Honestly, Ali Hazelwood can do no wrong. I love anything she writes and this is no exception. I love that the author includes STEM and science in her novels because I'm such a science nerd myself and this juat makes me so happy. This is an opposites attract, enemies to lovers, close proximity story and it's a novella. I appreciated a shorter story from this author but I also was aching to read more about Mara and Liam. I thought it was the perfect blend of cute and steamy with a few angsty, tension filled moments. Their chemistry was palpable and I'm really impressed with the author's decision to make Liam a denisexual, because I think that's such a great representation of a normally underrepresented population. This was such a great novella and I look forward to more from Ali Hazelwood!

The only good remark I'm going to have is that I'm happy that a main character I'd featured with a disability in this book. Corey is a paraplegic and it was refreshing to know that there was representation in this romance novel. HOWEVER, it was just... not good. So cringey and not well written and frankly, quite boring. Not to mention that the main character cheats on his girlfriend, and the main female character knows this and goes along with it. Also, toward the end, there is a comment about another hockey team being "sissy men" that was just so uncalled for and unnecessary.

Every single one of the Bergman Brothers books have been great and I loved them all... but this one BLEW ME AWAY! I fell in love with Oliver and Gavin's story instantly and when I tell you I put my hand over my mouth and giggled with glee, I did many times! God, I cannot say enough wonderful things about this book. You ever felt like an author wrote a book just for you? This was that book for me. It spoke to me. These two just had such a beautiful romance and story that unfolded, I couldn't stop reading it and smiling.

I love a food enemies to lovers, one bed, close proximity, grumpy sunshine book. But what made it even better was the Ted Lasso vibes. Imagine if Roy Kent and Ted Lasso fell in love, but better. The chemistry and the banter and the beauty of their growth and love is just perfection.

I also loved knowing that their siblings and their spouses (minus Viggo and Ziggy, of course) all got their happy endings and we got to see them in the future with weddings and kids and as one big happy family. I loved how warmly and openly and immediately they accepted Gavin into the fold, especially because he grew up not knowing love, but can you really expect anything less from the Bergmans?!

All in all, I was so happy about this and I urge everyone to read the series now!

Emily Henry does it again. She just has this way of making you fall in love with her stories and her characters and her settings, but most of all, BOOKS. Just when you thought you couldn't love books more, she makes you love them beyond what you thought was possible. Nora and Charlie's story was everything. I thought they had insane chemistry and their banter was top tier. I think the world building and character fleshing out that Emily Henry writes amd conveys to readers is unmatched. No one does it like her. Also, the family story surrounding Libby and Brendan and the kids, Sally and Clint and the entire town of Sunshine Falls made my small town romance heart happy. I really loved that both Nora and Charlie didn't want to have kids. So often in romance novels, having kids is a major thing discussed, like something every couple is just assumed to do, but I liked the childfree representation. Not every couple wants or needs kids! This was the perfect read and she is an automatic buy for me.

I genuinely enjoyed this book! It was recommended to me because I like small town romances, and this is certainly that. The main female character, Sienna, is a famous actress who comes to small town Tennessee to film a movie and falls for a hillbilly park ranger. But Jethro is so much more than that and just proof that a person is more than their past mistakes. I loved Jethro's story and how he turned his life around, and how good of a person he was. His growth was incredible and I love that the walls he put up eventually came down because Sienna was able to break through and show him that he still deserved good things in life. Their chemistry was so palpable from the very beginning and I just rooted for them from the first time they interacted. Sometimes love is so unexpected, and the things we think we know are proven wrong and find what we least imagined but it's better than we ever could have thought. Also, hooray for plus size representation!

Where has this series been all my life? I've never read anything by Lauren Asher but I decided to start here, with book one of the Dirty Air series. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I'm very much in love with Noah and Maya and F1 as well. I knew a little bit about F1, but my knowledge was just that it's hot men racing cars. Yes, that seems to be accurate after reading this book. Very accurate.

I really like how descriptive the author is regarding the F1 details. It was very spot on and made me feel like I really knew what was going on and helped me really get into it. Now, over this weekend, I watched an F1 race in Monaco. It worked! She's got me hooked on the sport now.

Can we talk about Noah? Super hot with a dirty mouth and mind. Yes, some of the things he said and did were cringy beyond belief but the amount of growth he went through was evident. I really felt for him, deeply, when we discover why he is the way he is and the terrible relationship he has with his father AND his mother. I know he felt afraid to be who he really could be and fall in love, which is understandable given his family history. I love that Maya was "the one" who changed him. I think we all have that person who makes us want to be a better person. Maya was the cutest by the way! Her whole vibe resonated with me. I loved her vlogging and her friendship (and eventually romance) with Noah. And I especially adored how he and Santiago went from enemies to friends.

THAT EPILOGUE THOUGH?! Noah's proposal? It was everything.

BROTHER'S ENEMY IS WHERE IT'S AT.

