Knocked-Up Cinderella by Julie Hammerle

This book was exactly what I thought it would be: fast, fun, and fluffy. A little on the surface, especially in terms of seeing where this was more a romance than a really good friendship, but an incredibly enjoyable read.
As readers, we get to see the back-and-forth first person views of Dr. Erin Sharpe, elementary school principal, and Ian Donovan, globe-trotting venture capitalist. They are both 40 and neither is looking for a relationship. They are good at using condoms (loved the discussion about X-gens and condoms. I've had it with my friends) but something goes wrong and Erin ends up pregnant. They had The Talk before sex and, while both are sure they want to stay out of a relationship, they have ties that may be stronger than their wills.

Four stars
This book came out November 12
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley; opinion is my own

Racked and Stacked by Lorelei James

Larissa "Riss" Thorpe is a strong-ass woman who is going to find her joy where she can and isn't going to be slut shamed by anyone. Though she might get annoyed by... certain people. Ike Palmer being the one who gets under her skin. And now the truce they've called to help them get through their friends' wedding is off. And then Riss breaks her arm and Ike feels a strange compulsion to rescue her from her brothers.
 I quite liked this book and believe that regular James readers won't be disappointed.

Four stars
This book came out August 7
ARC kindly provided by Net Galley

Love You by Stacy Finz

Win Garner and Darcy Wallace have both been introduced in this series before. Win is the playboy of his family, the one who wines and dines women but never gets serious. In fact, he tries not to get too serious about anything. Or that's the perception; there have been glimpses of a deeper Win.
Darcy doesn't want Win to be deep. She just wants to break her dry spell. So she's fairly astonished when she crawls into his bed one night but gets rebuffed. Because her mother has been wearing on her self-confidence her whole life, she assumes that it's her. But Win is just trying to stay on the straight and narrow. He suggests they be friends but can't stop flirting.
The two are thrown together in order to help bring in a corporate account for their family business, Garner Adventures. It lets them both shine as well as spend some more time together.
This is a fast,fun, and fluffy with some toe-dips into the serious but nothing deep. Perfect reading for a summer's day.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out July 31
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley
Follows Want You

It Takes Two by Jenny Holiday

Wendy and her best friend Jane bonded over both losing their fathers at a young age, naming themselves the Lost Girls. Jane definitely had it a little easier with her older brother being there to help out. Of course, that may have also been a detriment since her brother Noah was so unbelievably overprotective. And he still is. Of course, he's also still hot.
Noah didn't want to get sucked into the vortex that is his sister's "low-key" wedding, but he doesn't hat that it's brought him back in the circle with Wendy. He was always attracted to her and that hasn't gone away. She's a lawyer, like him, a runner, like him, and really into baseball, like him (although they don't like the same team.) 
I really liked the first book in this series and this one doesn't quite live up to that but is still good. The ending was definitely over-the-top for me.

Three stars
This book comes out June 21
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley
Follows One and Only

Hot and Badgered by Shelly Laurenston

I only got two chapters of this book as an ARC from NetGalley so I can't really review the whole book. There wasn't a great glimpse of either Charlotte (Charlie,a badger shifter) or Berg (grizzly shifter) so I'm not sure how the rest of the book is going to go. We know that Charlie has at least two sisters, one of which needs watching every moment of the day. Oh, and the book opens with men breaking into Charlotte's hotel room just as she gets a warning call. She drops down to the room below which just so happens to be the one where Cooper (famous pianist, jackal shifter) who we met in the last book is being guarded by Berg. 

I'm a little trepidatious about how this book is going to go but I trust Laurenston so I'll definitely read this book as soon as I can get my hands on it.

I did eventually get the full ARC and it was okay but there was a lot of setup for the rest of the series. I wished we had gotten to see more of Berg. It's interesting that Laurenston keeps introducing bear triplets (had been done in Bear meets Girl). Each of the characters seems to be full hilt stereotypes which is okay but I wish we had gotten a bit more nuance.

