Tag Archive for: tessa bailey

Reviews: FANGIRL DOWN & NOT YOUR CRUSH’S CAULDRON

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Hey everyone! Sorry for disappearing yet again.  I had yet another blog issue where Jetpack kept disconnecting from my site therefore removing all of my posts from the wpreader.  Jetpack has been such a hot mess ever since they started monetizing it and I would really love to dump it but all of my blog stats are tied to it so I feel stuck.  It has been one thing after another with it for the past few months and I just needed to step away and take a deep breath before I did something drastic like delete my entire blog, haha.  It seems to be working now so I’m carrying on and hoping for the best because I really do have a lot of reviews and book recs I want to share with you!

 

Reviews: FANGIRL DOWN & NOT YOUR CRUSH’S CAULDRONFangirl Down (Big Shots, #1) Goodreads

Author: Tessa Bailey

Publication Date: February 13, 2024

Publisher: Avon

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary e-copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley and a complimentary ALC from Libro.fm.  All opinions are my own.

 

Fangirl Down is a golf romance and the first book in Tessa Bailey’s new “Big Shots” series.  I’m fairly new to sports romances and even though I’ve enjoyed all that I’ve read so far, I wasn’t sure if a golf romance would be my thing. I love Tessa Bailey’s books though so I knew if anyone could win me over, it would be her.  Not only did she win me over, but Fangirl Down is actually my new favorite book from her.

I fell in love with the premise of the story right away, that Wells Whittaker, a down-on-his-luck pro golfer ends up turning to his biggest fan to help him out of his slump.  I also adored the main female character from the first moment we meet her.  Josephine “Joey” Doyle is smart, sassy, upbeat, loyal to a fault, and she probably knows more about golf than even Wells does.

I wanted to hate Wells at first because he was so unpleasant to Joey, but just like Joey’s charm quickly won Wells over, his newfound appreciation of Joey once he finally stopped having a pity party and opened his eyes won me over.  He especially won me over though when he learned that Joey is a diabetic who has been rationing her medical supplies to save money.  Once she agrees to caddy for him and help him out of his slump, he becomes determined to mount a comeback and split his earnings with her so that she can afford to take care of her health and buy the supplies she needs.

I’m a big fan of the “he fell first” trope and so I enjoyed every moment of watching Wells realize what an absolute gem of a person Joey is.  She’s not just a great caddy, but the more time they spend together, the more Wells appreciates that Joey is the perfect partner for him in every way. Throw in some of Tessa Bailey’s fun banter and plenty of sexy, steamy moments and Fangirl Down was a hole-in-one for me!

The audiobook was narrated by Callie Dalton and I highly recommend it because Dalton does such a wonderful job of bringing these two characters to life and making their banter and chemistry just pop!  It was also a very comfortable listen at a speed of 1.75x.

4.5 STARS

 

Reviews: FANGIRL DOWN & NOT YOUR CRUSH’S CAULDRONNot Your Crush's Cauldron (Supernatural Singles, #3) Goodreads

Author: April Asher

Publication Date: February 13, 2024

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffn

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary e-copy and an ALC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley.  All opinions are my own.

 

Not Your Crush’s Cauldron is the third book in April Asher’s paranormal romance series, Supernatural Singles, and it focuses on the youngest Maxwell sister, Olive. Unlike her sisters who are major players in the magical community, Olive has chosen to teach about the supernatural rather than to actively take part. When she assigns a project to her students that requires them to step out of their comfort zones, she decides that it’s time for her to do the same and creates a to-do list of challenging tasks that will accomplish just that.

Bax Donovan, a Guardian Angel, is Olive’s friend, long time secret crush, and now also her roommate. Bax is the pierced, tattooed, motorcycle-riding opposite to Olive’s shy, introverted personality but the two of them still have amazing chemistry.

Bax finds himself in an uncomfortable situation when something on Olive’s to-do list puts her on the Guardian Angel Affairs radar as needing protection and they make her Bax’s assignment. Bax is not allowed to tell Olive she’s his assignment, so he decides to accompany her as a friend to help her complete the tasks on her list.

There’s just one problem with that – the more time they spend together, the more Bax and Olive realize they have more than friendly feeiings toward each other, which is another no-no for Bax as her Guardian Angel. Is an HEA possible for them?

