Romance Reviews – Cane Brothers Series by Meghan Quinn
Happy Friday everyone! I haven’t actually posted what my reading/blogging goals for 2024 are yet, but one of them is definitely to finish up some of the series that I’ve had sitting on my shelf for way too long. So far I’ve finished up the last two books in the Daevabad fantasy series and this morning I finished the last book in Meghan Quinn’s Cane Brothers romance series. Bloom Books gave me the push I needed on that one when they re-released the series with the gorgeous new covers I’m featuring above. I thoroughly enjoyed all three books so I wanted to share my thoughts with you.
A Not So Meet Cute (Cane Brothers, 1) Goodreads
Author: Meghan Quinn
Publication Date: Originally published November 2, 2021, re-released November 14, 2023
Publisher: Bloom Books
A Not So Meet Cute is the first book in Meghan Quinn’s Cane Brothers series and this is the spiciest book in the series! The story follows Huxley, the oldest Cane Brother, and it’s an enemies-to-lovers, grumpy-sunshine romance that also features fake dating. Those are some of my favorite romance tropes and as if those weren’t enough, A Not So Meet Cute also has major Pretty Woman vibes, so I had a great time reading this one.
When we first meet Huxley Cane, he has gotten himself into a mess while trying to secure a big business deal. In trying to wine and dine his potential client, Huxley lies and tells them that he is engaged and that his fiancée is pregnant. There’s just one problem with that. There’s no baby and Huxley doesn’t even have a girlfriend, much less a fiancée. Enter Lottie Gardner. Lottie has just unexpectedly been fired from her job and is trolling around Beverly Hills jokingly searching for a Sugar Daddy. Her unexpected run-in with Huxley leads to her spilling her guts about her predicament, which then leads to Huxley having her sign a business contract, where she pretends to be his pregnant fiancée until he lands the big business deal. Lottie thinks Huxley is a jerk, but the terms of the contract would allow her to pay off her debts so she reluctantly agrees and moves into his mansion. Neither of them realizes just how much their lives are about to change…
Lottie had my heart right from her first scene. She’s fierce, sassy, and very resilient. She doesn’t care that Huxley is a billionaire and refuses to take any crap from him. Huxley is a sexy but broody, grump of a man and it takes time to warm up to him, both for me and for Lottie. I enjoyed watching Lottie push the boundaries of their agreement and force Huxley out of his grumpy comfort zone. They have intense chemistry with one another and keeping their arrangement professional becomes more challenging, the more time they are forced to spend together.
While it is definitely filled with tension and spice, A Not So Meet Cute is also hilarious. I’ve never read a fake pregnancy story before so I wasn’t sure I would like it since I’m not a fan of the accidental pregnancy trope. I didn’t need to worry though because I thoroughly enjoyed all of the crazy and awkward antics that took place as Lottie and Huxley were forced to bond with Huxley’s client over breast pumps, lamaze classes, and so many other pregnancy-related activities. I laughed my way from cover to cover and rooted for Lottie and Huxley to get together all the more!
While this is a series, all three books work as interconnected standalones, so if your vibe is super spicy Pretty Woman, you’ll definitely want to check this one out and meet Lottie and Huxley! 4 STARS
So Not Meant to Be (Cane Brothers, 2) Goodreads
Author: Meghan Quinn
Publication Date: Originally published June 7, 2022, re-released December 5, 2023
Publisher: Bloom Books
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary e- copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
So Not Meant to Be is the second book in Meghan Quinn’s Cane Brothers series and boy does it deliver the laughs! It’s an enemies-to-lovers workplace romance that centers on the middle Cane brother, JP. JP is a charmer and has won the heart of everyone who works for him. Well, everyone except for Kelsey, who thinks he’s just obnoxious and refuses to give in to his charms. She also very much disagrees with JP’s belief, a la When Harry Met Sally, that a man and a woman cannot work together and just remain friends. When Kelsey is forced to not only go on a business trip with JP, but to also stay in the same penthouse with him, JP’s theory is put to the test with hilarious and heartfelt results.
I adored JP and was charmed by him immediately. He’s a flirt and he’s very intrigued by Kelsey, and he likes to push her buttons to get a rise out of her. Kelsey, on the other hand, took some getting used to because she came across as a bit prickly and judgmental in the beginning. Once I got used to her personality, and especially once she and JP started to get to know each other better, I really warmed up to her. I also love the forced proximity trope so it was definitely a good time watching the two of them share the same space as they slowly work through their feelings for one another. As always with Meghan Quinn’s writing, the humor, and especially the banter, is top notch and had me downright cackling at times!