Three stars

This book comes out March 27, 2018

Follows Bite Me

Followed by In a Badger Way

ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Reread May 2022, January 2024

Jagged by Lauren Dane

Rachel Dolan has a past. She was an FBI agent who got trapped by one of the men she was chasing and it changed her life. Leaving the bureau behind, Rachel was delighted to discover that her talent with art translated into a career as a tattoo artist. Yes, she has a routine and a LOT of locks on her doors. A state-of-the-art seucrity system isn't a bad thing either. It makes her feel safe. Also making her feel safe? Vicktor Orlov.
Vicktor knows Rachel's story but that only impresses him - it doesn't scare him off. He doesn't want to tame her or protect her, he just wants her to live her best life and to help her find a way to do that.
And that was my favorite part of this book, that Vicktor is impressed by Rachel's strength and doesn't down play it at all. I wish there had been more come-to-Jesus with her dad and that we had seen a little more courtship, but overall a pretty good read.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out March 27
This book follows Unraveled
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

The Woman Left Behind by Linda Howard

Jina Modell works in Communications. She's not a field agent... until Axel MacNamara decides that ten people from various deparments are going to be assigned to specific teams. Jina's team?  The one led by Levi "Ace" Butcher. She is not excited; that team usually gets the worst assignments. And that's before her training starts.  Jina is the only one who ends up training with her team -- all of the rest of the new "recruits" get to train together. She eventually considers herself lucky because she gets to bond with her group before they get out into the field. It's hard. The guys on her team aren't exactly excited to be working with a woman but Jina is stubborn and decides that she's going to make it, no matter what.
Ace really doesn't want a rookie on his team. Even worse, he's highly attracted to this person who is most definitely off-limits. But what is he supposed to do when they're on a mission and she gets left behind?
The title of this book was incredibly deceptive as was the description. Both make it sound like this is going to be the story of Jina fighting her way back to the teams but it is mainly about her journey joining the team. Less than 50 pages are about the mission where she gets "left behind." While I really liked the journey of Jina and Ace, I am confused by the ending.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out March 6
ARC kindly provided by Edelweiss

One and Only by Jenny Holiday

Jane Denning is the responsible one in her friend group. It's probably the reason that she's been chosen to babysit the younger brother of her bridezilla friend's fiance. She's not thrilled by that assignment but at least it gets her out of the rest of her bridesmaid's duties.
Cameron MacKinnon is not surprised that his brother's fiancee wants to set Jane on him. He had a pretty wild reputation growing up. But it doesn't mean that he has to sit down and take it. Especially since his list of things to do after being dismissed from the army includes getting laid and Jane keeps preventing that from happening. So, maybe he should focus on her instead...
I liked the building of this relationship. Yes, there were some one dimensional aspects (especially with Cameron) but, overall, we got to know both Jane and Cameron pretty well. We got to see just enough of her friends that there might be more of them in later series (worker girl Wendy and super model Gia) but it wasn't overly heavy in trying to build them up.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out February 27
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley
Followed by It Takes Two

Smooth-Talking Cowboy by Maisey Yates

We met Olivia in the last book of the Copper Ridge series and she helps to bridge over to the Gold Valley series. She is the prototypical "good twin." Her sister went deep into the dark side so Olivia did her best to always conform to expectations. When she didn't, her parents laid down the law. She's always done what's expected of her.  At least until she broke up with the perfect boyfriend. The impetus was not so much that he didn't propose as he didn't think he was going to do it any time soon. Frustrated, she ended things hoping that he'd see how much he missed her. So far that plan's not working and now she has a flat tire. And who is it that (reluctantly) stops to help her? Her ex's nearly-brother, Luke, the man with whom Olivia has such an antagonistic relationship.
Luke doesn't much like Olivia. She's a golden girl who has never known hardship and has always gotten everything she wanted. He grew up with an alcoholic mother and was more the parent than the child for most of their life together. He just doesn't see what they would have in common. Except that he wants to buy a piece of land her father listed but refuses to let go to just anyone. And Olivia needs some help prompting her ex. Fake relationship? Sure. Except it doesn't stay that way for long.
This was a good book except that Olivia was a little too good. Not good at what she does (wish we had gotten to see her more at work) but goody-two-shoes. And it causes a lot of angst. Like, a lot of angst. And Luke is patently unmovable... until he's not. A pretty good book and I'm looking forward to the next in the series.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out February 20
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley
Followed by Claim Me, Cowboy