This one was so much fun! I enjoyed being back in this world and seeing Olive’s sisters again, and I also really loved the chemistry, and especially the fun banter between Bax and Olive. They’re just so cute together. I also loved that underlying tension that comes with forbidden love. It really made for a fantastic read that I couldn’t put down.

The audiobook was narrated by Zura Johnson who did a beautiful job capturing all aspects of the relationship between Bax and Olive and really enhanced my reading experience. 4 STARS

Reviews: UNFORTUNATELY YOURS & SUMMER READING

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Hey everyone! I hope your weekend is off to a great start.  I don’t normally post on Saturdays but after a busy week that involved a few trips to the hospital to run annual neurological tests on my son, I’m once again playing catch up.  I’ve been reading a ton of great books and can’t wait to share my thoughts on them with you. I just need to either do better at scheduling time to sit down at my desk and write and blog, or else I need to figure out a more portable way to do those things.  I hate lugging a laptop around but I’m also not great at typing on smaller devices. Oh well, I’ll figure out something.  In the meantime, I’m here today to share my thoughts on two reads that you’re going to want to consider adding to your beach bag.

 

Reviews: UNFORTUNATELY YOURS & SUMMER READINGUnfortunately Yours (A Vine Mess, #2) Goodreads

Author: Tessa Bailey

Publication Date: June 6, 2023

Publisher:  Avon Books

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley.  All opinions are my own.

 

Unfortunately Yours is the second installment in Tessa Bailey’s A Vine Mess series.  I really enjoyed the first book in this series and was immediately curious about this one as soon as I read that it features a marriage of convenience between an ex-Navy Seal and a Napa wine heiress who can’t stand each other.  It sounded like a recipe for a good time and I’m happy to share that that’s exactly what it was.

August Cates is a former Navy Seal who is mourning the loss of his best friend, Sam, who died while on a Seal mission. Sam had always dreamed of opening his own winery, and so to honor his fallen friend, August is attempting to start a winery.  There are just two problems: 1) he’s terrible at making wine, and 2) he needs additional funds if he’s going to get any better at it but no bank will give him a loan.  When we meet August, he’s frustrated and feels guilty because he thinks he’s failing Sam.  Even though he comes across as gruff and tough outside, August is an incredibly likeable character because he obviously has such a big heart.

Natalie Vos may be a wine heiress, but she has her own issues that she is working through.  She was recently fired from a job on Wall Street because she made a bad trade and lost a lot of money.  She has come home to lick her wounds and regroup.  Her trust fund would go a long way to helping her get back on her feet and make a fresh start, but thanks to some archaic thinking by her father, Natalie isn’t allowed access to the trust fund until she is married.  Natalie has the added annoyance that her reputation as a party girl precedes her and she’s tired of being underestimated by everyone she knows.  When Natalie learns that August also needs money, even though all they ever do is insult one another, she proposes that the two of them get married. That way she can secure her trust fund, and the Vos name should make it easier for August to get his business loan.

I think the marriage of convenience is such a fun romance trope since it means the couple will inconveniently catch feelings for one another.  Bailey always writes great dialogue and it was such a fun time watching Natalie and August go from trading hilariously snarky barbs with one another to eventually trading flirty albeit still somewhat snarky barbs.  The snark was definitely a key part of their chemistry and I enjoyed every word of it.

Bailey also excels at bringing the heat, so when these two finally give in to their attraction, you can expect plenty of steam and sizzle. Beyond that physical attraction, I also loved how their relationship progressed to the point where they became each other’s biggest supporter. Mistakes are definitely made along the way because both characters are all too human, but whether they realize it or not, they really are a dream team.

If you’re a fan of the marriage of convenience trope and enemies to lovers romances, Unfortunately Yours is the book for you! 4 STARS

 

Reviews: UNFORTUNATELY YOURS & SUMMER READINGSummer Reading Goodreads

Author: Jenn McKinlay

Publication Date: May 16, 2023

Publisher: Berkley Books

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley.  All opinions are my own.

 

I love to read books that feature bookish characters so when I saw that Jenn McKinlay’s latest novel, Summer Reading, features a “swoon-worthy bookworm” who falls for a non-reader, I was excited to dive in and meet these characters.

