dermkat's Reviews (2.11k)

I really enjoyed this one! Oliver was always the quiet, grumpy cousin we didn't know very well so getting inside his mind was very interesting. He's such a jerk to Avery when she and her daughter Nova move in next door, not even recognizing her as one of his childhood friends (and crushes) after a decade of no contact. Once feelings exist and are acknowledged on both sides, it takes a while for Avery to believe that she doesn't have to do everything on her own anymore. Nova is seven and adorable but also emotionally intelligent considering the crap she puts up with from her bio dad. The way Oliver turns into a "my wife" guy and girl dad is just everything. He's a firefighter, she grew up mostly in Sweden, so the story is infused with those aspects of their lives. The spicy scenes were good but not abundant. The only thing that confused me was the nickname she gives him and the given translation for it. I know google isn't always right when it comes to translation, but I was under the impression that word meant something else. But I don't speak Swedish. Jamie's story is next and was just barely teased to be a doozy. 

I really enjoyed this one! It was a quick read for me, and more of the spicy, humorous romance goodness I expect from this author. This is second in the current hockey series and was about their PR managed and the grumpy goalie she's been tasked with making over his image. They've always had bantery/drive each other batty chemistry and spending more time together makes them admit that it's because they've been fighting not to like each other and not because they don't. They start dating secretly because she's the one who would lose if they got in trouble for breaking the unwritten rule about employees not dating players. There was a really great theme of learning to trust in this one, because of past relationship/media hurt for him and because of literal scars she carries with her every day since an accident years ago. This book also set up the next two or three books pretty well and I look forward to them!

I kind of loved this book! Romances about queer (in this case gay) men written by queer men just hit differently and have a sense of authenticity. Then add in that this was about two big hairy dudes who each loved each other's bodies because they were big and hairy and owned their own sexiness? Chef's kiss! We need more body positive stories where the larger characters love themselves and their bodies without insecurities. Yes, many people deal with insecurities regarding their bodies but there are some people who love their curves, and wiggles, and chub, and they need rep too. I don't think I'd ever read about a character working in a fire tower in the wilderness before, but I'd heard stories from someone who did once so this was fun. I also really appreciated the author's note at the start where he acknowledged/explained that there are many things in the book that ignore real life safety measures, and encouraged people to follow those measures in real life but allow for the suspension of disbelief in this story and the character's better world. Luca is a writer in the early '00s who usually writes about sex, especially queer sex, but isn't encouraged to do so. He gets a freelance job to do the opposite, aka stay celibate for the summer and write about what that experience is like. He takes a job in a remote fire tower thinking it'll be the best way to avoid civilization and therefore the temptation of hot men. What he doesn't know is that Artair, a nature-loving, guitar playing, husky hottie is hiking and camping nearby, and the two men feel the attraction and connection immediately. He holds off but they're still super flirty, something that continues after they start hooking up which I was delighted by because it was so playful and full of innuendo. Then, when they do eventually have sex, it's explosive and incredible. Luca knows it has to be just for the summer because then he has to go back to real life, and Artair is a wanderer on his way to his next adventure. Or does it? Overall, a cozy sweet and spicy romance, and I look forward to this series about chonky guys in love continuing. 

Well, I really enjoyed this one! We met two new MMCs (Aiden and Simon), and then got to know Elise and Blake from the previous books more as the other two MCs. Like the previous book (which I read first a while ago, out of order), there is queer rep in this poly relationship, which I am always here for. There's a fake engagement, chronic pain rep, and really great ADHD rep based on what I know and have been told (object permanence, multiple projects on the go at a time, misplacing/forgetting things because your brain is going so quickly, etc.). Apparently the next book is going to be about two if Aiden's firefighter coworkers, Blake's sister, and someone I don't think we've met yet? Comes out in November, so I'll be looking forward to that then. 

This was a good ending to the little series about Dani and her men. Started with just a titch of similar angst from the last one because there was a wedding and certain feelings about that, but ended with their family stronger than ever and with a little baby in the mix. Most of the book was about them during the pregnancy and preparing for more life changes. I've already read Luna's connected book and now I just discovered there's another one for their friend Elise, so I'll be reading that next. 

Hoo boy, this one is ANGSTY in a way the others weren't so far. But it's in a way that makes sense, because a poly relationship with four people is going to be tricky to navigate at some points, and they've just bought a house and moved in together. Figuring out life when people are at different stages of careers, life goals, etc. is complicated. We still get the spicy scenes, the romance, the found family of it all, and it's still a romance so we don't need to worry too much about it (people always work it out in a romance!). Time for the last book!

This novella is the next in the series I'm reading right now about Dani, Crew, Michael, and Nathan. It's Christmas and they take a road trip in an RV to meet everyone's families. Four Christmases in two days (they mention the movie), and they experience a variety of responses to their relationship. Some is great, some is curious but well meaning, and some starts out really not great. Looking forward to the next novel. They're officially moving in together!

I couldn't recall why/when I downloaded this one, but I've been trying to get through my KU queue and I like hockey romances, poly romances, especially poly hockey romances, so I was game. I didn't realize until the very end that this is the first in a series of four where I read a connected standalone. Things seemed a little familiar but tropes get tropey sometimes so I didn't think much of it. Regardless, it makes sense now why I enjoyed this one so much--turns out I like this author's books! Grumpy team owner has to give out free upgrade tickets and sees hot/adorable redhead, gives her and her friend and their dates tickets, and can't get her out of his head. At that same game, her date is a dick while on kiss cam, her friend's brother (golden retriever, a bit younger, player on the team) saves the day and come kisses her. Then the team doc checks her head (she fell during the kiss cam debacle) and they share a moment as well. Turns out she's into all of them and eventually turns into a sharing situation. Apparently there are 3 more books about this group, so I'll definitely be reading those. A fun, quick and dirty read. 

This was good, overall! It's enemies to lovers and brother's best friend and forced proximity when they both suddenly don't have skating partners and their coaches push them together. They've been competitors, they both want to win, so they eventually agree. They've also hooked up once and the chemistry is odd the charts. Eventually we see that the hate on both sides has been forced so that they wouldn't acknowledge how much they each liked the other. He is so gone for her. It's back and forth and spicy right off the top. I was thinking as I read that it was so much better than the previous book but then near-ish the end there started to be errors, almost like the ending was rushed through editing wise. So that was a bit odd but it wasn't that bad. I'd read more from this author. 

Unfortunately, I wanted to like this more than I actually did. The characters were fun, I liked both friend groups joined together through the siblings, and it has some great tropes (brother's best friend, friends to lovers, forced proximity) but it really could have used another edit. There were a handful of errors and if it had just been those I probably would have been fine but there were other issues that took me out of reading multiple times including repetitive phrases (including one I'm not sure was actually correct), the occasional questionable sex practise (not enough talk ahead of time before certain things, etc.), and some plot issues that either never wrapped up or were just shy of making sense to me. Some of those things are preference, so there's a chance other readers would have no issues with them. I appreciated that it was a Canadian setting (at various locations in BC and AB) by a Canadian author, and thought the plus size rep (her having some insecurities due to a previous relationship and him absolutely worshiping her) was well done, but I won't be continuing the series.