So Over You by Kate Meader

Isobel Chase was raised to be a winner. While her father ignored her older sister and hid her younger sister, he groomed her to be a hockey player. The Best hockey player. Which is why he chased off Vadim Petrov when he dared to de-virgin-ize Isobel when both were teens.
Now the two have been thrown together again. Vadim has just been drafted to the team Isobel inherited, with her sisters, from her father. And, because he's injured, Isobel is working with him to get him back up to speed. It will result in a player for the team and a new chance for Isobel (her professional career ended after about 20 minutes with a skate to the helmet).
There are a number of stumbling blocks -- she's technically his boss, sleeping with him might look like she's using him to help further her coaching career, their first time together was less than stellar for her... but the chemistry between them is enough to overcome them all.
This wasn't my favorite Meader book. There was a lot of Vad being just SO Russian and it was a little hard to take. I didn't read the first book and didn't feel like I needed to and I am very much looking forward to Dante's love story.

This book comes out December 6
Three stars
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

The Attraction Equation by Kadie Scott

Max Carter is a pretty rigid dude. He only sleeps with women, he never dates them. This is a practice that gets him into trouble when he blurts out at the family Thanksgiving dinner that his family can stop fixing him up- he's already got a girlfriend. Too bad that's not true. So he decides to blackmail the first woman he sees into being his fake girlfriend.
All Gina Castillo wants to do is sneak a small puppy into her friend's apartment. She doesn't want anyone to know about the dog because her friend might get kicked out. The dog wasn't supposed to be adopted yet since he's a gift for Gina's brother for Christmas which is still a month a way.
This is a romance novel so of course peripatetic Gina and uber-rigid Max are going to fall in love. Did I buy it? The attraction, yes, the long-term possibilities for their relationship? Not as much.

This book comes out November 13
Three stars
ARC provided by NetGalley

Changing Colors by Elyse Springer

Tony Quinn likes the world to be well-defined. People go in boxes and that's where they stay. Even in the world of the theater, he manages to keep his life very tidy that way. At least, that's until he meets Gee in a club one night. It's lust at first sight. But then Tony muffs it up. See, Gee is a man who  likes to wear women's clothes. He is not transitioning in any way; he just likes to wear women's clothes. Half the time, he doesn't even shave. And Tony can't handle that. They are together for a short time, then apart for a long time, then together again.
I seem to have picked up several romances lately where one character is rigid and the other one has to make all the changes. That's how I felt about Gee. Here's Tony stepping out of his comfort zone and Gee is shitting all over his efforts. Gee is otherwise so comfortable in his own skin, something you don't get to see often, I wish he hadn't been such a jerk. Then there's the fact that Tony was more or less stalking Gee (or at least his sister had a Google alert out.)

