Mini-Reviews: CRAZY STUPID BROMANCE, LOVE HER OR LOSE HER, and MY EVERYTHING

 A collection of mini-reviews, quick thoughts, and books worth mentioning. Check them out!

CRAZY STUPID BROMANCE by Lyssa Kay Adams

Publication Date: October 27, 2020

Pages: 342

Source: Purchased

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

Synopsis (link to Goodreads)

My Thoughts

Could this one be my new favorite of the series? Yes is could!

Friends to more is a favorite trope - Alexis and Noah figuring out their friendship and admitting that there was more to it made me so happy. And getting to more of the personalities of the Bromance Book Club members was a wonderful bonus.

What I loved:

1. Mack and his friends planning his wedding to Liv. It's all about the details.

2. Alexis cat, Beefcake: "He had an unkempt, murderous look about him, as if he'd just gone a few rounds inside a clothes dryer and liked it" (pg 23). And he brought his own level of drama. 

3. Alexis's cafe as a safe communal space for women to support each other.

I love this series for all of the laughs that it has given me. Can't wait for book #4!

LOVE HER OR LOSE HER by Tessa Bailey

Publication Date: January 14, 2020

Pages: 336

Source: Purchased

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis (link to Goodreads)

My Thoughts

Tessa Bailey's LOVE HER OR LOSE HER had a much different feel from FIX HER UP - the first book of the Hot and Hammered collection. The heat level is just as high and the heart is definitely there, but the story of a troubled marriage stirs up a wide range of emotions. LOVE HER OR LOSE HER pulls on all of the heart strings and leaves readers wanting only the best for Dominic and Rosie as they experience their second chance at a lasting love.

Memorable Quote:

"Lately I’ve learned that letting something feel crazy, not rejecting the unfamiliarity of a situation . . . can lead to something amazing.”

This book made me laugh many times over and there were moments it touched my heart and made me cry. LOVE HER AND LOSE HER explores the different languages of love. Dominic's love for Rosie was deep and true and he would do anything for her. It was beautiful. He began to understand her and the ways she needed him to love her - not just as a provider. She needed actions of love, she needed his words of love. Experiencing them falling in love with each other again was magical. I loved it!!

MY EVERYTHING by Heidi McLaughlin

Beaumont Series 1.5

Publication Date: July 1, 2013

Pages: 88

Source: Purchased

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

Synopsis (link to Goodreads)

My Thoughts

(originally posted 10/11/2016)

When I read FOREVER MY GIRL, Nick Ashford wasn't a character who I could like. From the get-go, I wanted Josie and Liam to find their way back to each other and Nick was one of the obstacles keeping them from rediscovering their love. It was easy to see him as the "villian" of the story. But he wasn't. Not really. His actions were out of desperation of losing Josie's love and Noah.  I didn't truly understand that until I read MY EVERYTHING.  

I loved that the story mainly takes place outside of Beaumont and focuses on Nick rebuilding his life and finding love after he meets Aubrey. I LOVED her character immediately. Her youthfulness was invigorating and she came into Nick's life at just the right time. While this novella is pretty short, just 88 pages, their love story is captivating. 

I'm glad that we get a chance to see a different side of Nick in MY EVERYTHING. This novella is a great addition to the Beaumont Series.

Mini-Reviews: FIX HER UP, THE PROPOSAL, and 5,331 MILES

A collection of mini-reviews, quick thoughts, and books worth mentioning. Check them out!

FIX HER UP by Tessa Bailey

Publication Date: June 11, 2019

Pages: 400

Source: Library

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis (link to Goodreads)

My Thoughts

I enjoyed this book for all of the laughs. I'd read some heavy emotional reads prior to reading FIX HER UP and I was in the need for a good laugh and this book did it. 

