Heat Factor: The slowest of horny slow burns, with hot fading to deep purple after 90%
Character Chemistry: I liked them for each other, but there was more focus on the banter and the danger than on the emotional development
Plot: A loner werebear with a checkered past finds a naked woman washed up on his island. Then she hops up and swims off, and he goes after her. Banter ensues.
We’re wrapping up Rom-Com week here at The Smut Report, so we thought we’d leave you with some comedies that really did make us laugh out loud. And to help us narrow down our options, we chose some books that might be well known in their own distribution circles, but don’t necessarily have the broader distribution of larger publishing house.
If you’re looking for some laughs with your reading this weekend, might we recommend…
Look, she meets him when she’s completely wasted after destroying her surprise-married ex’s car and she’s trying to crash at her sister’s apartment, only to discover that her sister has sublet the apartment to someone else. After she’s already let herself in. And the new renter is super naked. And super mad that she just punched him in the eye. Things can only go up from there, right?
While this book is chock full of situational humor, it’s all about the protagonists being true to themselves.
The tag line for this book is: We’re basically Romeo and Juliet. But dudes. And without all the dying.
And if that’s not the energy of this book in a nutshell, I don’t know what to tell you. Chad and Bailey are in rival frats and, because of Reasons, can’t consort with the enemy. It’s very college-level maturity and shenanigans, but that’s in no small part because Chad is hell-bent on embracing the final throes of his youth. James intentionally wrote Chad to be “such a Chad” who still gets his own HEA with a guy who loves him, pranks and all, so it’s all meant to be fun.
When Heidi’s mom found out she was working at a studio that records erotic romance and then started taking sex tips from the erotic romance she was reading, I started choking on my own laughter. This book is Minnesota AF, and it’s hilarious. Heidi’s journey to be brave enough to ask out her neighbor—who’s totally into her, she just can’t see it—is full of embarrassing twists and turns that make Heidi want to crawl in a hole and also ultimately gives her a greater sense of community.
If unlikable heroines are your jam, I would like to introduce you to Betsy, Vampire Queen. She is selfish, vain, and very very unimpressed with her new role as ruler of the undead—especially since all the other vampires have such bad fashion sense. Think the Shopaholic books, but with vampires. Don’t go in expecting the full HEA here, as this is the first book in a long series about Betsy’s adventures.
There’s a scene where Mrs. Martin and Ms. Beauchamps hire some carol singers to follow Mrs. Martin’s Terrible Nephew down the street singing “Robby Bobkins” over and over again to the tune of the Halleleuia chorus from Handel’s “Messiah.” (You’re welcome for the earworm.) There are also shenanigans involving livestock, and a bit where the neighborhood prostitutes collectively agree to no longer service that same Terrible Nephew. Everything about this book is delightful.
This is a duo so far (book 3 is in the works) about a crime fighting couple consisting of a reluctant psychic who lives with a bunch of eccentric old people and her private investigator boyfriend. It’s pretty nuts, like all of Lucy Score’s books, but it’s just a totally fresh and unique situation full of hijinks and absurdity, and if you’re looking for something with a very immersive setting and very little stress, this is just the ticket.
HeatFactor: Like all Pippa Grant, there’s a healthy dose of sexual tension and plenty of heat.
Character Chemistry: They’re all kind of bumbling but hot. It’s the Pippa special.
Plot:
Jock Blocked – Brooks Elliott kept his V-card for baseball luck and upon being traded to the Copper Valley Fireballs, decides he’s going to finally do away with it. Ultra Mega Fan Mackenzie can’t let that happen, so she goes out of her way to stop him. Hilarity ensues.
Real Fake Love – Luca Rossi is in the baseball Hall of Fame and does a lot of modeling and commercials. Henri is a secretly famous romance author who can’t stop getting engaged and wants Luca to teach her how to stop falling in love with every guy she dates. There’s an Italian Nonna who is pretty absurd.
The Grumpy Player Next Door – Max Cole is a super anxious, grumpy baseball player with a really difficult past, who desperately wants to belong in the small town he’s in. Tillie Jean is like the backbone of the community, and his best friend’s sister. She basically needles him into making out and then everything falls apart. But in a good way.
Overall: This series is classic Pippa–a lot of physical humor, absurdity, and inside jokes–and it was absolutely good but I think I overdid the Pippa books.
Holly got an ARC of Something Fabulous for herself, and Erin was like, “You got that for me, right?” Obviously, that meant we had to review this book together. It’s time for a Dueling Review!
Something Fabulous, Book #1
Erin’s Take
Heat Factor: I don’t think I’ve ever read (highly enthusiastic) rimming as the first interlude, and it was a refreshing change of pace
Character Chemistry: In its essentials, the grumpy one is soft for the sunshine one. Or, rather, the rigid one is soft for the free spirited one.
Plot: A very bad proposal of marriage leads to a road trip of personal discovery
Overall: I laughed, I cried, I laughed some more, and then I sighed with happiness
Holly’s Take
Heat Factor: Unexpectedly explicit about arseholes
Character Chemistry: Utterly irritating, utterly captivated
Plot: Valentine finds himself the villain in a gothic novel
Overall: I found the silly first half a slog, but my heart went pitter-pat in the end
The Smut Report 