Two stars
This book came out October 23
ARC provided by NetGalley

Totally His by Erin NIcholas

Sophie Birch grew up with a father who was a con man (what is the deal with romance heroine's named Sophie always having con men fathers?). Obviously, this has made her fairly wary of relationships in her adult life, even with her roommates (the heroines of the first two books in this series). Except... it's different with Angela. Sophie sees her as a sort of surrogate mother. And that's the reason she tries to run back into her burning theater; to save the only copy of Angela's play. Too bad some dude keeps trying to rescue her.
Finn Kelly is trying to keep a crazy lady from running into a building but can still take the time to appreciate how hot she looks in the lingerie she's wearing. He can tell she's not the sort of woman who's going to fit into his life but he is drawn to her anyway. Even after meeting her father (this cop can tell when he's being played), he wants to know more and more about her.
This was a typical Nicholas book that I think regular readers will enjoy. I got SO annoyed with both Sophie and Finn though. Finn seemed to have a hero complex that was unwarranted and Sophie was so wishy-washy.

Three stars
This book comes out October 31
Kindly provided as an ARC by NetGalley

Christmastime Cowboy by Maisey Yates

Sabrina and Liam have a past. One that ended badly and scarred both of them for years. It even spiraled to the point where Sabrina is estranged with her father. She now works in the family's vineyard... which no longer belongs to the family since her brother cheated on his wife. Sabrina sided with her (not the reason for the estrangement but it certainly isn't helping since her brother is the family's golden child.)
Liam's family is trying to branch out their dairy program and think that partnering with the vineyard will be a perfect way to do so. Unaware of her past with Liam, Sabrina's boss assigns her to work with him.
Watching these two get back together was interesting. Liam didn't exactly sleep with Sabrina and then discard her but he was still an asshat, even thirteen years later. I didn't love the end of Sabrina's storyline with her father but it was overall a sweet book that regular Yates readers will enjoy.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out October 24

The Final Score by Jaci Burton

We've met both Mia and Nathan in previous series. He was the son of two previous protagonists while she is the sister of one. Since both those books, these two have become close friends and, one crazy night, lovers.
In this book, Mia is concentrating on starting up her business while Nathan is about to step into his father's shoes as the starting quarterback for the Sabers. Both are busy but still make time for each other... even as they're fighting off sexytime feelings for each other.
And most of the first part of the book is "we should have sex" "no we should just be friends," mostly on the part of a very wishy-washy seeming Mia. And it's her actions at the end of the book that knocked it down an entire star. It was great that Nathan called her on it, but based on her actions in most of this book, it made it hard for me to believe these two were going to get their HEA.

Two and a half stars
This book comes out September 2017
Followed by Shot on Gold 

Turned Up by Erin Nicholas

Since grade school, Dillon Alexander and Kit Derby have been at odds, each fighting with the other, pushing to be the best. But since the big tornado trapped them together in a closet, the emergency room doctor and the psychiatrist have been letting those sparks work for them in a different way. Especially now that another storm has hit, a snowstorm that traps them alone at her grandmother's house resulting in a sexy game of Chutes and Ladders. Eventually it leads them to testing out the possibility of having a real relationship.
And that's where the book starts to fall apart for me a little bit. The road blocks to Twu Lurv seemed artificial and somewhat put up. Then they're resolved ridiculously easily. I don't say this often but this book might have been better as a novella.

Three stars
This book comes out August 29

Dirty Dancing at Devil's Leap by Julie Anne Long

This is my favorite of the Hellcat Canyon books so far. I love that our heroine has her own sense of agency and seems to take life by the proverbial balls.
The book opens with Avalon (really? Really?) finding her boyfriend/co-business owner in bed with the company intern. So she runs back to her parents' in Hellcat Canyon. But not for long. She finds out that the old Coltrane house is up for auction. The house where she spent a LOT of time as a teen. Mostly with Mac Coltrane. But that was before he called her a hick. Then his father was arrested for fraud. So she buys the house intending to flip it. But she doesn't realize that there's a groundskeeper that comes with the house.
Mac is disappointed that Avalon bought the house, mostly because he wanted it for himself. I'm not sure the "why" of that was ever explained. Maybe to win back some family honor or something? He's determined to make Avalon leave, except that he's still attracted to her, even two decades later. The two spend some time working to bring the old house into the 21st century and also figuring out that they're still attracted and clearing up old misunderstandings.
I liked the byplay between these two. They were smart about their needling but it gave the readers a chance to see their true characters. I'm not sure I loved the ending but I did love Avalon's sister (and the unnamed father of her daughter) as sequel bait.

