Re-read in 2022 for #GetGhosted with #ButDoTheyBang - I liked this even more upon a second read because I now can start tracking some foreshadowing elements and I'm more aware of all the characters we are introduced to in this series starter.

New head canon for Caire is The Witcher. YUM.

EXACTLY what I needed right now. Bless the internet and bless internet friends for persuading me to start this much beloved series.

Described to me as a historical series both complex and dark as IAD, I feel this hit the bill.

Temperance Dews is a widow who is atoning for a past "sin" by helping her brother (one of many siblings identified, so many AND LORD THE NAMES) run the foundling/orphanage home their father left to them. She holds herself apart emotionally from the children and does not find much joy in the work, but feels it is her due.

She meets Lazarus Huntington, Lord Caire after he seeks out her assistance in trying to find the person responsible for the horrific death of his mistress. Lord Caire also has some secret sins, namely that he has some special proclivities in the bedroom that require mistresses willing to indulge them. And maybe just maybe the Widow Dews may also be interested in them as well.

As they hunt for the killer the reader meets a wide cast of characters I'm sure will be showing up in subsequent books. There are a few additional POVs besides Caire's and Temperance's, but they did not distract from the romance ARC.

And oh what a luscious romance. Caire, with his long silver hair and, his sword cane, and hang ups about being touched was so intriguing, and having a heroine who enjoys sex but is also ashamed of her joy in it because of PATRIARCHY was also great to see on page, especially as she learns there is nothing sinful about it at all if one is with a partner who consents.

Caire's scandalous proclivities were a bit tame after some of the stuff I've read, but hey, I'm all in for a some light BDSM.

Great start to this new journey and I cannot wait to read more!

CW for violence, child endangerment, sick infants, fear of infant death, implied sexual assault/rape (off page, secondary character).

*checked out from Overdrive during COVID19

I've been intrigued by Wes Halsted with every glimpse and mention of him throughout the Walsh series. And I always had an inkling he'd end up with Shannon's right hand man Tom Esbeck and I was right!

For those who have not yet read the Walsh series I'd hesitate to recommend jumping in here without first having taken the journeys with the other characters in this series. There is a lot of buildup that pays off in this book and some scenes might not mean as much. That said, readers who are new will find much to enjoy.

I received a copy of this ARC right as we were all locking ourselves in our houses and the our world was being turned upside down due to COVID19. Wes's isolation in the carriage house apartment as he too tries to figure out his place in a world and a life that has completely changed felt very similar to the feelings I am personally experiencing right now, making this a cathartic read.

I was swept away by the story and it became a hideaway for the turbulence of the world around me. Canterbary writes swoony, angsty, and heartfelt scenes between these two men who are both lonely and scarred.

Wes and Tom are immediately drawn in to a sexual relationship, a large focus in much of the first half of the book. But looming over secret sexy times is the fact Wes might be leaving and Wes isn't out. Tom and Wes are an absolute mess which I enjoyed, but YMMV.

These two conflicts are drawn out for most of the story, but the ultimate resolution felt rushed and the end came very abruptly. I did read an ARC that was missing an epilogue which was included in the finished version (I read it via KU), which helped give a bit more closure. Wes needs some therapy for real and this was not discussed in any way besides typical "I'm in the military we don't do that out of fear" stance.

I was also delighted that Wes is the big, huge, and burly SEAL but he's also kind of a soft and wants to be controlled in bed sometimes, especially by the buttoned up Tom.

CW: Drinking, fear of coming out, medical trauma and graphic medical scenes

If you think in the year of our lord 2020 I'm going to want to read about a Nice White Lady liberal who realizes the rich, conservative is her perfect match you have another thing coming. Awww, isn't it sweet how he rolls his sleeves up to his forearms while forcing Americans to go out and vote during a pandemic?

No.

I'd have typically DNFed this mafia romance after the heroine gloated in her head that she was pleased she could eat all the tacos she wants but her work nemesis could only eat salads. Gross. But I wasn't wanting to read anything else anyway so here we are. Definitely not my sub-genre.

I was also feeling a little lost as the love interests in this book must have had sex and met for the first time in the first book of the series, but I caught up pretty quickly. I'm not compelled to keep reading this series.

And alas, the sexy times were surprisingly tame, boo, and there was some fat phobia and some eye-brow raising alphahole behavior.

Part of a series, I am going to be releasing this one to the little free library in my neighborhood.

I received a free copy from @harlequinpublicityteam for review. Thank you.

Sara Vance, a white social media influencer, finds out the man she's been dating is no longer coming to her family's vacation and needs a substitute fast. Thankfully stern and sexy firefighter Luis Navarro is on the scene at the Key West airport tarmac as she finds out, and she stumbles right into his broad chest.

