No Cooldown for Love by Aliyah Burke

Mitchell Anderson has an ex-wife who took half of his NBA money and a mother who thinks he should get back with said ex-wife. Luckily, he's got his two best friends to keep him grounded. Oh, and the lovely lady he just saved from a rollover.

Dr. Hope Roman was just in the northeast to attend her mentor's funeral. Growing up in the foster care system, he was the closest thing she had to a father and one of the few people who acknowledged that she had brains. Now a science journalist (I did have to do a web search and see if that was a real thing), she travels the world but doesn't have a set place for home. And she's fine with that.

The two are lucky to get the last room in a B&B during a major snowstorm. To Hope's amusement, the B&B is hosting a singles weekend. Now the two are trapped by a snowstorm and forced to share a bed as they both battle against the need to get to know each other better. 

The last Big Misunderstanding didn't need to be there. I didn't think that one of the characters who caused it had been in the book enough to just pop in nor had there been an overall impression of the character who blows up being of that temperament. Still, a fun read and I am going back to Kindle to read the book in the middle that I missed. 

Four stars

This book comes out June 26, 2023

Follows A Sweet Spot for Love

ARC kindly provided by Entangled Publishing, LLC. and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Tinkering With Love by Aliyah Burke

In a switch-up, we have a grumpy-sunshine book where the female is the grumpy one. And Dawson Shay sure has reason to be grumpy. She grew up in foster homes though her bio mom has recently contacted her and she's... not a good person. Also, after being dumped by her boyfriend, Dawson moved a good distance because she was promised a job which was then yanked away from her after she arrived in town. Sure, they owner of the place gave her another job (which she is, by the way, rocking). But now she has to go on a corporate retreat with none other than the man who stole her job.

Tully Faulkner isn't sure why the new employee in town doesn't like him but he sure likes her. In fact, he makes it his mission to make sure that she's going to like him. Which would usually be somewhat gross but he does actually make sure that she is allowed to shut him down and (it's implied) that he would walk away. 

The two get close during the retreat (with an interesting scavenger hunt) and even closer afterward. This is a nice start to a series but so much relies on the characters not actually talking to each other. Even after SO many of the side characters tell them to.

Three stars

This book comes out June 20, 2022

ARC kindly provided by Entangled Publishing, LLC and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Kissing Games by Stefanie London

I hadn't read the first book in this series but I didn't really feel like I needed to. The characters were developed fairly well but I didn't especially love the Big Misunderstanding at the end. I have a feeling it won't bother most romance readers though.

Ryan Bower is back in Kissing Creek in his parents house. Yes, it sucks that he's out with an injury while his MLB team is on their way to winning it all. Yes, it also sucks that he's aging out of this career and a young phenom has stepped into his place. What really sucks at the moment though is listening to his parents... having sex. Just... ew. And their love life has picked up because of a book they're reading in the local library book club. And that's not okay. So he decides to confront the local librarian.

Sloan Rickman has picked Kissing  Creek as a place to finally grow roots. Growing up, her parents moved her all over the world so she never really had a chance to make friends. But she's been in one little town, helping to run the library, and getting to wear all of her nerdy, dinosaur-themed clothes. It's not in her plan to meet someone whose career would take precedence over hers just like her mother's did over her father's. And that just didn't end well, did it? So why even bother? Especially when he's standing in her library blaming her for his parents enjoying a book a little too much. But then they start working together on a float for the local parade and it seems they might have a spark of something that isn't exactly disgust...

Three and a half stars

This book comes out March 21, 2022

Follows Kissing Lessons

ARC kindly provided by Entangled Publishing, LLC and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Mistletoe Trap by Cindi Madsen

I love a friends-to-lovers story. It is my catnip. And this one starts off really, really well. You've got socially awkward pathologist Julie O'Neill who is definitely not in love with her bestie-for-life QB Gavin Frost. Even if their parents try to throw them together. Every. Single. Time. the two are back in Crytsal Springs for Christmas. Well, Gavin has been sent home by his boss (must read the boss's book, The Wedding Deal) because said boss is a believer in taking time off and resting. Even for a football star. Now Julie and Gavin will be thrown together in every conceivable way by their mothers. And it seems like this is the year that they might start noticing each other.
I liked most of this book. A lot. But the meddling. Oh my gosh. I like a meddling family but one with more of a deft touch. They see proof that Julie and Gavin are in a relationship and jump right into marriage. Who wouldn't that freak out? To be fair, having the family, rather than a protagonist, cause the last Big Misunderstanding is pretty unique. And I did like that the make up scene wasn't a spectacle but fit in with the story.

Three stars

Follows The Wedding Deal

This book comes out November 16th

ARC kindly provided by Entangled Publishing LLC and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Bait N' Witch by Abigail Owen

In the first book of this series, Rowan McAuliffe was forced to do some pretty horrible things for a werewolf including trying to kill the main characters of that book and the second. So the Mage High Council has sent a Witch Hunter after her. The mysterious Delilah sends Rowan to the witch hunter's house so that she can hide right under his nose while she plays nanny to his magical triplets.
For a shorter book (novella-sized?) there was a lot packed in. This book could have been better served by making it a bit longer and writing more about some of the connections. There are a lot of things that are explained by "Well... because magic." Why Rowan was tied to the werewolf in the first place, more about the triplet's magic. Major parts of the story were explained with one or two sentences instead of paragraphs or even chapters. It was fast, fun, and fluffy and can be enjoyable if you don't mind major plot points being skipped over. If you can get it for the advertised price of $0.99 it is definitely worth it.

Two and a half stars
Follows Shift out of Luck
This book comes out June 15th
ARC kindly provided by Entangled Publishing, LLC and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Shift Out of Luck (Brimstone Inc., #2) by Abigail Owen

Feuding families. Even the werewolves have them. So the marriage of two alphas was supposed to unite the Packs. But Tala and Marrok are at odds. The sex is amazing but  refuses to acknowledge that Tala is a pack leaders. Instead, he has reverted to thinking that she is the weaker sex. Physically, that may be true but Tala's pack isn't like his; they choose their Alpha by combat. She had to be smart enough to beat the rest. So the fact that Marrok isn't backing her up at the same time some of her pack decide to challenge her means that her life is going to hell in a handbasket pretty fast.
Of the three novellas in this series so far, this has the most clearly defined characters (possibly because we saw them in the first book) and the best relationship building.

Three and a half stars
Follows The Demigod Complex
Followed by Bait n' Witch
This 2nd edition came out April 20th, 2020
Borrowed from Kindle Unlimited
Opinions are my own

The Demigod Complex by Abigail Owen

Back in the day, Lyleia, a water nymph, refused a werewolf. He got super pissy about it and (long story short) he engineered the removal of her spring as well as her banishment from her family. These days she's the executive assistant to Castor Dioskouri who is a demigod son of Zeus. She's also in love with the man despite being hired specifically because she should have been able to avoid that fate.

Castor is in love with Leia and is trying to get her to figure that out, rather than quitting on him. So he asks her to attend a shifter mating ceremony. Hormones run high and he needs a shield against the women who would through themselves at him. 

Leia agrees to go but when an enemy from the past shows up, their budding relationship may be the only thing that saves her from certain death.

A fast and fun read. Didn't really get to know the characters much and I wish we had seen a little bit more of their relationship but I am excited to read the next book in the series.

Three stars

Followed by Shift Out of Luck

This book (2nd edition) came out February 17th, 2020

Borrowed from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own