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Heartstopper, #3
Reviews of Heartstopper #1 and #2
Heat Factor: Sleepovers are now forbidden at Charlie’s house, but they do go on a field trip to Paris… (and talk about how they’re not ready yet)
Character Chemistry: Silly teenager flirting
Plot: Acknowledging oneself is one kind of scary, but coming out is a whole other kind
Overall: The sweetness remains! But there’s also a lot of giggling.
Heat Factor: Well hello, on page sex, I did not expect to see you here
Character Chemistry: Uh, grumpy cynic is soft for tortured cinnamon roll. YES PLEASE
Plot: The relics are BACK! With an aura-sucking vampire paranormal, a rude English Viscount who finds himself in the middle of a situation he knows nothing about, and a Puerto Rican nullification magic paranormal who has an overdeveloped sense of responsibility and a tragic past
Overall: I am so delighted I might go back and read Magic in Manhattan all over again so I can get some more vibes
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.
This month, as part of talking about morality chain romances, we all read Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase. It comes up frequently as a “canon” romance, but none of us had read it before. Spoiler alert: we all really liked it.
Scoundrels, Book #3
Holly
Heat Factor: Purple prose alert!
Character Chemistry: Sarcasm abounds. Also, she tells him that he’s sensitive and he’s baffled but she’s not wrong.
Plot: Jessica must rescue her brother from the clutches of the Marquess of Dain. He compromises her. She shoots him. They get married.
Overall: ZOMG. The plot gets a little saggy towards the end, but I still had a blast.
Erin
Heat Factor: Kissing in the RAIN! 💕 But yeah, standard histrom fare albeit on the steamy side
Character Chemistry: She’s competent AF and he’s a man baby, and they’re both super besotted, so it’s pretty excellent, in fact
Plot: antagonists → spouses → exasperated (Jessica)/emotionally constipated (Dain) → lovers
Overall: Bottom line, this is simply a very fun read
Ingrid
Heat Factor: Oh, my.
Character Chemistry: Had Dain been with any other woman, I would have hated it…but since he was with Jess…swoon.
Plot: Dain is fully committed to a life of debauchery when he meets Jessica, who is a spinster and really doesn’t have any time for his nonsense unless he’s got her pressed up against a wall. Once he ruins her and refuses to do the right thing, she shoots him, they negotiate, and they’re pretty much in a bout of emotional fencing until the book ends.
Overall: Obsessed.
The Smut Report 