Two rival chefs in love, marriage of convenience and a dream land to save.
Everyone thought Sullivan and Kia hated each other in culinary school, but tTwo rival chefs in love, marriage of convenience and a dream land to save.
Everyone thought Sullivan and Kia hated each other in culinary school, but they shocked them all by sharing a kiss in the graduation ceremony. After that, they went in separate ways and never saw each other again. Until Kia finds herself buying the land Sullivan has promised her family she’d save, to build a place for food truck owners.
When a fast food company also tries to buy the land, Sullivan and Kia decide to marry to ensure they are the ones getting it first. Kia is the lesser of two devils, but it’s still breaking Sullivan’s heart. Especially because Sullivan is starting to fall in love with the woman who is about to destroy her heart.
Taste the Love was, on paper, the perfect book. But the execution didn’t manage to live up to the amazing premise. First, I loved how Sullivan and Kia met. I adored the idea of two rivals who don’t hate each other, but love to compete to be the best, while also helping each other get better-it made me want to read that story instead.
The premise of Kia and Sullivan not being able to fall in love because they both wanted the same land for different purposes, while having to work together to ensure at least they were the ones getting the land, and not the fast food chain, could have worked as an obstacle if it didn’t have so many plot holes.
Firstly, it was very frustrating that Sullivan always blamed Kia for buying the land, when the fast food company would have bought it if it wasn’t for Kia’s help. Sullivan didn’t have the money to buy the land, so blaming the person who was buying the land when she wouldn’t be able to afford it didn’t make sense to me.
On top of that, if Sullivan’s dream was to ensure the land her grandfather loved was safe, it didn’t make sense that she, being a responsible thirty something year old, decided not to open the letters of the association who owned the land.
Because of that, I was frustrated about Kia spending the whole book apologizing and blaming herself when, in a way, was half-saving the land. Kia could have let the fast food chain buy the land and find another place for food trucks, leaving Sullivan to fix it herself (and she didn’t have the money to stop the deal). While Kia wouldn’t have preserved it, at least she would have made a better space than a fast food company would, and they could figure out a way to preserve part of the green places and use the others for the food trucks.
The most annoying part was that I figured out the solution at the beginning of the book. It was completely out of character that Sullivan hadn’t figured it out. I felt Sullivan spent the whole book pitying herself because Kia was destroying her dream and there was nothing she could do to preserve their love and her beloved land, but taking no action to save it herself.
Lastly, the whole fight with the food company felt unrealistic. Of course a big company can use its money and power to buy the judges and destroy the main character’s lives. But they weren’t being subtle, they used flat villains to blackmail the main characters outside court. They could have recorded the whole thing and make it viral, taking into account Kia was an influencer.
Premise aside, the book was too slow and the inner monologues were repetitive, they kept going through the same feelings for so long. The pacing of the romance was all over the place. Basically they were in love from the beginning, only that it took Sullivan some time to realize it, and then they couldn’t be together because of the whole land thing. I wanted to see why they were so obsessed with each other and see the progression in their feelings, instead of repetitive monologues and a sudden change of heart.
Also, it was mentioned several times that Sullivan had a masculine lesbian vibe that made all the guys fall for her back at school. Like, what?
Finally, I didn’t quite enjoy the audiobook. It didn’t really bring the characters to life and I kept losing attention and having to go back and relistening to it.
I could get going but I think it’s more than enough. I loved the idea of the book and I enjoyed the beginning, but the execution could have been better. I couldn’t stand Sullivan, the pacing was off, the drama wasn’t realistic and the story had way more pages than it needed to be.
Overall, I’m annoyed because I loved the premise and the cover but the story didn’t live up to them. I would have rather read the story of them falling in love while being rivals in culinary school.
Marine was driving to her wedding when an accident almost ended her life. The responsible is Grady, a vet who fell asleep after too many hours of workMarine was driving to her wedding when an accident almost ended her life. The responsible is Grady, a vet who fell asleep after too many hours of work, even though the cake knife she was carrying on her lap made the majority of the damage and his quick thinking was the only reason she’s still alive.
After the accident, she loses everything. Except for Grady, who is there to pick up her pieces and take care of her, out of guilt for what happened. Only that Marine wants him to start seeing her as something more than a punishment.
Every Chance After is a hurt-comfort book, slow paced and full of secondary characters that will become Marine’s found family. I don’t think I was the audience for this, because I don’t quite like the dynamic of the sunshine princess who is always kind and the grumpy hero who protects her from everything. I want my heroines to save themselves, and I want them to be a bit mad and unkind sometimes.
For example, when her fiancee went to their honeymoon with his best friend while she was at the hospital recovering from an accident that almost killed her, the heroine was just sad. Like, come on! You were supposed to be in love with the asshole! She told him it was okay, that she understood!
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Leaving the fact that Marine was too nice for me, I was very disappointed about the lack of progression on the hero’s part. You see at the beginning that he has a problem. He felt asleep because he had too much on his plate. He was taking care of everyone, so he should work less and focus on quality time with their family, instead of doing their chores but never staying to enjoy their presence. There wasn’t really a discussion on this. Like, he could feel asleep and bump into someone else at any point?
I also didn’t see a lot of progression on his guilt towards the accident. He went from letting it be an obstacle for their love, to accepting that they could be good together. I missed really seeing a change in how he felt. Feelings aren’t linear. I also missed this on the heroine: she accepted everything so easily, she wasn’t mad or surprised, barely felt any sadness. Taking into account the trauma they were dealing with, I wanted a rollercoaster of emotions that would have made me believe they were real people.
