dermkat's Reviews (2.11k)

This was book one for the arc I just read and I'm glad I went back to read it! I was right about which side character from book two was the MMC in this one, and met his FMC, who was mentioned. The events of this one also somewhat informed the second one even though it wasn't necessary to read it first. In this one, firefighter Sean meets Eva on a call when his team finds her threatening to use a makeshift flamethrower to blast a piano. A piano in the middle of the quad at the university she teaches at, being played by her cheating, manipulative ex boyfriend who isn't taking no for an answer and is trying to guilt her publicly by "being romantic". Sean offers to fake date her to help discourage the jerk, and of course it quickly becomes real for both of them. Their flirtiness was cute, I liked that she was six years older than him and in her forties, and that that did become an important part of the story. Glad I read it and now that I know the author signed a 3 book deal, I'll be watching for book 3 whenever it comes out. As expected, the ex causes more problems so if that type of narcissistic, abusive behavior is triggering, maybe skip this one. 

Another home run holiday romance! This one was an arc and I had forgotten its premise between requesting it, receiving it, and reading but it was a quick read. It's about Thea and Simon, who sort of knew each other in high school (he has a crush on her, she found him upright) but she doesn't recognize him when they meet again as sort of colleagues. She's been a firefighter for ten years but after seeing her friend and co-worker gravely injured, she developed anxiety and couldn't remain in the job, even after he got better. The county offers her a new social media manager job for Emergency Services, and about a month to prove herself. Simon is a librarian and social media manager for the library, who gets voluntold to help train her in the weeks leading to Christmas. The attraction is immediate on both sides and only grows as they spend more time together, eventually going on a date (and more). The steamy parts were good and scattered throughout (I wouldn't necessarily call it a slow burn or a fast one). The progression of their relationship was lovely, especially as they dealt with family drama on both sides, and learned to communicate with one another. I don't know if the author has worked in libraries but some of the situations and internal thoughts during Simon's POV were spot on, so she just have it have a good inside scoop. I didn't know until I went to start reading that this is actually the second book in the series, but it's standalone so it was fine. We did meet one of the MCs from book one, though, so I'm going to go back and read it. I also have an inkling about who book three might be about but not how it would tie to the First Responders series theme, so we'll see! Overall, a very enjoyable holiday story, and one I might consider reading again someday. Thanks to Harlequin for the arc, if comes out Oct 22/24.

I really liked this one!! This is the last in the series and even though it did wrap up in a satisfying way, I'm a little sad we're not returning to the town of Christmas Notch and it's mix of small town characters, holiday themed everything, and a horny porn company family. I have been waiting to get into the mind of the last member of INK, sad boy Isaac Kelly and it was worth it. Even though they call this a raunch-com (honestly not even as raunchy as some other romances), it also deals with grief, complicated family dynamics, and love after loss. Sunny and her cat Mr. Tumnas end up staying with Isaac after he buys the town's historic mansion. He's supposed to write his final album, a Christmas one, but hasn't written anything since his wife died almost five years ago. She's supposed to write a screenplay for a new Hope Channel movie she sold based on a town legend. Their attraction is there, they've slept together before, and become roomies with benefits, and she'll help him find his muse while he helps her hunt down the real story. Sunny is the ADHD queen, having worked in porn and directed, along with other jobs and now writing, all while assuming she isn't reliable enough to help her brother keep their parent's legacy alive through their company. I thought Isaac and Sunny's relationship was wonderful. Yes, they were hooking up, but they were also becoming genuine best friends because of the care they show for one another, letting each other in to see all sides of them. I thought the progression of both of them internally wanting more and how they all shakes out (including the 3rd act breakup) was well paced and made sense. I think the fat rep in this one wasn't a huge storyline but did pop up in great ways, like him loving her body, her being concerned about him picking her up, and then a ring getting stuck (nightmare fuel for all of us with pudgy fingers). It has been a while since I read the other two full length books in the series but I do think this might be my favorite one. Oh, and Isaac's relationship progression with Mr. Tumnas is excellent too. I know the author's are best friends, and I know they're done with this series, but I hope they write something else together in the future!

