Tag: Berkley Romance

Review: First-Time Caller by B.K. Borison

Title: The Road Of Bones

Author: Demi Winters

Original Pub. Date: June 27th 2023

Genre: Fantasy Romance

Format: eARC

Publisher: Delacorte Press

 Pages: 500

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☆☆ARC PROVIDED BY PUBLISHER IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW☆☆

Lucie Stone is a single mom with a bright and slightly mischievous young daughter who doesn’t want to see her mom sitting on the couch in sweats every night/weekend with Netflix and wine. She decides to call into Baltimore’s late night radio station Heartstrings and chats it up with the host Aiden Valentine in hopes of getting some advice to help her mom. Aiden Valentine has a problem, he’s fallen out of love with all things love while working as a host for the segment Heartstrings on a Baltimore radio station. His interest is piqued when a child calls in talking about her mom who has a pretty dull social life and could use some advice. The segment has been struggling bringing in listeners in part because of how off Aiden has been lately, a bit jaded and burnt out from listening to spouses calling in at the end of the road with their marriages. Things take a turn when Lucie Stone walks in on her daughter on the phone (it is late night) and accuses Aiden of being weird for talking to a minor. He helpfully informs Lucie that they’re on the air and manages to get her to talk to him. One call becomes two and pretty soon all of Baltimore is HOOKED on these late night calls between Lucie and Aiden. So much so that the station head wants to start a new segment focused on Lucy’s dating life while on her journey to finding love.
There aren’t very many pitch lines I’ve acted quick upon hearing but I’ve been waiting years for a Sleepless in Seattle inspired book to be written and dare I say, this one DELIVERED! I had butterflies in my stomach at every interaction between Aiden and Lucie which really only happens when I genuinely love both the main character and their love interest. Lucie is a single mom to a daughter with a ton of personality and free spirit, mechanic, and in a healthy co-parenting relationship with her ex who happens to live next door with his husband. This was fun even when it wasn’t because we see Lucie try to go back out into the dating scene and kiss some frogs all the while slowly falling for Mr. Right. Aiden is kind, attentive, supportive even when it goes against his own self interest and protective in the best of ways. He’s also a great son who has a bit of PTSD from his mother’s battle with cancer. Though she is healthy and living life with Aiden’s dad, that experience plays a huge role in his current approach to love and relationships. Lucie entering Aiden’s life at a time where he is vocal about his wishes to not be in a committed relationship make for an interesting dynamic between the two. Throw in the SUPER invested late night radio station callers and you have an engaging read reminiscent of the classic love story that would make Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan proud 😉

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Spoiler Free Review: The Truth According to Ember by

Title: The Truth According to Ember

Author: Danica Nava

Pub. Date: August 6th 2024

Genre: Contemporary Romance/Indigenous

Format: eARC

Publisher: Berkley

 Pages: 358

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☆☆ARC PROVIDED BY PUBLISHER IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW☆☆

Debut author Danica Nava introduces us to Ember Lee Cardinal, a Chickasaw woman who is down on her luck and feeling like it’s time to do things a little differently. Thirty seven job rejections won’t deter her, she’s on a mission to get out of working at the local bowling alley where everybody knows your name but scrubbing toilets is not endgame. Ember has taken some accounting courses but she hasn’t finished any of them and isn’t certified in the field. This however, doesn’t stop her from applying to her dream accounting job in the Park Avenue area of Oklahoma City. Ember employs some creativity while applying for this position by changing her race, for this job she is white Ember who is further along with her accounting experience and qualifications. Ember’s resumé is selected for an interview and before she knows it, she has snagged a corporate job as an accounting assistant. She decides to go for it and improvise along the way but also continue the lie and then lie some more, she’s actually pretty good at it until she crosses paths with the IT guy Danuwoa Colson. A fellow Native American working for the same company, Danuwoa is beautiful to look at. He isn’t hiding his race but in their flirting he’s kind of letting on that her lies don’t add up, at least not to him but he’s game to play along. 

