Books Purchased
Books Read
Well here was me thinking that after last week’s book hauling things would settle down – it appears not! Thanks to several Daily Deals on my wish list and a lot of great freebies, I’ve once again gone overboard, ah well, I doubt you expected anything less. Worryingly. it could have been worse. Since Wednesday, I’ve missing in action as my laptop has decided to misbehave. I’m caught in a perpetual loop of auto-repairing, which clearly isn’t repairing. I’m virtually an IT expert now, given the hours of YouTube repair videos I’ve watched. As I type this I’m trying a cloud recovery. I’m at 87% but not holding my breathe as I got as far as 92% at 1am on this morning (Fri) before it decided it couldn’t do it. I’ve tweaked a few more things since then so we’ll see.
The amount of time I’ve spent trying to fix the bloody thing has also eaten into my reading time. I missed a morning on the bike and a couple of evenings to IT geekdom. Consequently the number of books read is not as good as I’d hoped for at the start of the week.
Having decided I should read the books I’ve bought recently to justify the purchase I started with Hot Flashes and Hockey Slashes. It was a fun read, with a fake dating trope that I always enjoy. Plus who wouldn’t want to date a hot, hockey playing silver fox (and I mean that in the context of book boyfriend material just in case my OH ever reads this). As it featured a pre-menopausal FMC it of course had to be regularly referred to, though I think it got overplayed at times, but then I never really suffered with hot flushes so I’m maybe being unfair about the number of electric fans that she accumulated in the bedroom. Anyway, didn’t detract from the romance which was my reason for reading.
My next read was Ready or Not by Cara Bastone. She’s an author I’ve tended to listen to via Audible as she has several audio originals on there. This was essentially a friends to lovers trope as our FMC find herself pregnant after a one night stand and her best friend’s brother steps up to support her. I had sussed fairly early on that would happen, but then as a reader I guess I would, I haven’t been in the friend zone for years so wouldn’t be expecting anything else. I enjoyed this because the pregnancy wasn’t as reckless as it might appear, and the unwitting father did play a part so it was all very wholesome in the end.
I then moved on to Aged to Perfection which as it featured an inappropriate 60 year old I thought I’d enjoy. As it turned out I didn’t so I haven’t recommended it in my round up. To be fair I suspect it was the format that I disliked mostly. I’ve since seen it likened to Bridget Jones’s Diary and I didn’t get on with that in book form either. So you might feel differently, don’t be swayed by me, but I have said I’d only promote the books I enjoyed.
My last book was Accidentally in Love with my Best Friend’s Brother which I picked because I’d downloaded the second in the series this week and couldn’t read it without spoilers for this one. Another fun read and SFW which combined small town, fake dating, frenemies to lovers with an NFL playing brother. So many tropes, it was like book kryptonite!
So that’s my week in books. As I’m sure you’ll want to know that unsurprisingly the recovery stalled again at 92% so it’s back to the drawing board, or should that be motherboard? Either way, there’ll be lots more swearing no doubt before I have to concede defeat.
Books Purchased
Hot Flashes and Hockey Slashes by Marika Ray and Sylvie Stewart (free)
He’s a hot, shirtless hockey player…and he’s my fake date for my ex-husband’s wedding. Talk about a hot flash to beat all hot flashes.
The wedding bells are ringing and my ex-husband is the groom! When my grown kids hook me up with a fake date to my ex-hubby’s tropical island nuptials, I expect sun, sand, and plenty of fruity cocktails – not steamy nights with a shirtless pro hockey player!
Roman might be all swagger on the ice, but this growly, egotistical male model of perfection has a soft side too. While I battle dresses made for twenty-somethings, awkward run-ins with my ex, and unwelcome hot flashes, Roman is there to distract me with flirty compliments, stay up late with me when I can’t sleep, and make me feel vibrant and ageless.
As good as it feels, none of this is real, and Roman is way out of my league. Who’s going to believe this gorgeous, famous, muscle-bound athlete would ever date a scatterbrained, hot-flashing, insomniac nerd with twenty stubborn extra pounds around the middle?
Something Right by Evey Lyon (free)
Running into your former flame is complicated—especially when she’s now a single mom and your new next-door neighbor.
