Review: Christmas in the City Anthology

Christmas in the City
Authors: L.J. Shen, Vi Keeland, Penelope Ward, Helena Hunting, Corinne Michaels, Melanie Harlow, Sierra Simone, Kennedy Ryan, Penny Reid, L.H. Cosway, Sarina Bowen, Elle Kennedy
Publication Date: November 26, 2019
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Synopsis:

Twelve bestselling authors have come together to brighten your holiday with six ALL NEW co-written novels. Travel through six cities and fall in love with these enchanting love stories.

Helena Hunting & L.J. Shen
Just The Tip
It’s not every day you meet a stranger who knows how to jingle your bells…

Corinne Michaels & Melanie Harlow
Baby it’s Cold Outside
My Christmas list did not include a broken heart, freezing temperatures, or my tree stuck in the door to my apartment building, but that’s what I got. Just when I thought Santa had failed me, I got something I never thought to ask for …

Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward
Kissmas in New York
It was just supposed to be a simple kiss with a stranger.  I’d done it to prove a point–that I hadn’t lost my sense of adventure. But you know what they say about the best laid plans. Maybe I’d get something in my stocking after all this holiday season…

Sierra Simone & Kennedy Ryan
The Christmas Crown
Noelani, queen of Manaroa, has one mission on her diplomatic visit to the States: forge strategic alliances for her homeland. When she meets brooding security specialist Brock Grimsby, their unexpected alliance heats up the holiday. One night. No promises, but come Christmas, will either be able to walk away?

Penny Reid & LH Cosway
Songbird
Two lonely souls find companionship in Dublin for one magical night. Broderick Adams doesn’t mind his solitude, until she walks in. Ophelia Kelly sings to heal her heart, but has no idea he’s listening.

Elle Kennedy & Sarina Bowen
EPIC
Jamie and Wes are having a blast living and working in Toronto. Until a scout for another team swoops in to make one of them an offer that might complicate the life they’ve built together.

CHRISTMAS IN THE CITY is a holiday gift as a thank you! It is available for a LIMITED TIME!


I have to admit I didn’t know who all was a part of this anthology before purchasing because all I saw was Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy & Jamie & Wes and hit one-click. Then, I got the added bonus of seeing several authors I’ve read and loved. This Christmas in the City collection is a no-brainer. Fans will want to read it. Here are my reviews for each short story.

Just the Tip ★ ★ ★ ★ ½
The chemistry in this one was HOT. It got almost a little nutty, but that added a funny aspect to the story.

Baby It’s Cold Outside ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
I really loved this collaboration. I’ve only read one of the books they collaborated on before and it wasn’t my favorite, but this one was really fun. I loved the little connections in it.

Kissmiss in New York ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
I love Keeland & Ward’s collaborations and this novella was no different. It was so much fun to read and managed to surprise me.

The Christmas Crown ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Simone + Kennedy = FIRE
There’s really no other way to describe their writing together. They make insta-love work in this short story.

Songbird ★ ★ ★ ★ ½
This Reid-Cosway collaboration was shorter than I wanted, but I really enjoyed it. I would love to see it become a full-length novel.

EPIC ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Wesmie… Wes & Jaime… It’s always a pleasure to be back in their world. I love where this short story went. I would have been even happier if it was a full-length novel because, well, Wesmie…

So, yeah. This was an EXCELLENT compilation of Christmas themed romance. I highly recommend it and it’s FREE for a limited time.

Review: Would Like to Meet (Rachel Winters)

Would Like to Meet
Author: Rachel Winters
Publication Date: December 3, 2019
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Women’s Fiction
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ½

Synopsis:

In this charming, feel-good debut novel, a cynical assistant at a screenwriting agency must reenact the meet-cute scenes from classic romantic comedy movies in order to help her #1 client get his scriptwriting mojo back–but can a real-life meet-cute be in store for someone who doesn’t believe in happily ever after?

After seven years as an assistant, 29-year-old Evie Summers is ready to finally get the promotion she deserves. But now the TV and film agency she’s been running behind the scenes is in trouble, and Evie will lose her job unless she can convince the agency’s biggest and most arrogant client, Ezra Chester, to finish writing the script for a Hollywood romantic comedy.

