Super sweet, reality TV, Omegaverse book! 4.25 stars!

I wasn't sure what to expect going in, I wasn't as excited as I should have been for this book.  I'm not a reality TV/Bachelor watcher, but I didn't let that persuade me from reading it.  It was so well written and very cute.  

Based on the prior book in the series, I expected the FMC to be a little more broken.  There was angst about trusting people again but didn't seem like there was a lot of angst for being hurt?  Still, I loved it!

I think my one and only true complaint about this book is that the fact that the FMC has a practice for therapy was somewhat brushed aside? We were digging into the friendship between her and Chad and his hurts and then it was never spoken of again. I wanted to dig into that!

Sort of a bit of a slow-burn, I wasn't expecting that, but totally made sense for the plot! The spice was delicious and I think maybe the first Omegaverse book that I've read where the FMC didn't have a heat. That was a pleasant surprise as I feel like that's always a big plot point in Omegaverse books! Overall, great book.  Can't wait to read more from A.J. Moran

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I know this is Elena's debut, but I read two of her other books before reading this one and it is hands down my favorite book.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVED The Long Game and The Fiancé Dilemma.  But Aaron? Oh my, Aaron might be in my top 10 MMCs of all time.  I loved him.  I was sad that it wasn't dual POV, but the book absolutely would not have had the same vibe, very a la Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison.  Aaron is a man obsessed with Lina, having a perspective into his noggin would have given it all away.  I loved how tender he is with her, like a snuggly little (massive) bear.  

I also really loved the way the book started.  Usually when you have a fake dating trope, it's sort of in the first 30% where they are figuring that out.  This went straight in and I loved that, it felt very fresh.

I'm excited to keep reading Elena Armas and can't wait to dive into the American Roommate Experience. 

I am so glad that I had the opportunity to review this book.  Initially when I requested it, I thought it was the first in the series, thinking maybe the publisher was doing a re-release? Nah, just a similar color scheme.  Straight to the library I went to immediately read the first two books and two novellas.  I feel HARD for this series.  It's so good, fun but serious, but not in a take itself too serious, serious way.  I was so excited to finally read about Isaac and just as a I suspected, this was my favorite book in the series. Julie and Sierra write so beautifully.  This is odd, but honestly what I loved the most, was the elevated vocabulary.  I don't know how many times I used the highlight function on my Kindle to learn what words mean.  They were always used in a way that I had an understanding of what they meant, but I learned SO MANY new words via this series and specifically A Jingle Bell Mingle.  It wasn't done in a pretentious way, either.  I literally kept saying to myself, "Jeez these women are so smart." and it truly shows in the writing.

I loved the dynamic between the two MCs. Nepo, Southern California babies.  Both dealing with grief in some way.  I did get annoyed with Isaac for constantly going back to his wife and his grief, but honestly, if I were to put myself in his shoes, would I not feel the same way? 

The spice was spicing and honestly, Sierra and Julie write some of the BEST spice. 

Hands down, five stars.  I hope these two pair up in the future and continue to write.  I'll be pre-ordering it in a Christmas Notch second.

I was offered a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Grimstone was not what I was expecting! I went in expecting cutesy dark and I came out with a great dark thriller-esque romance. Solid 4 stars. I thought the pacing and excitement of the book was great. I didn't start suspecting what was up until about 60% into the book so I loved that it wasn't right off the bat THIS IS WHO DONE IT!

I had a few icks that took away from the enjoyment of reading this, so I took off half a star for that. "...I hear the distinct sound of her hot piss hitting the bowl. My cock hardens." What the what? No. I'm trying not to kink shame but I'm also not seeing what value this added to the story? The other one, "Her slippery wetness is outrageous; it's like a rainforest." Nah, we didn't need that either. I LOVE a good metaphor, I really really do. I love when an author uses them in a story, but they need to be good. This just threw me right out of the story and I struggled with it.

The last half star I took off was that I was expecting more of a spooky vibe from the MMC's late wife. It was brought up in the beginning that he was hallucinating about her, but then kind of glossed over and wrapped up without ever addressing it. I wanted the full commitment to that.

Overall, Sophie Lark did not disappoint with this one! Another hit.

I received a free e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.