Set on Martha’s Vineyard, the story follows Samantha “Sam” Gale, a talented chef who was recently passed over for a promotion she should have been a shoe-in for.  Angry and frustrated because she thinks her dyslexia is why she was passed over, Sam quits her job and moves back home and into her dad’s house.  He and Sam’s stepmom are traveling for the summer so this will give her the opportunity to regroup in peace, her only responsibility being to chaperone her 14 year old stepbrother, Tyler, who she hasn’t had much of a relationship with in the past. Sam has no idea how life changing this trip home will be.

I’m going to say up front that while I really did enjoy this book, it wasn’t my favorite Jenn McKinlay book, mainly because the story felt a little uneven for me.  I adored the part where Sam and Tyler really start to bond as brother and sister.  They morph from practically strangers to true siblings throughout the course of the book and it’s a relationship that both of them clearly needed in their lives.  I also loved the bond between Sam and her best friend, Em.  Em is that kind of supportive friend who immediately asks whose butt she needs to kick when she learns someone has hurt Sam, and Sam is the same way for Em.  It was lovely to see them looking out for each other.

The romance was actually the part of the story that I wasn’t completely sold on.  I really liked Sam and Ben together. Ben was definitely a swoon-worthy bookworm as advertised and I was a big fan of the way he didn’t underestimate Sam’s intelligence once he learned of her struggles with reading.  I also very much liked that he didn’t try to “fix” her but instead incorporated reading aloud into their time together so that he could share his love of reading and stories with Sam, just as she used some of their time together to share her love of cooking with him. As much as I enjoyed watching them spend time together, I didn’t quite feel the same level of “sparks flying” chemistry that I’m used to experiencing in romance novels. Since I didn’t experience that, I didn’t completely buy into them taking the relationship to the next level.

There were also a few dramatic side plots, including a big health scare for one of the side characters and a search for a long lost parent for another, and I felt like the story would have been better if those had been a bit more streamlined as I felt the side drama pulled me out of the story. There’s a grand gesture to end all grand gestures though that fully pulled me back in and had me grinning like a fool and finally buying into Sam and Ben as a couple, so all was well in the end.

As I said, Summer Reading was not my favorite Jenn McKinlay novel, but it’s still definitely worthy of going in your beach bag this summer.  3.5 STARS

Romance Reviews: HOOK, LINE AND SINKER & MR. WRONG NUMBER

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Happy Friday!  I’m back today to share reviews for two of my most anticipated romance reads of the year.  I actually have a couple more February ARCs to read and review, but my inner mood reader just wouldn’t wait for these two any longer.  So happy to report that both of these reads lived up to my very high expectations, which is always nice.  🙂

 

Romance Reviews: HOOK, LINE AND SINKER & MR. WRONG NUMBERHook, Line, and Sinker (Bellinger Sisters, #2) Goodreads

Author: Tessa Bailey

Publication Date: March 1, 2022

Publisher:  Avon Books

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley.  All opinions are my own.

Tessa Bailey’s new novel Hook, Line and Sinker is the follow-up to last year’s popular romance, It Happened One Summer. The main characters of this installment are Hannah Bellinger and Fox Thornton, who we met in the first book.  It was pretty clear in that first book that the two of them were attracted to one another, and I loved both characters so I was very excited to head back to the small coastal town of Westport, Washington to see what, if anything, might develop between them. I was also hoping for a few glimpses of Hannah’s sister, Piper, and her significant other, Brendan, our sunshine/grumpy duo from the first book and was not disappointed.

What I found most intriguing about Hannah and Fox is how truly vulnerable they both are.  On the surface, Fox seemingly prides himself on being a ladies’ man and his reputation precedes him everywhere he goes.  The more we get to know Fox though, the more we see that Fox is actually quite uncomfortable with his reputation.  It has almost beaten him down to the point that he feels like he has nothing to offer any woman he actually cares about.  He’s also attracted to Hannah but has been warned by pretty much everyone in Westport to stay away from her, that’s she’s too sweet for a player like him. He therefore settles for a friendship with her.

Hannah also has some insecurities.  She is passionate about music and would love to pursue a career putting together soundtracks for films, but she just doesn’t feel she has what it takes.  As she tells Fox, she’s just not “leading lady” material and will always be in the background.  Fox knows about her passion for music because it was at a vinyl album convention that the two of them first bonded and he makes it his mission to get her to see that she can do anything she puts her mind to.  Hannah treasures his friendship and support, and they grow even closer when Hannah, who is planning to stay with her sister when she comes to Westport, ends up staying with Fox instead due to some logistical issues.  Temporarily living together is all it takes for their friendship to grow into something more and I enjoyed watching them navigate the waters between friendship and more than friendship.

