His for the Holidays by Samantha Chase

When you are in your mid-to-late-twenties in a romance novel, you are likely either going to be already successful or just about to get that Big Promotion. Hannah Christy is in the latter group. She is an interior designer who spent most of Thanksgiving and the last month getting ready for a big presentation that is going to guarantee her a new position according to her boss. The last thing she needs is to be trapped in an elevator. In her comfy traveling clothes. And especially with her Very Attractive neighbor. But she gets to know him, finds out he has an overly interfering family, and suggests he needs a fake relationship. Oh, not her! she is much too busy. Then she finds out that one of her scheming coworkers has secured the contract that she was supposed to get and her promotion is now off the table. Instead, she has a few weeks of paid (forced) vacation. She still isn't going to help but then she meets his mother and sister and impulsively steps in. 

Gage Lawson is immediately attracted to Hannah and he hopes for a longer relationship but he will take what he can get, especially if that means that Hannah will come with him to his family Christmas which they are having a few days before the calendar date. 

As the two are spending time together, getting to know each other, Gage falls more and more in love and Hannah becomes more despairing because she is guaranteed a move (either staying with her current company and taking a job in another state or finding another job completely which means she'll have to leave because there are no jobs in Raleigh). 

I didn't love that Hannah kept throwing up roadblocks. It seemed artificial in a woman who was otherwise shown as being mostly together. She has a Big Realization about herself at the end but... it's not something we've either seen or heard about anywhere else in the story. Gage was a nice guy with enough flaws that save him from being too perfect. A fast, fun, and fluffy book for the holiday season but not a lot of depth and from introduction to proposal is about two months.  Cottle, the narrator, really elevated the story and made it a fun listen.

Three and a half stars

This audiobook comes out January 11, 2022

ARC kindly provided by Dreamscape Media and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Nobody Does it Better by Samantha Chase narrated by Carly Robins

Oh man. I generally enjoy Chase but this book was basically a "no" for me though other regular readers may not mind it as much.  Carly Robins is a fantastic narrator though and I enjoyed her interpretation of the story. I will be looking for more books that she is involved in. 

There was so much about this book that was cringe-y. Yes, there is an age gap between Parker and Ryder. How do we know? It's brought up. A lot. And Ryder sure does treat Parker like she is a little girl even though she is in her mid-twenties and is running a successful business. the two have seen each other at her family's events but they haven't interacted until he buys a business that she's been saving up for for years. And then she throws a fit. Which, okay. That makes sense. You're going in to cross the line of a goal you've had for years and someone has swooped in and taken it. So she runs and yells and then somehow falls in love after a near-death experience which culminates in a night with one bed. And, boom, relationship. One where every single male in her family seems to feel like they need to issue a warning and Ryder feels like he needs to rebuff (Patriachal Ew) instead of... maybe all of these males trusting Parker to know her own mind and stand up for what she wants. 

Then Ryder reverted to treating her like a child which is very much at odds with how he is treating her otherwise. And Parker is acting more like a New Adult character than one in a Chase romance. 

Two stars

This audiobook comes out November 11, 2021

Followed by Since You've Been Gone

ARC kindly provided by Dreamscape Media and NetGalley

Opinions are my own