dermkat's Reviews (2.11k)

I had a feeling when I learned what Riley and Lexi's story would be about, that if done well it would end up being my favorite DC Stars book to date. It was exactly what I wanted it to be and even more!
Lexi has been a fiesty Ms. Independent since we first met her, and quieter, slightly nerdy Riley always intrigued me. It was clear he was interested in her early in the series and their journey from friends to best friends and lovers via the forced proximity of her helping him rehab after losing his leg in a car accident was emotional and so well done. The disability rep in this book was handled very delicately but honestly, and you could tell the care and time Chelsea put into researching what she didn't know, talking to people with experience, and having a loved one who has a prosthetic leg like Riley. The grief he goes through when his entire life changes and he can't play hockey, and doesn't know who he is anymore is something I related to (in a much less intensely traumatic way) as a disabled person who can't work anymore. His mental health is discussed, we see therapy on page, and he also finds safety and strength in expressing himself to Lexi throughout. 
As for Lexi, she has always done everything herself and generally doesn't go back for seconds after a hookup, so when they do get together and eventually start up their friends with benefits situation, we see her grapple with past hurt and giving in to what she really wants. There's also a really sweet caretaking scene with the microtrope that always gets me: the person who swears they are fine on their own is forced to accept help and see how their love interest truly cares for them.
The spicy scenes between them are great, with a bit of kink and plenty of conversations about the reality of sex with a prosthetic leg, especially a new one. They're also fun, as the two get to know each other more and indulge in one another. And we are always here for a dude with "slutty little glasses".
Though I truly think Chelsea's writing gets better and better with each book, and I look forward to what's been teased for the last three books, this book felt special and I believe it'll always be a favorite for me.

I wanted to like this one more than I did. I enjoyed it well enough to keep reading through the end, it wasn't bad by any means, it just didn't grab my attention as much as the first one. I still appreciated the way this author tells romances about beefy, hairy dudes, but some of the descriptions/word choices took me out of it (again, that's a me thing-authors can't please everyone when it comes to ick words, etc.). I did think the hurt/comfort aspect of the story was well done, as Locky loses his job but gets a big stock payout and is pushed by a friend to finally talk to a guy he knows about starting a night time bakery (the idea is cool, it's like a coffee shop/jazz club/non-alcoholic speakeasy vibe for those who want to be put socializing later at night and eat great desserts ((in this case pie!!) but are sober. He himself is a recovering alcoholic who also abstains from sex because it was so tied to his partying before. He also has trauma from childhood that makes him less than confident this venture is something he can/should do. Enter Benedict, small business consultant who has his own anxiety around his job that keeps him from getting close to clients anymore. But they're drawn to each other and rather than it being one person helping the other, they help each other move forward in their lives and deal with their stuff. I enjoyed the return of Artair and Luca from book one, and the shop name was a pun, which I always love. Overall didn't dislike the book, just felt disappointed when I didn't love it as I expected I would. Will definitely still read Kai's story next year!
•disability rep: anxiety, possible PTSD 
•fat rep
•BIPOC rep (one MMC is Black)
•queer rep (gay, pan, other side characters)

Mulan was a Disney movie that I really enjoyed as a kid. I was a little older when it came out (8) vs toddler, which is when the ones that are faves to this day are from (probably because I watched them repeatedly), but it still has great songs and the story, which I forgot for a second was based on a true one until reading this book's acknowledgements, was interesting and fun. So when I read the Disney adaptations series was putting out a Mulan retelling, I was here for it, and was thrilled I got an ARC. It took me a little bit to get into it, this story about Mulan as a finance 'bro' working for her father's company and looking to acquire a whisky company that Shang's family owns. Her dad gets sick, she pretends to be him because Shang's family is known to be sexist and wouldn't deal with a woman but they'd only communicated with her Ba via email so they were surprised but rolled with it reluctantly. Her cousin, Mushu, who works as an assistant and gets Mulan into all sorts of hijinks by talking her up (lies), etc. on their trip to the Li family ranch and distillery, goes with her and over their time there she somehow manages to gain their favor by the end. She also shares a tent with Shang and the attraction between them leads to a kiss, and then more once they're back. But he still knows her as Zhou. I thought the discussions of gender and equality were well done in this book, and the ending, a coming together of strong women, made me tear up, which also seemed appropriate when the author said she and her cousins always cried at the part in the movie where Mulan makes it to the top of the pole and gets the arrow, because they saw a woman, someone who looked like them, being strong and succeeding. Overall, I ended up enjoying myself finding all the similarities to the original, and it made me want to watch the movie again and research more about the historical Mulan. 
•disability rep: arthritis (side char.)
•BIPOC rep: Chinese characters (all main and major side char.)
•queer rep (side char.)
•Out June 3/25 (thank you to Hyperion for the ARC!)