It takes a while for Fox and Hannah to get to where I wanted them to be, but I found their friendship to be very endearing so the slow burn didn’t bother me at all.  They always have a great time together, but they are also there for each other when it counts, offering emotional and moral support as they each set out to figure themselves out and what they’re actually capable of. Just as Fox makes it his mission to give Hannah the boost she needs, she does the same for him, making it her mission to prove to him that he is so much more than just a ladies’ man with a handsome face.

Bottom line, Hook, Line, and Sinker is a slow burn romance that is worth the wait.  4 STARS

 

Romance Reviews: HOOK, LINE AND SINKER & MR. WRONG NUMBERMr. Wrong Number Goodreads

Author: Lynn Painter

Publication Date: March 1, 2022

Publisher: Berkley

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley.  All opinions are my own.

Lynn Painter’s novel Better Than the Movies was one of my favorite YA reads last year, but I think she has really outdone herself with Mr. Wrong Number, her new adult rom-com.

The story follows Olivia Marshall, a young woman who has a streak of bad luck a mile long.  She was cheated on and then dumped by her longtime boyfriend, she loses her job, and in a freak accident involving a bucket of burning love letters and a runaway possum, she manages to burn her apartment down and has to temporarily move in with her brother and his roommate, whom she loathes.  Olivia feels like she has pretty much hit rock bottom, but then life throws an unexpected twist at her in the form of a steamy text from a random wrong number.  With nothing else better to do, Olivia strikes up a conversation with Mr. Wrong Number and their exchanges form the basis of the hottest, most entertaining relationship she has ever had.

I adored Olivia. She’s hilarious, sarcastic, down to earth, and just so relatable. I love that she’s able to laugh at herself even when she’s dealt a terrible hand and that she’s even able to take her bad luck and spin it into a writing gig for herself.  Her text exchanges with Mr. Wrong Number also kept me in stitches. Without even having met, the two of them obviously had major chemistry.

I also quite enjoyed the relationship between Olivia and Colin Beck, the roommate she loathes.  Olivia’s hatred of him springs from a childhood of him mocking and teasing her.  Olivia soon realizes that Colin isn’t that obnoxious boy anymore. He has in fact grown up into a sexy beast with abs to die for, and he’s actually quite thoughtful and kind-hearted.  I loved watching the two of them realize they’re attracted to one another and then proceed to fight that attraction every step of the way.  Colin, in particular, tries hard to fight his growing attraction to her because she’s his best friend’s little sister, but then everything goes off the rails for him, when to his horror, he spots Olivia’s phone one night and realizes she’s the Miss Misdial he has been sexting with for weeks!  What’s he supposed to do now?!

I don’t want to give anything away but what a ride! The shenanigans, the miscommunication, it’s the perfect blend of high drama and humor as we journey to the end to see if there’s the possibility of a happy ending for Mr. Wrong Number and Miss Misdial.  I loved every page of this book and devoured it in a day. I honestly can’t remember the last time I’ve laughed out loud so many times while reading a book – Mr. Wrong Number was pure joy for me and left me all the more eager to read more from Lynn Painter. 5 STARS

Romance Reviews: Isn’t It Bromantic? & It Happened One Summer

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I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  It was a quiet one here, filled with lots of quality reading time.  Today I’m sharing my thoughts one two fun romance novels, one of which, Isn’t It Bromantic? was one of my most anticipated reads of the year.  Check out my reviews and let me know if you’re planning to read either of these. 🙂

 

Romance Reviews: Isn’t It Bromantic? & It Happened One SummerIsn't It Bromantic? (Bromance Book Club, #4) Goodreads

Author: Lyssa Kay Adams

Publication Date: July 20, 2021

Publisher:  Berkley

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley.  All opinions are my own.

If you’ve been following my blog for awhile, you know I’m pretty obsessed with Lyssa Kay Adams contemporary romance series, Bromance Book Club, and that the latest installment Isn’t It Bromantic? is one of my most anticipated reads of 2021.