Was this a little stressful at times to read? yea just a bit but in a fun and for some may be a bit unrealistic. Although it may not seem like something that happens, Ember’s situation is not at all unheard of. I’ve been on the receiving end of rejection in a room full of white hopeful interviewees while being the only Latinx applicant. To say or think that racism and prejudices don’t rear their ugly heads during the interviewing of applicants is unreal. I found it more unlikely to not have been caught earlier but Ember is quick thinking and resourceful, she was killing it in this new role. Ethically she should’ve completed her courses but I gave her kudos all the way for using what she had learned up until that point and super exceeding expectations. At her new workplace we see Ember navigate microagressions aimed at some of her co-workers from different ethnic backgrounds. She isn’t above checking the higher ups for their racist remarks and for that alone I loved Ember. I rounded up from a 3.5 to 4 stars simply because although I enjoyed my time watching Ember wiggle her way out of tough moments where her lies came dangerously close to being uncovered, it was perhaps too much time.  There is a no-dating policy at work but that doesn’t stop them from gravitating towards one another. Dan provided a different perspective by openly embracing his race and not really caring if it made others uncomfortable. I wanted more time spent between Ember and Danuwoa, especially since Dan didn’t judge her for how she got her foot in the door. If anything he seemed entertained by her scheming 😂 which hey! we love a King who loves you for you! I’ll be keeping an eye out for more from Danica Nava 💜

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Spoiler Free Review: The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston


Title: The Seven Year Slip

Author: Ashley Poston

Pub. Date: June 27th 2023

Genre: Contemporary Romance/Time Travel

Format: DRC

Publisher: Berkley

Pages: 352

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☆☆ARC PROVIDED BY PUBLISHER IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW☆☆

*•.¸♡ “𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎, 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚒𝚝? 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚙 — 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗, 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛.” ♡¸.•*

When I say there isn’t a book Ashley Poston could write that I wouldn’t read, I truly mean it Book Lovers! I thought The Dead Romantics held the prize for breaking me into a million little pieces and then piecing me back together again UNTIL I read The Seven Year Slip. This story is about grief, healing, the passing of time, acceptance, and falling in love with your person at each phase of their life. Our MC Clementine has just experienced the loss of her aunt, the woman who was bigger than life itself and got her to fall in love with travel. She works long hours climbing the ladder at a publishing house as a publicist where her hard work is paying off. Gone are the days of travel and seeing the world, this is how Clementine copes with the passing of her aunt. She ends her days in the apartment her aunt has passed down to her. Located in Manhattan with a doorman whose been there since her childhood, this apartment holds many of Clementine’s most cherished memories with her aunt. There is where she tries to protect her heart from anymore heartbreak, but that all changes when she comes home one day and there’s a stranger sitting in her kitchen. Iwan with the southern drawl and a talent for making the most memorable lemon pies had rented the apartment from Clementine’s aunt for the summer. Clementine is caught off guard and thinks it’s some type of cruel joke since her aunt is no longer living. That is until she remembers those conversations with her late aunt who told her stories about the magic the apartment holds, time travel. Seven years to be exact, Iwan isn’t the one in the wrong timeline or the wrong place.

This is just one of those books that have stayed with me way beyond the final pages, I felt it all while getting wrapped up in “Lemon” and Iwan’s story. Clementine can for some be seen as either the grump or an unlikeable character but for me, she was experiencing some major heartbreak and loss. I found her super relatable as someone who will fully submerge myself in work when grieving the loss of someone whose passed or just exited my life. The overall theme of falling in love over and over again with your person at the very many different phases of their life was beautifully written. Food was used to trigger memories and emotions while Clementine jumped between past and present, I could practically smell and taste the lemon pies in the kitchen and tacos from the food truck. If you enjoy Magical Realism, time travel, serendipitous love stories, and great food scenes this one hits the mark!

