Champagne Kisses by MJ Duncan

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

The author says this is a trope filled book —14, as per her. But this book is all the tropes done beautifully right. This book is pure romantic escapism in the best possible way — the kind of story that sweeps you up from the very first page and draws you in further with every page.

Aubrey Gill rolls into Whistler for her cousin's New Year's Eve wedding. She's not particularly looking forward to it since she's had a recent break up (but isn't particularly heartbroken) and single. She's not told anyone, so she'd pretty much dreading questions around her single status. 

Enter Beau Demers, Aubrey literally runs into Beau and there's a classic coffee drop moment. (Not a trope, but could probably be counted as one... since it's such a favourite amongst romance writers. Maybe coffee-shop and coffee-spill should be counted as tropes).

Beau Demers is charming; a burst of sunshine with irresistible warmth and sincerity. 

There's instant connection and somehow, Beau becomes Aubrey's fake date for the wedding. 

Through the pre-wedding shenanigans, Beau proceeds to capture everyone's hearts. 

I particularly loved Sam's dialogue about Beau... the one where she says, "It's a good ting you don't have Beau's game..."

The chemistry between Aubrey is crackling and ever present. Loved that. 

There is no angst but excellent pace. 

Aubrey Gill and Beau Demers are superb individually and irresistible together. 

This is a total romantic's romance. *chef's kiss*

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Don't Let Me Go by Rachael Sommers

⭐⭐⭐

Don’t Let Me Go is an age-gap romance that that blends themes of family and (possible?) healing. 

We have Kenzie in her late twenties. Her roommate and best friend Alice convinces her to go to Alice's family home in Portugal for a month-long Christmas vacation—with Alice's family. 

The family consists of Alice's mom (Mariana) and dad (blink-and-miss cameo), aunt Clara and her husband (another insignificant cameo), and Alice's ex Jonathan with his girlfriend. In addition, also expected is Alice's long (over 20 years) estranged aunt, Carolina Costa, CEO of a successful tech company. 

There are some simmering tensions between the three sisters — Mariana (the oldest), Clara and Carolina plus uneasy and unsettled emotions between Alice and Jonathan. The stage is well set with a tinderbox of disparate characters... and Kenzie.

Sommers' writes characters well and they feel quite real with all their flaws and shortcomings. In fact, all characters express emotions dramatically (stomping out, disappearing, running away from rooms etc.). But that's cool—most people at least want to do these things (if they don't already do them).

Carolina carries a chip (or is it a tree?) on her shoulder about her past and has deeply unresolved feelings, which is nicely used to show her characterization. She is quietly self-pitying and angsty. 

Kenzie is fine. I mean, there's nothing particularly defining about her. A nice, normal, late-twenties doctoral student—with a thing for successful older women. 

The book is pretty engaging. There are some nice moments between the leads. The romance is pretty okay. Most of the book's tension comes from the interactions between Carolina and Mariana, and from Carolina's very extreme (read: almost teenage hormonal) reactions to things. 

The chemistry simmers well enough. The romance follows well-worn beats, and while there are sweet moments, the overall arc felt predictable. (It's only while trying to write it all out that I'm realising how tepid it all was. Little wonder it took me four very long days to finish this one). 

After the long-drawn possibility of romance, the ending felt a little hurried and a lot pat.

The detailed description of Sintra, Portugal is the highlight of this book.

Overall, Don’t Let Me Go is an okay read, written with sincerity but doesn’t quite leave a lasting impression. 

⭐⭐⭐

A Breathless Place by Harper Bliss

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐★

Isabel Adler, once a phenomenon in the world of music and winner of thirty-six (or thirty-seven) Grammys, loses her singing voice because of a surgery. The loss of her ability to sing is beyond debilitating for Izzy. She feels anchorless, adrift and almost like she’s lost herself and her identity. Almost a decade after the disaster of the operations, at almost sixty, Izzy has decided that she doesn’t want to continue this was any more. She decides to stop being. 

As her final acts, she is in the process of getting her autobiography written and she is secretly composing a farewell letter to her loved ones. A letter explaining herself and her decision. 

Six months before the date she has set for herself, her biographer has an accident and is replaced by another journalist, a Pulitzer-award winner, Leila Zedah. Leila turns out to be unexpected, to say the least. Her personality and presence create upheavals in Izzy’s controlled life. Their chemistry is completely disarming. Izzy finds herself captivated by Leila and drawn into a relationship which surpasses the initial no-strings-attached expectation. 

