Eva, fresh from breaking off her business and personal relationship with a man who used her for her talent and left her in the dust when she started to shine, is out to win the commission for a large scale mural installation in a small town.

Eva's here for business ONLY, but when she discovers her hotel accommodations were lost to a computer glitch, the friendly woman who offers to let her stay on her family's ranch turns out to have a very sexy brother named Casey who might be the perfect distraction or the perfect heartbreak.

Despite leading a increasingly popular Country band, Casey is set on one thing only, keeping his family's ranch afloat. But Eva, with her platinum crop, tattoos, and forthrightness, is someone he can't just let pass by.

A hot fling turns into the opportunity for more, but can Casey or Eva trust the other or give themselves the chance to both have what they so clearly want?

Hot dog, consider me a Mayberry convert. I'm not typically one for cowboys, but if they are all as sensitive and sweet as Casey, sign me up!

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

CW for parental death (off page), verbal abuse from an ex

TANNER.

That's it. That's the review. See my live-Tweet reaction thread if you want more garbled thoughts: here

Spoiler alert!

So, the hot salty sea Captain ghost who haunts Cassie Nolan's family pier and who's presence funds their livlihood does not come back to life. CASSIE DIES and then she falls in love with the ghost. She basically has no other choice because they are the only two ghosts!

So I wasn't expecting that and this was okay, but not my favorite "spooky" romance novella./spoiler>

The mysterious Lord Bolt first alluded to in Lady Derring Takes a Lover arrives to claim his room at the boarding house. Lucien is out for revenge, or at least to embarrass the Duchess who forced his father to abandon his mistress and her son, Lucien and his mother. What Lucien isn't expecting is to be utterly bewitched by Mrs. Breedlove, the boarding house's co-owner.

Angelique is done with love and done with men making her feel less or being dependent on men at all. She's finally found a place and a calling that is her own. So delicious, lean blonde lords with smiles to make your loins stir are not for her, no thank you. Friendship is fine.

But Lucien and Angelique, both hurt, sad souls, are bound for each other and cannot resist the draw.

Absolutely fun and lovely historical romance. I definitely recommend reading the first book in order to fully understand Angelique's position.

Blurb from my Instagram post:
Angel in a Devil's Arms by Julie Anne Long has a devastatingly handsome sad boi bastard out to get revenge on his dastardly stepmother and an icy former mistress now boarding house owner who wants nothing to do with all the feeeeeeelings this sad Viscount is making her feel.


*There were few sentences alluding to a "Morrocan mistress" and a "g**** caravan" that I felt were unnecessary to the overall story*

*Disclaimer* I only read Playing Games by Meg Maguire from this collection of Holiday novellas.

Carrie is determined to make it home in time to greet her brother at the train station when he arrives home from his latest tour of duty on Christmas day, but finds out her flight is grounded because of the inclement weather. Making matters more awkward, she finds out her high school nemesis was supposed to be on the same flight, and she's now sharing a rental car with him.
Daniel, no longer the cigarette smoking burnout who she secretly had a crush on, despite him being her high school boyfriend's best friend, is even more delicious but just as grumpy. But, a scary car ride and a stay in the honeymoon suite leads to some major truth telling and perhaps a Christmas miracle.

Super sexy, and a fun short read for the holidays. I love the "just one bed" trope and this one was done very well. I also love a good unrequired romance and Daniel's pining for Carrie is so yummy.

CW: parental neglect, drinking

I'm reviewing two stories from this anthology!
Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Red Bikini by Amy Andrews
A delightful second chance romance between a grizzly rancher and his the girl he dated in high school, a recently returned to their small Montana home from her world travels as a photographer and Instagram influencer. He's pined for her for years, but she needed to spread her wings. Super sexy and super fun, I loved these two idiots who just fell right back in to love with minimum fuss. A great non-angsty holiday story.

Professional Development by Kate Canterbary
My favorite, enemies to lovers, with two characters who work at the charter school run by Lauren Walsh (from Canterbary's The Walshes series). They have the same role but over two different age groups and have butted heads since the beginning. He's a pretty, uptight, know-it-all and she's a sunny, cute, but tough as nails elementary school head teacher. They are forced to take a professional development seminar by their boss so they can learn to get along, but end up banging it out instead after they get stuck in the snow on the way home (ONLY ONE BED). Canterbary is great at developing angst and fire and this is a lusciously hot story.

I'll probably get to the other stories in this anthology one day, but these are the two authors who I really wanted to read. Currently free and only available for a limited time on Amazon, so I suggest you snap this one up quick! (less)

An exciting premise, hilarious and catchy tag lines, and a really great promise of world-building did not help prop up an otherwise hohum romance, replicant battling not with standing. This is a short novella and there are so many cool concepts, but the romance is insta-lust to insta-love and fine for a fun, quick read but something I'm glad I got to read for free. I hope the author explores the concept of using basically 3D printed clones who get to "travel" for you and then you absorb their memories once the body expires concept. How cool, just not enough character development to make this a romance and the sex scenes weren't super sexy (to me).

I received a free copy in exchange for a fair review.

Holy wow that was h-o-t. A quick and deliciously dirty erotic take about a new submissive bringing the alpha she's always wanted to heel in life while he brings her satisfaction in bed. There were a few moments I glossed over, particularly involving the love interest's need to discuss his desire for a relationship first with her brother and NOT her, but if you are looking for a sinful brother's best friend romance, this is a great one to pick up!

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

I think this may have been the first romance novel I ever looked at. It was something my mom left lying around. Ha.

So, 2020 Beth is a bit aghast this is one of the first romance novels I ever read. Rife with racist slurs, dubious consent, on page rape, and a host of other problematic themes and issues, I've decided to quit after getting about halfway through.

I like the Australian setting and the discussion about the plight of those sent to Australia as punishment for crimes they may or may not have committed, but the same consideration is not shown to the Aboriginal natives depicted in the story. Lucian the hero is shown to be a kind, white savior to those natives he "knows" but still makes comments that made me quite uncomfortable.

The sex scenes are quite scorching but the dub-con is what makes it difficult for me to enjoy now that I know better. Please don't make your love interest drunk to get them in to having sex for the first time. No no no.

Millie, an untitled and wealthy heiress, marries the impoverished Earl she fell for the minute she laid eyes on him despite knowing he'd never love her, his heart already promised to another. Fitz and Millie strike another deal, that they'll wait to consummate the marriage for eight years, to allow sixteen year old Millie time to grow comfortable with becoming a mother. Fitz can do as he wishes outside of the marriage bed and they'll be friends and work towards fixing up his ancestral estate and making sure Millie's father's business remains profitable for years to come.

Cutting back and forth between Millie and Fitz's first years of marriage to the present, eight years later, when Fitz's first love has returned a widow and available for him to finally have, if not in name but in his bed and heart, this is a angsty as all get out story that really tested my belief in HEAs. There was no way I thought Fitz could change his heart, see his obvious love and affection for his wife, to finally give her everything she's held a small iota of hope out for all these years. Whew. But Thomas pulled it off, even if I thought Fitz needed to crawl way way more. What a story.

Kudos to making me hate Lady Isabella but not making her a villain. Still hate her. Still real mad at Fitz. Give my heart and all to Millie.

The sentences in the book are PERFECTION. Great writing, I'm definitely coming back for more Sherry Thomas.

CW: alcoholism, Millie believes Fitz is suicidal and catches him holding a gun to his mouth (turns out to be a "dummy" gun but still, cheating (Fitz has love affairs with many women while married to Millie and is considering to throw Millie over for Isabella for most of the story).