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Spoiler Free Review: Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

Title: Spoiler Free Review: Love, Theoretically

Author:Ali Hazelwood

Pub. Date: June 13th 2023

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Format: eARC + ALC

Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group

Pages: 389/12hrs  33 min

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☆☆ARC + AlC PROVIDED BY PUBLISHER, netgalley, and librofm IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW☆☆

*•.¸♡ “𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞? 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝” ♡¸.•*

Theoretical Physicist Elsie Hannaway is an adjunct professor hoping to make tenure in order to pay her bills and get medical insurance. Her day job(s) don’t cut it despite what her family thinks and as a type 1 Diabetic, she doesn’t have the privilege of slumming it. Elsie and her quirky roommate Cece have joined a fake dating site which works for Elsie who is comfortable as a people pleaser. She learns her client and their situation in order to convert herself into whomever they need her to be at family functions, parties, or corporate events. This all changes when her favorite client’s older brother begins to suspect that something just isn’t right, he’s not buying their relationship and begins to press Elsie. The hate to love trope is activated and we see Jack Smith truly get under Elsie’s skin simply for seeing right through to her. Navigating family functions becomes a game of cat and mouse as they circle one another. Elsie tries to avoid getting caught not being able to answer questions about her client aka Jack’s younger brother. She’s sold everyone the story of her being a Librarian with no mention of what her career actually is but things take a turn and she soon sees herself exposed.

Elsie is about to begin an intense interview process for a highly coveted professor gig at MIT when she finds out that Jack Smith is on the committee in charge of hiring the candidate to fill the position. They are BOTH taken by surprise when they lay eyes on eachother and Jack now has more reason to believe his brother is dating someone he should not trust. Elsie who takes the privacy of her clients very seriously can’t speak freely so she decides to focus on impressing the rest of the board and getting the job.

I first started reading my DRC of this book when I decided to switch to the audiobook I downloaded as an ALC from Libro.FM, best decision I could’ve made! the narrator did their thing and I was fully engaged laughing, smiling and or grinning throughout the story. Having read all other books by Ali Hazelwood and thoroughly enjoyed them, I was really hoping this one didn’t follow the formula of its predecessors. Happy to report that certain things were scaled back a bit (obsessive ogling of male love interest’s body) and new themes were explored. Also, THIS is actually a hate-to-love! not a 5 second I thought I didn’t like you but really do love you type story. The first 32% of the book is cat & mouse and I enjoyed every minute of it. As a Diabetic myself, it was also cool to see it not being thrown around like a judgment call or joke. Our MC has type 1, she was born with it and brings to light the reality of just how expensive it is to be insulin resistant. On the academia front the author goes more in depth with the inner politics that have shaped STEM to be a field dominated by those who are cis white males. We see more women side characters in STEM who wish to see others also join the field and balance out the odds. I found the inner workings to be interesting, especially when the relationship between student and mentor is explored. The fact that not all mentors can be trusted drives home the point that the odds are def stacked high for the women interested in this field.

The ROMANCE my loves! steamy AF and fun! Jack is all about pleasing Elsie who has made a whole side hustle out of people pleasing. She doesn’t know how to be cared for and her frustration at not being able to figure out what Jack wants/needs is real. That last 30% of the book was LOTS of sexual tension and exploration, not for the faint of heart haha! I’ll say it here, Love Theoretically is better than Love On The Brain 🤷🏻‍♀️ and for those who love seeing their faves pop up in later books, I won’t say which couple but it is my fave duo who make an appearance! 💞

🔬🧪💞
*•.¸♡ ωнαт ι ℓσνє∂ ♡¸.•*
🧪Women in STEM
🔬Hate-to-Love that’s believable 🧪Diabetic female lead bringing awareness to the steep price tag on insulin/Glucometer
🔬ACE Representation from a side character
🔬Academic settings/inner politics of Academia
🧪discussion on post grad financial challenges
🔬Steamy slow burn romance/sex scenes

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Spoiler Free Review: Exes & O’s by Amy Lea

Title: Exes & O’s

Author: Amy Lea

Pub. Date: January 10th. 2023

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Format: eARC

Publisher: Berkley Books

Pages: 361

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☆☆ARC provided by Publisher in exchange for an honest review☆☆

