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

The Way the Story Goes by Samantha Chase

Mia Kingsley, thriller writer, is in Magnolia Sound battling a bad case of writer's block. She escaped from Boston because her house is being renovated and the noise was too much. Beach in the off season? Why yes, that might help her write. And being around her best friend/assistant might help as well. Not helping? The construction sounds coming from next door. They start early, end late, and are often accompanied by 80s songs and a man's off-key singing.

Austin Coleman needed some time away from Baltimore. His hot temper made it easy to jump at the chance to do a renovation for his friend's brother. While Austin is an architect by trade, he can apparently jump in and do some... carpentry? general construction? (not really explained in the book) to keep the house moving along. He didn't realize that there was someone living next door. Nor does he look before he heaves a sink over the deck, narrowly missing Mia.

And thus begins their romance. Chase's books are usually a smidge under 200 pages and I think they could often be longer. In this book, we don't really get to see Austin grow past the issues he had that got him out of Baltimore. Nor do we ever see Mia really standing up to her parents. It's a short book and I really did believe that they might have an HEA because they did, for the most part, talk to each other. 

Three stars

Follows Last Beautiful Girl

Followed by The Way the Story Goes

This book came out January 12th, 2021

Ebook borrowed from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Last Beautiful Girl by Samantha Chase

Sydney Albright has returned to Magnolia Sound to take care of her twelve-year-old niece, Haley. Haley's parents died in an accident and Sydney doesn't have the heart to move her out of the home that her parents just bought. Too bad it is a BIG fixer upper. Like, the people in town have started raising money to help her pay to get it livable fixer upper. And it's just her luck that Kyle Jones is the man who is spearheading the renovations. 

Kyle is ecstatic to get a chance to grow his career but is leery about  seeing Sydney again. But this is a romance so the two start feeling Those Old Familiar Feelings and they become a couple. There are a few speed bumps along the way but about halfway through the book, they are already talking about love and are careening toward forever. Which, of course, means that there will be a BIG SOMETHING (not a misunderstanding) that will still stand in their way. In my mind, it is sort of a series of things connected to Haley and I could understand the first part and, while the second might actually happen in real life, It was a little overblown for my tastes.

Three stars

Follows Can't Help Falling in Love

Followed by The Way the Story Goes

This book came out September 28th, 2020

Ebook borrowed from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Can’t Help Falling in Love by Samantha Chase

This book is a prime example of why I started tagging books fast, fun, and fluffy. Not a LOT of character development, and, when it happens, it's sort of in a rush at the end. But it's still a fun story and is perfect for escaping the world for awhile.
Hunter Jones has a little boy but the boy's mother has been pulling away more and more, taking less and less care of the child. Now she's disappeared completely and he's not sure what to do. He's definitely not prepared to have some unknown woman yelling at him.
Violet Drake grew up with an unreliable parent before being stuck into foster care. She has no use for people who have children but can't take care of them. Normally a travel writer, Violet is just in Magnolia Sound to help her super-pregnant friend until her husband comes back on leave. Violet is definitely not expecting to fall in love twice. Once with Hunter and once with his son.
There were definitely too many misunderstandings at the end of the story.

Three stars
Follows And Then One Day

Followed by Last Beautiful Girl
This book came out August 10th, 2020
Borrowed as ebook from the library
Opinions are my own

And Then One Day by Samantha Chase

Courtney Baker doesn't necessarily want to leave Magnolia Sound but there's not a lot keeping her there. Her job has been made redundant, she can't find another one, there are no good men who are looking at her, and her best friend is caught up in a whirlwind romance and pregnancy, leaving Courtney in the dust. It's at that friend's rehearsal dinner that Courtney finally gets a kiss from the man she's been dreaming of for years, her best friend's oldest brother.
Dean Jones didn't know that Courtney thought of him as anything other than a pseudo-brother. But when she lays one on him, he's all in. Her plans to leave town are stalled when her car runs through some water and her trailer comes unhitched. They're further stalled when Dean's sister asks him to take his time fixing the vehicle so Courtney will stay in town longer...
This was fast, fun, and fluffy. Not a lot of depth but nothing to slow the read.

Three stars
Follows In Case You Didn't Know

Followed by Can’t Help Falling in Love
This book came out January 28th, 2020
Borrowed as ebook from the library
Opinions are my own

In Case You Didn't Know by Samantha Chase

Mason Bishop's mother has been more than a little overbearing in the first two books of this series. In this book, he's finally making his bid for freedom by moving out. What he doesn't expect to find is a woman who fascinates him.
Scarlett Jones knows all about Mason. He's the golden boy, the only son of the reigning family of Magnolia Sound. He was also her lab partner in middle school but their lives diverged quickly. She was the only daughter of a father who didn't know how to deal with her (which we are told A LOT in this fairly short story). Now she... I'm not actually sure. I think her main job is as a social media manager for several places in town but we mostly hear that she helps out at her father's garage and build houses for dogs that need to be adopted. Even though she's resentful of Mason's seemingly perfect life, she is attracted to him.
I wish there had been more about how the two start to build a relationship but there was a lot built into the story.

Three stars
Follows A Girl Like You
Followed by And Then One Day
This book came out June 23rd, 2019
Borrowed as ebook from the library
Opinions are my own

A Girl Like You by Samantha Chase

If you grow up in a small town, there are pluses and minuses. One of the minuses can be the long collective history when your childhood, and even recent adulthood are sprinkled with stories that don't put you in the best light. And Sam Westbrook really doesn't want to be in Magnolia Sound to begin with but his great-grandfather's legacy of a landscaping business comes with the condition that Sam stay for a year or Mason, Sam's cousin, gets the business.

Shelby Abbott is the only child of the local pastor. In books, being a PK (pastor's kid) means that you either run completely wild or live blamelessly. Shelby is the latter. In fact, she won't even tell her parents that she got Lasik because they have told her that eye surgery is linked to pride. She only lives a little wildly one night when she goes to a club out of town and literally runs into Sam... who doesn't recognize her. They do eventually figure out the case of mistaken identity and begin a relationship. But then one of them decides to make decisions for both of them and, sigh, that's one of my least favorite plot devices. Luckily it is short.

I wish we had seen more with Shelby's parents as well. They loomed large in a lot of the story and then we never saw how the issue with them was solved, we were just told it was.

Three stars
Follows Remind Me
Followed by In Case You Didn't Know
This book came out June 11th, 2019
Borrowed as ebook from the library
Opinions are my own

Remind Me by Samantha Chase

Mallory Westbrook had a hot and heavy affair with her great-grandfather's next-door neighbor, Jake Summerford. But it ended and then she overheard and misunderstood a conversation Jake and her great-grandfather were having about her.
Years later, she is back in town after a hurricane destroyed her great-grandfather's house as well as for his funeral. Jake now owns the house next door and he wants to help Mallory get through her grief. As well as maybe convince her to stay.
This was an okay book but a lot happened in a short time because it is a shorter story. I was alternately irritated with Mallory and wondering why we didn't get to know more of her. I'm still looking forward to the next book in the series because light and fluffy is just what I need right now.

Three stars
Followed by A Girl Like You
This book came out March 12th, 2019
Borrowed as ebook from the library
Opinions are my own