Grady’s character was in general very flat. He started being the protector trying to save everyone (and almost killing someone because of his lack of sleep) and ended the book being the same person, only adding one more person to take care of.
On top of that, the pacing of the novel was off. One day Grady was playing matchmaker between Marine and his brother, the next day (literally) he was telling her they were in forever. I felt the book was too repetitive towards the middle, only to rush the ending for no reason.
That being said, I liked certain aspects of the book, especially the whole game night with all the family and the fact that Marine made her own board games and was the best at making the supermarkets she worked at the best in the region. She was very cool in that aspect.
Overall, this wasn’t the book for me. The ‘bad characters’ were a bit flat and unrealistic, and the pacing wasn’t always the best. That being said, this has an average rating of 4.30 (07/17/25) because I’m aware a lot of readers actually enjoy hurt-comfort books and sunshine heroines protected by grumpy heroes. If you are one of those, you may like this.
*Rating: 1.5/5
I kindly received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own....more
It was supposed to be another uneventful day for Evie, until she found her fiancée naked in their bed with another woA romance made for dog lovers
It was supposed to be another uneventful day for Evie, until she found her fiancée naked in their bed with another woman. Now she’s single and jobless, since she worked at her fiancée’s clinic, but has a new purpose in life: rescuing the animal shelter where she used to volunteer when she was a teenager. The animal shelter where she met the one who got away: Bryson Mitchell.
But something more happens that day: Bryson is back after a decade of living in another state, and he’s more handsome than ever.
Pugs and Kisses was such a cute story. I listened to the audiobook and had fun following Evie and Bryson’s plans to try to save the animal shelter. If you love dogs, it’s going to be even more special for you, because they are the soul of this book.
While I loved the idea of the book (I fell in love with the title, which doesn’t happen often!), I think the romance could have been better. My main problem is that, while Evie and Bryson made a great couple, I felt they were already in love when the book started. I wanted to witness how they fell in love again, but I felt they were obsessed with each other since they were teens and, once they could get back together, they did. This meant that I wasn’t that invested in their romance, because there wasn’t really a progression in the way they saw each other.
Still, I would have given this three stars because it was a cozy, light, feel-good story, if it wasn’t for the annoying ending. I’m so tired of third act drama that doesn’t make sense only to have that final problem before the end. With the animal shelter plot, the author could have used that to create tension instead of making the characters do what they did towards the end. I’m someone who doesn’t mind characters arguing towards the end if it’s a reasonable problem, but this time it just showed they couldn’t communicate and gave up so easily on their relationship.
I expected more from two people who had been obsessed with each other for over a decade.
As for the audiobook, I prefer having two narrators for dual-POV romances, but the narrator did a great job at bringing the story and the characters to life. I enjoyed listening to it and I think it made the reading experience better.
Overall, Pugs and Kisses was a bit too low-angst for me (except for the ending, that was annoying), but it was a cute book that I would still recommend if you want a cozy love story about two dog lovers falling in love.
I can’t remember being so frustrated reading a book
During their whole childhood, Ellie and Cristiano were best friends. Their families did everything I can’t remember being so frustrated reading a book
During their whole childhood, Ellie and Cristiano were best friends. Their families did everything together, and they did too. Until, one day, something happened and they started to avoid each other’s presence.
After fourteen years of not talking, a wedding is fusing Ellie and Cristiano’s families together. Neither of them can skip this time, so they would have to act as if nothing has happened between the two for an entire summer. It shouldn’t be so hard, right?
The Summer You Were Mine had a couple things I liked: the Italian setting, the Italian added at some points of the story and Cris’s struggles as an athlete who is in chronic pain. But they didn’t compensate for the fact that the heroine was insufferable, the story relied on miscommunication and that I couldn’t see why the main characters were into each other. It seemed like they had fallen in love fourteen years ago, and seeing each other again was reason enough to want to be together again. People change, so I would have liked to see them falling in love again. Also, I couldn’t see any kind of chemistry between them.
On top of that, they didn’t make each other better. If anything, they kept hurting each other with their misunderstandings and with the fact that Ellie didn’t seem to care about Cris at all. I want my main characters to make sense. To make each other better, to support each other’s dreams. I saw that on Cris, but not on Ellie.
For example, there was this time where Cris admits that he wants to work on healthcare, even though he would have to study for it. That was important for Cris, you can see it was a dream of his and he spoke with so much passion about it! I wanted Ellie to care about that, to ask questions and support him. But she kind of forgot about it until later in the book. Ellie spent the book not caring for Cris because she was too focused on the fact that he hurt her fourteen years ago-when his father had just died, I may add-, therefore he didn’t deserve to be loved. That’s not how love works. I read a second chance romance I really loved this year (Rewind it Back). What I loved the most was that: the main characters had hurted each other in the past, but they still cared so much that they couldn’t endure hurting the other person in the present.
As you can see, my real main problem was Ellie (h). She was supposed to be a therapist, and I know that doesn’t make her perfect, but she took everything Cris said as an attack. She was oversensitive and dramatic, all the time choosing to misunderstand his words and not let him explain himself. I was very excited for the autistic representation, because I tend to relate very heavily to those characters. But, this time, I couldn’t do it at all, I didn’t see her analyze what was happening around her. She just assumed everything was against her.
