A young couple moves in to a duplex they can finally afford now that Calvin's boxing career is taking off, even though Heaven is feeling wildly attracted to Tasha, one of the upstairs tenants and owners. Heaven and Calvin have never explored this side of their relationship before, but Calvin is willing to let Heaven explore with Tasha as long as everyone is open and honest. The walls are blessedly thin and and the sex is exceptionally hot.

This is a fun novella, and I really just adored how both men were utterly supportive of their partners. No relationship angst, just worries about money and being a couple through another's career choices and financial worries, illuminating to see in a romance where often, especially in White romances, money is never an issue.

A lovely warm hug of a romance best enjoyed if you've read the other books in this series. The pacing is slow, spending a lot of time at the wedding of two previous characters and in the internal thoughts of both Jake and Juliet, but ultimately pays off on heat build up with our love interests finally give in to their desire for each other.

Love Hard handles delicately and compassionately complications of grief, single-parenting, and the fear of having to live part of your life in the media because of your job and who you love(ed). Jake and Juliet's love is inevitable and very low-conflict, the slight drama of the story is all from external factors. Both Juliet and Jake act far wiser than their 24 years and I'm glad they found each other again. I also appreciated while they were "friends" in high school, they were not secretly pining for each other behind the back of the girl who brought them together.

Alas for me personally the inclusion of Jake's six-year-old daughter, while sweet and endearing, had a more of a shrivel my insides effect. Reading about them trying to sneak in sex while they could see her through a crack in their hotel room door was, while a reality a lot of people face, took me right out of the fun times. Perhaps when my children are grown I'll appreciate kids in romance more, but now is not that time.

All said, Singh fans will love this story, Jake is a stern, tall, grumpy tree who's rare smile lights up the room and Juliet is a badass.

CW character death (off page, in the past), grief, gaslighting/lying from an ex, slut shaming, kids, hospital scare.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

My favorite Talbott's Cove story

By far my favorite in the Talbotts Cove series, I've been eagerly awaiting Brooke's HEA. Brooke is prickly, stubborn, verbal about what she wants and doesn't want, and takes no prisoners. She's a billionaire and she's not here for anyone's guff but is stuck back at home in a place she thought she left behind, with a father who doesn't know her anymore, and no plans for the future. I adored watching her bang against grumpy JJ, both verbally and phsyically, and ate up every quipy line from their arguments.

I also loved how JJ pushed Brooke, but not too much, and never expected her to change. He met her where she was at and slowly won her trust and her heart. This story takes place over very long stretch of time, which I appreciate, but is definitely not a slow-burn.

CW for dementia, parental death, discussion of a secondary character's addiction, and alcohol.

Loved it.

The audiobook for Far Cry is absolutely delicious, I really liked both the narrators. The way JJ said BAM and Brooke said Jed gave me all the oomf feels I was hoping for. I'd also like to try some of JJ's gin right now please, and basically just let me live there right now.

One sentence summary: FUCK YEAH FLORENCE

Florence Greene is a beautiful society darling, certainly not someone who should be sneaking her way into a men-only casino run by one Clayton Madden and challenging even his best dealers. While she is an excellent gambler, Florence is intent on forging her own future as a casino owner in 1890s NYC, a move that will lose her place in nice society but will make her secure in her own future with no need for a marriage or a man to control her. And she needs Clay's help.

Clayton is intrigued and attracted to the daughter of his enemy while he agrees to help, it is on his terms. Just because Clayton agrees to help her does not mean he won't stop seeking revenge against her father or offering to tutor her in more than just the odds.

What follows is sizzling seduction of the wills as Clayton introduces Florence to his world and falls madly for a woman who's only goal is her own future.

So much fun, so absolutely sexy, and one of the best and most feminist HEAs I've read in a long time. Plus, some really great sexy times involving voyeurism, scandalous paintings, and great bathrooms. If you haven't read [b:The Rogue of Fifth Avenue|40972467|The Rogue of Fifth Avenue (Uptown Girls, #1)|Joanna Shupe|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1542444506l/40972467._SY75_.jpg|63926684] this can stand alone, but the events of this book run concurrently and you will be a bit spoiled for Mamie and Frank's story.

I re-read this book as it is fast becoming a comfort read for me. Florence is my everything and she can have whatever she wants. See Clay just be completely bamboozled off his feet for this breath of fresh air will never ever get old.

Greg and Tasha were high school and early college sweethearts until they mutually broke up because they were young and the long distance thing just wasn't working out. Flash to fifteen years later, and they are both single and sharing a car ride home for Christmas, until some bad weather and a cold room at shabby hotel bring them together again.

A perfectly sweet "one-bed" holiday novella (with some great steam), I wanted more tension between the two love interests. They are both so very nice and had no baggage between the two of them despite not having spoken for fifteen years that I couldn't believe these two hadn't hooked back up eons ago.

That said, there is a lot to like here and this is a nice low-angst holiday romance, plus sexy snow forts!

I reviewed from a free copy from the author.

I know its spooky season but Stocking Stuffers by Erin McLellan is fucking delightful:

Well, JenReadsRomance does it again, throwing out a delightfully filthy rec that you can't help but one-click.

She's a student, there just two bro-friends who give her a place to stay when she needs it, in their home and eventually in their hearts. That's the nice summary. The sassy summary is these two bros realize she's perfect for them and they are all perfect together. I loved how the triad formed and how the two guys fell for each other too.

CW for a throwaway line about the girl thinking she was asexual but she's definitely not and I didn't like how it was used.

Photographer has mad chemistry with the beautiful quarterback she's photographing for a nude charity calendar. Finn is nothing but a playboy though right? And Chess has no interest in a one night stand... Finn has also never had a relationship but he's determined to slowly prove to Chess he's willing to go the distance for her.

A smoldering, sensual romance I adored.

CW for discussion of miscarriage and fertility, some scary hospital stuff

And I though St. Vincent was an alpha-hole. Whew. So, Lillian is a doll and she deserved better than having Westcliffe take her virginity while she was tanked on pear brandy spirits. And the way he treated her after she woke up with a hangover? Not cool.

Honestly St. Vincent was more gentlemanly to Lillian until that whole kidnapping thing which I'm still aghast about.

Also, I found this pretty dull. Poor Lillian and her sister and her friends are at Westcliffe's estate and there's not a lot going on but girls putting on aphrodisiac perfume and getting man handled in the hedge maze.

I'm struggling with these older Kleypas titles and this may be my least favorite of all.

A fun, if slightly uneven, paranormal "rom-com" from the Queen of Dirty Talk Tessa Bailey. For a first attempt at a PNR, this was a good first and I will definitely read more in this series.

The world building was okay, but setting it up took up some page time that made the overall romance suffer a bit for me. Also, while we do get both characters POV, we are mainly in Ginny's POV except for a few chapters. I missed getting to see more of Jonas's motivation especially since he is the vampire in the story and could perhaps have better built the world for the reader.

This is also very "insta-love" and there's discussion of fated mates combined with a very "Bella & Edward" conflict about not turning Ginny into a vampire because she'd lose everything.

That said, this is a stunning cover, a fun story, and I'm very intrigued about some of the secondary characters we were introduced to, most especially the badass Vampire slayer who has some major sexual tension with one of the other vampires.

I treated myself and bought the paperback.