And Then There Was You by Sophie Cousens
Goodreads blurb: What if you could date someone perfect for you in every way? There’s just one catch . . . and it’s a big one.
Stuck in a PA job and living at home with her parents after a painful breakup, thirty-one-year-old Chloe Fairway isn’t where she wants to be in life. The last thing she needs is to face the people who once voted her “most likely to succeed” at her upcoming ten-year college reunion. And she definitely doesn’t want to see her former best friend, Sean Adler, who is now a hotshot film director living the life Chloe dreamed of. Desperate to make a splash—and to save face in front of the man who might be the one that got away—she turns to a mysterious dating service.
Enter Rob, her handsome, well-read, and charming match, the perfect plus-one to take to her reunion. The more she gets to know him, the more perfect he appears to be. Could it be that this dating service knows what she needs better than she knows herself? And can she overlook the one big catch? As Chloe reconnects with old friends, she begins to question everything she thought she wanted. Maybe, just maybe, revisiting the past is exactly what she needs to move forward.
This is an ARC review thanks to a gift from the publisher.
My take: 4 out of 5. – I still don’t know what to think about an AI boyfriend, but her writing is always on point so I was in for the ethical dilemma of it all
Why don’t I know what to think. In part I loved it, and the romance of it all, and the characters and story was soo good. On the other part I hated the inclusion of the ai. Could it have been handled better without it? Maybe not- but would a fake dating have worked- maybe because that wasn’t the story but it was the thing you went to the most. I actually wanted more John and less Rob because Rob just never felt attractive he felt fake – even though a very desirable fake. I like how many options we have and this does not seem like a forward romance. I also wanted a little bit more of the before, the flashbacks were so good.
I love books that make me want to go read some more to consume some other entertainment and I’m currently renting bridgehead revisited / I’ve never read or watched it so you bet I’m getting on this.
Toe to Toe by Falon Ballard
Goodreads blurb: It takes two to tango.
Allegra Hart has been working her whole life to achieve one goal: become a principal ballerina. When her director starts holding auditions for the lead role in the company’s latest production, Allegra sees this as her chance—maybe her last chance.
The catch? The director wants someone with sex appeal, and he doesn’t think she’s up to the task. Determined to prove him wrong, Allegra enlists the help of the lead dancer of an all-male revue, Cord Donovan, a classically trained dancer who is also the sexiest man she’s ever met. In exchange for lessons on how to ramp up her sex appeal, she promises to help Cord choreograph a new partner piece for his show.
As they practice their moves on and off the stage, Allegra and Cord find themselves battling a growing attraction, all the more illicit because Cord has sworn to never partner with a ballerina. Allegra is determined not to let a man derail her career, but what if she could have both love and success? Or will her involvement with Cord jeopardize everything she’s worked for?
This is an ARC review thanks to a gift from the publisher.
my take: 4.5 out of 5.This is a dance world romance that as a dance lover I adored! If it wasn’t about dance would I have rated it this high, I don’t know but I don’t care I was such a fan. It was so cinematic also because I want to see the choreography on screen but its also so well described that I feel i could have seen what they were dancing to. But apart from that it was sexy, well developed and all the characters, even the friends were interesting.
Once Upon a Time in Dollywood by Ashley Jordan
Goodreads blurb: A playwright must grapple with her difficult year and writer’s block while falling for the single dad living next door in this emotional debut novel from Ashley Jordan.
Eve Ambroise may be a rising star playwright, but her personal life is falling part. Desperate for a fresh start, she breaks up with her fiancé, cuts off her parents, and heads to the Tennessee mountains. But keeping up the lie that she’s just on a writing retreat becomes near impossible when faced with the well-meaning townspeople and a neighbor who has just as much baggage as she has.
Coming off a contentious custody battle, Jamie Gallagher is restructuring what his life looks like as a single dad, and spending more days at his cabin makes his new “free time” a little less empty. Especially when he meets the beautiful—and prickly—woman next door. The last thing he needs is a new romance to shake up his family dynamics even more, but there’s something about Eve.
What starts out as a fling quickly becomes more serious, and it’s not long before Eve is running scared once again. She’s loved and lost in every possible way, and risking it one more time could finally break her. But like the fireflies that fill the mountains around them, Jamie’s and Eve’s lives keep falling into sync. A fairy-tale ending could be in the cards, but only if the new couple can get out of their heads and put their hearts first.
my take: 4.25 out of 5. – This is a terrible name for what is actually a super thoughtful and mature romance book. The characters are strong and the emotions are overflowing. This is a full on drama and I loved it, with so much yearning
Emma of 83rd Street by Audrey Bellezza & Emily Harding
Goodreads blurb: In this witty and romantic debut novel, Jane Austen’s Emma meets the misadventures of Manhattan’s modern dating scene as two lifelong friends discover that, in the search for love, you sometimes don’t have to look any further than your own backyard.
Beautiful, clever, and rich, Emma Woodhouse has lived twenty-three years in her tight-knit Upper East Side neighborhood with very little to distress or vex her…that is, until her budding matchmaking hobby results in her sister’s marriage—and subsequent move downtown. Now, with her sister gone and all her friends traveling abroad, Emma must start her final year of grad school grappling with an entirely new emotion: boredom. So when she meets Nadine, a wide-eyed Ohio transplant with a heart of gold and drugstore blonde highlights to match, Emma not only sees a potential new friend but a new project. If only her overbearing neighbor George Knightley would get out of her way.
Handsome, smart, and successful, the only thing that frustrates Knightley more than a corked whiskey is his childhood friend, Emma. Whether it’s her shopping sprees between classes or her revolving door of ill-conceived hobbies, he is only too happy to lecture her on all the finer points of adulthood she’s so hell-bent on ignoring. But despite his gripes—and much to his own chagrin—Knightley can’t help but notice that the girl next door is a woman now…one who he suddenly can’t get out of his head.
As Emma’s best laid plans collide with everyone from hipster baristas to meddling family members to flaky playboy millionaires, these two friends slowly realize their need to always be right has been usurped by a new need entirely, and it’s not long before they discover that even the most familiar stories still have some surprises.
my take: 3.5 out of 5. A cute modern day NY set retelling of Emma. I decided to check this out since my book club was doing Elizabeth of East Hampton so felt I should start the series from the start and it was a great choice. I absolutely love Austen (As you can tell from all the Austen related books I read in here) but I am VERY picky on adaptations, an just this year I’ve read some truly bad ones. this one was fun appropriate and modernized Emma with great sensitivity.
We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter
Goodreads blurb: The first thrilling mystery in the new North Falls series from Karin Slaughter, New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Girls and the Will Trent series.
Welcome to North Falls—a small town where everyone knows everyone. Or so they think.
Until the night of the fireworks. When two teenage girls vanish, and the town ignites.
For Officer Emmy Clifton, it’s personal. She turned away when her best friend’s daughter needed help—and now she must bring her home.
But as Emmy combs through the puzzle the girls left behind, she realizes she never really knew them. Nobody did.
Every teenage girl has secrets. But who would kill for them? And what else is the town hiding?
my take: 4.25 out of 5. – This one is weird in all the right ways. I kind of love its part of a series too because the end leaves some more to be discovered, and I want to get my hands on the next book right away. It feels like a procedural show in its style and it strikes a good balance of speed, its not fast paced and thrilling, but it also doesn’t bore you, the right rhythm for a small town.
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