elizabethgscott's Reviews (435)

 Fangirl Down is Tessa Bailey at her best! 

Wells Whitaker was once a promising golfer but now he plays like he’s given up. The only person that hasn’t stopped believing in Wells is his number one fan, Josephine Doyle. Wells is pleasantly surprised to find that Josephine actually reads a course well and the pair strike a deal, she’ll be his new caddie. 

Listen to me when I tell you, Tessa made golf HOT! We get a glorious comeback story from the grumpiest dirty talker the greens have ever seen. The banter is laugh out loud, the steam is impeccable, and the story has satisfying character growth. 

Read this is you like: 

-sports romance 

-forced proximity 

-grumpy x sunshine 

-laugh out loud banter 

-golf themed dirty talk 

-🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ 

5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

 

Also, Callie Dalton gives a 🔥 audio performance! Check out the audiobook if you like reading with your ears. 

The Fake Out by Stephanie Archer is the second book in the Vancouver Storm series. Archer is an auto buy author for me and this book proves why. The Fake Out follows Rory Miller, the Vancouver Storm’s newest hockey stud and Hazel Hartley, one of the team’s physiotherapists. Rory is nursing a major crush on his former tutor, Hazel and now that they work together he gets to shoot his shot. Hazel is not interested in Rory or any hockey player for that matter. She had her heart broken by a player a long time ago but no one knows the details. She’s happy for her sister Pippa and her fiancé Jamie but she just doesn’t see the same in her future. When a new player joins Hazel’s physio team and Rory gets a promotion he didn’t see coming, fake dating becomes a “necessity” to help the pair navigate these changes. Read this book if you like: 

-fake dating 

-hockey romance 

-excellent banter 

-he falls first 

-sweet and spicy 🌶️ 

5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🌶️🌶️🌶️

I loved this book! I loved Hazel’s fire breathing tendencies. I loved the effort Rory put into getting Hazel to trust him. I appreciated how the individual conflicts in their personal lives were handled. This book has great secondary characters and the tease for the next book already has me hooked! My only complaint is that the villain’s name is McKinnon which is one letter away from MacKinnon, my favorite real life hockey player’s name but I’ll forgive Archer since everything else about this book was perfect! 🤣 

A huge thank you to Stephanie Archer and her team for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. 

ARC review *Publish date December 1, 2023*

Broken Dreams is the 2nd book in the Whitlock Family series written by Corinne Michaels. 

I really enjoyed the first book in this series but I LOVED this one! Grady and Addison have both lost their spouses and respectively are raising their 3 year olds on their own. They meet one morning at daycare drop off, discovering that their kids are friends. Grady and Addy continue to run into each other throughout Sugarloaf, seeing as it’s the small town that we love. Grady rescues Addy from a terrible date and their friendship forms. Their chemistry is off the charts!! They realize that they both could benefit from a fake relationship, she needs a date to a wedding back home and he needs a steady relationship to help secure funding for his new business. As the couple convinces the town they’re together the fake relationship starts to feel very real. 

4.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

🌶️🌶️🌶️

Read this book if you like: 

-small town romance

-found family 

-ex-military MMC

-strong boss babe FMC

-fake dating 

-single mom/single dad

-top tier dirty talk 

-lots of feels 

This story had me crying one minute and then laughing the next. It was so full of heart! I enjoyed this so much that I plan on listening to the audio once it’s released. 

A big thank you to Valentine PR and Corinne Michaels for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review! 

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross is the first book in the fantasy series Letters of Enchantment. I am obsessed!!! The writing! The story! The characters! It’s so good y’all! One of my top reads of 2023. 

The previously slumbering gods are at war again and everything 18 year old Iris Winnow knows is changing. He brother is missing, her mother is deep in addiction, and Iris needs to win that columnists promotion at the Oath Gazette to make ends meet. Unfortunately her very competent rival, Roman C. Kitt, is also competing for the promotion. In a desperate attempt to reach Forest, her brother, Iris starts writing him letters that vanish once she places them under her wardrobe. She hopes the letters are finding Forest well and that he is just unable to respond, what she doesn’t know is that they are appearing in Roman’s room. Roman anonymously writes her back and a remarkable relationship is formed. Their connection through letter writing continues all the way to the front lines of war. Divine Rivals is a bewitching tale of grief, heartbreak, hope, and love. I have thought about this book for weeks and cannot wait for Ruthless Vows to come out on December 26, 2023. 