I also think everything was a bit over the place. For example, at the beginning of the book Ellie discovers her parents are getting a divorce, and she spends the book worrying about that and making sure to babysit them, so they weren’t alone together, instead of asking why they were doing it. If my parents told me they were having a divorce, I would want to talk to them. She was supposed to be an adult and she had a PhD in psychology!! We needed to wait more than half the book to get that.
As for the audiobook, I don't like commenting on the narrators' voices because it's very subjective, but from the first minute I heard the voice of the female narrator I knew I was going to struggle. There are voices/accents that command my attention, and there are others that don’t. I spent the book trying to focus on what they were saying, especially the female narrator, since the hero was narrated by another person. That being said, I loved that, for someone who only studied Italian for half a year, their Italian sounded good-I even managed to understand everything!
Overall, I didn’t believe in the romance between the main characters and couldn’t stand the heroine. The writing style wasn’t bad and I liked the setting, but this was a romance, and I needed that to be good.
i could give it points for doing something different, but sometimes i would rather enjoy the story i’m reading
Aria is being punished with spending thei could give it points for doing something different, but sometimes i would rather enjoy the story i’m reading
Aria is being punished with spending the summer with her grandmother. Even though Aria loves her grandmother, she’s eighteen and isn’t looking forward to staying in the middle of nowhere, very far away from her friends. She wasn’t expecting to make new friends, fall in love for the first time with a woman, or want that woman even though she isn’t single.
But, the more time Aria spends with Steph, the hardest it is to remember that she’s off limits.
I have to admit I went into this blindly because Last Night at the Telegraph club was one of the few 5-stars I had last year, so I gave all my faith to this author. I wasn’t expecting this to be a book with cheating, or that it wasn’t really a romance after all.
I had two big problems while reading this:
1. It’s very difficult to cheer for your main character when she’s the other woman: she’s going on dates with a woman who is in a closed relationship. 2. It’s even more frustrating when you don’t see the chemistry between the two main characters. Not only are they doing things that could lead to cheating, like meeting alone, but you don’t even ship them together.
I finished the book and my thoughts were: ‘that was the story you wanted to write? What was the point of this?’ I spent a whole week trying to reset my expectations, since I went into this expecting something like Last Night at the Telegraph Club, that was a historical romance book that had so many themes and so well connected and executed, but I reached the conclusion I didn’t like this.
I don’t consider A Scatter of Light a romance or a historical book. I didn’t learn anything with it (reading Last Night at the Telegraph Club was so interesting) and it was more a coming of age story (YA) than a romance, while Last Night at the Telegraph Club felt more mature, in the New Adult category. But trying to shift my perspective in the book didn’t change the fact that the only things I liked about it were the writing style and the ending, which I think will be frustrating for most readers, but I think it was the only possible ending.
I found Aria and Steph very bland. On top of that, I was annoyed at Aria for ignoring the fact that Steph had a girlfriend, even more frustrated with Steph for not breaking up with Lisa if she’d rather be with Aria. I enjoyed more secondary characters like Mel and Aria’s grandmother. Another thing that annoyed me was that Aria didn’t really seem to care about her high school friends, or her friends in general. She seemed to only care about Steph and being able to make her fall in love with her despite being in a relationship with another person.
Overall, I wish I could appreciate the boldness it took to write a young adult book that deals with cheating, but I hate cheating. I missed learning with the historical setting, following interesting characters I could actually care about, and feeling that the themes and subplots were closed, because there were storylines like the relationship between Aria and her mother felt all over the place.
Two receptionists that can’t stand each other. A dreamy hotel in bankruptcy. A final mission to make sure they maint↬bilingual review: english/español
Two receptionists that can’t stand each other. A dreamy hotel in bankruptcy. A final mission to make sure they maintain their jobs, even if that means finding the owners of every single ring lost in the hotel.
The Wake-Up call was a bit too much in the comedy side for me. While I listened to the Spanish audiobook and was low-key entertained, especially towards the end, it relied too heavily on silly characters that refused to communicate and behave like grow ups. Both Izzy (h) and Lucas (H) spent the majority of the book treating each other badly, because of some misunderstanding that happened one year ago. I like banter but the dialogues felt more like two kids arguing because one of them stole the other’s favorite toy.
I didn’t even see their chemistry, besides the physical attraction they felt for each other. They were too immature for me to believe they had real feelings for each other. On top of that, once they start to be lovers while still ‘hating’ each other, I didn’t love that they were having sex in a clean romance, so I felt I was missing part of the development. Not only that, but I couldn’t believe the fact that they were meeting all the time but couldn’t spare a second to talk about their feelings.
Overall, the story wasn’t that bad, but it would have worked better for me as a novella or, at least, a shorter book. The part of the misunderstanding should have been solved earlier on, instead of making the characters spend the whole book moving in circles without talking about what happened that day to ensure the reader had to stick until the end to see them together. If it wasn’t an audiobook, I wouldn’t have finished it.
Henry has just been dumped by his long-term boyfriend for being overweight. Instead of setting his ex’s clothes on fireA book to fall in love with
Henry has just been dumped by his long-term boyfriend for being overweight. Instead of setting his ex’s clothes on fire, he decides to join the gym. He wasn’t expecting his very hot and out of his league personal trainer to become such an important person for him. Step by step, they’ve come to cook for each other and discover new recipes together. But it’s only friendship what Reed is offering, right?
The Weight of It All was such a beautiful portrayal of love. I could see how the characters slowly fell for each other, the chemistry they had when they talked, the compatibility of their hobbies, humor and lifestyle. But not only the romance was perfectly executed, the themes were powerful and refreshing.
