Heated Rivalry has come HIGHLY recommended to me from many trusted Romancelandians, so I was excited to listen to it. AND WOW did I ever enjoy watching these two hockey idiots fall in love over a series of years. The story turned out to be the softest with the most banging which is a combo I really needed right now. The ultimate ending was also very gentle which I also appreciated.

I will need to re-read this one very soon because I had to gradually listen and have problems finding the time/focus to listen to audio books right now.

Highly recommend!

CWs: parental death (suicide, in the past and discussed), homophobia discussed, fear of coming out, fear of being outed and fearing for one's life and livelihood due to being outed, medical injury

Queen Move by Kennedy Ryan was powerful, heart wrenching, and what I've come to crave from this amazing writer. Kimba is an astonishing heroine. I was not expecting pregnancy to be such a major focus of the story based on the blurb alone.

But readers, I ate this story up, every emotional and devastating part. Seeing how Kimba and Ezra grew up together, witnessing their parents' stories and watching the unraveling of the mystery surrounding why their parents' friendship imploded, and seeing how Kimba and Ezra handled their attraction as Ezra's relationship with partner ended was captivating. Questions of faith, identity, and what it means to be parent where also examined in thought provoking ways. I don't want to say too much more about the plot as it is best enjoyed as it unfolds. I've noted some CWs below.

As always I was left inspired and a bit hungover after reading, but if you loved Ryan's last duology you won't want to miss this one. Queen Move can be read as a standalone.


Thank you to the author for the free review copy.


CWs: pregnancy (all aspects, both in the past, discussed, and happening to main characters, cheating (in the past, assumed), I can't think of others right now but let me know if I've missed something major.

May I introduce you to the only Sarah MacLean book I've never read?

That all ends today! I'm about 1/2 way through and I'm thoroughly enchanted by this sparkling YA Regency romance.
If you've never read a historical set in this time period I'd say this is an great way to be introduced to the society, vocabulary, and common tropes of this romance staple!

Thank you to @bookish.kelly and @toallthenerdygirls for launching #summerofsarahmaclean with such style AND for giving me a reason to finally read this gem!

40-Love by Olivia Dade has my whole heart. From the moment Tess's naked breasts squashed against Lucas's bare back and the joke's started flying, I fell in love. So absolutely sexy and tender and a perfect example of what I need in romance right now.

Tess Dunn cannot believe a 26-year-old former tennis pro was ACTUALLY flirting with during her bare-breasted rescue, but after her best friend and travel partner books her solo lessons with the smokin' hot Swede, Tess soon finds out Lucas Karlsson is definitely interested in more than her tennis serve.

With less than two weeks before Tess returns to her high pressure and high stress job as an assistant principal, Lucas is intent on showing Tess he's in this not just for the grand slams but forever.

Dade never disappoints with the care she gives her characters AND her readers. Watching Lucas show up again and again for Tess was absolutely delicious and important to see. Tess is my favorite type of romance love interest, confident in herself yet vulnerable to past hurts, but never willing to compromise her core beliefs. Also, the time Dade takes to show Tess's relationship with her friend was lovely, and I hope her travel companion gets her own story!

Absolute must read of Summer 2020, get your copy pre-ordered now!

Thank you to the author for the advanced reading copy. I am buddies with Olivia on Twitter.

Callie is entering spinsterhood, and decides she might as well start living it up, reputation be damned. She makes a list of things she wants to do - smoke a cheroot, fence, have a drink at a bar, kiss someone - and knows she'll start with the kissing. She sneaks into the home of the renowned rake Gabriel St. John, a man she has been dreaming about since accidentally seeing him seduce a woman ten years ago.
Gabriel is bamboozled by this lass, who keeps challenging both is honor and his desire.

This was super fun. I loved that Callie breaks the mold of this time and that Gabriel doesn't immediately fall for her but can't help himself as he is time and again impressed by her plucky charm. I adored MacLean's other series, but am finding this one to be a bit more light hearted, which is perfect for the mood I'm in.

I listened to the audio book for my second go through of this classic and I think I enjoyed it even more! I did have to set the narration speed to 1.5x as the otherwise lovely narrator was very. slow. There are some great sexy times scenes in this novel that had me blushing while driving (see Gentlemen's Club scene and 'checking off' riding astride), and Ralston is such a great hero. I loved how you can see MacLean's obviously influence of Lisa Kleypas's Dreaming of You, but takes all of the elements I detested in that book and turns them on their head in her work. Especially nice to see Ralston's former mistress treated sympathetically, and not as a crazy villainess.

Partially re-read for the #SummerofSarahMacLean read-a-long in 2020

"The night Godric St. John saw his wife for the first time since their marriage two years previously, she was aiming a pistol at his head."

I've come to expect great first sentences from the Maiden Lane series, so be careful opening one up "just to take a peek" because you won't be able to put it down once you start.

CW: on page violence, medical gore, child endangerment, complications of pregnancy (in past discussion of miscarriage, fears).

