Heroine
Suddenly Shifters, Book #5
Heat Factor: Gary was more forward than I expected
Character Chemistry: Suddenly don’t hate each other, suddenly sex…It all happens pretty suddenly
Plot: Gary feels unwell one night and wakes up able to shift into a squirrel. When he goes to the library for answers, he gets some help from his neighbor, Marie, who is super grumpy.
Overall: The amount of musical theater tune references in this book is really something
Scottish Bookshop #1
Heat Factor: It’s not a hot and heavy book, but there IS some slow burning tension.
Character Chemistry: UGH, call me a sucker but apparently my weakness is Very, Very, Grumpy Scottish Men and Beautiful Isolated Places
Plot: Nina is laid off from her job as a librarian and jumps headfirst into running a very small, very cute bookstore from a very large van in the northern Scottish countryside, where she ends up meeting a grumpy farmer going through a divorce.
Overall: It was adorable to the max and full of dry humor.
Heat Factor: It gets pretty steamy, but it’s later in the book and it’s not heavy.
Character Chemistry: One of those hate then love ‘em type books
Plot: Christopher is a billionaire and grandson of a state senator/presidential hopeful from Georgia who took over his brother’s business and is looking for a new place to build a state-of-the-art factory. Taylor is a small-town, southern, bookseller who is the glue of her community. Then Christopher can’t stay away, and Taylor and Christopher both end up having to re-examine the lives they think they wanted.
Overall: One of the more accurate depictions of a small town I’ve seen—slow, but with good character development.
Slow Burn, Book 2
Heat Factor: This series is called “Slow Burn,” so don’t be surprised when the sex happens pretty late in the story.
Character Chemistry: It’s obvious to everyone but Joellen that Cameron is completely smitten.
Plot: Joellen’s new neighbor is suuuuuper annoying and suuuuuper hot and somehow now he’s giving her kissing lessons.
Overall: I really liked this one, but I also know that some readers may find some parts of this book challenging.
Heat Factor: It’s hot and a bit gritty.
Character Chemistry: It’s very much like the sleeve of cookies in my cupboard at 9:30pm–we know better, we know it’s not going to feel good tonight, and we know we’ll regret it tomorrow, but do we eat the cookies anyway? We do.
Plot: Jane and Gabriel meet at a museum and are instantly and deeply aflame–even though Jane stubbornly leads Gabriel on a teasing chase. Gabriel insists they are lovers who have connected and failed to secure their future together over and over throughout the years, and it’s hard to tell if they’ll manage to end up together this time around.
Overall: This was a DNF for complicated reasons that I will happily elaborate on below.
The Smut Report 