So Not Meant to Be was another fun installment in the series and even though this is a series, the books do work as interconnected standalones so if When Harry Met Sally is your vibe, you could easily start with this one. 4 STARS
A Long Time Coming (Cane Brothers, 3) Goodreads
Author: Meghan Quinn
Publication Date:Originally published January 10, 2023, re-released January 2, 2024
Publisher: Bloom Books
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary e- copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
A Long Time Coming is the third installment in Meghan Quinn’s Cane Brothers series and this one was my favorite. A friends-to-lovers romance, I found this one to be the sweetest book in the series. This story focuses on Breaker, the youngest Cane brother, and his best friend of ten years, Ophelia Fairweather-Fern (Lia). Breaker and Lia met and bonded over all things nerdy when they were in college. Even now, all these years later, they are still inseparable, having weekly board game nights, and they actually live next door to one another. When Lia announces that she and her boyfriend Brian are getting married, it’s only natural that Breaker, as her best friend, would serve as her Man of Honor. But is he only just a friend?
I adored both Lia and Breaker. They were just so sweet and fun together, and their banter had me in stitches the whole time I was reading. I also really felt for Lia too though because the whole situation with her wedding is a nightmare. Brian’s mother, an upper crust snob, has deemed Lia as a somewhat acceptable choice for her son but decides that she should be the one to make ALL of the decisions regarding the ceremony, up to and including what Lia should wear, where the ceremony should be held, and when it should take place (5 weeks after Brian’s proposal because an elite location has one opening!). She stomps on Lia’s ideas at every turn and makes her feel inferior over and over again, while Brian just stands there and lets his mother behave this way. It is Breaker who steps in time and time again to defend Lia and to put Brian’s mother in her place. I already loved Breaker and thought he was a sweetheart before watching him in action to defend Lia, so he became ultimate book boyfriend material when he went after Brian’s awful mother.
I’m a huge sucker for a friends-to-lovers romance so I was in heaven watching Breaker and Lia slowly come to realize that their love for one another has long since left the friend zone. While this is a series, all three books work as interconnected standalones, so if sweet, sexy and fun is your vibe and you enjoy movies like My Best Friend’s Wedding, you’ll definitely want to check out A Long Time Coming. 4 STARS
Thriller Thursday Reviews: One of Us Is Back & The Wedding Guest
Happy New Year! Sharon here with my first Thriller Thursday of 2024! Looking at my to read list and all of the new books coming out this year, I predict that 2024 is going to be a great reading year. 🙂 To start off the new Thriller Thursday year, I have my last read from 2023; One of Us Is Back by Karen M. McManus and my first read from 2024; The Wedding Guest by Kathryn Croft.
One of Us Is Back (One of Us Is Lying, #3) Goodreads Author: Karen M. McManus
Publication Date: July 25, 2023
Publisher: Delacorte Press
I really liked the first two books in Karen M. McManus’ One of Us series, One of Us Is Lying and One of Us Is Next, so I was very excited to read the third book, One of Us Is Back. I am happy to report this was everything I had hoped it would be. In this third installment someone has a new game for the Bayview crew, but no one understands the rules. Everyone is a target and things turn deadly when the biggest secret of all is revealed.
I was so excited to have the gang from the first two books back. This book is told from the POV of Nate, Addy, and Phoebe. We also get chapters from the POV of Simon and Jake from six years in the past. I really liked getting Simon and Jake’s chapters as it gives us insight into what started the whole scheme with Simon in the first place and how they may link to what is happening now.
I don’t really want to say too much because I don’t want to spoil anything. A local billboard is hacked with a message stating, “Time for a new game, Bayview.”, but no one really pays attention to it at first. It is only when one of the Bayview group goes missing after a party at Nate’s house and is found with a partial message on their arm, that the crew realizes that someone is playing a new game and they need to figure out who it is before something worse happens. I love how this whole crew comes together to work out this mystery.
I loved reconnecting with the Bayview Murder Crew, as they now call themselves. I loved the banter they had back and forth and how they were there for and watched out for each other. Even when secrets are revealed and things get messy because of those secrets, they still had each other’s backs.
McManus did a great job in creating this newest Bayview mystery. I thought I had figured things out a few times but was completely in the dark when all was revealed. I also liked how at the front of the book it lists all the characters and gives a brief description of who they are. This helped me a lot to reconnect and remember each character. I don’t know about you, but when I am reading a series and it is a couple years in between each new release it takes me a while to acclimate myself with the characters, so having this list lets me get right into the book and not miss a beat.