I didn't really have any expectations going into this one because it was the book club pick this month and I'd only read one of the author's other books and couldn't remember how much I liked it. I ended up really really liking this one! It's got all the best aspects of a small town romance: quirky side characters, ridiculous town rules, city girl verbally sparring with grumpy construction guy, a festival, everyone joining together to try to save the town, etc. The author even said it's for every reader who ever said they wanted to move to a small town. 
FMC, Hazel, is a once-popular romance author who has been in a major slump, both writing and personal, since her divorce with her snooty literary agent ex-husband. Her best friend and agent, Zoey, finally starts to shake her out of it and the last push is that she has to vacate her hub's apartment in less than a week. Wine drunk and desperate, Hazel makes a middle of the night purchase on a house in the small town Story Lake after seeing it in an article that's inspired her to write a small town romance about the grumpy contractor who helped the little old lady who owned it before. She brings Zoey with her and when they arrive it's clear the town is not as robust as advertised, and she was catfished about the condition of the house. After a hilarious meet disaster with Cam, MMC and said contractor, he and his brothers end up taking the job to fix up the house (where she lives with her racoon roommate), and he begrudgingly agrees to go on a fake date with her so she can get inspiration for her book. She becomes involved in town politics (not by choice) and eventually helps with plans to save the town, and starts up a casual sex agreement with Cam (which, of course doesn't stay casual). 
The main characters were nuanced with past hurts to deal with and the side characters were incrdible. The book was long but didn't feel like it because I was so into the story. There's disability rep in a major side character who I believe will be getting a book (including accessibility considerations, etc.), and the cast of side character was diverse in age and race. It set up the series so well, so now I'm excited for Zoey's story as well as Cam's siblings' books. I was surprised by how much I liked it, and will definitely be paying attention as the series continues. 

I'm so glad this book surprised me out of no where because after the most recent one in the series, the other author said it was her last Appies hockey book and there was no mention of this author writing any more. But there were two more players on the team I was hoping to get stories about and one of them was this one! I think there are aspects of it that felt a little rushed at the end (mostly Camden's stuff with his family) but overall I really enjoyed getting to know Naomi and her son Liam from their other series better when they moved to Harvest Hollow and she and Cam got their second chance after a summer romance that left them both sad and alone. Overall, a decent wrap up to the series after all (definitely more satisfying), especially since I also learned that the final player I had hoped for a story about but had traded to a different team last book, is the lead in this author's standalone trad pub novel out in August that I honestly wasn't sure I'd read but now I likely will so this whole thing feels wrapped up.  

I was nervous going into this one because Better Than the Movies (book one) is one of my favorite YA books I've read as an adult, and I just knew that in order for there to be a second book, Wes and Liz would have to break up. There's another situation like this by another author where that happened and the second book was disappointing and painful, but I am so glad to say that this to me it was done so, so well! 
Wes and Liz do, in fact, break up and it's for a heartbreaking reason: Wes's family experiences tragedy and he leaves their freshman year of college to go home and help out, no longer able to imagine playing baseball. Two years later, Wes is back at UCLA to restart his freshman year, back on the baseball team, and planning to try like hell to get Liz back. But the Liz he encounters is not the same Libby who was in love with him and with love. She's a bit harder, doesn't date, and their mutual friends know her as the hilariously sarcastic and quippy ball buster. She has no interest in rekindling things, and even panics and has her roommate slash best friend slash coworker, Clark, pretend to be her boyfriend. Then she and Clark are assigned to cover the baseball team for fall ball season, since they both work for the school's sports media team and Liz is also doing an internship with a documentarian making a film about the school's sports. 
As the two are forced to spend time together, Liz learns more about what was going on back then when Wes broke her heart, and despite her best efforts they start getting closer again; him laying it all on the line and her fighting it every step of the way until something happens where she can't ignore her feelings anymore.
I really enjoyed this! Not in the same way as the first one, but I was still hooked and rooting for them. There's no spice in this book, which I didn't know going into it since they're 20 now and it could have been pushed into New Adult territory, but I'm glad it was alluded to but never on page because that worked better for their story and kept it closer to the same vibe as the first book. Like with the first one, my only real compliant is that I wish we got more time with them together at the end; but, also like with the first one, it makes it feel more like a movie that we don't and that fits so well thematically, so it didn't bother me much. Overall, a very good second installment of Wes & Liz. 