In this friends to lovers story, we follow Tara Chen a “stage-five clinger” who has had her heart broken by ten different men but it hasn’t soured her to romance. Our girl is in search of the right one and that means kissing a few frogs. Tara is a Pediatric nurse, social media book influencer, lover of the romance genre in search of her own happily ever after. The idea to revisit her past exes in hopes of finding a missed opportunity takes off after she shares it with her followers. She is locked in and committed to going down that list despite the awkward encounters she sees coming. We see her move into a new apartment and meet the new roomie Trevor who isn’t attached to anyone and isn’t really trying to get into anything serious. He finds Tara’s experiment to be not quite a great idea but this firefighter who has NO problem keeping it casual with the ladies, is also her wingman. He’s also the only one Tara doesn’t seem to scare away with her optimistic approach to love and dating…if there was a fast forward option, our girl would definitely hit it if it meant meeting and falling for the one. Along the way he starts to see how great Tara really is and sparks begin to fly…

Too many times I’ve picked up a rom-com that’s somehow missing the comedy but this one had the right recipe, the balance was just a bit off. The whole premise of going back and calling these guys she’s broken up with sounds pretty awkward but she takes up the task with genuine hopes that one of them was a missed opportunity. Although we did get to meet two of the guys, these scenes felt rushed. I feel it would’ve added just the right amount of humor to the story if we had more time going through her list. Also, her ex fiancé is first class trash and any time he was on the page I cringed so hard for Tara SMH! 

I would’ve loved to have seen our male lead Trevor’s POV a bit more fleshed out. We spend a lot of time in Tara’s mind which made for an unbalanced attraction. While it’s true that Tara is very clingy which probably made her POV come through a bit stronger, I felt we only got to see Trevor’s feelings towards the very end. That being said, the friends to lovers trope is my favorite and reading a MC who is a member of her fictional book community was pretty dope. The opening scene alone with Tara riding the train while reading her romance novel and making eye contact with a cutie had me shaking my head with thoughts of BEEN THERE! Who can resist a steamy dust jacket?!? Haha! I will be continuing on with The Influencer books, Mel’s story arc “The Catch” is next and it’s already snagged a spot up on Goodreads!

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Spoiler Free review: Love In The Time Of Serial Killers by Alicia Thomspon

Title: Love In The Time Of Serial Killers

Author: Alicia Thompson

Pub. Date: August 16th 2022

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Format: eARC

Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group

Pages: 336

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☆☆ARC provided by Publisher in exchange for an honest review☆☆╮

Characters: 7/10   Atmosphere: 0/10  Writing Style: 7/10  Plot: 5/10  Intrigue: 5/10  Logic/Relationships: 7/10  Enjoyment: 7/10

Rating: 38/5.4 =  ☆☆ 3 Stars☆☆╮

Rating system created by The Book Roast 

Fellow Cappies Rejoice we’ve got ourselves our very own Capricorn female MC and I dare you not to draw parallels as you take a trip inside the mind of Pheobe Walsh. Obsessed with True Crime and working on her dissertation analyzing the genre leaves Pheebs with very little time to even think of dating. Her father has recently passed away and she is now back in Florida trying to get her childhood home in order to sell. Having had a tough relationship with her dad that resulted in leaving with her mom after they divorced, she also has her brother Jeremy to reconnect with. The brother who stayed with their curmudgeon dad and is very sweet natured is also worried his sister’s obsession with true crime has reached new levels. Pheeb’s swears the hot and mysterious neighbor Sam MUST be a serial killer and she’s gone as far as logging in his coming & goings. There’s only one problem with this theory & that’s that with every interaction they have she has to admit Sam is just a great guy but this doesn’t mean she’s going to make it easy for him.

Our main character Pheobe puts the grump in grumpy sunshine and her dark sense of humor isn’t for everyone. Some readers may even find her to be unlikeable because we get a heavy dose of her paranoia with many mentions pop culture references of serial killers. For other readers who may listen/read true crime, the research in the genre may actually be a bonus and the dissertation process to have been detailed nicely. The romance takes off a bit later in the story with the steamy scenes falling short and I know that’s probably going to hurt the overall ratings for this book. I feel this one is going to land with those who don’t mind their female protagonist to be a bit unlikeable, perhaps even pessimistic and cynical. Sam the love interest is hard not to love, he’s a music teacher who can’t help but want to assist Pheobe with moving furniture or any project really as long as he’s getting to spend time with her. I almost wish this had been dual POV to give us a break from Pheeb’s thought process while also giving us a chance to get to know Sam. Taking all of this into account… this is my personal opinion but I feel male grumpy protagonists are ALWAYS preferred over a female grump 😂 yet they DO exist and deserve to be loved just as much! haha! To be honest I loved so many of the other themes in this book like the sibling dynamics, second chance friendships and unresolved grief of a parent being addressed. I feel these did compensate for some of the other things that needed more developing. 