It’s so hard to come across fat main characters. Sometimes in heterosexual romances the heroine is allowed to be ‘curvy’, but such representation is almost non-existent in male characters. The only popular exception that comes to mind is Jessa Kane’s More to Love series. But this book is not only about giving representation, it’s about how people judge you based on your appearance. Henry and Reed had to suffer prejudices, both from other people and from themselves, because of the way they looked.
It was a difficult theme to handle and I loved how N.R.Walker dealt with it. While, at the beginning, Henry was only thinking about getting his ex boyfriend back, quickly the exercise was a form of self-love. He didn’t want to look fit like Reed. He wanted to be healthy and enjoyed challenging himself.
I started this a few years ago but didn’t get past the first chapter because they were in the gym talking about gym stuff and I didn’t care about that. If that’s your case, don’t worry, they quickly change scenery and start meeting outside the gym. Even when they are exercising, they are talking about other hobbies. I adored reading how they bonded over food, sharing recipes, cooking for each other and finding new products in the farm market. I loved seeing them together, they made the cutest couple!...more
What happens when you discover your new boyfriend is the husband of your new boss?
After a rocky year, Claudia is finally back on track. Until she disWhat happens when you discover your new boyfriend is the husband of your new boss?
After a rocky year, Claudia is finally back on track. Until she discovers she’s been dating the husband of Elizabeth, her boss, and being honest with her costs her her dream job. She’s not too mad about it, she just feels awful. Especially, because she feels she and Elizabeth could have been friends, maybe even more than friends, if only they hadn’t started with the very wrong foot.
Because there is no way they could make it work after all that happened with Elizabeth’s husband, right?
I was interested in the premise of this book and, in that regard, it didn’t disappoint. Sadly, I was so frustrated by how this book was written that I couldn’t appreciate anything else. The other books written by this author have great average ratings, which means this may be on me. If you have enjoyed this author’s work before, please ignore this review.
However, I need to be honest with you. I didn’t enjoy reading this. The only reason why I finished it was because it was an ARC and I hate dnfing ARCs. I was hoping I would find something to make me love this book but the only thing that improved was Elizabeth. I hated her at the beginning but, very slowly, she redeemed herself.
As I was saying, my main problem was the writing style. Instead of getting me into the story, I felt I was reading a book written by one of my friends back when we were teens aspiring to be authors. The dialogues sometimes often felt off, like the first time they talked to each other via text, when they thought they were strangers and started to talk about mundane things instead of getting to the point of why Claudia was messaging a complete stranger. The scenes felt disconnected at times. The opening scene, for example, felt abrupt and didn’t flow into the next one. It continued to be that way during the entire book. I think a lot of those scenes, as well as part of the inner monologues, could have been cut to improve the pacing.
Also, it was a bit confusing that the last chapters were an epilogue but weren’t marked that way, since there is a big time jump from one chapter to the other. It didn’t bother me much as it was explicit in the text once you read the first page, but I think it would have been better to indicate there is a time jump to the reader at the beginning of the chapter.
Overall, the writing style hindered my ability to enjoy this book. I’d still recommend this if you have tried this author before and enjoy her writing style, as well as age-gap and slow burn romances.
I kindly received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own....more
It’s great to see authors giving their own twists to tropes that are starting to feel too repetitive.
After wanting to be an author all her life, GemmIt’s great to see authors giving their own twists to tropes that are starting to feel too repetitive.
After wanting to be an author all her life, Gemma is finally releasing her first romance book, even though it has an alpha hero that she doesn’t like to please the audience. A hero that 's based on a very famous hockey player she used to know very well. But the descriptions are hazy enough to avoid people realizing he’s Mason Moretti, right?
But they figure it out. Now, Gemma has to somehow go along the narrative of the sweet romance writer that wrote fanfiction about her famous hockey player and, now, has a second chance at love with him. People are eating the story up, and that’s great marketing for both, even if Gemma is not looking forward to being hurt again by Mason Moretti.
I listened to this as an audiobook and it had a huge impact on my enjoyment. I especially loved the voice of the female narrator, Patricia Santomasso, even though both were great. While I know I’d have loved this on ebook too, having narrators that make me want to keep listening forever and help you feel along with the characters really enhanced the reading experience.
As for the romance, I loved that the author added some little twists that made the story refreshing. For example, the fake dating trope wasn’t the type of fake dating you often see, where the limits are blurred and they have to keep acting as if they like each other and lying. Here, Mason and Gemma started to meet to make use of the publicity, but the ‘dates’ were about reconnecting, since they used to be friends. They would upload selfies and hold hands, but that was it. They never even acknowledge if they were in a relationship or not.
Another example was their first ‘date’. There are so many scenes that were bold to add, because they weren’t perfect, but that was exactly why the story felt authentic. Even the third act problem was interesting!
I also appreciated that we didn’t have misunderstandings. There was a scene where I wouldn’t have even minded if the author decided to make us suffer, but the characters refused to keep going without going through their feelings!
Also, the slow burn killed me. I loved how the sexual tension was present from the beginning, how the author didn’t hesitate to write a heroine who wasn’t afraid to acknowledge she desired the hero. I felt Mason (H) was the romantic in this book, and I loved it.
On top of that, I loved Gemma (h) and Mason (H), they were so relatable and the narrators really brought them to life. This has a dual POV and I appreciated that the author didn’t favour one over the other. Both had their issues and time in the book to figure out how to deal with them.