I never planned to return to the town I left 12 years ago, let alone become the guardian of my teenage sister, who doesn’t hesitate to remind me how far I’ve strayed from my big-city life. But the real shock? Brooke Rivers—the one woman I never got over—is now my next-door neighbor, and she’s got an adorable three-year-old daughter who’s quickly wrapping me around her tiny finger. Okay, maybe her mom is too.
But things between Brooke and me are far from simple.
Our past is tangled up in a weekend we spent together, followed by a heartbreak that neither of us has ever really moved on from. Brooke’s built this emotional fortress around herself, and I’m determined to tear it down. Lucky for me, we end up trading favors—like when I need her cookies for the high school bake sale, and she needs my help putting together her daughter’s new playhouse. As we keep crossing paths, clothes start ending up on the floor, and old feelings reignite.
But Brooke keeps insisting there’s too much at stake to risk our hearts again. And when a twist of fate reveals a long-buried secret, I start to wonder if she’s right—or if this is finally our chance to get it right…
Life Begins by Kate Eberlen (99p)
What if the life you’re living isn’t the one you want?
Jessica and Robin have been best friends since university. For his fortieth birthday, she plans an elaborate surprise trip to Italy with his closest friends and family. Sometimes it feels like everyone knows how much she loves Robin… everyone except Robin himself.
Laura has two beautiful children, a stylish London home and a thriving career as a deputy headteacher. But she also has a secret. One she’s been keeping for many years. And now it’s time for the truth to come out.
Actor Robin is looking forward to being the centre of attention once more, as those he loves most come together for a week-long getaway. But as long-simmering desires rise to the surface and tensions reach breaking point, he begins to wonder…
Could life really begin again at forty?
Talk Wicked to Me by Melissa Foster (99p)
Come along for the unexpected, hilarious, and heart-wrenching ride as Baz Wicked discovers that life and love can be messy, and carefully crafted plans can’t hold a candle to ten tiny fingers and toes. Talk Wicked to Me may be enjoyed as a standalone romance or as part of the larger series. No cliffhangers, no cheating, and a happily ever after that will leave you breathless.
Tropes: Pregnant heroine, single-parent, small-town romance, found family, biker family, close proximity, protective hero, he falls first, strangers to lovers, slow burn, chance meeting, golden-retriever hero, romance with animals.
**
Between expanding his veterinary practice, commitments with his motorcycle club, and international travel plans, Baz Wicked has little time for anything else. When a beautiful, frantic pregnant woman barges into his office for help with her dog, he senses something is off, and he’s drawn to her in ways he shouldn’t be. But now he can’t get Emerson Lockhart out of his head.
Having a baby wasn’t in Emerson’s plans, but neither was tragically losing her parents more than a decade ago, when she was only a teenager. After all she’s been through, leaving the chaos of New York City and moving to the peaceful small town of Bayside while on the cusp of giving birth was a piece of cake. She’s used to handling things on her own, but when an unexpected emergency brings the charming vet—who makes her remember she’s more than a mother-to-be—back into her life, she’s grateful for his help but wary of his friendship.
Emerson knows how quickly the people she cares about can be stolen away, and she never wants to experience that devastation again. But the fiercely loyal, protective biker isn’t easily dissuaded. Passion ignites and affections run deep, but when their pasts collide and Baz’s demons are revealed, will it douse their flames, or can true love prevail?
Ready or Not by Cara Bastone (99p)
Eve Hatch has always been content to coast through her life, with a steady, if uninspiring, job and a cozy apartment in Brooklyn, close to her childhood best friend Willa and far from the midwestern, traditional family who never really understood her.
But when she finds herself pregnant after an uncharacteristic one-night stand, her comfy life is suddenly up in the air. Eve’s loyal friendship with Willa is feeling tense, right when she needs her the most, and it’s actually Willa’s steadfast big brother, Shep, who steps up with the most support and he’s . . . suddenly kinda hot?
As if she needs one more complication, there’s also the baby’s father, who is technically supportive, but majorly conflicted. But as Eve struggles to figure out the next step in her expanding reality, she begins to realize that family and love, in all forms, can sneak up on you when you least expect it.
Accidentally Falling for my Fake Wife by Abby Greyson (free)
A hidden identity, a fake marriage, and one very real crush.
Adam
Finding out my visa expired days after being traded to a new professional football team?
Worst two weeks of my life
Now my agent tells me my sole option, if I want to keep playing and not end up deported, is to get married.
