Heat Factor: 👩❤️💋👨
Character Chemistry: Super duper wholesome
Plot: A Courtship
Overall: This novella is lovely and soft
Review: The Craft of Love by EE Ottoman (2018)
Tag: Artist Heroine
Heroine – Fine arts, not including musician/writer
Review: Unexpected Goals by Kelly Farmer (2021)
Out on the Ice, Book #2
Heat Factor: At the point I stopped reading, Maisey was thinking a lot about how women have sex, but my understanding is that it’s a slow burn (so I’m guessing at least one scene toward the end)
Character Chemistry: There were plenty of cute moments
Plot: I think this is what people are referring to when they say they want “no plot just vibes”
Overall: Once they stopped being enemies at the 25% mark, all tension driving me to read was lost, so this one’s a DNF
Review: The Brightest Star in Paris by Diana Biller (2021)
Sequel to The Widow of Rose House
Heat Factor: There’s a flame, but it’s more docile wood stove than raging inferno.
Character Chemistry: They really like each other, but are holding back.
Plot: Amelie has made a safe life for herself and her younger sister—and then Benedict comes back to Paris after twelve years away.
Overall: I really liked this book. A lot.
Review: Strength Check by Katherine McIntyre (2021)
Dungeons and Dating, Book #1
Heat Factor: It’s a pretty slow burn
Character Chemistry: Despite meeting at a very inopportune time, the chemistry is immediate and comfortable.
Plot: Roxie has opened a board game cafe with her two best friends and been painfully ejected from her last relationship when she meets her new roommate, Mel. And Mel has just essentially fled to Cali for a new job after breaking up yet again with her ex boyfriend. But they both have an easy and immediate bond with an undercurrent of rawr.
Overall: It had its slow parts, but the romance was certainly satisfying.
Review: Heartbreak for Hire by Sonia Hartl (2021)
Heat Factor: It’s a pretty juicy one
Character Chemistry: They’re an instant connection that kind of shifts and evolves over time
Plot: Brinkley is working semi-undercover as a Heartbreaker—she goes out and exacts revenge on men who are wronging women. She ends up flunking a mark (who is named Mark!) and is shocked to discover that Mark is hired to be her new trainee…but everyone is lying and it’s a real mess.
Overall: I loathed whole parts of this book but I’m pretty sure the author did it to me on purpose because it all kind of fed into the ending.
The Smut Report 