Luis is also looking for a distraction as he's been forced in to a week long vacation after a bad car accident sets him back in to a dark place he thought he'd shoved behind him years after his girlfriend died in a similar incident. Why not pretend to be the doting boyfriend of the beautiful Sara and enjoy his hometown like the tourists do?

Well, for one thing Luis can't escape his huge family and community that all reside in Key West. Nor can he seem to escape the very real feelings he starts to have for Sara.

Turns out besides her lousy ex, Sara is also struggling. She's thankful her mother has recently been declared cancer free, but is still working on her mental health while managing her recovery from an eating disorder, all while trying to prove to her over achieving family of doctors that her career is a valid life choice.

And while Sara is forthcoming with Luis about her struggles and triumphs, drawing out the same willingness to share proves difficult with the taciturn firefighter who is far better at caring for others than himself.

A simmering, fake dating romance that shares a stage with messy family dynamics and personal struggles, this is a lovely offering from Oliveras. I'm looking forward to more stories about the Navarro family siblings.

For those interested in the heat level:
The one explicit scene fades to black after some hot second base action, the heat level between Luis and Sara is palpable throughout the story.

CW eating disorder struggles, characters trying to manage the eating of Sara, Luis dealing with PTSD due to the death of his fiancee and his work and refusing professional help, discussion of cheating (not between main love interests), descriptions of medical trauma.

I received an ARC from the publisher and from BookishFirst for review. Thank you!

Jordan Collins is struggling to make his case for a raise at the job he doesn't exactly love but is stable and pays the bills as he also struggles to keep his beloved romance reading book club afloat. Members are leaving and the one bright spot in his week besides visiting his beloved grandmother in her senior community is at risk of ending in a fizzle.

It doesn't help the new part time bookseller at Jordan's local indie bookstore is both cute AND a jerk, heckling him about the stack of romances he's buying for the book club. But Jordan is no romance reading newbie, and he's reading to give Rex the what for.

Rex Bailey is only in town to pack up and sell his recently deceased grandmother's home but is surprised the uptight yet sexy Jordan is giving him hell.

There's only one thing to be done, Rex decides to show up at the next Meet Cute Club meeting.

As Rex and Jordan begin a tentative friendship and eventually start dating, they'll both need to confront the challenges holding back their futures.

Well this was just so a balm to my romance reader soul. Where's my local Meet Cute Club?! Every town should have one.

Rex is quite sarcastic, which took me a minute to settle in to, but he quickly grew on me. Jordan was my fav and his relationship with his grandmother is lovely to see, especially since Jordan struggled with how she initially belittled him while he was growing up and it took some time for their relationship to heal and become what it is after he came out.

There was some confusing head hopping during one of the sex scenes, I mostly knew who's head I was in, but the rest of the story did not utilize this narrative device so it did take me a little out of the story.

That said this was delightful and poignant and I want more.

The author has a full list of CWs included in the first pages of the book - "alcohol/drug use/abuse, mentions of child neglect, mentions homophobia, mentions of diets/retching, on-page sex scenes"

Thank you to the author for the review copy.

I am going to have a whole slew of content warnings for this romance, one of my most anticipated of 2020. You can find them behind the spoiler.

CW:

Spoiler

miscarriage described on page, death from pregnancy and a bad delivery, grief, alcoholism, addiction, gas lighting (not by hero or heroine), animal cruelty (birds killed and maimed and left for heroine to find to scare her), forced kidnapping and imprisonment of a secondary female character in an asylum, described torture in said asylum, may be more but these stood out to me

This trope flipping romance has much to love for those seeking dark, soul wrenching stories. Peckham's master of words and language is in full effect her, making you feel every lash of wind and rain on the Cornish cliffs and every dramatic pulse of lust and romance. Adam and Sera's characters are well drawn and the moments they are together shine. I loved how brittle and prickly Sera is, how she strives to embrace her rejection by society and revel in her freedom from expectation, yet how lonely she is and how she longs for love and friendship. Thank god for her friends, who's books I'm also dying for.

Adam is a stuffy, uptight, and grief stricken hero who is both blushingly stern in the streets and domineering and hot in the sheets. I loved that he adored and grieved for his wife. They had a love and lust match which is rare to find in romance novels.

What kept me from loving this story has a lot to do with the CWs listed above involving pregnancy. I'll write a better review closer to publication date, but feel free to reach out to me if you have questions!

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC!

I credit Lady Georgiana, bad ass in her pants, for launching me into a public romance reader. Before this I was embarrassed, because you know, the patriarchy. Thank goodness for Lady G. I finally listened to the audio version during the pandemic in 2020 as a comfort listen, and I'm so glad I did. MacLean is an exquisite writer, and so many of her sentences are meant to be heard out loud. And wow give me all your sexy poolside oral scenes and your quick, jealous desk bangs, and your *this is the last time give me your all* finally in a bed bangs.