Read this is you like: 

-fantasy

-academic rivals

-enemies to lovers 

-epistolary romance 

and so much more 

 

5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🌶️

Before the Sunset by Laura Pavlov is the 4th book in the Cottonwood Cove series! This was my favorite in the series! 

Reese and Finn have been best friends since birth. Their families are close and everyone is waiting for the pair to realize they love each other as more than friends. However, as teens they made a pact to never cross that line for fear they’d lose their special friendship. It helps that Reese has been in a long term relationship for all of their adult lives, until now. Finn, an up and coming actor, needs help rehabbing his image and Reese wants to make her ex jealous so naturally the solution is fake dating! 

I loved this friends to lovers story! It’s fast paced, funny, sweet, and will tug on your heartstrings. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Maxine Mitchell and Jacob Morgan and would definitely recommend if you’re into audiobooks and even if you’re not! 

5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

-small town

-dual pov

-friends to lovers 

-hilarious sibling group chat 

-fake dating 

-“you call, I come” 😭

-🌶️🌶️🌶️

Collide by Bal Khabra is 🔥🔥🔥 not only is the cover gorgeous but this book is a true delight to read. 

Summer Preston is determined to be the best sports physiologist and that means getting into the best grad program. She has a plan and she’s sticking to it! Unfortunately Summer gets assigned hockey as the focus of her final project and she loathes the sport. Aiden Crawford, the responsible hockey team captain, isn’t thrilled to be working with Summer either. Aiden has a hectic schedule with little time to spare and wasn’t planning on spending it helping someone else. The pair do not get along but after a few meetings they realize that maybe they were wrong about each other. 

This is my favorite kind of college romance because we get: 

-hockey captain MMC

-determined badass FMC

-hilarious friend group 

-black cat x golden retriever 

-dual pov 

-he falls first 

-care and comfort

-no third act breakup 

-slow burn 🌶️🌶️🌶️

-available on KU 

This book was fun to read and full of heart. I can’t wait to read more from Khabra. 

Behind the Net by Stephanie Archer is the first book in the Vancouver Storm hockey series and I loved it! 
Jamie Streicher is the new grumpy goalie for the Vancouver Storm, he requested this trade back home to help take care of his mom. He also became the proud new owner of a scrappy rescue dog however, this new responsibility and his crazy hockey schedule require him to hire a personal assistant. Enter Pippa. Pippa Hartley’s life has been turned upside down and she’s in dire need of a job, preferably one that is safe. She recently lost her confidence in having a career in music and has decided to use her marketing degree. Her sister, who currently works with the Storm, recommends she work as a PA for a hockey player because a marketing job will be opening soon and they often hire from within. Jamie and Pippa, being from the same town actually went to school together but neither one is acknowledging it. Jamie is hard to read and Pippa is sure he hates her except for when he sees her crying about sleeping on her sisters couch and he demands she moves in with him. Doesn’t seem like hate to me! 
This was delightful to read and so hot! The steam in Behind the Net is stellar, I mean, he accidentally or maybe on purpose buys her *something* after she shared how bad her ex was in bed ☠️ it’s good y’all! I love Stephanie Archer’s previous books but this one is my new favorite! Jamie is a closed off grump and it’s so rewarding to watch how tender he becomes with Pippa. He pines so hard, it’s delicious. Pippa is precious, funny, and resilient. I just wanted to give her a great big hug. I loved seeing her confidence come back not only because Jamie believed in her but because she also started believing in herself. Bonus, she has a kick ass supportive sister, who I loved and can’t wait to read more of! 

5/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️

Read this if you like
-grumpy/sunshine
-pro hockey players
-he’s her boss/ she’s his assistant 
-pining 
-slow burn 
-roommates 
-cute dog 
-“coaching” 

A big thank you to Stephanie Archer for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. It was truly a pleasure to read!

Out On a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young is your next 5 star read and here’s why.

Winnifred “Win” McNulty meets Bo, in the most perfect meet cute, a halloween party where they both have taken advantage of their limb differences in creative pirate costumes. The banter is off the charts and they share an unforgettable one night stand. A few weeks later Win learns just how unforgettable meeting Bo really was. Bo learns about this life changing surprise and reacts in the most precious way imaginable. They decide to be just friends moving forward and the most epic slow burn starts. 