I wanted to like Liam and Sophie because I do like a friends to lovers trope, but they just didn't do it for me. And they especially didn't hold a candle to Noah and Maya. My favorite parts of this book were the scenes we got with Maya, and then Maya and Noah, and even Jax and Santiago. I looked forward to those and cringed whenever Liam and Sophie were together. First of all, Sophie tried way too hard to be "not like the other girls". We get it, you think you're special and unique. But in reality... you're not. Next, Liam and his "reformed playboy" ways. We get it, you slept with countless women and regret it and now one of them is coming back to haunt you and screw up your new thing and you don't like that. He was just full of himself, and not in a good way. Yeah, it was cool that was he was nerdy and smart but again, I think the author tried too hard to make him "special" and giving reasons aa to why Sophoe would fall for him, but if I were her, I'd be running in the opposite direction. He kept trying to manipulate her into a relationship, saying they have chemistry and that his sex will rock her world, but he just couldn't handle her rejection and only being friends which was super cringe. Plus, some of the dirty things he said? Not dirty, just plain weird and cringe too. Ugh. I had higher hopes. The only redeeming part was the epilogue and how they got their happily ever after AND us finding out that Noah and Maya had a baby boy. That's it. Sigh... hopefully books three and four of the series will be better.

What an amazing end to such a great series. I was really looking forward to Santiago's book because we only see so much in the first book and I was interested in how his story would play out.

THAT PROLOGUE. I was literally ready to quit the book. I truly was because I was so upset by what Lauren Asher did to Santiago. I know characters need to go through things, but did it have to be that?! Poor Santiago. I cannot imagine how that must have felt...

BUT, it turned out to be such a beautiful and heartfelt story, and tragedy that turned into something wonderful. Chloe also had such a terribly dad backstory, but she's easily one of my favorite female characters because she was just so positive and a light in life, despite everything she went through.

To see Santiago go from a moody, brooding recluse who hated life and his circumstances to someone who realized his disability wouldn't hold him back and he could still have a great life was such an amazing journey to have gone on. I loved that he had such a solid support system in Chloe first and foremost, but also Marko, Maya and Noah, and Caleb too. I feel like Santiago and Chloe were destined to be together, and it was fate that they met in the way they did. It was clear they needed each other. There dynamic was wonderful! The love was so tangible and it was such a treat to read about these two broken people coming together and making each other better and sharing their love. Chloe showed Santiago that he was still deserving of love and that his disability didn't change the fact that he was an amazing man, and there's something just so beautiful about his journey to self acceptance with her help and guidance.

Here's where the spoiler comes in... The fact that Noah built a car for Santiago, and never doubted his ability to drive again even after his disability when in book one they hated each other and were competing racers on the same team. Like???

I know a lot of people complain about these novellas and how they just are too "instalove" and need more pages to flesh out a full story, but... that's literally the point? Otherwise, it would be a novel with 300+ pages but it's not. It's a novella for a reason and those reading it should have that understanding going into it.

With that being said, I thought it was great! The miscommunication trope is not one of my faves, and so much could be solved if people would JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER. But you know, it's par for the course... it's a trope for a reason and is used as such. Anyways, I loved Erik (I mean, Ali Hazelwood literally describes him as Thor, so...) and Sadie was... well, a lot. But I appreciate her. She's quirky and flighty and acts as such. I loved that they bonded over enginering and soccer. It was just so CUTE.

The best part, to me, was how much of a mess Ali Hazelwood wrote their sex scene to be. Like, the starting and stopping, the being unsure of things, the awkwardness, the crazy desire that turns into a huge heaping mess... I appreciate that she always makes her sex scene SO REAL because we all know it is awkward and so messy in real life and a lot of authors try to act like it's not and that everything goes perfectly right that first time you have sex with someone but we all know IT ABSOLUTELY DOES NOT.

I actually liked this a lot more than I thought I would, although there were some problems. But overall, I enjoyed it and can't wait to continue the series.

Let's get into it... Alex is Ava's brother's best friend, so props for that trope because I'm a sucker for it and I think it's in my top five tropes. There's just something about it that HITS. And since we also get chapters from Alex's POV, that means the best friend's little sister trope is present and the forbidden want? Yes, please.

Other tropes present: grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, hates everyone but her, touch her and I'll kill you, groveling, rich guy, murder mystery, possessive alpha, etc.

Props to the author for the Asian representation (Ava is Chinese). She sort of annoyed me, but grew on me as the book went on. Alex though? Holy crap. I would let him do unspeakable things to me, just as he did to Ava in this book. Yes, he's extremely intense and brooding, borderline scary but I believe this has to do with how he was raised, and Ava certainly softened him up. Sometimes it takes the right woman (and love) to do that. Their chemistry was palpable and I was rooting for them, despite them being opposites. I loved seeing them get their happy ending.

The supporting characters were a big win. I know we see them because they're all going to have their own books and this thrills me because I can't wait to see their relationships develop.

Yes, the plot and the dialogue left somewhat to be desired, and could seem cringey and cliche at times, but for what it's worth, I enjoyed it. It was such a nice escape and a good read.