Tag: Female Authors

Book List 2023 · Reviews

Plot Twist by Erin La Rosa

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Title: Plot Twist
Author: Erin La Rosa
Source: Netgalley. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: The Hollywood Series
Release Date: November 14, 2023
Trigger Warnings: Alcoholism, Abusive Language, Stalking
Explicit? Yeppers.
Summary:

She’s written off more than she can chew…

Romance author Sophie Lyon’s ironic secret just went viral: she’s never been in love. Though her debut novel made readers swoon, Sophie’s having trouble getting her new characters to happily-ever-after, and she blames it on her own uninspired love life. With a manuscript deadline looming, Sophie makes an ambitious plan to overcome her writer’s block: reunite with her exes to learn why she’s never fallen in love—and document it all for her millions of new TikTok followers.

Luckily, Sophie’s reclusive landlord, Dash Montrose—a former teen heartthrob—has social media all figured out and offers to help. But he doesn’t mention that he’s an anonymous online crafter, a hobby that helps him maintain his sobriety. No one knows about his complicated relationship with alcohol and he intends to keep it that way. His family is Hollywood royalty, so Dash has to steer clear of scandal.

As Sophie and Dash grow closer, they discover a heat between them that rivals Dash’s pottery kiln. But Sophie needs to figure out who she is outside of her relationships, and Dash isn’t sure he’s stable enough for the commitment she deserves. So Sophie suggests what any good romance author would: a friends-with-benefits arrangement. Surely a casual relationship won’t cause any trouble…

Continue reading “Plot Twist by Erin La Rosa” →
Book List 2023 · Reviews

For Butter of Worse by Erin La Rosa

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Title: For Butter or Worse
Author: Erin La Rosa
Source: Kindle
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: The Hollywood Series
Trigger Warnings: Misogyny, Mental Illness
Explicit? Yes, yes it is.
Summary: Chef Nina Lyon dreams of cooking her way to culinary stardom and becoming a household name. She thought hosting The Next Cooking Champ! was her golden ticket, but she and her co-host/arch-nemesis Leo O’Donnell go together like water and oil and he undercuts her at every turn.

So when Nina unexpectedly quits the show–on live TV, no less–to focus on her restaurant, she doesn’t anticipate the he-devil himself showing up at her door begging her to come back. Nor does she expect the paparazzi to catch them in what looks like a passionate kiss, but is actually Leo tripping into her. When the fans go crazy over Nina and Leo’s “secret romance”, keeping the ruse going might be the only way to save both their careers. That is, if they don’t kill each other first…

Continue reading “For Butter of Worse by Erin La Rosa” →
Book List 2023 · Reviews

Mile High by Liz Tomforde

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Title: Mile High
Author: Liz Tomforde
Series: Windy City
Source: Kindle Unlimited.
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Trigger Warnings: Fatphobia, parental abandonment.
Explicit? Very much so.
Summary:

Zanders

Chicago hockey isn’t complete without me—everyone’s favorite player to hate. I know my role, and I play it well. In fact, I thoroughly enjoy spending the majority of my game time in the penalty box before leaving the arena with a new girl on my arm each night.

What I don’t like is the new flight attendant on our team’s private plane. She works for me, not the other way around. But I’ll be sure to remind her of that, and I can guarantee, by the end of the season, she’ll be begging to quit her job.

But every road trip blurs the lines, and I can’t quite figure out if I keep pushing that flight attendant call button in order to push her buttons or if it’s more than that.

Stevie

I’ve been a flight attendant for years. I thought I’d see it all, but when my new job lands me onboard working for the most egotistical and self-righteous diva in the NHL, I start to second guess everything. Including the promise I made to myself of never hooking up with an athlete again…no matter how annoyingly tempting he may be.

Evan Zanders is unfiltered, unapologetic, and too attractive for his own good. He loves his image, but I hate everything about it.

Everything but him.

Continue reading “Mile High by Liz Tomforde” →
Book List 2023 · Reviews

Hemlock Island by Kelley Armstrong

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Title: Hemlock Island
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Source: Netgalley. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Genre: Horror.
Trigger Warnings: Torture, death, occult.
Explicit? Not for sex. But dang this is one intense book.
Summary: Laney Kilpatrick has been renting her vacation home to strangers. The invasion of privacy gives her panic attacks, but it’s the only way she can keep her beloved Hemlock Island, the only thing she owns after a pandemic-fueled divorce. But broken belongings and campfires that nearly burn down the house have escalated to bloody bones, hex circles, and now, terrified renters who’ve fled after finding blood and nail marks all over the guest room closet, as though someone tried to claw their way out…and failed.

When Laney shows up to investigate with her teenaged niece in tow, she discovers that her ex, Kit, has also been informed and is there with Jayla, his sister and her former best friend. Then Sadie, another old high school friend, charters over with her brother, who’s now a cop.