Overall, it was a pleasure listening to this audiobook. I’m not joking, one of the highlights of my day was waking up and hitting play. I was so sorry it was over!...more
Declan was only looking for some free marketing when he signed up for a reality dating show. He was going to be going with his best friend because peoDeclan was only looking for some free marketing when he signed up for a reality dating show. He was going to be going with his best friend because people thought they were dating and they thought it could be fun. They are wrong though, because Declan is gay.
But, since only his best friend knows, Declan is going to spend the summer dating women and trying not to think about how much he wants to kiss his cute bro instead.
I have to start saying that I don’t like reality shows, so I wasn’t the audience for this. I requested the ARC because I had enjoyed another book with a similar premise and this was marketed for fans of Red, White and Royal Blue (still trying to figure out WHY, they didn’t have anything in common other than being a new adult and the lack of spice).
Summer of Love was different from what I was expecting. First, the reality show stole the focus from the romance during the majority of the book. I thought the reality dating show was only going to be a plot device to make it fun and set the meet cute, and that it would fade to the background as we progressed.
It wasn’t like that.
We had more conversations with other people than between the main couple, which it’s not necessarily bad, but you need to enjoy reality shows to appreciate the story. We even had a few POVs of a woman who worked on the reality show, which shifted the focus from the romance even more. The secondary characters were easy to like though, even if a few of them felt a bit flat, but I think in some cases (Niall and Stella, for example) it was done on purpose to add a bit of humor.
The second thing I was dreading after seeing the ratings was the writing style. This was a debut, so I went with the bar set very low and was surprised about how easy it was to read. However, even though the writing wasn’t bad, I had problems with the execution of some secondary plotlines, sometimes it felt the pacing wasn’t completely right and, specially, we needed to see more of what the characters were thinking. For example, at some point they kiss and they don’t really think about it. It was so weird I actually went to check if I had imagined the entire scene. Was a kiss really that insignificant to the main characters that they didn’t think about?
I wanted to see the characters’ fears, their dreams and goals. I feel the majority of their thoughts were about the reality show and not their feelings towards the person they were supposedly falling in love with. Still, it was a book that was easy to read and the characters were easy to care about. Though it was frustrating at first, I ended up appreciating the dialogues with the secondary characters.
Overall, I wasn’t the audience for this but I read it fast and it was pretty entertaining. I’d recommend it if you love reality shows and, at some point, you shipped two men who were dating women and wanted them to be together instead.
I kindly received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. ...more
A responsible single father and a carefree high-end pastry chef weren’t supposed to fall in love
Kai has been struggl↬bilingual review: english/español
A responsible single father and a carefree high-end pastry chef weren’t supposed to fall in love
Kai has been struggling to balance his job as a baseball player and taking care of his fifteen-month-old son. Especially, because he doesn’t seem to be able to find a competent sitter to take care of his son while he’s playing. Until the coach suggests (more like commands) Kai to give his daughter a try. Maybe the problem is that, this time, Kai likes his new nanny too much.
Miller has achieved, at twenty-five, the biggest award in the industry. The problem is that, since she received the award, it’s like she doesn’t know how to make desserts anymore. She decides to take a break and take care of the son of one of the players her father coaches, to spend some time with her father and get out of her creative block.
Falling in love with the kid and his father wasn’t part of the plan…
Caught Up has so many elements to love: the fact that the heroine works baking desserts, the hero’s cute kid, the very thoughtful hero who is afraid of being left behind… I loved a lot of the moments here but, especially, how the heroine and the hero took care of each other. Kai always tried to help Miller get through her creative block by bringing friends home to try her desserts, inviting her to try famous desserts and letting her have the kitchen for herself. Miller made it her goal to support Kai’s job so he wouldn’t have to quit to take care of his son. It was so obvious that they deserved each other.
“You keep me grounded, Kai, and I’ll keep you wild.”
I’ve come to realize that, while I struggle with the pacing of the books in this series (except for book five), I always come back for more. I think it’s because the writing style is entertaining, the characters are lovely and the premises aren’t annoying. That’s also why I’m struggling to rate this. While I was entertained during 75% of it, there were parts where I couldn’t see any progression and lost interest. Some of my favorite romances are over 400 pages, but you need to make sure there is progression all the time to excuse a book that long. With the exception of book five, I don’t think the author was able to achieve that.
Overall, the romance was lovely and I adored the main characters. Reading this series is starting to feel like coming home, even though I tend to struggle with the pacing. The writing style is so enjoyable, it really enhances the reading experience. I’d recommend this if you don’t mind books that are long and love the idea of a pastry chef and a single father falling in love.
“You know what’s better than being the best at something you don’t love? Being mediocre at something you do.”
• • • • • • Perdiendo el norte • • • • • •
Desde que es padre soltero de un bebé, Kai no deja de pensar que tal vez es hora de retirarse. Aunque su juego sigue siendo uno de los mejores en el béisbol actual, siente que no está presente como debería estar en la vida de su bebé, y no deja de encontrarle pegas a todos los niñeros que cuidan de él.
Hasta que su entrenador le presenta a su hija, Miller, que va a pasar un verano con el equipo con la idea de conseguir pasar un bloqueo creativo y se encargará del bebé mientras juegan.
