Family for Beginners by Sarah Morgan

Flora Donovan's father deserted her before she was born. Her mother died when she was eight and she grew up with an aunt who saw her as baggage. Her past has made her very sensitive to others who are hurting. And she sees the daughters of Jack Parker hurting. He came into the flower store where she worked and was immediately intrigued. A widower for almost a year, he knows his daughters are in pain but he isn't able to see how deep. When he introduces Flora to seventeen-year-old Izzy and seven-year-old Molly, it doesn't go well but he isn't able to see.
And I think Morgan does a good job of showing the emotions of each character and the blocks that each one has as well. The book was a bit narrow compared to some of others of Morgans books -- the focus is super tight mainly on Izzy and Flora but I strangely felt like they were a bit one-dimensional as well in places. Definitely on par with others of Morgan's books that aren't strict romances (though there is an HEA here) but didn't pull on as much emotion as others.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out May 5th
ARC kindly provided by Harlequin and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

One Perfect Summer by Brenda Novak

23andMe is uncovering a lot of long-held family secrets. Serenity, Reagan, and Lorelei have discovered they are half-sisters and have decided to spend a weekend together in Lake Tahoe to try and get to know each other. Serenity is dealing with the fall-out of her eight-year marriage ending; Reagan had and affair with a married man; Lorelei's husband has just admitted that he cheated on her with her best friend. The three ladies spend enough time together to realize they need more than just the weekend they originally planned for.
I liked the depiction of Lucy, Lorelei's four-year-old, in this book. She wasn't a plot moppet at all. However, I did not like the fact that all of the characters felt a little flat. This is a long book but there was So Much going on that none of it felt like the kind of in-depth story that Novak can do. I actually would have liked it much better had every romantic interest been edited out and the ladies had just had time to grow from the bonds with each other.

Three stars
This book comes out April 7th
ARC kindly provided by Harlequin Mira and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

The Honey-Don't List by Christina Lauren

Everyone (in general) is very aware that what is in front of the cameras on reality TV is often VERY different than what is happening behind the cameras. Carey Douglas, having worked for Melissa and Rusty Tripp, beloved renovation stars, since she was 16 knows their lives better than most. James McCann is newer to the team but he is beginning to understand that Melissa and Rusty may not actually be the characters that they play on TV. When Rusty and Melissa are going on a bus trip to promote their newest show, Carey and James are lassoed into helping make sure that no one sees the man behind the curtain. Neither especially likes the other but enforced time together might just make them see another side.
This wasn't exactly enemies-to-lovers, more indifference-to-lovers. And even the "lovers" part didn't really feel like there was enough time for me really to see how the two would work together. The rest of the story is, in general, fast, fun, and fluffy but I'm used to more relationship-building from the Christina Lauren team.

Three stars
This book comes out March 24th
ARC kindly provided by Gallery, Pocket Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Life and Other Inconveniences by Kristan Higgins

Taking a page from innumerable contemporary romances at the moment, this book is told from alternating first person narrators. The person we hear from the most is Emma London. When her mother died, her father dumped her with his mother, the incredibly well-known designer, Genevieve London. She never quite feels like she belongs. And it becomes official when, at 18, Emma gets pregnant. Suddenly, she is out on the streets without a penny to her name so she goes to live with her maternal grandfather.
Years later, Emma gets a call from Genevieve; Genevieve is dying and wants to surround herself with family in her last days. Emma doesn't want to leave her burgeoning psychiatry practice but a series of events, including her now-teenage daughter, Riley, being bullied by her former group of friends. Now Emma, Riley, and Emma's grandfather are all going to live with Genevieve.
Like many Higgins books, there's a lot going on in this novel. Maybe too much... there are a lot of Big Themes and trying to deal with all of these leaves little room for character or relationship development. I would have thought that Emma and her romantic interest would have been more of a focus... except that this book is categorized in Women's Fiction. And that made it less interesting than Higgins' other books. She's good at big emotions but they hit more with the reader when they're tied to people we care about. And that just didn't happen in this particular Higgins book.

Three stars
This book came out August 6th
ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley
Opinions are my own