Read as a serial on Patreon. Absolutely delightful tale of a second chance romance with a ghost. I loved the dual POV and anticipating the events from either perspective.

Your honor, I loved it. First of all, if you haven’t done the audio of this one, it’s Mary Jane Wells at her best. I loved it so much, I swear to you, I fell asleep and still paid attention. 🤣 Ash is the crankiest of all cranky boys, but with solid reasoning, obviously, and Emma’s quest to get him out of his own way is absolutely perfect. (She gives big YOU WILL BE MY FRIEND energy which I love.) Plus we adore a historical heroine who is into sex and knows it. The pet name shenanigans were phenomenal, and Khan enters the Hall of Fame of Side Characters for sure. Having just read Balogh’s The First Snowdrop and Davidson’s Joy to the Earl, this genuinely felt like it had elements from both of those books, but made them work in a way that neither did. It even felt at least as Christmas-y, even if it’s not technically a Christmas book. I loved getting into my first Tessa Dare— it was a long time overdue!

I get the sort of modernization of some histroms, but there were just too many inaccuracies and outright stretches in this one for me to deal with. From the FMC being a sex therapist, to the MMC’s unlikely virginity (he limps! And he’s tall and has heterochromia, so therefore he’s a monster to women??) that played into things not at all as he was instantly a dirty-talking sex god, to the ACTUAL SEX POLLEN twist (where everyone in the house leaves the precocious 4yo to her own devices while they bang?), none of it was believable. The smut was fun and I liked the relationship between the MMC and the daughter (who had a limp also), but the plot conflict and resolution came out of nowhere both times, turning the story on a dime. Also only just Christmas-y enough to rate the title, not an overtly holiday read.

I loved this. Some of the tropes aren’t my favorite, and it took Chris entirely too long to come up with the obvious solution to their problem, but the two MCs and their chemistry sold me again and again. This read as a standalone just fine, even if the Previous MCs were a little obvious, but I do feel like I was missing some backstory about the college that contributed to why things would be so difficult, and who the hell Jeanette was, as she sort of popped out of nowhere. So I’m excited to read more from Montgomery either way.

Ehhhh, KINKTOMATO, but as someone who breastfed, I could never find it sexy. And early parenthood is just not sexy either, tbh. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Plus I was hoping for a resolution on the Narcolepsy dropped ball from the book, but alas, we didn’t even get a single Narcolepsy reference NOT EVEN WHEN SHE TOOK A NAP. Booo. 

First of all, I have to say, I entirely picked this book up because @burlesquemouse told me about the FMC’s Narcolepsy, and I would have loved this book for the representation alone. Not since Jinkx Monsoon’s first season of Drag Race have I felt so seen. (Like one of the authors is a PWN right?) 

So I came for the Narcolepsy and stayed for the wonderfully smutty plot. I loved the hot Hallmark premise, the absolute batshit-ness of purity culture and of the MC’s respective and very different celebrity realities. It was great too how you could point to some obvious inspirations, but no one was a direct copy of anyone. MINOR SPOILERS: The surprise pregnancy trope isn’t always my fave, but the characters made it work and I did fully appreciate how it ended up making her question his ability to be an adult… cause man. Been there. The stuff with the return of her parents almost gave me hives, but it worked out well. My biggest gripe was with how brushed aside her Narcolepsy ended up being. Like… she doesn’t ever tell him about it? Going to be something he needs to know about!