The catch? Ezra is suffering from writer’s block–and he’ll only put pen to paper if singleton Evie can prove to him that you can fall in love like they do in the movies. With the future of the agency in jeopardy, Evie embarks on a mission to meet a man the way Sally met Harry or Hugh Grant met Julia Roberts.

But in the course of testing out the meet-cute scenes from classic romantic comedies IRL, not only will Evie encounter one humiliating situation after another, but she’ll have to confront the romantic past that soured her on love. In a novel as hilarious as it is heartwarming, debut author Rachel Winters proves that sometimes real life is better than the movies–and that the best kind of meet-cutes happen when you least expect them.


Would Like to Meet was a strange reading experience for me. I loved the opening scenes, but then I hit a weird patch where I wasn’t really into the book. I think I need to blame that on my mood. I was super tired. I set the book down for the day and when I came back to it, it picked up for me in a couple of chapters. I was into the story for pretty much the rest of the book.

What I liked about Would Like to Meet:

  • The meet-cutes. They were hilarious!
  • Ben. He was quiet and a little judge-y, but I totally identified with his judging. I was judging Evie in a similar way. Plus, he was the perfect love interest for the story.
  • Anette. She’s Ben’s daughter and involved in all the cuteness of the story. I loved the part she played in this romance.
  • Ezra/NOB. He was a great villain. I loved his ridiculousness.
  • All the awkward, horrible mistakes Evie made.
  • The writing was good for a début author.

Things I disliked:

  • The screenplay sections at the beginning of each chapter. They fit the story, I just wasn’t a fan of them. They bogged down my reading experience.
  • Evie. I wasn’t a fan of her. She drove me nuts because she was so oblivious. If I could see what was coming, why couldn’t she? It was that predictable.
  • It needed more Ben and Anette.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Would Like to Meet. It wasn’t my favorite book, but there were a lot of great things about it. I really loved all the awkward meet-cutes and the parts with Ben and Anette. It was a strong début novel, and I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next for this author.

Series Review: Kiss Me (Emma Hart)

Emma Hart is one of those authors who can be hit or miss for me — most being hits. I really wanted to read the second book in the Kiss Me series, so I decided to go ahead and binge the entire thing. Here are my short but sweet thoughts on each of these Contemporary Romances.

Kiss Me Not
Series: Kiss Me, #1
Author: Emma Hart
Publication Date: August 27, 2019
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Rating: ★ ★ ★

My thoughts:

To be honest, Kiss Me Not is not my favorite Emma Hart novel. It was a fun read, but it didn’t feel like it had much of story to it. Halley’s personality was kind of off-putting. She was supposed to be cooky and she her weirdness as something to hide behind, but I didn’t really find her all that cooky besides the racoon thing. I didn’t get the enemies vibe she had going with Preston. She had a crush on him, yet she threw all this nasty banter his way. He gave it right back, but it just didn’t make sense to me. What was adorable was the way Halley and Preston ended up getting together. The end of the book reinforced that fact that I wanted to read Kiss Me Tonight.

Kiss Me Tonight
Series: Kiss Me, #2
Author: Emma Hart
Publication Date: September 24, 2019
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ½

My thoughts:

Kiss Me Tonight was almost everything I hoped it was going to be. I loved Reagan and Noah together. The way they met over text was hilarious and continued to be hilarious as they texted throughout the story. Reagan was a little over the top, but her personality felt true to her character. Noah was, well Noah. I loved him. The only slight issue I had with this story was the short length of time it took place over. I would have loved to have seen it play out over months, not just weeks.

Kiss Me Again
Series: Kiss Me, #3
Author: Emma Hart
Publication Date: October 22, 2019
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

My thoughts:

 

Kiss Me Again was and wasn’t a lot like Kiss Me Not. Again, both Ava and Ethan have been secretly in love with each other for years. They also treat each other like dirt and argue constantly. Their connection, Ava’s brother Leo, has always known they like each other. That’s where the similarities end. Ava and Ethan go all-out war with each other, and I loved the hi-jinks. I still didn’t get the animosity, but it was easy to stomach this go around. I enjoyed this one more than the first one. It had me laughing a lot.

