Heat Factor: Closed door
Character Chemistry: I have always loved you but can’t say anything because we have too much history and also our families do everything together
Plot: Dhillon doesn’t mind his damn business
Overall: This book commits the cardinal sin of being boring
Heat Factor: Our trio is very creative about the ways they fit their bits together.
Character Chemistry: They didn’t seem like fleshed out characters to me, so it’s hard to say that they had chemistry. But they didn’t have negative chemistry either.
Plot: What happens when a woman comes to gold rush California, when men outnumber women 100 to 1.
Overall: Very expository.
Heat Factor: They keep holding themselves back…until they don’t.
Character Chemistry: Sebastian is too darn noble for his own good, which means there’s a lot of pining.
Plot: Paulina’s Evil Older Brother puts her in a compromising position with Sebastian, and then catches them there, and then throws Sebastian in jail until he agrees to marry Paulina…but what’s his long game???
Overall: A perfectly delicious category romance.
Heat Factor: We’ve got some dildo action!
Character Chemistry: It’s pretty insta.
Plot: Summer is trying to stop gentrification; Aiko works for a developer. Even though they’re on opposite sides of a proposed building project, they can’t help wanting to date.
Overall: This book made me irrationally angry.
Heat Factor: How is Lopez so good at writing sex scenes that are emotionally kinda ugly but still so hot?
Character Chemistry: Boning → antagonism → cooperation → admiration → more boning, this time with feelings
Plot: Alex goes back to her hometown to take over the family bar, only to discover that her grandma is considering selling the bar to someone else. Also, there’s a scavenger hunt for some long-lost paperwork. And a ghost.
Overall: It prompted a lot of thinky thoughts, but the romance didn’t really hit for me.
The Smut Report 