Jeff Jarvis

Another enjoyable Georgia Beer's story. While the storyline was predictable, that did not make it any less enjoyable to read. I enjoyed the character development between the “straight” Jennifer and the lesbian Alex. Their friendship developed in a very natural way. The only thing I was unsure of was how the two would finally get together and what the end result would be. Beers always provides a good happy ending, even if it doesn't tie everything into a pretty bow. That is the case in this story, which provides a happy ending with the lingering issues with family and friends due to decisions that were made. Very true to life, which is always enjoyable in a Beers book. Highly recommended.

I was provided a copy of this audiobook from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

I typically don't enjoy audiobooks with multiple narrators, but The Holiday Trap does an excellent job of blending 2 narrators that have a lot of energy and making the story flow. The story of 2 people doing a house swap for a month and finding the loves of their lives and true joy in their lives is one I will enjoy going back to in the future.

If you are looking for a heart-warming story of self-discovery, this is a great one from 2 people's views.

Georgia Beers is my favorite WLW author and one of my faves overall. I'm used to her longer novels, but she proves with Triple Dog Dare that she is even better with novellas. In such a short amount of time, she developed all of the characters, not just the two main characters, to where you feel like you know them and you care about them. Even the dog she has in the story has a personality that you grow to love. There are no sex scenes in this short work, but I never felt like I missed it. The characters were so loveable and the attraction and love story that she builds between Sasha and Kennedy is so good that a sex scene isn't needed. This story will warm you to the core over the holidays and is one that I'm adding to my favorites list to listen to every Christmas season.

For the most part, I enjoyed this book, although I found the ending to be more abrupt than I expected or wanted. I enjoyed the development of the relationship between the MC's and the inclusion of the interracial pieces.

4.5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. The initial premise is a bit of a stretch (sending an email to your dead wife, but sending it to the wrong address), but it does take an interesting turn. I liked the progression and growth of the characters, which is always something I am looking for in a good book. The pace was a slow burn as Sarah and Lindsey get to know each other and become friends.

I tried to draw from my own experiences as Sarah was trying to deal with the grief of losing her wife and having to move on. I've seen that in my own family when my mother passed and my dad tried to keep going. I've also seen it with a friend who lost his wife. It was a frustrating section to read where Sarah pushes Lindsey away because of her guilt, but it was also understandable. I can only imagine how difficult it is to try to push on after losing a spouse. It is easy to look from the sidelines and think that the person should just get on with life when it is far more difficult. I think the author did a good job of covering those feelings of guilt and covering Sarah's recovery.

Overall, this was a very sweet novel and it is one I would recommend.

This is the first Hallmark Publishing audiobook I have listened to. It had a very similar feel and tone to watching a Hallmark movie, which was a definite plus for it. This story could easily be made into a movie that would play well on Hallmark.

I very much enjoyed the character development, especially of Althea. It was interesting to watch her relearn her roots and come to the conclusion that the lifestyle she had in New York was not where she needed to be. Having been raised in the South, I could relate to the small town feel that the author created. I loved Granda and her sassy mouth as well as her caring words. Jack was a mysterious character throughout. I kept wondering if he had ulterior motives, but was glad to see that he didn't.

This is a sweet and clean romance that is very enjoyable. Anyone that loves Hallmark movies will enjoy this story.

I was provided with an advanced listening copy in exchange for my fair and unbiased review.

One of my favorites of the year so far. The ending breaks my heart, but the love that the two women share over a short period of time is amazing.

Overall it was an ok story, but not as cohesive as I was looking for. I listened to this title on Audible where it was created using Virtual Voice. The audio was listenable. Despite a few errors that I've consistently seen on AI text-to-speech on words like “live”, “lead”, etc., it was not bad.

4.5 Stars

I love Gerri Hill's writing and The Great Charade is up with one of her best works. This is an instant classic for me. I was looking for a good Christmas romance to get me in the mood for the holidays and that is exactly what this one does.

—Spoilers Below—

I think one of the things that I liked the most that separates this story from other fake to real romances is that there was not a moment where everyone finds out the relationship was fake. That tends to be an angst point that many of these stories use to separate the couple until they can bring them back together. I liked that this did not happen in this story. The fake relationship developed into an attraction with lots of mind-blowing sex, while at the same time showing the couple growing close together. Nic bonded with Abby's mother and found a family that she had never had. Then when the fake relationship time was complete, Nic and Abby go their separate ways, but both realize something is missing. Abby finds that she has fallen in love and work at Nic's pace until she is ready to open up to her. It is a beautiful love story that I can guarantee I will come back to again, especially during the holidays.