I really liked this one! It was more of what I've come to expect from this author: a sense of humor, interesting characters, ridiculous situations, and (like last time) not what I'd call spicy, but definitely more innuendo and direct references than previous books (and I'm here for it). Maggie is the IT manager and right before Christmas is told that in the new year she has to let one of her three employees go. But she and the three men have bonded and are becoming like family, to the extent that they each invited her to spend part of Christmas holidays with them since she had no plans. First with Frank at his sister's wedding (we met him in another book), then with Jaspar with his posh, rich family for a couple days, and finally with Leo up in the Lake District with his family. She and Leo have been growing closer and things continue to develop. But she doesn't tell any of them about the looking redundancy. Friendship and found family is integral to this story, and though the romance is present and enjoyable, if was really more about the friendships between the four of them. I honestly wanted more when it was done! Thank you to Storm Publishing for the arc, it comes out Oct 14/24. 

Because my memory is terrible and I've read so many books between this and the others in this series, it's hard to say for sure but I think this was my fave of the trilogy! Book one was just mid for me and I loved book two, but I am a sucker for fake dating/marriage tropes and we got such an interesting version of this, all while the couple pined for one another. The fact that this was a reimagining of Twelfth Night and I studied it and lived another retelling of it (She's the Man) added a layer of enjoyment as I picked out references. The South Asian family and community dynamics have been interesting to learn about throughout this series and it felt like everything came to a head in this one. Also, Veera feeling left out, like the third wheel after her friends are coupled up is something very relatable. I liked the queer rep, and the fact that Deepak was so gone for his wife: she fell first, he fell way harder. There were a few errors in the book that surprised me, and I don't blame the author but when tis a traditionally published book I feel like my acceptance of these things is diminished since the company employs people to catch these things. There weren't enough to ruin anything, just enough to make me ruminate on that and take me out of the story for a bit. Regardless, I enjoyed this story and would potentially revisit the series someday. At the very least, I'm likely to read more from the author in the future. 

I really enjoyed Nora and Javier's story! I got to beta read this one, and since I knew it was based on Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster, I read that first which meant I noticed all of the references, comparisons, etc. it isn't necessary to read that or the other three in this series to read this one, but it does have a extra layer of enjoyment knowing the background. 

Nora is alone in life, only really had her mom who then passed away when she was 19. Now at 26, she's about to leave the charity that gave her scholarships and room and board for undergrad and her Master's. She's given an opportunity to join an entrepreneur incubator by a mystery benefactor who also supports her old home. She doesn't know who he is but is required to write monthly progress emails that he may not even read, and she ends up using them more like a one sided pen pal or diary. On the other end is Javier, billionaire philanthropist trying to spend as much of his family's money as he can by supporting various causes and giving people chances they wouldn't have received because they weren't born into money like he was. He's also Latino on one side of his family and when he learns from Nora's emails that she feels so out of place in the program because of her own economic and racial statuses, he decides to be her friend. But not as her mysterious Mr.B, but as Javier (luckily, his niece who is basically the same age as him is also in the program so he engineers a way for them to meet). They grow closer, and though both of them assumed they'd never be interested in romance or long term relationships, they start to crave it with each other. One problem: she doesn't know he's both men. This retelling does what the original did not, and gives us the emotions and the reckoning that we'd expect once she does find out. I liked what the author did with their story and the pacing of it afterwards while they tried to figure things out. 
As usual with this series, I laughed (the banter really is excellent and their senses of humor in this one were right up my alley), I teared up multiple times and did actually cry once because I could feel the emotions. Again, the fat and queer rep were so great. The way Leonor writes men who love their lucious ladies makes me so happy, the way they are attracted to them and year for them is not something plus sized folks are taught to want for themselves so I think it's powerful. Also, Nora's queer identity is mentioned super casually in her internal monologue the first time and I absolutely love that. Yes, she does tell him at one point and inject humor into things, but I think there needs to be more quiet queer rep in books, the same way staying that someone is a redhead is just part of them. This one is very much a slow burn but once it burns, it burns! As the last book in this series, I expected it to wrap things up well and I think the second epilogue ended the series in a satisfying way. I appreciated that there was the first epilogue to wrap up this story specifically, and then the second to continue it and show us a bit of the future for the entire friend group. It didn't feel rushed or forced, or like I didn't get enough. Would I have accepted more? Of course! But there are some final books in some series where I end up disappointed by the wrap up, and that wasn't the case here. Especially since there may be more books set in Laguna Island where Max and Eva live, so I'm sure we'll see some of all of these folks again someday. 
Overall, I'm glad I got to read this one in its various versions (beta, arc, and completed), and though I don't believe there can be any ethical billionaire in reality, the fictional ones in this series do it in a way that didn't bug me. 