First off, a trigger warning. This basis of this book is suicide ideation. So, if that is in any way a trigger for you, you may want to think before you dive into it. 

Having got the trigger warning out of the way: this is a fabulous read Izzy and Leila are both beautiful women who have been written with love and care. Both have been fleshed out wonderfully. The chemistry between them is awesome. 

Izzy’s struggle to hold on to her decision, which has been five years in the making, warring against the undertow caused by her growing feelings and relationship with Leila is excellently understood and written. We love the fact that when Izzy ends up showing Leila her in-progress goodbye letter, Leia points out that this is an act of someone wanting to be dissuaded. The scene is well-thought out, extremely well-written and there is maturity, kindness and love in Leila’s conversation with Izzy. 

The premise of the book is very vaguely similar to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (ex-megastar deciding to end their life because of irreparable medial reasons and having their biography written) but the trajectory of the book is completely different.

This is rather an intense read but is rewarding in every way. We definitely recommend it. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐★

Twice Shy by Aurora Rey, Narrated by Keira Grace (Audiobook)

 

⭐⭐⭐★

Amanda Russo, owner of Bake My Day, is a successful businesswoman on her way to expanding her popular bakery. She’d just bought the space next door and meets with the architect, Quinn Sullivan, to discuss her vision. 

Amanda and Quinn are both divorced women. Amanda’s ex, Mel, cheated on her and left her and their two kids (now teenagers). Ditto Quinn. Neither of them is particularly looking to get into another relationship despites friends and family egging them to at least date and put themselves out there, maybe just a little. 

On an overnight visit to see her daughter’s recital, Amanda ends up sleeping with Mel, who is in the process of ending things with her new wife (because new wife wants kids and Mel doesn’t). And then they sleep together again. And then the fix up a date for which Mel doesn’t turn up. 

Quinn is attracted to Amanda right away but being somewhat shy and insecure doesn’t particularly do anything about it. But soon they do end up spending time together and their relationship develops. 

So, the synopsis is sketchy considering that there is a lot of presence of Amanda’s children and Mel in this book. Also, the relationship between Amanda and Quinn is developed at an unhurried and convincing pace. The two ladies are very well-developed characters and we really get to know them well. Plus, couple of smoking hot sex scenes. 

But there are a couple of things that weren’t particularly understandable. First, Amanda repeatedly sleeping with Mel and agreeing to meet her for a date all the while loudly protesting that she doesn’t want them to get back together. Didn’t compute. (For the record, Mel seems to be a jerk with her wives. But a mom she seems to have a good relationship with the kids and also seems to be someone the children can count on in times of emergency.) 

The second thing we didn’t quite get was – why exactly did Quinn want a break? Mel made a grand gesture that Amanda rejected. Amanda goes to Quinn post that fiasco…and Quinn asks for space? Huh? There’s lots of mature dialogue but we like are romances to be, well, romantic. More feeling, less thought. 

Keira Grace has a lovely voice and does a great job with the nine-plus hours. But there were times when we wished we’d read the book instead of listening to it – we’d have like to hear voices, intonations and emotions from our imagination in this one. We’d probably have got more involved into it them. Guess we are hardcore readers, after all.

⭐⭐⭐★

Presidential by Lola Keeley

⭐⭐★

This is a rather unabashed retelling (fanfic?) of an old movie. The only difference is that the movie had a heterosexual couple and in this one the president is bisexual.

Emily Lawrence is an environmental lobbyist. In an unscheduled TV appearance, she calls out the incumbent president, Constance (Connie) Calvin on her lack of action on environmental issues. Connie, the first woman president, mother of a 12-year-old, is trying hard to juggle the world and keep it steady. 

We really wish we were inspired or even involved enough by the story to write more of a synopsis for this one, but really there's not much there.

Both the MCs are likeable. There are sweet incidents. But really, there seemed to be better chemistry (of the non-sexual variety) between Emily and Connie's son, Zachary. The one thing really going for the book is that it is well written. And that we really liked Emily.

As a book about the first female president, 46 by Lynn Ames was way better. 

⭐⭐★

Confessions of a Dreamer by Kenna White

⭐⭐☆

Ros McClure works in the internal audit department of a university. She is a shoo-in for the top position when her boss retires but is bypassed. It doesn't sit well with her, particularly since her new boss is clueless about the work. As she is dealing with this setback in her life, she gets the news that her aunt, Bonnie, has been hospitalised. She flies back home and realises that Bonnie is being taken care of by Stacy Hagen, Ros' erstwhile biology teacher and high school crush.

