Tag: Friends to Lovers

Lips Like Sugar | Jess K. Hardy

Posted 03/28/2024 by Hilarye in ARC Review, Book Reviews / 0 Comments

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Series: Bluebird Basin #2
Published by Pinkity Publishing on 03/28/2024
Format: DRC (364 pages)
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Jess K. Hardy has done something miraculous. She made me love Cole Sanderson more than I already loved Matthew Madigan. I was sure it couldn’t be done, but alas, here we are. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I want to live in Red Falls. It has small-town energy, beautiful scenery, a delicious bakery, a fantastic bar named Jimmy O’Callaghan’s Irish Public House (with a jukebox), and insanely hot 50-some-odd-year-old rockstars. What’s not to love? Cole Sanderson is the epitome of the ‘golden retriever’ MMC, and I’m pretty sure my heart grew three sizes while reading […]

Come As You Are | Jess K. Hardy

Posted 03/24/2024 by Hilarye in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

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Series: Bluebird Basin #1
Published by Pinkity Publishing on 11/01/2022
Format: Kindle (318 pages)
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Were you a 90s alternative kid? Do you like small-town feels, 90s grunge, flannel, a good mixed tape, one hell of an epic love story, and adorable St. Bernard puppies? How about a sexy 53-year-old guitar player with tattoos or a badass 46-year-old divorcee who owns a ski resort? No? Well then, we can’t be friends. An ex-rockstar and recovering addict—who now runs a sober living home—helps a divorced, single mom save her beloved ski resort from being bought by her asshole ex-husband. That simple synopsis does NOT do this book justice. Because Jess Hardy created a relationship […]

Funny Feelings | Tarah DeWitt

Posted 03/17/2024 by Hilarye in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

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Published by St. Martin’s Griffin on 05/02/2023
Format: Kindle (311 pages)
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Farley Jones is a lot of things. But ask anyone, and the first thing they will tell you is, that she is funny. Like really, REALLY funny. But booking gigs as a woman in comedy is hard. Especially when you’re crass, high-maintenance, and have no filter—consequences be damned. Meyer Harrigan was once a very successful standup comedian. He retired from comedy when he unexpectedly became a single dad and the sole caregiver to his daughter, Hazel. It’s Hazel’s 7th birthday, and things aren’t going well. A freak rainstorm tears through LA, ruining her perfect water park party plans. Every […]

Rootbound | Tarah DeWitt

Posted 03/10/2024 by Hilarye in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

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All-Time Favorite
Published by St. Martin’s Griffin on 05/02/2023
Format: Kindle (336 pages)
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Tait and Henry’s relationship is so wholesome and healthy—from strangers to friends to lovers. I loved everything about them. Tait is creative, strong, and independent. Henry is patient, loyal, and gentile. Both carry baggage they’ve needed to put down for much too long. But this book is so much more than Tait and Henry’s romance. This book is about facing your fears, finding your footing, breaking through the limitations you’ve imposed on yourself, opening your heart, untangling your roots, and finally letting yourself grow. “When you buy a new plant, you often have to cut the roots when […]

Given Our History | Kristyn J. Miller

Posted 03/03/2024 by Hilarye in ARC Review, Book Reviews / 0 Comments

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Published by St. Martin’s Griffin on 08/27/2024
Format: DRC (336 pages)
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Seventeen years of friendship. Thirteen years of loving each other. Six years of heartache. And one year to finally get it right. Teddy and Clara meet one rainy afternoon at a summer camp for homeschooled kids. Their friendship is forged over a game of Trivial Pursuit, a 3-legged race, a sprained ankle, and a can of Pepsi. Phone numbers are exchanged, many phone calls are made, mixed CDs are burned, and The Long-Distance History Club is formed — two adorably nerdy kids who quickly become best friends. I was not expecting this to be such an angsty, wonderful, […]

Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands | Heather Fawcett

Posted 02/29/2024 by Hilarye in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

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Series: Emily Wilde #2
Published by Del Rey on 01/16/2024
Format: Kindle (340 pages)
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Heather Fawcett has done it again. She successfully created a new fantasy wonderland filled with Fae, both deadly and delightful, and then sent Emily and Wendell on a quest that kept me turning pages until the wee hours of the morning. One of the things I enjoyed most about the first book was the way the story was told in a journal-like format. Thankfully not much has changed, and we still get to experience the story through Emily’s detailed journal entries. The events of this book take place about a year after the end of book 1. Emily is […]

Savor It | Tarah DeWitt

Posted 02/25/2024 by Hilarye in ARC Review, Book Reviews / 0 Comments

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All-Time Favorite
Published by St. Martin’s Griffin on 05/21/2024
Format: DRC (331 pages)
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Hold on, I have to stop crying before I can continue… OK. DEAR GODS. Where do I even begin? Sage & Fisher. My heart will never be the same. I laughed, I cried, I laughed while crying, and I cried while laughing. The last two are very different, but equally amazing emotional states. Sage & Fisher are EVERYTHING. Relationship goals, friend goals, found family goals, small town goals, adopted animal goals – just – ALL. THE. GOALS. I have not loved or been moved by a book this much in a very long time. Sage Byrd has lived […]

The Rom-Commers | Katherine Center

Posted 02/22/2024 by Hilarye in ARC Review, Book Reviews / 0 Comments

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Published by St. Martin’s Press on 06/11/2024
Format: DRC (321 pages)
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This was my first book by Katherine Center, and it will definitely not be my last. I was hooked from the first page and voraciously devoured Emma & Charlie’s story. I was pleasantly surprised how Center effortlessly spun a fun and epic love story but managed to sprinkle in bits of tragedy, hardship, and perseverance. The more somber moments didn’t detract from the levity of the story. They, in fact, made it better; more believable & real. Just two wonderfully flawed characters, trying their best to deal with the tragedies of their past. All while hoping for a […]

Right Where We Left Us | Jen Devon

Posted 02/15/2024 by Hilarye in ARC Review, Book Reviews / 0 Comments

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Published by St. Martin’s Griffin on 06/18/2024
Format: DRC (359 pages)
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Temperance & Duncan fell deeply in love when they were 18. They spent one secret, inseparable summer together and then a plethora of insanely crappy things happened that inevitably led to their breakup. In the 14ish years since, whenever they entered each other’s orbit, they were drawn together like magnets. But years of miscommunication, misunderstanding, and guilt meant they never could get it right. Now, Duncan is helping build his family’s winery, and Temperance is a pediatrician at a local clinic. When Duncan’s brother proposes to Temperance’s best friend, the couple who has tried to deny their feelings […]

Waiting for Christmas | Cynthia Eden

Posted 12/31/2023 by Hilarye in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

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Published by Hocus Pocus Publishing on 11/14/2023
Format: Kindle (135 pages)
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Eh, it was ok. Honestly, I feel kind of icky now that I’ve finished it. The FMC’s name is Christmas (Chrissy). Because she was born on Christmas Eve. Her brother is Forth. Because he was born on the Fourth of July. Seriously, I can’t make this shit up. Really, REALLY cheesy. I feel like MMC, Wyatt, threw up red flag after red flag. I just didn’t like him. He was too protective & alpha. In a creepy way. Maybe it’s because this is a novella & there wasn’t time to develop the characters as much. Or maybe it’s […]