Miller se ha pasado su vida intentando alcanzar la cima y, a sus veinticinco años, acaba de conseguir el mayor premio en el mundo de la pastelería. Todos los restaurantes la llaman para que arregle su carta de postres, pero Miller no ha podido crear nada desde que ganó el premio. Tal vez es el momento de hacer algunos cambios en su vida. Aunque enamorarse no era parte del plan.
Perdiendo el norte tiene un montón de aspectos que amé: me encanta seguir a personajes que se dedican a la pastelería, el bebé de Kai era una monada y los héroes de Liz Tomforde nunca te dejan indiferente. Hubo un montón de escenas maravillosas, sobre todo me ha parecido precioso la forma en la que Kai y Miller se cuidaban entre sí, pues siempre pensaban en cómo hacerle la vida más fácil al otro. MIller estaba determinada a que Kai pudiera seguir jugando sin perderse ningún hito de su bebé, y Kai la llevaba a pastelerías y le traía amigos a casa para que Miller pudiera practicar sus recetas. Son tan bonitos juntos ...more
✨Delightful art, great pacing, characters that hit… I'm obsessed with this!✨
Muted vol.1 is a paranormal graphic novel about Camille, a witch from a ve✨Delightful art, great pacing, characters that hit… I'm obsessed with this!✨
Muted vol.1 is a paranormal graphic novel about Camille, a witch from a very important family of witches able to do magic blood. But, since her mother died, something is wrong with her and her relationship with the only family she has is in danger if she can’t perform magic. To figure out the problem, she must deal with old devils that are too painful to remember.
I need to start saying that, before reading this, I thought I couldn’t connect with graphic novels the way I do with prose novels, so I read them only sometimes because I enjoy the drawings. Muted vol.1 showed me that I was just picking the wrong ones, because the characters hit from chapter one. I had read a couple of pages and I was already dreading that something could happen to Camille.
I loved and cared for all the (good) characters. I shipped everyone and was curious about everything. But it’s not just the characters that are well-written, the plot is very compelling and the pacing is great. There aren't dull moments to introduce everyone at the beginning. This was not only an introduction, there were things happening, questions answered but there is still plenty to unravel.
From the reviews, this is a polyamorous sapphic romance, but in this book there is only one obvious love interest (although I have a second candidate). This promises to be a very slow burn sapphic romance, which I love.
Also, I was mesmerized by the designs of the characters, the drawing style and the colors. I can’t wait to read what the author is going to be doing in the next volumes.
Overall, I highly recommend this if you enjoy paranormal graphic novels full of female characters, witches and promises of slow burn sapphic love. Even if you think you don’t love graphic novels as much, as I thought, maybe you’ll finally fall in love with them. Now, if you excuse me, I’m going to beg Netgalley for an ARC of the second volume too because I cannot wait to continue reading this.
I kindly received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
A contemporary romance that will become a classic in the history of queer literature
Cowritten by a Ukrainian–Russian duo and originallyENGLISH/ESPAÑOL
A contemporary romance that will become a classic in the history of queer literature
Cowritten by a Ukrainian–Russian duo and originally published by an independent publisher, Popcorn Books, Pioneer Summer became a TikTok sensation and runaway #1 bestseller in Russia. Catalyzed by this success, Russian Parliament officials and anti-LGBT activists began a campaign to ban the novel and others like it, an effort which became law just two months after the second book in the series was published. The authors were forced to flee the country, and Popcorn Books ceased publication.
I’d never heard of this book until I randomly picked it up from my local library. I read the paragraph above and couldn’t believe my eyes. Why weren’t more people talking about this book? (Turns out the English translation wasn’t released until June 3rd). I wanted to support a narrative that tried to make a change in a place where writing queer books was dangerous. So I read the book. And it was the sweetest romance, but also had plenty of criticism about the Soviet Union propaganda in the 80’s.
Twenty years ago, at Yuri’s last summer going to the Pioneer Summer, a patriotic camp in the Soviet Union, he experienced love for the first time. A love that shattered everything he knew about himself: he fell in love with one of the male counselors, Volodya, three years older than him.
Now, as an adult, Yuri has finally come back to the place, remembering that last Pioneer Summer where everything changed.
Pioneer Summer is a sweet book, with slow pacing and full of secondary characters and funny scenes that balance out heavy themes like anti-queer propaganda and the anxiety of falling in love with someone from your same genre in a place where it’s considered a sickness. It’s warm like a first love, but also heartbreaking at times, because you’re witnessing a historical reality that still persists in the present day. Popular LGBTQ+ books are being banned in Russia; I can’t imagine how the reality must be for queer people living in the country.
The romance is set in dual POV, and I really appreciated how different the perspectives of the two men were. I enjoyed the back and forth between present and past, Yuri going back and remembering everything that happened as he wanders the place where the Pioneer camp used to take place in. The suspense was great, and the story was lovely.
My main critique is that the beginning was quite slow, and the book could have been shorter. If I understood correctly, this was originally self-published online, and then published traditionally thanks to its popularity. I think it would have been better with an editor that cut certain parts, especially at the beginning, to improve the pacing. Other than that, it was a very engaging book that will make you fall in love with its characters.
Overall, I’m interested to see what the authors will do in book two, since this reads like a new adult romance and, in book two, Yuri should already be an adult. I enjoyed my time with it, and I’d highly recommend it if you enjoy character-driven slow burn romances and are interested in witnessing what was like being a queer teen in the Soviet Union in the 80’s. I really liked the balance between the reality check, the propaganda, and how beautiful their friendship was.