There are tensions and secrets, whispers in the woods, and before long, the discovery of a hand poking up from the earth. Then the body that goes with it… But by that time, someone has taken off with their one and only means off the island, and they’re trapped with someone—or something—that doesn’t want them leaving the island alive.

Continue reading “Hemlock Island by Kelley Armstrong” →
Book List 2023 · Reviews

Review: Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner

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Title: Cleat Cute
Author: Meryl Wilsner
Source: Netgalley. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Genre: Romance, Contemporary.
Trigger Warnings: None that I could think of but if you find any let me know.
Explicit? Oh boy is it.
Expected Release Date: September 19, 2023
Summary: Grace Henderson has been a star of the US Women’s National Team for ten years, even though she’s only 26. But when she’s sidelined with an injury, a bold new upstart, Phoebe Matthews, takes her spot. Phoebe is everything Grace isn’t—a gregarious jokester who plays with a joy that Grace lost somewhere along the way. The last thing Grace expects is to become friends with benefits with this class clown she sees as her rival.

Phoebe Matthews has always admired Grace’s skill and was star struck to be training alongside her idol. But she quickly finds herself looking at Grace as more than a mere teammate. After one daring kiss, she’s hooked. Grace is everything she has been waiting to find.

As the World Cup approaches, and Grace works her way back from injury, the women decide to find a way they can play together instead of vying for the same position. Except, when they are off the field, Grace is worried she’s catching feelings while Phoebe thinks they are dating. As the tension between them grows, will both players realize they care more about their relationship than making the roster?

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Book List 2023 · Reviews

Review: The New Town Librarian by Kathy Anderson

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Title: The New Town Librarian
Author:  Kathy Anderson
Source:  Netgalley. I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Genre:  Contemporary
Explicit? Nearly but not quite.
Trigger Warnings:  One character exhibits harassing behaviours.
Summary: Queer middle-aged librarian Nan Nethercott, a wisecracking hypochondriac with a lackluster career and a nonexistent love life, needs to make a drastic life change before it’s too late. When she lands a job as librarian in a seemingly idyllic small town in southern New Jersey, Nan quickly discovers unforeseen challenges. Nan’s landlady, Immaculata, launches daily intrusions from below. The library, housed in the former town jail, is overrun by marauding middle-schoolers. A mysterious reader leaves distressing messages in book stacks all over the library. Thomasina, the irresistible butch deli owner, is clearly a delicious affair and not the relationship Nan craves. There’s no turning back though. Nan must come up with her own wildly unorthodox solutions to what the town and its people throw at her and fight for what she wants until she makes a shiny new life—one with her first true home, surprising friends, a meaningful career, and a promising new love.

My Thoughts:

I want to start this review by saying that I went into this book expecting it to be one genre and it ended up being completely different.

I expected romance but that is not what this book is, or rather not the type of romance I had anticipated.

It is a book about love though, and it’s a deep love I appreciate so much, because it is about a love of books, a love of readers interacting and a love of libraries.

Nan was someone who took me a little bit to love as a character, and the entire book, of course is from her point of view. She is a little judgemental at first, and very set in her ways and what she thinks she wants out of life. What I appreciate most about her, is that she does allow herself to change, because no matter what age you’re at it’s never bad to learn or turn over a new leaf.

T was a character I almost feel like the book could actually do without. I admittedly almost put down the book because she was not to my taste.

Jeremy is the one I became most attached to throughout the book, as well as the men in Nan’s bookclub.

Overall this book left me with warm fuzzy feelings.

Book List 2023

Review: Relative Fiction by Alaina Rose

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Title: Relative Fiction
Author: Alaina Rose
Source: Netgalley. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Genre: Romance
Explicit? Yes.
Trigger Warnings: Cheating
Summary: Thomas Callaghan’s return home to Starling Hills, Michigan is meant to be temporary. But he’s not ready to go back to New York City yet either—back to his three jobs, sky-high rent, and the dream he’s been running down since high school—because he’s home to care for his sick dad. Add on his tumultuous career as a romance author and crippling writer’s block and…maybe he’s ready to admit that he’s not quite happy anymore.

Enter his ex-best friend, Julia Ward, who he hasn’t spoken to in twelve years.

Julia’s stuck, her trust in herself shredded, and she’s left in proverbial and actual ruin by her cheating ex-fiancé. So she does the only thing she can do: throws herself into her corporate job. And unfortunately moves back in with her parents in Starling Hills. But seeing Thomas stirs up parts of her that she’s lost. Her fingers begin to yearn for the keyboard, like back when she wrote fan fiction and the two planned to study in New York City together and become writers.

One awkward get-together later and Thomas is desperate to rekindle their friendship, despite his lingering attraction to Julia and looming deadline for his next book. So they make a bet to see who can write 50,000 words first before Thomas returns to NYC, while studying romantic comedy films for inspiration in their writing…and in life.