There’s only one problem. I’m not dating anyone.
But there is someone I’m interested in…
Susie
I’m a best-selling author with a deadline looming and a bad case of writer’s block torn between two men.
Chase, I’ve only talked to online, and Adam is my brother’s teammate which makes him completely off-limits.
But then out of the blue, Chase presents me with a proposal I can’t refuse.
Will this romance author finally find the love she’s been writing about or will her writer’s block get in the way?
Time of the Child by Niall Williams (£1.69)
Doctor Jack Troy was born and raised in the little town of Faha, but his responsibilities for the sick and his care for the dying mean he has always been set apart from his community. A visit from the doctor is always a sign of bad things to come.
His youngest daughter, Ronnie, has grown up in her father’s shadow, and remains there, having missed her chance at real love – and passed up an offer of marriage from an unsuitable man.
But in the advent season of 1962, as the town readies itself for Christmas, Ronnie and Doctor Troy’s lives are turned upside down when a baby is left in their care. As the winter passes, father and daughter’s lives, the understanding of their family, and their role in their community are changed forever.
Change on the Fly by Maren Moore (free)
Imagine being in love with your best friend’s brother.
Then.. keeping it a secret for years.
Ridiculously charming, a total player and a hockey super star… Reed Davidson has been the boy next door who’s had my heart for as long as I can remember.
He was the ultimate bad boy, and I was just his sister’s shy best friend.
But when Reed’s world is suddenly flipped upside down and he gets custody of his nephew, I’m the only one who can help.
I shouldn’t have offered to come on the road with them, but Reed wasn’t cut out to be a single dad and I knew he needed help. I tried to hide my feelings for him, but the two of us, the cutest kid on the planet, and a long hockey season were a recipe for disaster.
Reed was used to getting everything he ever wanted, and this time… He wanted me.
Only now, the stakes are higher and my heart is the one on the line.
You’ve Got Bookmail by Leya Layne (free)
After leaving her toxic fiance, 45-year-old author Kassandra Graham seeks peace and quiet. The secluded 3600 sq. ft. house with heated pool provides the sanctuary she needs to silence the negative voice of her ex and the solitude that allows her to write uninterrupted in order to meet her contractual obligations as a romantic fantasy author. Meanwhile, the adventures of Shar, the empowered main character of her self-published contemporary romance novels are what keep her going. Thus, Kass spends the first year in her new house doing nothing but writing.
Asher McNeil once dreamt of playing football, marrying his high school sweetheart and designing his own home in the big city. Major injuries, a gossip-ruined relationship, and his mother’s illness brought him back to his hometown with no backup plan to escape. Ten years later, he is finally comfortable living alone in his childhood home and delivering mail to the people he’s known all his life. When the small-town gossip train begins chugging toward the recluse with the audacity to have their groceries delivered, Asher decides it’s time to meet, and warn, this person.
How much can a simple knock on the door and the delivery of books change the stories of two people? Find out inside You’ve Got Bookmail.
It’s Always Sonny by Kate Watson (free)
Sunshine always melts ice eventually. And I’m starting to feel the burn.
People may call me an “overachieving ice queen,” but I would do anything for the people I love.
So when my friends ask me to host an event at their famous farm, I’m more than happy to help…until I discover I’ve been set up.
The “event” is actually a reunion for my ex’s family.
I pushed away Sonny Luciano years ago when my parents gave me the cruelest possible ultimatum. I told him it was so he could pursue his NFL dreams, but I was terrified that he’d eventually learn what my parents learned: I’m unlovable.
But Sonny doesn’t act like I’m unlovable. He acts thrilled to be with me. And the way he lights up when he sees me with his loud, loving family eclipses the sun.
Sonny has grown in all the right ways, and our connection is electric enough to make me forget why I pushed him away in the first place.
But when we get stuck alone in a tent during a freak storm, I have to decide if I’m going to let him melt my heart or if I’ll freeze him out forever.
It’s Always Sonny is a laugh-out-loud, dual POV, closed door romantic comedy full of delicious chemistry, banter, healing, and heart, but with no explicit scenes or cursing. Books in the Sweet as Sugar Maple series can be enjoyed in any order.
Make-Believe Match by Melanie Harlow (79p)
Fall in love with my enemy? No way.