• • • • • • Un verano en el campamento • • • • • •
Un romance LGBTQ+ que pasará a la historia
Nunca había escuchado hablar de Un verano en el campamento hasta que me lo encontré por casualidad en mi biblioteca municipal. Cuando me enteré que este libro había causado tanto furor en BookTok en Rusia, donde se publicó, que los grupos homófobos habían conseguido que se prohibiera en Rusia, junto a otros libros queer, y que la editorial que lo había publicado cerrara y que las autoras tuvieran que escapar del país, supe que lo tenía que leer.
He de decir que no me ha defraudado.
Tras pasarse veinte años en el extranjero, Yuri vuelve al campamento donde se enamoró por primera vez. Mientras camina por el lugar, va recordando todo lo que sucedió aquel último verano, cuando tenía dieciséis años y se hizo amigo de uno de los monitores, Volodya, tres años mayor que él. Cuando se dio cuenta de que le gustaban los hombres y de todos los problemas que podía ocasionar en un lugar donde ser gay se consideraba una enfermedad.
Un verano en el campamento empieza lento, buscando que te fundas en el ambiente del campamento, con todos los personajes secundarios, las bromas, las escenas divertidas pero, también, a convivir con la corrupción de la sociedad, la propaganda soviética de los ochenta y unos sentimientos que están prohibidos. Fue un libro que empecé con mucho cariño pero, conforme iba leyendo, más me importaban los personajes. Es lento, probablemente demasiado, sobre todo al principio, pero también es una historia preciosa que te deja con un sabor agridulce en la boca.
Me gustó el suspense que las autoras fueron capaces de mantener durante toda la novela, la necesidad de encontrar la respuesta a todas las incógnitas que me hacía seguir leyendo, aún cuando la historia se iba un poco por tramas secundarias. También la forma en la mezclaban pasado y futuro, y el hecho de que tuviéramos tanto el punto de vista de Yuri como el de Volodya. Me hubiera gustado que lo hubieran editado para recortar algunas partes que se hacen lentas, sobre todo al principio, pero es un libro que, originalmente, se publicó online y tuvo tanto éxito que fue publicado después por una editorial. Lo que quiero decir es que, probablemente, no hubo mucha edición desde el borrador original, y se nota. En parte para bien, porque hay muchas escenas que igual no son importantes que fueron entretenidas, pero también hace que la historia sea más larga de lo que es necesario.
En general, me gustó. Le cogí cariño a los personajes y lo recomiendo si te gustan los romances a fuego lento, llenos de incógnitas que te hagan sufrir y con muchos personajes para querer. Es un romance para adultos jóvenes (New Adult), tal vez un poco más explícito que un romance juvenil, pero no tanto como un adulto. También es interesante la ambientación, pues no hay muchos libros queer ambientados en los años ochenta en la Unión Soviética. Al estar escrito, además, por una autora rusa y una ucraniana, aunque demasiado jóvenes para recordar bien la época, estoy segura de que vivir en esa cultura o tener familia que la ha vivido les ha ayudado a recrearla....more
this series has become a comfort read for me and i love it for that
Ryan Wright wasn’t surprised when he was traded to the worst team of the NHL. When this series has become a comfort read for me and i love it for that
Ryan Wright wasn’t surprised when he was traded to the worst team of the NHL. When you are an average player, you spend the years going from one team to another. What shocked him was that they were trading him in exchange for one of the best players of the team.
When he arrives in his new team, his boss explains the case: he needs Ryan to befriend Nico, their star player, and make sure that he starts to show the talent everyone knows he has on the ring. The problem is that Nico is furious; not only did they trade his best (and only) friend in the team, they traded him for a bad player who’s only there to babysit him. If they think Nico is going to talk with the new guy, they are delusional.
This series, Hockey Ever After, has been an incredible finding. While they are still hockey romances with a similar structure to others I’ve read before, the great characterization makes them stand up and be a very pleasant reading experience. Every main character is different from the rest, but they are all easy to follow and care about. On top of that, the secondary characters are amazing and there are some scenes that made me laugh. I’ve read three so far (as always, I’m behind on my reviews), and Scoring Position is my favorite.
Books one and three lost me a bit at the end, when they focus on the hockey aspect, but this didn’t happen in this second book: I enjoyed the whole story. This takes place six years after Winging It (book 1), so now there are gay players out, Nico and Ryan among them. There are characters from book 1 that have retired, but you’ll also recognize some faces, which made this even more special (Kitty, I adore you!!...more
✨i love how J.J. Mulder is nailing every single book in this series✨
Henri is a people pleaser. He’s sweet, happy and an extrovert, so he has loads of ✨i love how J.J. Mulder is nailing every single book in this series✨
Henri is a people pleaser. He’s sweet, happy and an extrovert, so he has loads of friends. But there is always an exception to the rule, and that exception is Atlas, Henri’s partner for their communications class. Soon, Henri’s only goal is making sure that Atlas likes him. However, the more Henri gets to know him, the more he wants Atlas to be his friend. Or maybe more than friends because, for the first time in his life, Henri is not against the idea of kissing someone.
On The Edge was another great addition to the SCU Hockey series, which may be my favorite ongoing MM romance series (not counting danmei). While I struggled a lot to get into the story, once I started to care about the characters I had a blast reading it.