This was the book that I had been looking for for several years, one that digs deep into how evangelical Christians could back a political candidate who was diametrically opposed to them in every way. Unlike many political books that only look at the political side of the equation, this book looks at the spiritual side, what we as Christians are supposed to do, and how we are supposed to live and treat each other. I think it is important for us to look at how we got here so we hopefully can change the direction things are going. Most importantly, this book gave a clear view of how we as Christians should live in this world, not trying to gain and hold onto power, but striving to live like our Savior and looking forward to the world to come. This was eye-opening and is one that everyone who is a Christian that is wrapped up in this world of extremes should read.

I checked the audiobook version of this out from the library solely based on the preview text and the cover. It sounded like it would be a fun listen and I was treated with one of my fave books of the year so far. Overall, the story is probably more like 4.5 stars out of 5, but the narration of the audiobook adds on the extra 1/2 star. The whole last 1/4 of the book has so many great interactions between the main characters and friends that left me legit laughing out loud as I listened. All I will say is “Big Daddy” will leave you laughing and groaning at the same time.

This is one I will get from Audible for my personal library so I can listen to it again. It is a very sweet, low to no angst story with a nice long slow build to the first sex scene between the MCs. It is truly a fun listen; one that I highly recommend.

4.5 stars...This would have been a full 5 stars for me if the events near the end dealing with trust issues had not happened.

I lost respect for Cate when she immediately pushed Rachel away when the news report came out revealing her secret when she was growing up. There was no discussion, just an automatic blaming of Rachel. This took a lot of enjoyment out of the story for me. I know angst is something that is prevalent in romance novels and in some cases it is ok. I just did not like it in this book. The main characters were building a good relationship and in 1 moment, everything fell apart. Cate's ex was a piece of trash, yet she immediately took what he was saying as truth and threw away the relationship she was building. Later on, Cate was supposedly so heartbroken over what had happened. If she had taken a few minutes to talk to Rachel instead of putting up her protective wall, she would have realized what was happening. Instead, she chose to throw it away. If this section had not been in the book, it would have been a 5 star favorite of mine.

Sweet story with no angst.

4.5 out of 5. This is definitely one of the longest slow burns I've ever read or listened to. Every step of the way is a breaking down of each main character's defenses until they finally express their feelings for each other, which doesn't happen until nearly the end of the book. I kept wanting it to happen quicker, but at the same time, the build was so good that it was worth the wait. This is a very sweet romance that is well worth checking out.

I did not like this book the way so many others seem to. I have enjoyed other Melissa Tereze romances before, but this one just did not click with me. I was really enjoying the beginning of the novel as Cate and Harper got together, but I found the last third of the book to be repetitive. There are constant communication issues where one character overthinks the heck out of something small, lots of having to reassure the other that they are so happy, repetition of things from the beginning of the story (“I wasn't looking for a relationship when I moved here, etc.). There were times I wanted to shake each one of them to snap out of their past relationships and realize that if they don't then they will lose the perfect person that is right in front of them. I found all of this to be frustrating and not enjoyable.

If I could give half points, this would be a 3.5. It is above average, but not quite as high as some other lesfic novels I've read. The characters are well developed and the relationship between the two main characters is a nice slow burn, which I enjoy very much.

There were a few things that left things a little flat for me. The ending seemed very abrupt, like there should have been an additional chapter or an epilogue somewhere. There were extraneous tangents in the story, like the building owner getting an inspection of the building. The idea was put out there that he may be selling the diner that Lauren worked at and the apartment she lived in, but nothing ever came of it. So there were pages of information that went nowhere. This happened in a couple of places and it left me wondering what those were put into the story to accomplish.

Overall it was an enjoyable story that could use a little polishing here and there to make it more well rounded, in my opinion.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

I can't say enough positive about this latest book from Jae. After such a crappy year, this is a fantastic book to read at the end of it because it is so positive and so hopeful. Unlike other WLW romances, there really isn't any of the angst between the main characters. It is two women who build an attraction through texting and getting to know each other before moving into their relationship. Jae always has a way of building the sexual tension between characters until you are so worked up that you can't wait for them to get together. This was such an enjoyable read, is now in my favorites list, and is my favorite book of 2020.

Get it, read it, love it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was my first time reading Jen Jensen's work and I found it to be very well planned and put together. I enjoyed the back and forth between Rand and Shelley from opposite sides of the political spectrum. The thing I liked the most is that they had actual discussions about their political differences rather than resorting to name-calling and tearing each other down. I was disappointed in Rand that she had such a hard time letting go of her Republican biases, only seeing Shelley believing everything that the party stands for. I would venture to say that most people fluctuate on certain issues and don't look to their political party for how they should believe. We have been taught by the media and the parties to hate each other rather than seeing each other's side. The Politics of Love does a really good job of showing both sides and it made me enjoy the characters all the more for it.