Might be my favorite romance novel? If I can even claim such a thing? I just love it so much. It is also a perfect series ender, the big Chase reveal is perfectly done, and the end? With the jumping from gaming table to gaming table for our lovers to get to each other for one last time? PERFECT.

Yup, just gave five stars to a paperback romance. Loved it. When I saw the lady with pants on this cover, I had to read.

Honestly, I'm pretty blown away by what most would simply see as a trashy mass market paperback. It is tragic, sexy, and very well written. It is also breaks a lot of the tropes commonly associated with these type of books.

The titular lady is Georgiana, ruined by scandal at the tender age of 16. She had sex with her first 'love' once, got pregnant, and was subsequently outcast from society along with her daughter. Cut to ten years later, and the reader finds out Georgiana is ALSO both Anna AND Chase (seen and discussed in the other books of this series). Anna is a "whore" and the messenger for the all powerful owner of the Fallen Angel Club - Chase - whom everyone believes is a man. Georgiana has kept up this charade with the other owners (all male and seen in the previous books) but is now realizing she may in fact need to marry to give her daughter a title and a chance at a better life.

Georgiana renters society, while still masquerading as Anna and managing the club as Chase. A fancy newspaper man Duncan West who has fed secrets to "Chase" and "Anna" meets Georgiana and soon puts the pieces together regarding her tie to "Anna" (but not Chase). Georgiana and he fall for each other, but their secrets and honor do not make it an easy road. West doesn't have a title, he believes Georgiana is trapped as Chase's mistress, and numerous other problems keep the story moving forward and lead to much sexy angst and sexy times (see swimming pool scene). I did get a bit confused at the many different character names for each person, and feel like I should go back and read the other books in the series now.

Honestly, I was pretty riveted and this book was exactly what I needed at this moment in life.

Go Sarah MacLean!

Fairly spoilery review, especially if you've not read Book 1 & 2, but wow what a ride! I loved the romance arc in this one better than Griffin's book.

So far we know Mickey ruined the now widowed Mrs. Silence Hollingbrook after forcing her to spend the night in his pirate palace. Her husband never forgave her even though Silence promised all she did was sleep. This is from book 1.

And in Book 2 a baby is left at the orphanage. Silence has been rearing her as her own, but turns out the kid is Mickey's and he stole her back for protection. Silence can live with him and the baby or be done. Further ruining her. Whew.

Basically Mickey is draped sensually on ostentatious furniture or the tub in his palace or out trying to bring down the Vicar. Or acting like the Beast. He wants Silence in his home and he'll have her, consequences to her life in the future be damned. He claims he doesn't care about his baby but does everything to show this isn't actually true.

I HATE that Mickey forced Silence to unbutton her dress and "look" raped on her walk of shame. I still don't understand his motivation for this act, when her just leaving his palace would have been just as ruinous. And her husband's lack of belief just as hurtful if she had just left the joint with bedhead and looking tired. His fascination with her is a bit confusing at first but I believed it by the end of the story because seeing her stand up to his whims time and again made me pump my fist in the air. He's just so disconcerted that she won't do his bidding and he doesn't want to FORCE her to do anything.

Mickey's vendetta against the Vicar is scary and well plotted out, and I enjoyed seeing his men help him out. Mickey does care about his people and takes care of him, the big ugly dog too.

And wow what a slow burn! I loved seeing Mickey slowly seduce Silence into his bed (besides that bath tub scene which kind of made me mad). He waits for her to come to him and gets her consent.

That jail scene wedding SLAYED my emotions. Oh my god. "last chance" sex scenes are my catnip because they are just so fraught and full of emotion. Silence making love with Mickey as his wife while knowing everyone was out there giving them their time, whew. And her having to leave him to hang? *weeps* Hoyt got me good here.

The few interspersed scenes with other characters were just enough to keep updated on our other friends AND make me desperate for Winter's book. THAT ENDING JESUS. Need my book now!

CW for kidnapping, imprisonment, threats of starvation, sexual assault (Mickey grabs Silence's hand and forces it on his dick during a bath), violence, very violent death of a secondary character, child endangerment, threat of rape, stabbings, medical trauma, child abuse (in the past, described), rape (in the past, described), threats of allowing rape of a child (in the past, described), hanging by the throat (character survives), alcohol, on page sex.

A quick, fun, and delightful novella featuring two pining idiots who are scared to ruin their friendship and run with their feelings. A great twist on the best friend's little sister trope, especially in the care taken to reject that form of toxic masculinity. Another fun hit from Hibbert. And wow that couch scene is FIRE!

I received a free ARC from the offer for review.