My main problem with this book was how difficult it was to believe in the main characters. They are both a bit over the top, and it was hard to see them as actual humans. Henri, for example, was supposed to be great at talking with people but, let’s be honest, he was weird. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE weird. I’m always into characters who are awful at social interaction, which I’m sure was Henri’s case, so I couldn’t understand why he was described as being good at social interaction when he was kind of awkward. I don’t know if I’m explaining myself, but his character was very contradictory to me and, for that reason, I had a hard time believing in him.
On the other hand, Atlas was the typical grumpy guy who is angry at the world and hates everyone around him. I’ve read too many of these characters already, so I was also not interested in him. That means I spent the first half of the book not vibing with the story and struggling to understand why Henri was so obsessed with Atlas, when Atlas was behaving like a jerk, and with the contradictions on Henri’s character.
Once I get bored with a book, there is no coming back. For some reason, this is one of the few books that was able to make me care about the characters when I had already given up and was playing with the idea of dnfing it. I started to care about both of them, especially Henri, and I started crying along with them and falling in love with their relationship. Basically, I experienced that special connection I felt with book one, it only took me a while to get there.
“One day, I will tell you something,” I promise. “You will not believe me if I say it today, so I will wait for now. But, one day.”
The best thing about this book was, hands down, the demisexual/asexual representation; that was the reason why the story won me over. I always love demisexual rep because it often means slow burn romances that aren’t too spicy, more focused on the emotions behind the attraction, and mixing the romance and the smut the way I like it. However, this was one of my favorites because Henri is more in the asexual spectrum than the demisexual characters authors often write about. There is still spice (I love having a bit of spice), but it’s hard for Henri to want to do more than kissing. I appreciated seeing that rep, and how Henri struggled when Atlas was in the mood but he wasn’t.
Overall, this book and I didn’t start off on the right foot, but I ended up falling in love with it. I enjoyed the demisexual rep and how beautiful they were together, especially Henri. He was an adorable ray of light that this world doesn’t deserve. I hope this isn’t the last book in the series, I can’t wait to read more!
it feels nice to enjoy again a Saxon James-Eden Finley book
Tripp has been in love with his best friend, Dex, since they met. It’s the cliché case of fit feels nice to enjoy again a Saxon James-Eden Finley book
Tripp has been in love with his best friend, Dex, since they met. It’s the cliché case of falling for a straight man who is so confident in his sexuality that he doesn’t mind hugging and kissing and even snuggling with his gay best friend without even realizing it’s hell and heaven for Tripp.
One day, after Dex was dumped, he convinces Tripp to ‘practice’ marriage with him, so they do a fake, very platonic wedding. Only that maybe it’s not so platonic after all…
I was hesitant to try this one after dnfing the first book in the series, but a friend of mine kept recommending this one to me so I decided to give it a try. I had my era of loving everything these two wrote (especially Saxon James), until the books started to feel too similar. Maybe I’ve let enough time pass, because I liked this one. It was great finally reading a romance under 300 pages and following a poor gay man suffering from unrequited love and a oblivious ‘straight’ hockey player who is unable to realize what he really wants.
My favorite part was the slow burn at the beginning, with Tripp suffering and Dex not realizing why his best friend was avoiding him. While I’ve read similar books before, it was nice to pass the time and I appreciated that they were able to entertain me enough to not think about dnfing it (the bar is in hell right now, it’s been a difficult month).
Overall, I may forget this one next week but it was a fun time. I especially liked Tripp, he was a sweetheart and I wished we saw more of him suffering ‘unrequited’ love....more
Midnight Rain is an alternative story that should be read after the original, Those Who Wait, since it tells us the story of what would have hDNF @65%
Midnight Rain is an alternative story that should be read after the original, Those Who Wait, since it tells us the story of what would have happened with them if the decisions they made in Those Who Wait would have been different. As it is, it’s a second chance romance of the couple we all love, Sutton and Charlotte, where twelve years have past and Sutton has an ex wife and a kid.
I love when authors write fanfiction of their own stories and I was very happy to read more about Sutton and Charlotte. But my excitement slowly decreased until I got to 50% and started to daydream about not finishing it. The problem is that I love their original story too much. I feel annoyed that Sutton has a child with another woman when it could have been Sutton and Charlotte’s child, and I hate that I don’t really see what’s the problem in getting together again.
Another problem I had was with Sutton having an ex wife. Sutton clearly loved Charlotte more than her ex wife, yet she still married her. Of course I didn’t want Sutton to love her ex wife as much as she loved Charlotte, but, at the same time, I hate that she settled for her ex wife and lost so many years of her life being with her.
I loved the beginning, with them seeing each other again after so many years. I love that Charlotte decided to swoon Sutton this time, that she’s determined to give Sutton all the romance she deserves. I was very looking forward to seeing how they made it work and dealt with all those feelings they had been accumulating for twelve years. But I don’t like how they are acting, especially Sutton. I get that people change in twelve years, but I liked the original Sutton. I don’t see how she can ask Charlotte to be friends with benefits when Sutton is all about the romance. I just prefer the original story and I think this would have worked for me if it was a shorter book, but, as it is, it’s a whole new book with characters that aren’t quite the same people I fell in love with.
Also, this has too much smut for me. I think I’m at the third or fourth spicy scene and, as much as I like how the author writes smut, what I love is that she usually makes me wait for it instead of giving me plenty almost from the beginning.
Overall, if you loved Those Who Wait and would like to see more spicy scenes between Sutton and Charlotte and read what would happen in a parallel universe where they made different choices, I would recommend giving it a try. A lot of people are obsessed with this, but I’d rather stick with the original.