Isn’t It Bromantic? finally gives us a story featuring Vlad, aka “The Russian,” the adorable but gaseous Russian professional hockey player.  Vlad is a fan favorite, and he’s definitely my favorite character so expectations were high. I didn’t think it was possible to love Vlad more than I already did, but this book proved me wrong.  For a beast of a hockey player, Vlad is actually the softest of soft boys and quite possibly the biggest romantic on the planet.  Women love him, animals love him, and his Bromance Book Club brothers love him.  The man even writes his own romance novels!

Vlad being such a romantic makes it all the more sad that he has spent the last 6 years in a marriage of convenience with Elena, a fellow Russian and his childhood best friend.  My heart truly broke for Vlad in the opening scenes of the novel when he confesses to Elena that he’s in love with her and wants a real relationship with her, and she snubs him and tells him she’s moving back to Russia. I have to admit that this at first made me feel pretty hostile toward Elena, but once it’s revealed why she’s acting the way she does, I felt more sympathetic toward her and really wanted her and Vlad to work things out since it was pretty clear her feelings for Vlad run way deeper than she’s letting on.

I don’t want to say much else since it’s best to watch the drama of Vlad and Elena’s relationship unfold for yourself, but suffice it to say that if you’ve enjoyed the hilarious shenanigans of the Bromance Cook Club boys in the past, you’re sure to enjoy yourself this time around too. There’s also a fun new cast of secondary characters, including a sassy group of widows who call themselves the Loners and who are very protective of Vlad and the mysterious Cheese Man, who feeds Vlad’s cheese addiction.

Four books in and I’m still loving the Bromance Book Club series so much.  They’re fun, sexy, and quick reads, perfect for devouring over a weekend or a day at the beach.  Here’s hoping that there will be a fifth book in the series!  4.5 STARS

 

Romance Reviews: Isn’t It Bromantic? & It Happened One SummerIt Happened One Summer Goodreads

Author: Tessa Bailey

Publication Date: July 13, 2021

Publisher:  Avon

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley.  All opinions are my own.

When I saw Tessa Bailey’s latest novel, It Happened One Summer, described as a Schitt’s Creek-inspired rom-com, it immediately landed on my must-read list. Schitt’s Creek is one of my favorite television series so I’ll admit that I was a little nervous about the comparison since it creates high expectations in the humor department for me, but I’m thrilled to report that It Happened One Summer really delivers. The Schitt’s Creek-inspired part of the story involves Piper Bellinger, a Hollywood party girl and influencer, who takes her partying one step too far and lands herself in jail.  Piper’s mother and stepfather are beyond furious at her behavior and decide to cut her off from their money and send her to live in a fishing town in the Pacific Northwest.  She’ll be living in an apartment above a bar that her father used to own and will have to fend for herself for three months.  The hope is that Piper will learn there’s more to life than parties, fashion, money, and getting likes on Instagram.

The characters in It Happened One Summer are what really made me fall in love with this story.  I honestly really wanted to dislike Piper when we first meet her, just because she comes off as such a flake, but she wormed her way into my heart almost immediately.  There’s so much more to her than first meets the eye.  She’s got a huge heart, she’s a lot stronger than she thinks she is but at the same time, she has a vulnerable side as well, particularly when it comes to her own sense of self worth. I felt so much sympathy for her when she talked about how alone she feels in Hollywood, even when she’s in the middle of a crowd.  The more I got to know Piper, the more I wanted her to find happiness in this little fishing town so that she wouldn’t return to the toxic Hollywood environment.

As much as I adored Piper’s character, I loved Brendan, the sea captain, even more.  He’s big, burly, and gruff, but like with Piper, there’s so much more to him than first meets the eye. He might be a grizzly bear on the outside, but he’s soft like a teddy bear on the inside.  Brendan’s wife Desiree died seven years ago and he now devotes most of his time to helping his father-in-law keeping Desiree’s memory alive.  In essence, Brendan himself has stopped living.  That is, until he meets Piper and the sparks fly.  From the moment the two of them meet, it’s clear they are each exactly what the other needs and I was hardcore rooting for them to get together.  I don’t want to give anything away about how their relationship progresses, but I was fully invested in every page, every scene of it, even the inevitable angsty, dramatic moments of their journey.

It Happened One Summer is a sexy, flirty, romance that will leave you feeling swoony, but at the same time, it’s a hilarious read that will have you laughing out loud page after page.  It’s truly just a delightful read! 4.5 STARS