Bonnie's ill-health, a class reunion and other things align for Ros to return back and be with her aunt for a while. Ros realises that despite twenty-five years having passed, she is still attracted to Stacy. And this time, it looks like her interest is returned.

This book had so much potential which has not been realised. Ros and Stacy, it turns out were always into each other. Because of the whole teacher-student relationship Stacy chose to tamp the attraction. This itself gives an opening for so much delicious burn when they are in each other's orbit after two and a half decades. There was so much possibility for great chemistry. But this is entirely missed -- and that hurts because we could actually read the book as it could've been. 

We also feel that if Ros' diary had been used differently in the narrative -- interspersing it and building the feeling throughout the narrative would probably have made the romance more tingly and butterfly-y. As it is narrated, there doesn't seem enough depth in the relationship for the finale.

We're not sure about Ros' pragmatism with her aunt. Bonnie is the person who gave Ros a home and unconditional support and love. Yet when her health is nosediving, Ros seems to be perfectly fine leaving someone else to take care of her instead of actually making any effort to be there for Bonnie. How?

Stacy, as a person, is unreal. She is constantly looking after endless people on a pro bono basis and yet she doesn't come across as particularly nice or kind -- she just comes across as impossible. And then there is her weird, intrusive behaviour with regards to Ros' old diary. 

This one is a lost opportunity of being a great book.

⭐⭐☆

Hopeless Romantic by Georgia Beers

⭐⭐⭐⭐★

A wedding planner who doesn't believe in marriage and a divorce lawyer who had unshakable faith in marriage. A marriage-shy divorcee who knows how to be in a relationship and handle the rough parts with maturity and a marriage-keen romantic who is rather clueless about how to deal with the uncomfortable moments of disagreement in a relationship. Very interesting character contexts in this one.

Theodora (Teddi) Baker is possibly the best wedding planner in town. She's built up an enviable reputation and a successful business, Hopeless Romantic, ground-up. She used to be even more successful with three storefronts instead of the current single one. She had to close two of them to pay alimony when she got divorced. Naturally, Teddi has low interest in relationships and no interest in getting married again.

Leah Scott is s successful divorce lawyer with a not-so-secret craze for romcoms looking for her own happily ever after. 

Leah's little sister, Kelly, is getting married. Kelly chooses Teddi as her wedding planner. Teddi and Leah have sparks and electricity right away but first past history and then personality differences rock the boat.

Teddi and Leah are instantly likeable. The chemistry between them is rocking. The progression of their relationship is so much sweetness. The conflict is not contrived (hallelujah) -- in fact, it is practically written into the narrative right from the beginning so you understand both of them but totally want them to work it out.

The supporting cast of free ends, mama Scott and Kelly are also very likeable. The relationship between Leah and Kelly is totally endearing. 

This is a sweet, easy, feel good read.

⭐⭐⭐⭐★

The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows by Olivia Waite

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

This is a brilliantly written slow burn historical romance that uses facts to effectively give social and historical context to fiction.

Agatha Griffin has been widowed for three years. Her marriage was one of harmony and love. While her husband was alive, the couple ran a printing business which she is now managing alone and trying her best to get her teenaged son interested in. Her son is however more interested in rebellion and change which makes Agatha extremely nervous.

Agatha has a press in London and one in the town of Melliton, where her mother-in-law lives. On a visit to the Melliton press, Agatha finds a part of the warehouse colonised by bees. On her mother-in-law’s recommendation, Agatha sets off in search of Penelope Flood to deal with the bees.

Penelope is a merchant’s daughter with a whole lot of brothers who’ve moved out of the village. She lives in the family home by herself while her husband, a sailor, is away for years at end. Penelope has a steady income and also a gift with bees, so besides her own hives, she helps other beekeepers around town.

Flood helps Griffin with her problem and promises to look after the resettled hive and keep Griffin updated. Thus starts an unlikely connection between the two women.

The story is set in 1820s and the whole drama between King George and Queen Caroline forms important context. The environment of suppression of women and the social acceptance and expectation of a ‘woman’s place’ is written so well that you can practically feel it.

There are a lot of characters – practically an entire village – and each individual has their own personality and depth. Most characters are depicted as ordinary folk not wanting to upset the apple cart too much. But they aren’t complete doormats either and do thumb their nose at insufferable authority figures whenever they can while making sure that they do not face repercussions. More heroism would’ve been nice, but since history is such an important part of the story, guess Waite didn’t want to particularly change that.

