Love Is A Battlefield by Whitney Dineen is a fun, competitive, frenemies to lovers tale. All the backstory shenanigans from Brogan and Addison’s past play such a fun role in how they deal with each other in the present. The meddling of the moms was fun to watch. While I wasn’t sure about the texting format for most of the mom’s POV scenes, it did end up working well. The pranks made for some hilarious conflict between Brogan and Addison. I really enjoyed watching these two fall in love!

My Cone And Only by Susannah Nix is a deliciously heartfelt best friend’s sibling romance. I was super excited to read this story. It’s been on my TBR for some time and was a perfect fit for the second chapter in the Year of Smut 2022 challenge. It’s a best of Rate the Romance 2021 title. I enjoyed how Wyatt was a blue collar guy. Handyman heros are catnip for me. The fact that he can sing and dance was just icing on the cake! I enjoyed how Andie was a smart independent woman! The tension around the promise Wyatt made to Andie’s brother creates so many tension filled moments between our couple. I did struggle near the middle when our couple starts exploring what a relationship between them might look like. But after a few more chapters things picked back up and I was hooked again. Overall, I had fun with this love story, but not as much as I had hyped myself to enjoy it.

Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey was a sweet and angsty read. The push and pull between Fox and Hannah was great! I loved their banter and how they tried not to ogle the other. This was a great sequel to It Happened One Summer. I enjoyed reading every minute!

Whisper Network by Chandler Baker was a dive into the struggles of women. While I found this plot interesting I had some struggles with the story as a whole. Each character kind of felt like a caricature, which made it hard for me to fully relate to any of them. I also struggled with the time period this was suppose to be set. It felt like the author wanted it to be set in present time, but some of the descriptions and things the characters did felt dated. I also found it a bit predictable and was able to figure out the “plot twists” pretty easily.

What I did enjoy about this story was the different perspectives around women accusing men of sexual harassment or assault in the workplace. I think understanding these perspectives is important for all parties. I also liked the little “we” viewpoints at the beginning of each chapter. While I think this book’s topic is very important I don’t feel like was implemented in the best way. As a side note, several of my book club members felt like this was very similar to Big Little Lies, which I have never read or seen.

Speak of The Demon by Stacia Stark pulled me into a shadowy supernatural world filled with all sorts of creatures and mystery. I couldn’t get enough of Danica’s snark and ingenuity. I loved the angsty push and pull between her and Samael. I’m very curious about Danica’s magic. Samael is definitely keeping secrets and I can’t wait to find out what they are in the next books. I’m super in love with this book and supernatural world!

Black Wedding by Emma Luna was a dark, mysterious tale that I couldn’t put down. Bree was such an intelligent, brave, and strong woman! I loved how Liam helped encourage Bree to chase her dreams and would help end anyone who got in their way. I kept wondering where their next threat was going to come from and how they were going to over come it. The intimate scenes were spicy and our characters definitely end up going through a physical and emotional wringer. (This really is a dark mafia romance and should only be read by people 18+ and who don’t have any triggers). I always feel like the author did an amazing job if they can get me to care about the characters enough to cry over them, and cry I did!

Touched by Time by Zoe Matthews and Jade Jenson was such a great read! I absolutely enjoyed how the time travel worked in this novel. I couldn’t out this book down! I wanted to know more about the keys, Victoria and Collin, and how the mail order bride service across time was going to work out. I also loved that it took place in my state of Colorado! The romance between Patrick and Kimberly was sweet and definitely had moments where I swooned. The most heated this book got was a couple of kisses, but the emotion behind those kisses was steamy! I can’t wait to see what happens in the second book and which couple will have their romance!