This one, again, was a totally different vibe to all the rest because it's an actress and her three new bodyguards, brought in because she's being stalked. So there's more suspense, intensity, occasional chapters from the POV of the stalker, explosions, etc. But as expected now from this author, the characters had things they're working through and by all coming together they help each other. Briar has been an actress since she was a kid and is nicknamed Britain's Biggest Bitch because she doesn't hold back and says whatever, and calls people out for stuff. Matt, Glen, and Kenta are former special services military from the same team, who were all captured and tortured during their last tour. Matt has major PTSD, flashback, and survivor's guilt, and Glen and Kenta have scarring, with Glen's more visible on his face. The men eventually learn that she's not her public persona, and they all get together and fall in love while dealing with the stalker and an eventual kidnapping situation. I enjoyed this one too even though it isn't my go to as far as romance subgenres. It would make a good movie, though. 

This one was good too, and had a bit of a different feel to it, which I appreciated. This one takes place in remote northern Sweden, where Daisy crashes her car to avoid a moose when she's up there to escape drama, humiliation, and abuse after her ex releases a video of them together that she didn't know existed and ruins her life there. She left England planning to paint the northern lights since she lost her art teacher job, and is rescued by two big dudes, Eli and Cole, after her crash. They take her home to their cabin and she stays there with them and their third roommate Riven, much to Cole's displeasure. She doesn't tell them her story or who she really is, but starts something up with Eli and Riv and evtually Cole joins in at times. The men are going to ask her to stay when stuff hits the fan and her secrets come out. We got winter, mountains, northern lights, three dudes with baggage from an ex who really screwed with them, etc. One more to read, now.

This one was good as well, with the characters facing certain issues on their own and together. Jack is a video game developer who think his career success is his only value. Cyrus has a learning disability and works at a job many people look down on him for. Sebastian has chronic migraine and was made to think from a young age that he's violent and dangerous. Beth comes into their lives when a six month old baby is dropped at the door for the men by a woman they'd slept with, not knowing who the bio dad is. Beth's a nanny who grew up in foster care herself, and has been out of work so it works out well that she can help them. She then develops attraction and feelings for each guy at different speeds, all of them eventually together. I enjoyed the story but it was the bonus chapters you can get by subscribing to the author's newsletter that almost made me cry. 

I really enjoyed this friends/neighbors to lovers slash fake/practice dating why choose romance. This is my first book by this author and I didn't know what to expect but it had a lot of depth and the character's back stories were all intense (they had a link to the content warnings at the start and I didn't click on it cuz I'm usually okay but I'm guessing I would have been less surprised about certain things if I had read them). I also discovered that at least one other book is about a group of partners who were briefly mentioned as listeners of the podcast the three men in this one host, where they create the segment to help their good friend and neighbor from across the hall, Layla, figure out why she sucks at dating. She runs a growing, successful lingerie business but the regimented, very tightly organized and researched side of her spreads into her social skills, plus she had a really bad experience in high school being lied about, sexually harassed, bullied, and not believed, so she doesn't trust men easily. She agrees to the fake dating scheme that Josh (who has loved her secretly for a long time), Zack (who ignores his grief and never dates seriously as a result), and Luke (who is ten years older than the rest and was one of her teachers briefly years ago, but was getting divorced and didn't notice what she went through at the school). It's a lot to deal with (especially when some things go public), but I thought the lessons the men have her were good, showed they truly knew and respected her, as the spice was great. Looking forward to reading more by this author.