Marry him to save my family’s struggling ski resort? That’s a different story…
Getting hitched is the only way I can inherit Snowberry Lodge, and I’ll do anything to spare my childhood home from the wrecking ball–even wear Devlin Buckley’s ring on my finger.
Not that I’ll enjoy it.
Sure, he’s charming and handsome, and that no-last-names one night stand we shared ended with a fantastically big bang (I saw stars I hadn’t seen in six months, if you catch my drift).
But I’ll never trust him–he was working for the company trying to bulldoze my life.
Right up until the day he knocked on my door with an offer I couldn’t refuse.
Marry him, and he’ll help me restore my family’s crumbling resort to its former glory–and get revenge on his ex-boss in the process. Once our goals are achieved, we’ll go our separate ways.
It’s temporary. Strictly business. Purely for show.
Until I realize how much I like it when he says “my wife.”
Once we’re sharing a last name–and a bed–our make-believe match starts to feel a little too real.
And if I’m not careful, I could lose everything… my home, my dreams, and my heart.
The Favourites by Layne Fargo (99p)
Everyone thinks Heath Rocha was my first love. He wasn’t. My first love was figure skating.
Katarina Shaw has always known she’s destined to become an Olympic skater. When she meets Heath Rocha, a lonely kid stuck in the foster care system, their instant connection makes them a formidable duo on the ice. Clinging to skating – and each other – to escape their turbulent lives, Kat and Heath go from childhood sweethearts to champion ice dancers, captivating fans with their scorching chemistry, rebellious style and rollercoaster relationship.
Until, at the Olympic Games, as the world holds its breath, a shocking incident instantly destroys their partnership.
Ten years later, an unauthorised tell-all documentary reignites the public obsession with Shaw and Rocha. If Kat wants to own her story, she must break her silence. As Kat’s account of her dramatic rise and fall alternates with scandalous interviews from the film, The Favourites spins into a dance between passion, ambition and what it truly means to win.
Sensational rumours have haunted Kat and Heath’s every step for years, but the truth may be even more outrageous than the headlines.
The Launch Date by Annabelle Slator (99p)
To get her dream job, she’ll have to date her worst nightmare . . .
Grace Hastings is in a rut. Her career is stagnating, her boss is a leech, and she feels like a fraud working for Fate, a dating app whose ethos she no longer believes in. And don’t even get her started on the state of her love life.
So when the company’s CEO offers her an opportunity for a big promotion and the chance to work on the launch of a dating app that she actually cares about, Grace can’t believe her luck.
That is, until she discovers that she must test drive a series of ‘first dates’ with her competition for the job: notorious socialite playboy and Grace’s biggest work rival, Eric Bancroft.
But Grace refuses to give up her dream job because of a man. And besides, how romantic can a handful of fake dates with your biggest rival really be?
There’s absolutely no way it’s an office romance waiting to happen.
Off the Hook by Julie Olivia (free)
I need a nanny, but I may need her more.
I know about my reputation as Never Harbor’s secluded single dad. But I have everything I need: my imaginative son, my dog, and our remodeled cottage by the sea.
That is, until my nanny quits.
My brother’s ex-fiancee, Wendy Darling, is an elementary school teacher with a free summer. The last thing I need is to get tangled in his mess, but my family thinks she’s a perfect fit for the job. Turns out, she fits in better than I could have imagined.
Wendy is nothing like I expected. She’s kind and adventurous, with a beautiful laugh that washes my worst nightmares away. She pushes past my silence and sees more of my true self than anyone has in years. And my six-year-old son is falling for her just as quickly.
Being with Wendy can never happen. Not when my younger brother is her ex-fiance. Not when she’s so close to our family. Not when our small coastal town gossips the way that it does.
But after so long in the dark, Wendy makes me feel something. Falling for her feels a lot like flying instead.
I know happy endings only belong in fairy tales, but I’m close to stealing one for myself.
Golden Touch by Sarina Bowen (99p)
Livia
Once upon a time I spent an evening flirting with a handsome stranger in a bar. But before we could finish what we started, I lost my nerve and fled.
Months later, I’m minding my own business at work one morning when a stranger lets himself into the empty brewery. Panicked, I call 911, and the cops show up to slap on the handcuffs.
In my defense, I have very good reasons to be afraid. Also in my defense, I’d never met my boss’s son.
Or so I’d thought…
Nash
I don’t know what this chick has against me. First she ditches me, and now she wants to arrest me.
