

CW: drinking, mention of tragedies from secondary characters that happened in the past.

When owner of The Cask Ebony believes Omari Fortune, head of the new, rival business across the street from her wine bar slights her, she plots out her revenge. But revenge can be tough when you start to catch feelings for your rival.

Whew, this was so sexy and what they did with that cigar my goodness!

The Cask definitely has an HEA but the heroine never tells the hero she was out and actively trying to sabotage his business during the whole story and well, go girl, but also ah! It is a retelling of The Cask of Amontillado, and I'm a bit agog at the ending in kind of the best way.

I forgot to mention I read (Trust) Falling for You this past week, and not only was it a truly fun & sexy opposites attract, forced proximity trope-fest, but also it is set in the woods of Wisconsin! Wonderful novella.

Recommended to me, a really great selection of poems.

I was so very lucky to receive an ARC of one of my most anticipated 2021 romances. I sunk into Love at First (February 2021) by Kate Clayborn this weekend, and it is essentially the electric brush of two lovers' hands captured in perfect book form.

Love at First reminded me of all the romantic touches I've loved in so many different forms of media. From the perfect rhyme in a sonnet, to Romeo falling head over heels at the first sight of Juliet, the Darcy hand flex in 2005's P&P, I highlighted the heck out of my digital copy. There's a perfect line I'm holding close to my heart right now.

What a ride. How does Heath pull of these stories? Oh sure, go ahead and pretend to be your dead twin brother, his wife will never ever know. It is for their unborn baby! Well she did it and with aplomb. I live-tweeted this one with #bHeath21, so check that out for details!

Seasoned spy Alec is sent to bring his childhood friend, the woman he's always yearned for, home after she runs away to Italy. Their road trip takes them from a small village to Venice, and eventually back to England.

I loved this debut so very much. The cover doesn't yell 1897 to me but this is one of my fav historical time periods to read romances in right now. I loved seeing this former friends snipe at each other and be oh so horny once Alec picks Lottie up in the small Italian town she's hiding out in, and him charming everyone and making them believe they are honeymooners to protect her reputation.

This was extremely horny and sexy. I wasn't quite sold on the Uncle who forced them apart when they were young, and who Alex felt indebted to enough to give up Lottie based on his secret shame (or them forgiving him at the end), but overall this was such a fun read.

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC.

CW: parental death (in the past, lingering grief issues), death of a family member (on page), fighting, sexual assault (heroine is forcibly kissed and it is implied the man will be back to rape her), imprisonment of heroine, threat of forced marriage/rape.

A very readable auto-biography, I had never heard of Dirty Helen despite her being a Milwaukee legend during what was ostensibly her retirement? I'm glad the updated edition includes photographs and a foreword by the person who helped edit the book, and was struck by some of the parallels between 1920 and 2021, especially the Butterfly Theater ad which indicated they had "good ventilation and air exchanged every 3 minutes."

Dirty Helen met so many people during her time as a salesperson, a sex worker, and a bar owner. Definitely recommend a read.

CW for racial slurs, violence