The romance between Agatha and Flood is mostly pining for each other and keeping their feelings in check for propriety. But the connection and chemistry is unmissable. Whether spending time traversing the town taking care of hives, or their letters to each other, or just being a part of each other’s lives and thoughts – the relationship is beautifully built. Once they confess their feelings, however, the relationship moves at a sonic pace, including one graphically lush sex scene.

This is a great read which we strongly recommend.

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

The Goode Vet by JJ Arias

⭐⭐⭐☆

Ronny Hayes has just won a lottery of thirty million and moved into a decrepit mansion in an exclusive neighbourhood with grand plans of restoring it herself with the help of her brothers. Dr. Vanessa Hunter, a vet, is the star of a popular reality show and Ronny's closest neighbour. Vanessa is also rather a diva and doesn't take kindly to the shenanigans of her new neighbours, no matter how amiable they are.

So we have a gripe -- the books in the Goode Girls series are usually long enough to get into totally. They give you a feeling of satisfaction at the end. This one is just too short. And the length is even more galling because we felt that Arias could've developed everything more. To be fair, whatever is there is very well written and every scene is well done. Vanessa and Ronny are nice, but we'd have liked to know them more. With how well it is written, the length felt like a tease.

All our griping just underlines that this is a good read. If you're looking for a short read, this is highly recommended. 

⭐⭐⭐☆

Just One Reason by Jaime Clevenger

⭐⭐⭐★

Sizzling hot chemistry and very, very explicit scenes make this more erotica than romance – though there is romance too.

Dr. Terri Anderson is an amazing doctor but has had a couple of setbacks in her relationships. Two divorces to be exact. The second marriage was to a resident in the hospital which ended up in a triangular drama of rather epic proportions. After that fiasco, Terri has sworn off ever getting involved with a resident.

Elizabeth Samuels (Sam) is a resident in Terri’s hospital. At thirty-one, she is older than a typical resident, but has her reasons for getting in late. Sam has had a crush on Terri from the start and when a colleague tries to set them up, Sam is all for it, except that she runs into Terri’s hard line about steering clear of residents despite scorching chemistry between them.

Terri is quite interesting as a character. Sam – we never really got Sam or even really got to know her. The attraction and chemistry between the two is crazy and once the sex starts, it eclipses everything else. The sex is in the BDSM world, but it is not intense. So it is palatable BDSM.

The forty-one million mentioned is the blurb is the defining touchstone for Sam’s characterisation, motivations and background. Maybe a little more development of their respective backgrounds and personality development would’ve helped in knowing the ladies better.

The writing is solid, but somehow we didn’t feel too invested in the relationship despite actively liking Terri. Nevertheless, we’d definitely recommend this as NSFW romantic erotica.

This is the third part of a series which has recurring characters, but each book can definitely be read standalone.  

⭐⭐⭐★

Finding Home by Jamey Moody

⭐⭐⭐

If there was ever a romance that made us want to join a gym and get active, this one it is.

Olivia King's last relationship ended badly and she took refuge in food. The break-up shook her confidence and the new weight and shape earned by eating her grief has broken her self-image. Low on confidence now, Olivia decides to join a gym. 

Frankie Dean is one-third owner of a popular gym, Your Way. The three partners, Framkie, Desi and Stella firmly believe that exercising is not only to lose weight but that the benefits of exercises encompass even mental and emotional well being. Frankie has been dumped by her last girlfriend, Laura, who is about to get married to a man now. As a result of being dumped more tan once, Frankie has serious self doubts about her ability to choose a partner.

When Olivia walks into the gym, Frankie is immediately attracted to her and vice versa. But the complexes each one is carrying prove to be hurdles. And when they finally reach out to each other with a life-altering kiss ending a perfect date, Laura returns.

This is clearly the start of a series set in this wonderful world where every single character is gay. We'd like to live there -- but that is irrelevant.

The characters. Dumped Frankie being non-bitchy about her ex is so likeable. And then, through her therapy and conversations with Laura when she returns reveal that the fault of the break-up lay with Frankie. Then, not so likeable any more. In fact, this was one book where we were rooting for Frankie and Laura to get together instead of Frankie and Olivia.

Which brings us to Olivia. She is so, so appealing and engaging. On a business trip, she has a one night stand with Jenna and that is the couple we wanted to happen. So in our ideal version of this book, the HEAs would be for Frankie-Laura and Olivia-Jenna. But Moody stuck with getting Olivia and Frankie together and we're feeling like a tantrums-y, sulky, pouty child about it.