I loved the process that the author took Shelley through to discover who she was until she finally came out. It was on her terms, not on anyone else's, despite someone trying to force her out. I enjoyed seeing into her thought process. While never explicitly stated, Shelley has been through some sort of therapy or learned coping mechanisms for her stress. Her counting of things when in difficult situations alerts the reader of just how stressed she is. But when she doesn't count, she is more relaxed and able to accept where she is at. I thought that was a great element that continued to show up throughout the book.

it was a slow build until the end, but was well worth the journey. I would love to see a sequel to this following the 2020 elections to see where the characters are and if anything changed.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

This holiday book is one that I will be revisiting every Christmas season for years to come. Elle has taken the spirit of Hallmark Channel movies and incorporated that into a wonderful WLW novel. All of the characters we developed so well, including the main characters, Holly and Meredith. I absolutely loved the humorous nature of Holly and her wit with others around her. She is an adorable character that I grew to love very quickly. Meredith is more of the professional, hard to read type of character. I could see where the angst point was going to come from, but I kept hoping Meredith wasn't going to be involved with it. Unfortunately, she was, but as good HEA stories go, she was able to redeem herself by the end.

I really enjoyed this novel and I think anyone looking for a fun holiday read will enjoy it as well.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

This is my first book from L.E. Royal and I found it to be well planned out and a very interesting story. Even though the story centers around a BDSM relationship, it is very light on anything heavy. It is more about the dom/sub relationship and the issues that both are dealing with from their past. The sub (Parker) is looking for a new start after her wife of nearly 15 years cheats on her with a much younger intern. The dom (Kristina) is dealing with issues from her childhood and from a dom of her own that has caused her pain. Kristina doesn't date and only wants to keep their relationship in the BDSM realm. But as the couple gets to know each other and is together through their playtimes, feelings begin to bloom on both sides.

I really enjoyed the story and the battles that each went through. The sex scenes were very well done and were much more loving than you would expect from a BDSM story. Definitely worth checking out.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

I always enjoy Melissa Brayden's work and To the Moon and Back is no exception. It did take me a couple of chapters to get a good understanding of the characters and where the story might go. It was a little slower start than some of her previous works. Once established, the story took on an enjoyable direction. Lauren and Carly are very opposite at the beginning, Carly being the Hollywood actress that expects the world to come to her and Lauren who is a stage manager who at one time had wanted to act, but gave it up.

I liked how there was playful flirting going on with Carly from the very beginning and how that developed into a relationship between the two women. Their relationship developed in what felt like a very realistic way. As it progressed and their careers went in opposite directions, the emotions were very true to what many people would feel if their dream life was being taken away. In the end, both characters really matured which allowed their relationship to thrive.

The realism of the relationship and their interactions make this a book that I will enjoy coming back to in the future. It is highly recommended.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. This is the first book by Anna Stone that I have read, but it will not be the last. I was interested in the book originally due to the writeup and the cover image. I love interracial stories, so this immediately caught my interest.

The characters in the novel are well developed which the story going back and forth between present day and 10 years earlier when the couple first were student/teacher in a ballet academy. This back and forth allowed for the story to unfold in a unique way instead of a linear fashion. I enjoyed getting the bits and pieces of their characters and history over time. The love story was well done, building lots of passion and desire before the two were finally able to come together.

I wish there had been more with the interracial aspect. It was only mentioned a few times that Zoe was black. I would have loved to have seen more description of her and those aspects of her, but this does not take away from the story in the least. This is an enjoyable story from start to finish and one I would highly recommend.

30 Dates in 30 Days is an absolute treat to read. Veronica Walsh is approaching 35, a point in her life where she expected to have made a partner in her law firm and to have been married. She inadvertently told her assistant about this during an evening of drinking and the quest is on to find her a wife. Her assistant lists her on a dating app and sets up what will be 30 dates in a 30 day period to find “Miss Right”. All of the dates are set up at a local bar to make things easier for Veronica. It is here she meets Rachel, a beautiful woman who is helping her cousin with her bar but who has given up on love.

The chemistry between Veronica and Rachel is off the charts throughout the book. The author plays the slow burn throughout the entire book, so much so that as a reader I wanted one of the women to pounce on the other because the tension was so high. She does an excellent job of making the story funny at times and heartbreaking in others. It is such a good mix of emotions throughout the book. The story was one that I did not want to put down until the end.

While there is not a lot of sex in the book, it wasn't really necessary. I found the build-up of their relationship to be the major plus of this book and the need for hot sex scenes was not really needed (although I wouldn't be opposed to a secret chapter or two that goes into more detail). This book is all about finding true love, the one that you can't live without, of being able to get past old heartbreaks, and opening yourself up to the possibility of hurting again to be with that one special person. This book would make such a wonderful rom-com, which is how I envisioned the story as I read it.

This is a must-read for anyone who loves love and the development of relationships. It is a fantastic love story that I highly recommend.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.