Margaret has decided to get pregnant, so must seduce Godric who she quickly married 2yrs ago after her true love was murdered by the Ghost, leaving her pregnant. She miscarried the day after the wedding and hasn't seen Godric since & he has a SECRET (he's the Ghost). She also wants to avenger her true love's death by finding the Ghost. DUN DUN DUN.

Godric is a salt & peppered and secretly jacked cinnamon roll who also lost his wife years ago to a devastating and long drawn out illness. He married Margaret because well, why not, and because her brother threatened to expose his secret identity. Margaret has been living with his family in the country since their wedding.

Now he's flabbergasted to have her, his sister, his stepmother, and all their people move into his shabby old estate house. And she wants a baby! Godric believes his heart will never feel again but it also seems to be having some strange palpitations around his wife. Who thinks he murdered her dead lover.

Such a delicious romance, with both Megs and Godric learning how to love again, that love can change and not be a betrayal of those who are no longer with us. I loved that Megs took matters into her own hands and made things happen, despite her sex and station. And lord Godric is h-o-t.

But, how in the heck do I keep reading romances with "get me pregnant but please no pleasure in the trying" this year? I think this is the third with that niche trope (see also Cecilia Grant's A Lady Awakened and Lorraine Heath).

check out some more of my thoughts with #bMLread2020 on Twitter!

Eugene Parsons is the uptight and stern supervisor of the teams working on getting America to Space and the moon. We met him in the first book but in Earth Bound we finally get to see someone get under his skin.

Charlie Eason is stunningly beautiful AND brilliant, the best engineer Parsons has ever seen. But she also could be a huge distraction, but Parsons is determined to remain nothing but professional. Charlie is also not looking for any distractions or any hint of controversy. It is hard enough for her to be a woman in this field, let alone to let an office scandal rock her career.

But, what if they simply explored their attraction OUTSIDE of work in hotel room, once a week? Just a simple sex pact, no feelings involved.

And so it goes for many months before Parsons unrecognized feelings begin to seep into his work, and cause him to make decisions to save Charlie's job without thinking of the consequences.

Utterly delicious, especially if you enjoy stories with buttoned up, starchy love interests who finally discover they have a heart. Loved it!

Skylar begins to have feelings for the woman who interviews/photographs her for a work project. Falling for and considering having a relationship with a woman is all brand new for Skylar, and this novella focuses far more on Skylar's inner thoughts and family conflicts than the romance.

First of all, if you can take the time to listen to Julia Whelan's narration of this story, I HIGHLY recommend it. She is one of my favorite narrators and Beach Read let all of her talents shine.

Secondly, the marketing for this women's fiction book with heavy topics and also a central romance, is terrible. I saw some early CWs so avoided it (Cancer is something I tread very lightly with, so please never hesitate to tell me if you are reading something with surprise cancer in it). The blurb, cover, and title do not accurately reflect the content which is a disservice to both the reader and the story.

Both January and Gus are dealing with some heavy stuff (I recommend Leigh Kramer's review for a list list of CWs), and the thrust of the story is January coming to term's with her father's death, his infidelity, and her learning to accept perhaps "happily ever after" isn't the aim in life, but a series of "happily for nows." This focus is what tips this book, albeit romance heavy as it is, into the women's fiction realm for me. January is also not a romance writer, she's a self-professed women's fiction writer, so not sure why the back copy says otherwise.

That said, wow my god the FEELINGS between Gus and January are written so well, the emotion just thrums off the page (or in my ears I guess), making me both squirmy and breathless to read what would happen next between these two. The reader is firmly in January's POV throughout the story, making Gus appear to be a very complicated jacka**, but one I couldn't help but also fall in love with. Very horny and hot in a lot of parts, although there's a lot of focus on kissing of collarbones as opposed to more spicy body parts most of the time. I haven't heard "collarbone" used so much since the last steamy YA book I read.

Anyway, I really enjoyed my listen and if heavy romantic fiction (with an HEA) is what you're looking for, you'll definitely enjoy this one!

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC AND I received the audio as a complementary review copy from LibroFM's librarian first listen program.

Read partial in 2020 for #SummerofSarahMaclean

In which we meet Nicholas, on the search for his frenemy's runaway sister (who goes on to lead [b:Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover|17828895|Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover (The Rules of Scoundrels, #4)|Sarah MacLean|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1402596750l/17828895._SY75_.jpg|24942717]) and in the pursuit comes across a household of feisty women who only want to keep their refuge a secret.

Running the house is Isabel, who has been gambled away to various suitors by her horrible gambling addicted drunkard of a father (who is now thankfully dead). All she wants is enough money to keep Athena House running and when notorious eligible bachelor Nicholas saves her from death by carriage, the best opportunity has basically fallen into her lap.

He thinks she is trying to catch him by scandal; she wants him to buy her fancy marble statues. Of course, sparks fly, and oh the sexy times.

Super fun. I really love Sarah MacLean!