Re-read update: I read the arc version this time and it was so fun to see moments in the book that changed because of my comments/suggestions! I'm certain there were also other changes that I just didn't notice because of how quickly my brain fog releases details I don't specifically focus on, but there were definitely some moments I thought to myself 'is this new? Feels like such and such was fleshed out more maybe'. The story is tighter and even stronger, and even thought I just read if a few weeks ago, I still really enjoyed Nora and Javier's love story! Also, moving the second epilogue to a free short story it you subscribe to the newsletter was an interesting choice. I can see why she made it but it does make the book feel a little incomplete--but probably only to those of us know read it as part of the ending originally; readers who read it for the first time probably won't notice it and will be fine with the ending. 

This is when the pause function would be great here! My hold ran out and I can't renew it, so I'll start reading again when it eventually gets back to me again.

This was an ARC but I think I'll wait and post a full review when it's the actual holiday season since it's a Christmas Eve time loop book. But I enjoyed it! 

This Christmas Eve time loop love story was very cute and fun. Annie is very isolated, with only her foster cat and her job as a department store window designer to fill her life. She has an awful Christmas Eve, from cat escapades to children knocking down the tree in the window. She does get to meet Braden the attractive security guard who helps her clean up the display, and ends up meeting four of her five neighbors over the day for the first time. Then she wakes up the next day and it's Christmas Eve all over again. And again. And again. 

I love the movie Groundhog Day and have since a kid, so I'm always in for a good time loop story and this one did the job. I liked the little twist in this one about the store's full in Santa with the extra twinkly eyes and how certain things stay changed each day as Annie works towards figuring out how to escape the time loop.

Eventually, Braden remembers bits and tries to help her and they become closer. My only issue with the book is that it occasionally switches to his POV, which I liked having, but the switches weren't always super clear. Sometimes it would switch after a scene break within the same chapter, and there weren't name labels attached anywhere. That said, because I read an arc, it may just be the formatting of that version. You never know what they're going to tweak and change before publication, so I don't want to fault the story itself at all. 

This story was as much about the two of them as it was Annie creating relationships with other people in her life, including her neighbors. Because of its found family aspect, plus the time loop fun, plus the romance, I think this would make a great Christmas movie!

I read it on its release day, Oct 8, and it got me excited for Christmas this year. But I still wanted to wait until the actual holiday season because posting about Christmas books before Halloween always seems odd to me. Thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca for the ARC!

This is a fun and funny little novel published in 1912, almost entirely epistolary aside from the first 20 pages, and only from one side. A girl brought up in an orphanage receives scholarship from one of the asylum's trustees without knowing who she is, to go to college all expenses paid. Her only repayment requirement is to send a progress letter once a month but she ends up writing more often and more personally. She hardly ever received a letter back and when she does we only hear it from her POV in the next letter. Later on (like riiiight at the every end--I would have liked more), years later once she's finished college, she discovers that she's actually met and is in love with her benefactor. Similar in nature to You've Got Mail (but not what that movie was based on), I read it because I'm about to start beta reading for an author and her book is a contemp romance retelling of this. I wasn't required to read this, but I figured I'd catch more easter eggs and references and enjoy it even more that way. I liked it well enough, thought the writing and character voice were clever/witty, and forward thinking in a lot of ways (and was happily surprised how well it stood up to the test of time. I think only two words used for people groups that are considered offensive now that weren't then). Overall, it was short and cute!

This book was a wild ride for me because there was a hot minute I considered DNFing, not because the story was bad (the story was what kept me reading) but the writing style kept bringing me out of the reading over and over. I'm not even sure what it was other than maybe it was in 3rd person but with lots of little asides that would have made more sense in first person to me, and overall it kind of sounded like a voiceover track? It was an odd experience, but I eventually got used to it and didn't even notice it anymore. The story takes place over ten years and I could see it being a movie potentially. It has the comedy, the angst, the platonic and romantic love stories, the emotion (I was full on bawling closer to the end at one point), etc. I think the concept was great and the story ended up being fine so I don't regret sticking it out to the end, but it was a bit disappointing.