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱:

💓Plus size representation
🕵🏻True Crime genre explored
😒Grumpy/Sunshine trope🤗
🐈‍⬛Stray cat claiming squatters rights
👫Sibling relationship explored
👭🏻Second chance friendships
📚The Library as a secondary setting

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Spoiler Free Review: Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake

Title: Delilah Green Doesn’t Care

Author: Ashley Herring Blake

Pub. Date: February 22nd 2022

Genre: Contemporary Romance/LGBTQIA+

Format: eARC

Publisher: Berkley Romance 

Pages: 384

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*ARC received in exchange for an honest review*

Twelve years have passed since Delilah Green turned her back on Bright Falls and started a new chapter of her life in New York City. The small town holds a lot of memories, many of them sad and painful. After the loss of her mother, Delilah’s father re-married and that came with a step-sister she never quite felt comfortable around. When her estranged step-sister Astrid comes looking to hire her as a photographer for her wedding, Delilah is torn between ignoring the request or returning to a place she had sworn away. Life as a waitress/wedding photographer sustains her real dream which is art through a lens that focuses on queer people. She can’t really pass up the chance to make some real money from Astrids gig so she decides to go with no real plans to stick around. That all changes when she crosses paths with Astrid’s “stuck-up” BFF Claire Sutherland and decides to place a bet with her step-sister who is super protective of her besties. 

Claire Sutherland is a single mom raising a an 11 year old girl who also runs the towns local bookshop. In between dealing with her ex and his unreliability, she hasn’t had much time for dating and she doesn’t do random hook-ups. Her relationship with her child’s father has left her with some trust/abandonment issues. She most certainly doesn’t think someone like Delilah Green who is flighty & into casual sex, is a good idea to start something up with. Wedding preparations along with some sideline hijinks to stop Astrid from marrying the absolute biggest chauvinistic jerk on the planet, force these two to work together. It’s definitely a case of instant sparks flying paired with undeniable chemistry that WORKED! 

Christina Hendricks (Pinterest)
Laura Prepon (IMDB)

*Images respectively from Pinterest & IMDB

CW: Cancer, death of a parent(s), grief, cheating, misogyny, abandonment

I’ve never been one to fan cast while reading any book but these characters were so well fleshed out that only Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) & Laura Prepon (OITNB) came to mind. From the vintage pin-up style Claire so flawlessly executes to Delilah’s more wild devil-may-care attitude, these two had chemistry that jumped off the page. I LOVED them both and got so invested in their lives and the baggage they each were carrying. At its core we have a story about acceptance and learning how to allow yourself to be loved both romantically and platonically. The female friendships go back for these women to their childhood days and tied to that are feelings of being excluded and made out to feel like an outcast. Some of these characters (including supporting cast) are working through grief, co-parenting relationships, toxic relationships, feeling like they have to seek validation, and abandonment issues. Yes it’s absolutely a full on romance but it also has a huge emphasis on friendship which made it all the more sweeter. When I was in the book I didn’t want to put it down & when I was away from it, all I thought about was my next free moment to jump back in. I’m 100% the type of bookworm who loves character driven books but I was pleasantly surprised by the subplot and how much fun it added to the main storyline. Also! I can’t not mention this. The love shown to a woman’s body post having had a child was SUPER appreciated by this bookworm and just downright beautiful to see on the page. This is my first read from Ashley Herring Blake and I can already tell I may have found a new favorite author. There’s an excerpt to the next book in this series which follows one of the characters in this book and even that was *Chefs Kiss* enough to keep me holding on haha! 

Things to look forward to on February 22nd…

📚An Idyllic small town with a cute Bookstore
📸Single Mom finding love
📚Bookworm MC’s
📸A tight knit female friend group
🏳️‍🌈Sapphic main characters
📸Photography explored
📚Co-Parenting ups/downs
📸Complex sibling relationship
📚Campsite Pranks
🌶Steamy AF sex scenes

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