The moments between Olivia and Frankie were nice but the chemistry was just okay. The oddest thing is that we felt Oliva had chemistry all by herself. She just sizzled with every single character in the book. Even in the Olivia-Frankie scenes, Olivia had fantastic chemistry but Frankie didn't -- therefore the median became just okay. So the reason this is odd is because chemistry is between people, right? We thought so too till we read this one.

There is drama in the circumstances but the ladies are not dramatic. So there's a smooth calm in interactions and relationships. Which was rather interesting. From the Easter eggs and the trajectory, we expect Stella and Jenna to become a couple in the series. 

One the whole, this is a rather smooth, easy read with just enough crossed connections, angst and drama. 

PS: We're still not happy with what happened with Laura. She deserved love and her own HEA.

⭐⭐⭐

Finding Jessica Lambert by Clare Ashton

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A spectacularly written, madly immersive age gap romance.

Travelling on the tube in an evening like any other, Anna Mayhew's ordered and orderly world is shaken by the arrival of a panic-stricken young woman into the carriage. With no one else stepping up to help the obviously distressed woman, Anna offers help which is gratefully accepted. Anna takes the stranger to a coffe shop to calm her down and slowly the woman regains composure. But just enough to be less panicked as long as Anna is around. Suspecting that there is a stalker, Anna overcomes her own fears and takes the stranger, Jess, home where the overwrought woman literally collapses in Anna's bed into deep sleep.

Thus begins Anna's and Jess' journey. Jess' unexpected arrival in her life helps Anna slowly peel of layers of fear and protection that she'd donned over the years. Anna's presence in her life helps Jess gain more control of herself and her life. 

This is a long book in which we savoured every word, lived every emotion and were submerged in every moment. 

Jessica Lambert and Anna Mayhew. Two wonderful characters. Two women so strong and so vulnerable. So complete with well-defined strengths and fears. We were swept away by the detail with which they've been brought to life and totally swept into them, individually and as a couple. When they have a fallout in the narrative -- we've never so strongly and desperately rooted for any two people to get back together.

Ashton creates two women with their own demons and doesn't waver in their characterisation all through giving them both remarkable dimension and depth. It is unspeakably beautiful to see how they support each other in facing their demons. It is particularly wonderful the way Ashton writes one of them on the autism spectrum and encompasses the many behaviours, good and bad, in her characterisation. 

Describing nano-emotions and micro-feelings, Ashton's brilliance and her sparklingly real ladies had us completely in the zone. We appreciated that they both were actresses who loved the profession and embraced it. While one had trouble coping with the attendant attention because of personality issues, the other welcomed and sought it. And that is really how it works. 

This is an awesome book which we actively and vehemently recommend.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

One Golden Summer by Clare Lydon and T. B. Markinson

⭐⭐⭐★

This is a lightweight romance between trapped-by-unwanted-success-superstar and a wine shop owner in a quint beach town.

Forty-nine year old Kirsty McBride, divorced for seven years, owns a wine shop in Sandy Cove in partnership with her old friend, Helena. She has a fairly good relationship with her parents, though her mom is far from subtle about nudging Kirsty to find a partner. Her life is on an even keel. And her business could be expanding to include divorce parties. Kirsty has floated the idea to her new, posh, affluent, recently divorced customer, Ginger, who seems interested in such a party.

Saffron Oliver, star of a hit franchise, Girl Racer, has been acting since she was fifteen, is hugely famous (enough to command eight figure fees for a single movie) but practically burnt out and rather lost at just thirty-two. She wants time off and convinces her pushy agent to leave her alone for a month. Saffron plans to spend the month in Sandy Cove, where her sister, Ginger, has relocated to.

Saffron and Kirsty inevitably meet and are assigned by Ginger to work on her divorce party together. The two are attracted towards each other but carrying their own baggage which could well crush the budding relationship.

All the characters -- Kirsty, Ginger, Helena but mostly Saffron -- are immensely engaging. The dialogue fun and the atmosphere light. Lydon and Markinson are both solid writers so the narrative flows fluidity. So as a purely fluffy read, it ticks all boxes. 

We know that we're not supposed to overfeel something meant to be as lighthearted as this book, but we found Saffron intensely tragic. She keeps saying no one hears her or listens to her, and that is repeatedly proved true throughout the narrative. Also, she seems to be alone in almost all her relationships including with her sister and with Kirsty. She seems to be the only one reaching out, the only one trying to convince the other of her authenticity and the only one trying to make a relationship. Our heart really bled for her.

But our final take is that this is a very well paced, easy flowing, quick entertainer.

⭐⭐⭐★