I am sick knowing that these characters do not exist. I want to be in their friend group SO BAD. Win has a Gilmore Girls-esque like friendship with Sarah, her best friend/sister, despite being the same age. Sarah and her husband Caleb have such a special relationship with Win, it’s enviable. Reading their friendship dynamics is like cuddling up with your favorite blanket, it’s cozy. Win is a quirky plant lady who hasn’t always been treated the way she deserves but is working on loving herself. She is strong, a good friend, and so damn funny. She’s sunshine and so easy to love. Now onto Bo, or is it Robbie, or is it Robert? IYKYK. 🤣 Bo is perfect. He is a gentle giant nerd that I want to hug and take care of. He loves Win in such a tender and thoughtful manner. I’m not one for an accidental pregnancy trope but maybe I like them now?!? I definitely liked this one! But this is so much more than an accidental pregnancy book, this is full of heart, humor, bravery, and love. Getting to read stories that instill the fact that everyone is deserving of love is one of my favorite things about reading romance. The author’s note at the start of the book is not to be missed. Hannah put her whole self into this book and it shows. I can’t wait to see what she puts out next. 

5/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🌶️🌶️🌶️

Read this book if you like: 

-top notch banter

-only one bed

-care/comfort

-one night stand to friend to lovers

-kitchen dancing 

-accidental pregnancy 

-mutual pining 

-slow burn with incredible spice

-nerd love 

Tilly in Technicolor is Mazey Eddings debut into YA and it’s fabulous! Eddings does a beautiful job telling yet another story that solidifies everyone is deserving of love. I’ll read anything she writes, Mazey’s writing is funny, warm, intentional, and engaging. 

Tilly Twomley is spending her summer working as an intern for her older sister Mona which means she gets to travel Europe! She is excited to leave her parent’s house and get a break from the constant nagging about her future and her ADHD. In a hilarious ketchup filled meeting, Tilly is introduced to Oliver Clark, the other summer intern. Oliver is the complete opposite of Tilly, he is focused, driven, and knows exactly what he wants, at least they think they are opposites. The neurodiverse pair eventually learn that they might have more in common than they originally thought. 

I loved so many parts of this story but I particularly enjoyed the intentionality Tilly and Oliver took to learn how best to communicate with each other!  The story was adorable and funny, I laughed out loud so many times.

5/5 stars  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Shattered Truths by H. Hunting is the third book in the Lies, Hearts, and Truths series. This could be read as a standalone but is best enjoyed in series order and even more fun to read if you have already read Hunting’s Pucked and All In series. 

Winter Marks, a part time college student and aspiring hockey player has an unfortunate meeting with Randall Ballistic Jr., BJ for short, when BJ almost runs into her with his Jeep. She unknowingly leaves behind her hockey skate and BJ tracks her down. BJ, an uber talented figure skater, never spends more than a night or two with a woman, never has feelings for them either, and so he can’t figure out why Winter is taking up so much of his brain. Winter Marks is hardworking, smart, strong, and one hell of a hockey player but she’s trapped in her current living situation and is in desperate need of a break. Meeting BJ changes not only her life but it also rocks BJ’s on its axis. 

I had the pleasure of listening to the audio early and let me tell you, Zachary Webber and Andi Arndt bring these characters to life in such a beautiful way! I always opt for the audio when either of them narrate so it was a delicious treat to get to listen to them both in Shattered Truths. I enjoyed every second of this audiobook. I squealed, I cried, I laughed, and I felt so good being back in this world. Several difficult topics were covered in this story and Hunting handled them with so much care however, you should still check trigger warnings. The story of Winter and BJ is so special on its own but add in all the cameos from the Pucked and All In series like BJ’s parents Lily and Randy, the Waters family, and the rest of the crew from the current generation- it was spectacular! I LOVED getting glimpses of Lily and Randy as parents, they’re great by the way! I was proud of all the gang has accomplished and so enjoyed being back with my friends again. Read this book if you like:

-college romance

-she’s a hockey player, he’s a figure skater

-the best friend group of all time

-hilarious banter

-care and comfort

-fantastic communication

-no third act breakup

-fabulous spice!! 🌶️🌶️🌶️

5/5 stars! Don’t miss the audiobook!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Helena Hunting and her team for the audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.