This is a cute little book. It didn't necessarily blow my mind, but I did really like Wes and Jamie. I think this is a really solid book considering this is the first outing of this author duo (correct me if I'm wrong). I do have a few problems with the book, but not to the level that I actively disliked anything. I think they got together a little too quickly, and they definitely fell in love too quickly.

Jamie accepting he is bisexual and in love with his best friend—who he hadn't seen or talked to in four years—in the span of five weeks is crazy to me.

I also found some of the (internal) dialogue to be a bit cringeworthy, but thankfully not enough to turn me off completely. I will be giving the sequel a chance.

If you're looking for a sweet, low-conflict romance, this is a good choice.

Just when I thought I couldn't love Shane and Ilya more, I read this book. It's definitely a worthy follow-up to Heated Rivalry. I loved getting to read about these characters again. They absolutely solidified their place as the best couple in the series (I mean seriously, who can hold a candle to them? No one). 

I loved how in love they were and I'm so happy that they got their happy ever after. I don't really have a lot of unique, long-winded thoughts or anything to critique. I just love this book. You should read it.

So Troy and Harris just slid right into second place for my favorite couple of the series (no one is beating Shane and Ilya, sorry). They were so cute! I am pretty ambivalent on the grumpy/sunshine trope, but I liked how it was used here. I liked that Troy and Harris felt like realistic characters rather than stereotypes of the trope. They both had cute and grumpy moments.

One of my favorite parts was when Troy saw the apple-shaped Pride pin and got it for Harris. It was adorable.

I really loved Troy. I loved that he was trying to redeem himself and find his place in the world after all that happened. I am glad the author decided to pluck this unlikable character from the previous books and make us go on a journey of betterment with him. It's one of my favorite types of stories. 

I also really loved that we got see more of Ilya. He was more mature, but still funny as hell. Can't wait to read the final book!

I didn't hate this book, but I didn't love it either. I feel similarly as I do to Tough Guy, the third book in the series. I didn't connect with Kyle and Eric all that much. I did like seeing Scott and Kip again, though. Age gap is also one of my least favorite tropes, so that's automatically some points against this book for me. Although, I will say it was nice that the youngest here was twenty-five, so still an actual adult.

One thing I did enjoy is how much steamier this book is compared to the others. While the previous books were definitely focused on sex, this one really was.

And also way kinkier. I feel like the author did a great job with it and the scenes were really hot.

Overall, I'd recommend this book if you like the age gap trope, but I probably won't be revisiting this one.

I'm sad that this installment didn't grip me the way that Heated Rivalry or even Game Changer did. It wasn't bad, but it was just kinda boring? I did like the premise - a hockey player who struggles with anxiety and a musician who hates hockey - but, unfortunately, I didn't really feel the love between Ryan and Fabian the way that I did with the other couples in the series. 

My favorite parts of the book were when Ryan was with Wyatt, and not necessarily with Fabian. I don't hate Fabian, in fact I really like that he is so flamboyant and femme, but I just found myself... wanting to get the story over with so I can read the next books in this series. I honestly don't think I would have completed this book had it not been for that. I also really liked the glimpses we got of Shane and Ilya, which helped bump it up to 3 stars.

However, it is possible that my ambivalence towards these characters is just a "me" thing. If you are looking for a book that tackles heavier subject matter (like mental health), it honestly might be worth it to give this book a shot.

I don't know what else I could have asked for in a romance. Ilya and Shane were incredibly well-developed characters, their relationship progression was well-paced, and it has one of my favorite tropes of all-time: rivals-to-lovers. Ilya and Shane are just amazing together.

I definitely recommend this book if you're looking for a sports and/or gay romance. It's probably the best I've read. You don't need to read the first took in the series at all to enjoy this, but be warned: it does contain light spoilers for Game Changer.

Additionally, the bonus story My Dinner with Hayden is so cute! I love this little glimpse we get into their life after they get together. Ilya's snark for Hayden remains unmatched. I hope they will get closer in the future.  

This book was soooo cute. I became attached to Scott and Kip really quickly and I loved their romance. I am not giving it 5 stars because there were times I was super frustrated with them and the decisions they were making (and not necessarily in a good way). I also found the ending to be really rushed (even if it was very sweet). 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and I will definitely be continuing the series.

I really enjoyed this book! I ended up being attached to most of the character, but I was especially interested in Magda and Chad. I got really attached to them and my favorite scenes were often when they were interacting. However, there were a few characters I didn't really jive with (Bibi, Xavier, Richie, and sometimes Alessandra).