Overall thoughts on this series:

Kiss Me ties together by the three best friends who are main characters. They all had over the top personalities that would probably rub a lot of men or even people wrong. Halley and Ava’s enemies (or really you could just call it being mean to your crush) relationships were almost too similar. My favorite of the bunch had to be Reagan’s book with all the hilarious texting. Overall, it was a good series.

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I’m Thankful For

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday!

Top Ten Tuesday is an original weekly feature created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is:

Thankful Freebie: Ten Books I’m Thankful For
1. Bright Side
Author: Kim Holden

There’s a big message in this book that spoke to me. It made me think about how I live my life and how I want to.

2. The Other Side
Author: Kim Holden

Another Kim Holden book…This one was a good reminder to me that you can’t judge a book or someone by their cover.

3. Far from the Tree
Author: Robin Benway

I’m an adoptee and while I hadn’t been through what these characters had been through, I could identify with some of their thoughts. For some reason, that brought me some peace.

4. Me Before You
Author: Jojo Moyes

I am thankful for this book because it made me reexamine some of my personal beliefs.

5. The Villa
Author: Nora Roberts

I am thankful for all of the Nora Roberts’ books I have read, but this is the one I feel like really got me into reading as an adult.

6. Slammed
Author: Colleen Hoover

It’s not my favorite CoHo book, but it’s the first one I read and it is the book that introduced me to CoHo’s writing which got me into New Adult romance.

7. Always Time to Die
Author: Elizabeth Lowell

This was the first audiobook I ever listened to. My old boss let me borrow it and I was hooked not only on Elizabeth Lowell romantic suspense but on listening to audiobooks on my commute home.

8. Tapping the Billionaire
Author: Max Monroe

I’m thankful for this book because it’s over the top funny. Sometimes I just need a good laugh and reading this book gave me an author to look for when I need a pick me up read.

9. Grip
Author: Kennedy Ryan

Grip beautifully encompassed so many important issues like racial profiling, interracial relationships, family and forgiveness. It taught me so much while making me feel so much.

10. Nine Minutes
Author: Beth Flynn

This book taught me to 1. not judge a book by its cover, and 2. to challenge myself by picking up books that might make me uncomfortable.

Review: The Rebel King (Kennedy Ryan)

The Rebel King
Series: All the King’s Men Duet, #2
Author: Kennedy Ryan
Publication Date: November 18, 2019
Publisher: Scribechick Media, LLC
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Synopsis:

Ambition. Revenge. Love.

Rita Award-winning author Kennedy Ryan delivers the gripping conclusion to the All the King’s Men Duet.

Raised to resist. Bred to fight. Survival is in my blood and surrender is never an option.

Though surrender is what Maxim Cade demanded of my body and heart, I had other plans. We were fast-burning fascination and combustible chemistry, but the man I trusted with everything was a trickster. A thief who stole my love. If what we had was a lie, why did it feel so real? The man I swore to hate will have it all, and wants me at his side. But power is a game, and we’re the pawns and players.

Facing insurmountable odds, will we win the world, or will we lose it all?


I’m at a loss for words after finishing The Rebel King. I’m in a state of shock and awe. I don’t know what I expected, but whatever it was, it wasn’t the direction this book ended up taking. Some parts killed me emotionally. Other parts brought my heart back to life. The Rebel King had the perfection storm of emotions and once again proved why Kennedy Ryan is a force in the contemporary romance world. She always teaches me so much when she could simply entertain. I’m in awe of her writing, her research, and her heart. The Rebel King was worth every frustrating minute of wait over the three-week period after the The Kingmaker release. It was a satisfying end to an outstanding duet.

Mini Reviews: Girl at Heart (Oram) & One of the Girls (Daniels)

Today, I’m sharing with you two YA contemporary sports romances I read recently. I put them in this mini review together because while they’re written by two different authors, they are part of the same Roosevelt High School world/series.

