Heroine – Business owner, esp. started her own business
Rescue Me, Book #3
Heat Factor: It’s pretty steamy. There’s a lot of whoopie going on.
Character Chemistry: They start out, without exaggeration, from the first page.
Plot: Lachlan has been in love with Ruby since he was 12—and when she finally makes a move, he jumps to conclusions while also dealing with shady happenings in the neighborhood.
Overall: I don’t think it’s a grumpy/sunshine, and I am gobsmacked to say that I think I don’t like flowery talk in my romance novels?
Advertisements for Love, Book #1
Heat Factor: Everything is very proper; the door is firmly closed.
Character Chemistry: Ewan is too obtuse to have chemistry with anyone.
Plot: Dueling flower farms + Widow must protect her child + First love back from the dead + Battles over an inheritance + Newspaper advertisements for a husband
Overall: I haven’t been this angry about a hero in a long time.
To kick off Secret Baby Week, Holly and Ingrid buddy-read Then, Now, Always by Mona Shroff. And you know what that means: time for a duel! (Moderated by Erin)
Heat Factor: The door is firmly closed.
Character Chemistry: Um. It’s complicated. But also love at first sight.
Plot: Maya and Sam were in love. But they broke up. Now it’s 16 years later and Maya finally tells Sam that he has a daughter.
Overall: This was kind of a weird book and I’m still processing how I feel about it.
Heat Factor: This is not a book with a temperature.
Character Chemistry: It’s both “at first sight” and also a slow, complicated development at the same time.
Plot: Maya and Sam had a good thing going until everything blew up and incredibly bad choices were made. Then, 16 years later, Maya fesses up that she’s kept their child secret from Sam and he’s an emotional wreck, understandably.
Overall: I maintain that this trope is a massive romantic buzzkill and this book is like a case study in why that is.
Fix-It Witches, Book #1
Heat Factor: She climbs him like a tree, so that’s fun…but I would have liked a little more communication beforehand
Character Chemistry: They were so not on the same page but also so into each other
Plot: So many drama shenanigans
Overall: Oof
Bishop Brothers, Book #3
Review of Bishop Brothers #1, Bishop Brothers #2
Heat Factor: The sex is very complicated on account of the power dynamics and the lies
Character Chemistry: I bought it
Plot: Emma is a plant in Connor’s office, so she’s a lying liar. Connor is just a billionaire trying not to bone his employee and failing. Can you guess what happens next?
Overall: My HR brain was screaming, but also somehow I was shockingly sympathetic to these protagonists.
The Smut Report 