Heartbreaker Bay, Book #6
Heat Factor: There’s innuendo and sexy kissing in the first 90 pages
Character Chemistry: Eh
Plot: Bad Santa, Alpha Male Posturing, and some other stuff
Overall: DNF
Review: Hot Winter Nights by Jill Shalvis (2018)
Tag: Law Enforcement Hero
Hero
Review: The Winter Lodge by Susan Wiggs (2007)
The Lakeshore Chronicles, Book #2
Heat Factor: A few smooches, and then the door is firmly closed
Character Chemistry: I didn’t always buy it
Plot: Jenny’s house burns down, so Rourke gives her a place to stay, but really there are a million secondary characters and like three subplots. And, of course, family secrets.
Overall: This is not my usual romance fare, and frankly, the romance part didn’t do much for me, but it was still pretty engaging.
Review: Nothing But Good by Kess McKinley (2021)
Heat Factor: Blowjob reciprocity
Character Chemistry: The relationship development did not take a back seat to the suspense plot, so I feel like this worked well.
Plot: Smiley Face Killer drowns young men in Boston, bringing together the FBI agent handling the case and his former best friend/secret crush for the first time in 8 years
Overall: I was not bamboozled
Review: Dream Spinner by Kristen Ashley (2021)
Dream Team, Book #3
Heat Factor: There is some explicit sexy sex, but for a KA novel, it’s surprisingly tame
Character Chemistry: One thing I enjoy about this series is that the relationship hangups are resolved pretty early on, and sometimes instead of huge relationship angst it’s nice to think about those early days of playing house and enjoying little things like your new lover cooking dinner for you or bringing you coffee in the morning.
Plot: The Super Bad Guys are messing with everybody (so, real talk, this one doesn’t really come through as a stand alone)
Overall: My feelings are mixed.
Review: All Fired Up by Jenn Burke (2021)
Ashes & Dust, Book #1
Heat Factor: Dry humping to climax is great, but have you ever tried a “whoops we woke up in the same bed and we’re aroused” hand job?
Character Chemistry: It was sweet
Plot: Someone is sucking the souls out of people with magic, so of course the vampire PI goes undercover to investigate and then ends up metaphysically bound to the soul-sucker
Overall: It took a long time to figure out what the deal was with the love interest, but the mystery and the magical creatures made for a fun read