As their deadline grows closer, they learn that happiness is relative and fleeting. But between the loss of a parent and career shake-ups, past secrets and new betrayals, they realize this could be their second chance and that their love is worth fighting for.

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Book List 2023 · Reviews

Someone is Always Watching

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Title: Someone is Always Watching
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Source: Netgalley. I received a free copy of this book for an honest review.
Genre: YA Thriller
Explicit? No
Trigger Warnings: Gaslighting, Murder
Summary: Blythe and her friends—Gabrielle, and brother and sister Tucker and Tanya—have always been a tight friend group, attending a local high school and falling in and out of love with each other. But an act of violence has caused a rift between Blythe and Tucker . . . and unexpected bursts of aggression and disturbing nightmares have started to become more frequent in their lives.

The strange happenings culminate in a shocking event at school: Gabrielle is found covered in blood in front of their deceased principal, with no memory of what happened.

Cracks in their friendship, as well as in their own memories, start appearing, threatening to expose long-forgotten secrets which could change the group’s lives forever. How can Blythe and her friends trust each other when they can’t even trust their own memories?

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Book List 2023 · Reviews

For Her Consideration by Amy Spalding

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Title: For Her Consideration
Author: Amy Spalding
Source: Netgalley. I received a free copy of this book for an honest review.
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Explicit? No
Trigger Warnings: Gaslighting, Anxiety, Depression
Summary: Since a crushing breakup three years ago, Nina Rice has written romance, friends, her dreams of scriptwriting for TV, and even LA proper out of her life. Instead, she’s safely out in the suburbs in her aunt’s condo working her talent agency job from home, managing celebrity email accounts, and certain that’s plenty of writing—and plot—for her life. But a surprise meeting called by Ari Fox, a young actress on everyone’s radar, stirs up all kinds of feelings Nina thought she’d deleted for good . . .

Ari is sexy, out and proud, and a serious control freak, according to Nina’s boss. She has her own ideas about how Nina should handle her emails—and about getting to know her ghostwriter. When she tells Nina she should be writing again, Nina suddenly finds it less scary to revisit her abandoned life than seriously consider that Ari is flirting with her. Between reconnecting with her old crew and working on a new script, a relationship with a movie star seems like something she’ll definitely mess up—but what could be more worth the risk?

Amy Spalding’s For Her Consideration is full of heat and heart as Nina learns that her story just might include the kind of love that lasts.

Continue reading “For Her Consideration by Amy Spalding” →
Book List 2023 · Reviews

Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales

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Title: Never Ever Getting Back Together
Author: Sophie Gonzales
Source: Netgalley. I received a free copy of this book for an honest review.
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Explicit? No
Trigger Warnings: Cheating and gaslighting
Summary: When their now famous ex-boyfriend asks them to participate in a teen reality show, two eighteen year old girls—one bent on revenge, the other open to rekindling romance—get tangled up in an unexpected twist when they fall for each other instead in Never Ever Getting Back Together by nationally and internationally-bestselling and Indie Next Pick author Sophie Gonzales.

It’s been two years since Maya’s ex-boyfriend cheated on her, and she still can’t escape him: his sister married the crown prince of a minor European country and he captured hearts as her charming younger brother. If the world only knew the real Jordy, the manipulative liar who broke Maya’s heart.

Skye Kaplan was always cautious with her heart until Jordy said all the right things and earned her trust. Now his face is all over the media and Skye is still wondering why he stopped calling.

When Maya and Skye are invited to star on the reality dating show Second-Chance Romance, they’re whisked away to a beautiful mansion—along with four more of Jordy’s exes— to compete for his affections while the whole world watches. Skye wonders if she and Jordy can recapture the spark she knows they had, but Maya has other plans: exposing Jordy and getting revenge. As they navigate the competition, Skye and Maya discover that their real happily ever after is nothing they could have scripted.

My Thoughts:

1st things first. Female bisexual representation not being used in an exploitative way! YAY! I’m SO happy. It’s amazing, and I love it.

2nd thing. No one reacting in a homophobic way to the thought of beautiful sapphic love! Again, so so happy.

I didn’t know how much I would enjoy this book but yes, I ended up loving it so much. Jordy however? As bad as you think he is in the beginning? He gets much, much worse, just trust me on this one. It’s bad. So so bad.

His ex girlfriend’s are interesting though, and sadly their common denominator seems to be insecurities he knew exactly how to prey on. So when revenge is the order of the day against Jordy, I have to admit I was quite happy to see how it would unfold.

This book is seriously entertaining, though I would’ve liked it to delve a little deeper into the other exes not just Maya and Skye, but I was so happy to learn more about them.

Also, not everything is as it seems with the characters in this book so keep that in mind, and keep your opinions fluid.

My recommendation: Read it. Especially if you don’t like reality dating shows (I know, weird, right?)