Girl at Heart
Author: Kelly Oram
Publication Date: November 4, 2019
Publisher: Bluefields
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary Romance, Sports

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

My thoughts:

First, can I just love on this cover? The colors are all so pretty together and it’s just so adorable. It fits the book so well. As for what’s inside the book… I loved every minute of Girl at Heart. It’s the story of a girl who is on the high school boys’ baseball team. She’s always been “just one of the guys”, but Charlie wants to be seen as a girl. Girl at Heart is a really sweet story about Charlie finding herself and falling in love. I was surprised by the emotions I felt while reading it (I teared up and had to stop myself from sobbing, guys.) and the way things played out. It was more than I expected it to be. That shouldn’t have been a shock since I’ve read and loved Oram’s books before, but it was. I loved it so much that when I saw there was another book set in this world with characters I recognized, I knew I needed to read that book, too.

One of the Girls
Author: Robin Daniels
Publication Date: June 20, 2019
Publisher: Bluefields
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary Romance, Sports

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

My thoughts:

Like I said above, this book is connected to Oram’s by the setting and some characters. It actually came out first, but it doesn’t matter which order you read them in. I had never read a book by Robin Daniels before, but I want to read more of them now. I loved One of the Girls just as much as Girl at Heart. This book was opposite that one as it was a boy joining the cheerleading squad. Nick was joined to use his gymnastics skills and to win cheerleading captain Mia’s heart. It was so sweet and definitely a feel-good story.

I really, really hope there are more books to come set at Roosevelt High. Whether they’re from Daniels, Oram, or another author, I would happily read them.

Review: The One for You (Roni Loren)

The One for You
Series: The Ones Who Got Away, #4
Author: Roni Loren
Publication Date: December 31, 2019
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Synopsis:

The highly-anticipated fourth book in Roni Loren’s unforgettable The Ones Who Got Away series.

She got a second chance at life.
Will she take a second chance at love?

Kincaid Breslin wasn’t supposed to survive that fateful night at Long Acre when so many died, including her boyfriend—but survive she did. She doesn’t know why she got that chance, but now she takes life by the horns and doesn’t let anybody stand in her way.

Ashton Isaacs was her best friend when disaster struck all those years ago, but he chose to run as far away as he could. Now fate has brought him back to town, and Ash doesn’t know how to cope with his feelings for Kincaid and his grief over their lost friendship. For Ash has been carrying secrets, and he knows that once Kincaid learns the truth, he’ll lose any chance he might have had with the only woman he’s ever loved.


Roni Loren saved the best for last with The One for You. It is by far my favorite book in The Ones Who Got Away series. I want to say there was something so special about it, but it wasn’t just one thing. It was the whole package.

Kincaid has always been the character who stood out for me throughout the whole series. She’s the reason why I kept reading the series because I didn’t want to miss out on anything that led up to her book. I was greatly rewarded for keeping up with the series because Kincaid’s story was EVERYTHING. She thought she lost everything that fateful night of the shooting. While she did lose someone very important to her, she didn’t lose everything. I loved how it took her estranged best friend Ash turning up in town to show her that.

Ash… I didn’t expect his back story to be as important to me as Kincaid’s, but it was. He was such a great guy. He was generous and kind. Ash truly wanted the people he loved to be happy, even if it was at his own expense. His friendship with Kincaid and the direction it took in this book warmed my heart. It was the type of best friends to lovers / almost second chance at love story a romance reader loves.

I truly adored The One for You. It brought the entire The Ones Who Got Away series full circle and ended it in the best way possible. Kudos to Loren for giving us the story we have been waiting for.

Review: Man Cuffed (Sarina Bowen & Tanya Eby)

Man Cuffed
Series: Man Hands, #4
Authors: Sarina Bowen, Tanya Eby
Publication Date: November 19, 2019
Publisher: Tuxbury Publishing LLC
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

Synopsis:

Mac
A good cop can always spot trouble. That’s why my senses started pinging the moment I met the hottie next door. The neighborhood may never be the same. First she confuses me for a male stripper and tries to remove my uniform. (The guys on the force will never let me live that down.) And then there’s the breaking and entering.
I don’t know what to do with her. My libido has a few ideas of its own, though. Bad, bad ideas.

Meg
Hey, it’s not my fault that Hot Cop’s nightstick gets excited every time we see each other. And I can’t help that someone broke into his apartment.
Fine—that last thing was totally my fault. And I intend to make amends. So when he needs a date for his sister’s wedding, I’m there. This is right up my alley. I’m an actor. By the time it’s over, his entire family will believe we’re a couple.
Even him.