Family dinners, inconvenient/convenient small towels, and heated kisses made for some memorable moments. I loved the women supporting each other in their Just Us League - we all need friends to depend on. This fake relationship turned real romance is oh so hot and oh so good. ❤❤

THE PROPOSAL by Jasmine Guillory

Publication Date: October 30, 2018

Pages: 325

Source: Netgalley | Purchased

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis (link to Goodreads)

My Thoughts

I love the “Friends to More” or “Friends with Benefits to More” trope. And when it’s served up with a huge dose of humor, it makes it even better. THE PROPOSAL is sexy and fun and great follow-up to Jasmine Guillory’s THE WEDDING DATE.

The entire time I read THE PROPOSAL, I kept thinking “Y’all are totally in a relationship.”  Just because Nik and Carlos say what they’re doing isn’t a relationship, doesn’t mean that it’s not a relationship. They didn’t want to claim to be in a relationship because of what that would mean, but their friendship developed into something more. They were intuitive of the other’s needs and didn’t recognize that what they were feeling for each other was love. Sometimes it happens just like that. 

And if the love story isn’t enough, this book had me craving all the yummy food - risotto, tacos, pancakes - I wanted it all. And cooking for comfort or as a way to relax is always a plus in my book. 

I’m looking forward to reading the next book in this series. Thank goodness I already have a copy on my shelf.

5,331 Miles by Willow Aster

Publication Date: March 1, 2019

Pages: 288

Source: Kindle Unlimited | Purchased

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis (link to Goodreads)

My Thoughts

I first heard of this book when someone chose to receive it from a giveaway I’d hosted. Willow Aster was an author who was on my radar to read, and after reading the description for 5,331 MILES, I thought this was the perfect book to start with. First love, second chances, young adult - YES, YES, YES! This is the book for me.

I loved the storytelling of the past and present, the then and the now, as a way of  learning about the characters history and everything that they’ve experienced together and apart.

A favorite quote:

     “This -- kissing you, finally saying how I feel and hearing you say it back -- it’s a thousand times better than any time I’ve played it out in my head,” he whispered, placing one more kiss on my nose.”

     I grinned, amazed that he’d been imagining the same things I had.

This was a great book to introduce me to Willow Aster’s writing. Since reading 5,331 MILES, I’ve read her follow-up MILES AHEAD and have added some of her other books to my collection. Now I just need to decide which one to read next.

Cover Reveal: IT HAPPENED ONE SUMMER by Tessa Bailey

It Happened One Summer 

by Tessa Bailey

Publication Date: July 13, 2021

368 Pages

Tessa Bailey is back with a Schitt’s Creek-inspired rom-com about a Hollywood “It Girl” who’s cut off from her wealthy family and exiled to a small Pacific Northwest beach town... where she butts heads with a surly, sexy local who thinks she doesn’t belong. 

Piper Bellinger is fashionable, influential, and her reputation as a wild child means the paparazzi are constantly on her heels. When too much champagne and an out-of-control rooftop party lands Piper in the slammer, her stepfather decides enough is enough. So he cuts her off, and sends Piper and her sister to learn some responsibility running their late father’s dive bar... in Washington.

Piper hasn’t even been in Westport for five minutes when she meets big, bearded sea captain Brendan, who thinks she won’t last a week outside of Beverly Hills. So what if Piper can’t do math, and the idea of sleeping in a shabby apartment with bunk beds gives her hives. How bad could it really be? She’s determined to show her stepfather—and the hot, grumpy local—that she’s more than a pretty face.

Except it’s a small town and everywhere she turns, she bumps into Brendan. The fun-loving socialite and the gruff fisherman are polar opposites, but there’s an undeniable attraction simmering between them. Piper doesn’t want any distractions, especially feelings for a man who sails off into the sunset for weeks at a time. Yet as she reconnects with her past and begins to feel at home in Westport, Piper starts to wonder if the cold, glamorous life she knew is what she truly wants. LA is calling her name, but Brendan—and this town full of memories—may have already caught her heart. 

PRE-ORDER LINKS:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2HTB6SJ

Apple Books: https://apple.co/3kOc7yq

Kobo: https://bit.ly/368WUC7

Google: https://bit.ly/3jOvTsn