Livia is as frustrating as she is hot. But nobody else knows the brewery better than she does. Now we’re stuck together, sharing an office and a very small house as I run the brewery for six weeks for my cranky dad.
That’s just enough time to bring down her guard. Turns out we have a lot more in common than we thought, including a lot of smoking hot chemistry. Until Livia’s past catches up with her, and I finally figure out why she’s so jumpy. But I’ll stop at nothing to protect her, unless her ex finds her first…
Lost and Lassoed by Lyla Sage (99p)
She thrives in chaos. He prefers routine. The only thing they have in common? How much they hate each other.
Teddy Andersen doesn’t have a plan. She’s never needed one. She’s more of a go-with-the-flow type of girl, but for some reason, the flow doesn’t seem to be going her way this time.
Gus Ryder has a lot on his plate. He’s always been the dependable one, but when his workload starts to overwhelm him, he has to admit that he can’t manage everything on his own. He needs help.
His little sister’s best friend, the woman he can’t stand, is not who he had in mind. But when no one else can step in, Teddy’s the only option he’s got.
Tempers flare, tension builds, and for the first time ever, Gus and Teddy start to see each other in a different light. As new feelings start to simmer below the surface, they must decide whether they should act on them. Can they keep things cool? Or will both of them get burned?
Books Read and Recommended
Hot Flashes and Hockey Slashes by Marika Ray and Sylvie Stewart
He’s a hot, shirtless hockey player…and he’s my fake date for my ex-husband’s wedding. Talk about a hot flash to beat all hot flashes.
The wedding bells are ringing and my ex-husband is the groom! When my grown kids hook me up with a fake date to my ex-hubby’s tropical island nuptials, I expect sun, sand, and plenty of fruity cocktails – not steamy nights with a shirtless pro hockey player!
Roman might be all swagger on the ice, but this growly, egotistical male model of perfection has a soft side too. While I battle dresses made for twenty-somethings, awkward run-ins with my ex, and unwelcome hot flashes, Roman is there to distract me with flirty compliments, stay up late with me when I can’t sleep, and make me feel vibrant and ageless.
As good as it feels, none of this is real, and Roman is way out of my league. Who’s going to believe this gorgeous, famous, muscle-bound athlete would ever date a scatterbrained, hot-flashing, insomniac nerd with twenty stubborn extra pounds around the middle?
Ready or Not by Cara Bastone
Eve Hatch has always been content to coast through her life, with a steady, if uninspiring, job and a cozy apartment in Brooklyn, close to her childhood best friend Willa and far from the midwestern, traditional family who never really understood her.
But when she finds herself pregnant after an uncharacteristic one-night stand, her comfy life is suddenly up in the air. Eve’s loyal friendship with Willa is feeling tense, right when she needs her the most, and it’s actually Willa’s steadfast big brother, Shep, who steps up with the most support and he’s . . . suddenly kinda hot?
As if she needs one more complication, there’s also the baby’s father, who is technically supportive, but majorly conflicted. But as Eve struggles to figure out the next step in her expanding reality, she begins to realize that family and love, in all forms, can sneak up on you when you least expect it.
Accidentally in Love with my Best Friend’s Brother by Abby Greyson
My best friend’s annoying brother, some spilled tea, and a crazy proposition.
Josh Owens is the top receiver in the NFL, with a bad boy reputation. He’s click bait fodder for any, and all, gossip columns.
A released video shows us “kissing”, and the news is spreading like wildfire.
Now me, “good girl” Brie, is in the rumor mills with him.
His agent sees this as a golden opportunity for Josh to get on better terms with his team.
I think it’s crazy, but Josh needs help.
In spite of our love-hate relationship, I agree to be his “girlfriend”.
Spending time with him, I get to know the real person, not just the one who’s constantly pushing my buttons.
I can’t deny that I don’t hate him.
In fact, I like him.
A lot.
As fake kisses feel more real, Josh brings up making “us” a reality.
Only one problem.
When my parents died, my heart went on lock down.
Can the bane of my existence be the one who’s had the key all along?
The Verdict
| Books Purchased | 16 |
| Books Read | 04 |
| Imbalance | -12 |
| Balance brought forward | 7.46 |
| Weekly budget | 10.00 |
| Total Spent (another first) | 7.40 |
| Balance carried forward | 10.06 |