Warning: may cause unrestrained giggling in public. Contains: a bridezilla with a turkey leg, a flash mob, and a growly hero.


Oh my goodness. This Man Hands series has been filled with over-the-top cooky romantic comedies from the start, but I think Man Cuffed might be the zaniest yet. It had one of the funniest beginnings I’ve read in a long time. Sarina Bowen and Tanya Eby definitely know how to get a gal hooked from the get-go and keep up the hilarious drama to keep me reading.

Mac and Meg were messes. Both of them. Meg hit 30 and started to worry she hadn’t accomplished enough in life. That led her to move in next door to Mac. Mac’s a hot cop with strict rules about no relationships. The two have undeniable chemistry, which leads to issues because no relationships and a maybe mid-life-ish crisis. Somehow Mac and Meg managed to be super hot together while also being incredibly awkward. Everything that went on was hilarious and that doesn’t even include all of the incredible side character stuff.

I loved every minute of this book. I was hoping and praying that it was going to be the crazy fun book to help get me out of mini-book hangover I was having. It totally was! Thank you, Man Cuffed for being the book I needed you to be.

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I Recently Added to My TBR (to Replace the Ones I Took Off Last Week)

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday!

Top Ten Tuesday is an original weekly feature created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is:

Changes In My Reading Life

I don’t think I’ve made any big changes to my reading life lately, so I’m going to do my own topic this week:

Ten Books I Recently Added to My TBR
(to Replace the Ones I Took Off Last Week)
1. The Fire
(The Hurricane, #4)
Author: R.J. Prescott

2. King of the Causeway: A King Series Novella
(King, #9.5)
Author: TM Frazier

3. This is Forever
(This Is, #4)
Author: Natasha Madison

4. Wild at Heart
(Wild, #2)
Author: K.A. Tucker

5. Frenemies
Author: Emma Hart

6. Great and Precious Things
Author: Rebecca Yarros

7. Creole Kingpin
(The Magnolia Duet, #1)
Author: Meghan March

8. The Coppersmith Farmhouse
(Jamison Valley, #1)
Author: Devney Perry

9. The Last Train to Key West
Author: Chanel Cleeton

10. Bastard Bachelor Society
(The Bachelors Club, #1)
Author: Sara Ney

Are any of these books on your TBR?

Review: The Fall of Legend (Meghan March)

The Fall of Legend
Series: Legend Trilogy, #1
Author: Meghan March
Publication Date: November 12, 2019
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Note: This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased opinion.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ½

Synopsis:

We come from two different worlds.
I’m from the streets. She might as well live in an ivory tower.
I made my living with my fists. I doubt she could even throw a punch.
Our paths never should have crossed.
We never should have met.
That doesn’t change the facts.
I would sell my soul to taste those red lips.
Fight the devil himself to hear her laugh.
Burn in hell to have a single night.
Scarlett Priest shouldn’t even know men like me exist, but sometimes temptation is stronger than will.
If this is how I go down, it’ll be worth every second of the fall.


I have been curious about Legend ever since meeting him in the Dirty Mafia Duet. He almost had a slimy feel in that book, so I was wondering how he would come across in his own book. Legend was a mystery to me and everyone in the book.  It took me awhile to create an opinion of the man, but I ended up genuinely liking what I found. Legend was a good dude trying to be the best for everyone around him.

Meghan March always gives the reader amazing alpha love interests like Legend, but she never skimps on the female heroine either. Scarlett Priest was an effortlessly cool and interesting chick. She had her own ambitions and drive. I loved how that worked into meeting Legend and everything that came after. She was the driving force and pursuer in this relationship. I don’t see a lot of that in romance novels, so it was really cool.

From the start, Legend and Scarlett have this really cool story. I am not going to tell you anything about it because it’s all about experiencing it. There was so much going on and I’m excited to see how everything is connected and what is to come next. The one thing I was a little surprised at was the cliffhanger. It wasn’t quite what I’ve come to expect from Meghan March. It was a little subtler. That’s not a complaint, just a comment. It still left me wanting to know what is coming next in the Legend Trilogy.