If you enjoyed the first two books in the One of Us series, then I really think you will enjoy One of Us Is Back. 4 stars
The Wedding Guest Goodreads Author: Kathryn Croft
Publication Date: September 14, 2023
Publisher: Bookouture
Emily Thomas is marrying the man of her dreams, Jeremy Jordan. She loves Jeremy and cannot wait to be a family with him and his ten-year-old daughter, Lexi. The day is perfect, and she is ready to start her new life and forget her dark past. But when she looks out at the guests she sees Christian Holmes, the man from her past who can destroy her perfect new life. Emily will do whatever it takes to keep her secrets from being revealed. And that is the premise of Kathryn Croft’s latest psychological thriller, The Wedding Guest.
The story is told in a dual timeline, starting in the present when Christian shows up at Emily and Jeremy’s wedding and then fifteen years in the past when Emily and Christian met at Uni in London. I loved both timelines equally.
The present-day chapters had me so filled with tension because I had no idea what Christian was going to do next. I did not like him from the moment I met him in the first chapter, and my dislike for him grew as the book went on. We don’t know what secret Christian and Emily share, but Christian is using it to make Emily do what he wants. Christian moved to the United States after the events from fifteen years ago and has not had any contact with his family, but now he is making Emily go with him to visit his father and brother and act like they are engaged. He has also gotten to be friends with Jeremy and is using that friendship to torture Emily. When Emily, Jeremy and Lexi go away for a long weekend, Christian just happens to show up at the same place and ends up staying with them. Christian has also created a wedge between Emily and her mother in-law, who were always close, by hinting to Pam that Christian and Emily were not just old friends, but that they had a relationship when they were at Uni.
I liked Emily and was so afraid for her that Christian was going to ruin her life. Everything he was doing to her in the present just got me so mad on her behalf. And as we got more of a look into their relationship from the past chapters, I really worried for her. When they met at Uni, Emily was a shy naïve girl. Her mother had psychological issues and really kept her sheltered, but Emily was determined to get an education and make her own way in life. So, when she met Christian, she fell for him hard and could not see that he was gaslighting her.
The Wedding Guest was a slow burn read, but as the book neared the end the tension and suspense picked up. I thought I knew where the story was going, but I was so wrong. There was a twist at the end that I never saw coming. I was completely shocked! 4 stars
Can’t Wait Wednesday – A NOVEL LOVE STORY by Ashley Poston
“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about. It is a meme that I have loved participating in since I first started blogging, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.
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My selection for this week is A NOVEL LOVE STORY by Ashley Poston. Two of my absolute favorite reads in the past two years, The Dead Romantics and The Seven Year Slip, have come from Ashley Poston so it’s a no brainer that I’m excited for her latest novel. It sounds magical too, just like I’ve come to expect from Poston!
A NOVEL LOVE STORY by Ashley Poston
by Berkley
Publication Date: June 25, 2024
A professor of literature finds herself caught up in a work of fiction…literally, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Year Slip and The Dead Romantics.
Eileen Merriweather knows a thing or two about romance.
As a professor of literature, she teaches prestigious courses on history’s greatest romantics, but one week out of the year she abandons her dusty textbooks and makes a pilgrimage to the Hudson Valley with her best friend Pru to meet their Super Smutty Book Club in person, and celebrate the romance series that brought them together—Quixotic Falls. It’s a week of wine and happily-ever-afters.
Or it’s supposed to be.
Pru bails at the last minute, and Elsy winds up lost in Hudson Valley—alone. In a thunderstorm. When she takes shelter in a bookstore, she immediately gets on the bad side of its grumpy (and infuriatingly sexy) owner, and finds herself in a quaint town that feels like it’s right out of a book…
Because it is.
Eloraton can’t be real, and yet… she’s here. The town is everything she imagined from her favorite series, where the candy store’s honey taffy is always sweet, and the local bar’s burgers are always a little burnt, and rain always comes in the afternoon. It’s perfect. A place built on meet-cutes and storybook endings.
Except, there’s something off in Eloraton. Because nothing changes, nothing moves, trapped in the last place the late author of Quixotic Falls left them. Which must be why Elsy is to find an ending to this last story, the one the author never finished.
The only problem? The bookstore owner never wants the story to end, and he might be the one person who can help her imagine this final happily-ever-after.
And maybe find one for herself.
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I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your CWW selection for this week. 🙂