Four stars
This book comes out August 22
Follows Wild at Whiskey Creek
Followed by The First Time at Firelight Falls

Holiday in the Hamptons by Sarah Morgan

Toward the end of New York, Actually, we learned that Felicity Knight had an ex-husband who had turned up in Manhattan. Felicity had married Seth Carlyle when they were both too young and divorced him soon after. She has tried to face the sexy vet but has been unable to do so. Instead, she grabs the chance to leave town and head to the Hamptons when her grandmother calls for help.
Unfortunately, (at least in Fliss's eyes) Seth was only in Manhattan for a short stint before he returned to the Hamptons where he immediately runs into Fliss who panics and claims to be her twin sister.
Seth still has feelings for Fliss and is delighted to have this chance to get to know her now. If only she'd cooperate...
And, ufda, was Seth a totally bland bulldozer. We know nothing about him except that he seems to be an all-forgiving saint who doesn't want to give up on their love. He's not an alpha-hole because he does give Fliss a little bit of space but other than the fact that he's missing his father, we really don't get to know him. Nor does he have any discernible flaws while Fliss is described as being just riddled with them (and not just in her own head). At the end, I'm really not sure that these two people are getting an HEA.
I am hoping for better in the next book because I know that Morgan can write in-depth characters and fun-to-read books.

Two stars
This book comes out August 29
Followed by Moonlight over Manhattan

You Say It First by Susan Mallery

This was a charming offshoot of the Fool's Gold series. I didn't have the frustration from that series that SO MANY people recurred in the stories. Don't get me wrong, there is a LOT of sequel-bait in this book but they were woven in well, and there is a nice, built-in explanation for why we'd see some of these people again.
It seems in the 1960s, our heroine's grandfather, wanting to help the town's economy, made up a story about a stagecoach breaking down and the load of women falling in love with the men in town and opting to build the town now known as Happily Inc. Pallas Saunders knows it's a load bull but she still enjoys her role in town providing weddings in a box (or, at least I think she does. All her friends tell her so but she doesn't seem convinced). She needs help though. She's just barely breaking even and she's trying to figure out how to change that. One way is to restore the exquisite wooden panels that divide some of her rooms.
That's where Nick Mitchell comes in. We saw two of his brothers get married in the Fool's Gold series but he's not going to fall into the same trap. He's seen the marriage between his father and mother and seen how much passion can lead you to pain. So, though he's interested in Pallas (and in restoring her panels), he's not going to fall in love.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out August 22
Followed by Second Chance Girl

Second Chance Girl by Susan Mallery

In the first book in this series, we learned a lot about Mathias Mitchell. He's an artist, he sleeps with the numerous bridesmaids that come through their destination-wedding town, and he's entranced by his neighbor, Carol Lund. Well, it's just a flinch, but this is a romance series so we all know what's what.

Carol considers herself a peahen (which, thank god, she let go of after the three times it was mentioned in the first chapter. She's a gamekeeper in her family's recycling center/game preserve and she has a massive crush on Mathias. But they're friends and she doesn't want to ruin that. Plus, he only goes after peacocks (which is not a good analogy, especially for someone who knows animals).
For his part, Mathias is fascinated by Carol. And also more than a little hesitant. His parents have a ... strange relationship and he doesn't want to pull Carol into the maelstrom that is sure to result if he falls in love.
Mallery often twines love stories in her shorter series and stand-alones but she did it in this book as well, linking Carol's sister to a handsome duke.
There were moments that were a little too twee and we didn't get to see as much of Carol and Mathias because of the B plot but I am very much enjoying this series and am looking forward to Ronan's story

This book comes out September 26
Four stars