Another thing I did enjoy was listening along to the playlists as they came up in the book. I created them in Spotify, and it was so nice to have a “soundtrack” to listen to. I definitely think they were a nice touch.

The reason I can’t, in good conscious, give this book anything more than 3.5 stars, is because I really did not like how

Kimber “stood by” Richie in the end. If I remember correctly, Grace Hadley the ghost even approves of this by saying “Standing by her man! I like it.” I’m sorry, but what is there to like about this woman staying with a habitual offender of embezzlement and identity fraud?

It really soured the end of the book for me. 

Also, the writing style was just not my thing. It’s not bad, per say, but I could tell that this was written by someone in their 50s (as the author is) who was trying to sound “hip.” I also feel like the “voice” for the characters, articles, and journal entries – especially those from 1922 – were too similar to everyone else in the book. Maybe it doesn’t make a lot of sense, but I like it when authors take into consideration details like the differences in speech during different periods of history, and I just didn’t get it here.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I would highly recommend it to anyone who’s looking for a beachy read with a colorful a cast of characters. This book also successfully made me want to visit Nantucket someday. It sounds like a magical place.

I had a good time with this book, but there are a few annoyances that are keeping me from giving it 5 stars. I really enjoyed the style that this book was written in; it truly sucked me in. I read it so fast, and the story had me hooked. I enjoyed the multiple twists at the end. I haven't read Jane Eyre (don't hate me) so I can't really say if the story really lives up to it, but I found that this book holds up on its own without having to read the one it's based on.

In general, I found Bea's chapters to be a lot more interesting than Jane's. She is a much more layered character and the star of the novel for me.

I was shocked when she was revealed to be the true mastermind murderer, but at the same time, I wasn't that surprised because of how calm she seemed to be throughout the book. In fact, she was too calm. So it made sense in a weird way.

As for the annoyances I mentioned - they are just that. Minor things that didn't really detract much from my enjoyment of the book, but they were enough that I felt like I couldn't give this book a perfect rating. Jane's "big secret" is a bit a letdown.

All it was is that the horrible foster dad she had died of a heart attack, and she ran away instead of helping him. I'm sorry, but why does the book (and Jane herself) treat it like she is running from something incredibly dark for it to just be... that? It's just a weird thing to treat so horribly to the point she lets herself be blackmailed over it.

And then there's the thing with Bea's name.

Bea is a perfectly normal nickname for Bertha. I don't understand why everyone was treating it like she lied about her whole identity? Even Eddie acknowledges this in his section, where he says something akin to "I don't like going by "Edward" so the Bea thing never bothered me" and I'm just sitting here like "it shouldn't have bothered anyone!" I don't know if this is a thing that would annoy anyone but me, sorry. It just bothered me because people have nicknames. It's normal.

Overall, I really liked this book. I loved the southern gothic vibes especially. The setting was awesome. I would definitely read more books from this author. Her style is really unique and gripping. I had a really great time with this one. And it makes me really want to read Jane Eyre.

Georgie, All Along is really cheesy, but in an endearing way. I really liked Georgie and Levi as characters and as a couple. In fact, I loved almost all the characters in this book, which is rare for me. Can Paul and Shyla adopt me for real? And I think the romance was done convincingly, like at no point did I think these characters were moving too quickly or that they were acting unnaturally. It was really sweet, too. 

My favorite part of the book was how much not-drama was a part of it. Of course, the characters had fights, but it never had to do with the dreaded "miscommunication" trope that I loathe. It was all internal conflict that they needed to resolve, and thankfully did get resolved in meaningful ways.

For example, I was pleasantly surprised when Georgie told Levi about meeting his siblings and getting a job offer from his father pretty much right after it happened, since I predicted that to be a big secret she would keep that would lead to a bombastic, blowout third act conflict, but instead it wasn't, and that made the book all the more enjoyable to me.

In general, I enjoyed that the conflicts in the book felt like real things that could happen and like not a Hallmark movie. 

While I did enjoy this book and will be giving it 4 well-deserved stars, I don't think I can give this book five stars because I did find the whole

Levi finding out about Georgie's former crush on Evan

thing to be a bit contrived.

I also can't explain this in a way that would make sense to most people, but the friend fic thing creeped me out in a weird way. Like it's definitely something that I can see eighth graders creating together, but the way Georgie latched onto it, at her age, was bizarre to me.

Overall though, this was a really fun, delightful romance that helped me get out of a reading slump, and I'll always love it for that.