Review: Tame Your Heart

Tame Your Heart by Tracey Alvarez
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What happens when your one-night stand on holiday turns out to be your mortal enemy? Romeo and Juliet comes to contemporary New Zealand.

Tui Ngata has always had the wanderlust, never settling down and refusing to conform to the racist sterotype of the unemployed, single parent Maori woman. She combines house-sitting with a job as a surgical transcriber until her father's accident forces her to come home to Bounty Bay and care-take the family home and animals while her parents go away.

Architect Kyle Griffin got away from his toxic grandfather and alcoholic mother and has made himself a new life in Auckland. Brought back to Bounty Bay by his grandfather's funeral he is horrified to find that the wily old man has left the shares in Griffin Honey Limited between the four Griffin brothers with him owning 51%.

The bad blood between the Ngata and Griffin families started when Kyle's grandfather wanted to buy some of the Ngata's land, every time they refused to sell he came back more aggressively. Then a suspicious fire was started on Ngata land which resulted in the death of the Griffin brothers' uncle. The Griffins blamed the Ngatas for starting the fire and vice versa. So how will their families react when they discover that Kyle and Tui have had a relationship?

First off, I don't really understand the fire thing. Why would the Ngata's set a fire on their own land? Why was Kyle's uncle trespassing on Ngata land? If he wasn't trespassing then did the fire spread from Ngata land to Griffin land? Why would the Griffins pick on Tui's brother Sam at school and claim he started the fire?

I have to say I haven't really warmed to the last two Bounty Bay novels or the characters, I have loved reading Tracey Alvarez's other novels but maybe my interest has moved on. This was okay but I wan't invested in the characters and I didn't think the plot was believable.

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Review: Nothing But Trouble

Nothing But Trouble by P. Dangelico
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Aspiring photographer, film-maker Alice Bailey has moved heaven and earth, worked harder than ever before, to get from her small community college in New Jersey to Malibu University and she isn't going to let anyone or anything distract her from her goal of getting an internship with James Cameron's production company by submitting a winning short film by the end of the semester.

Reagan Reynolds maybe the son of hot-shot lawyers, he may have been born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth, he may have the body of a Greek god and be a star player on Malibu's water polo team - but he can't drive. After nearly running Alice over he takes her to the team doctor to assess her injuries, although his family has drilled it into him that they are prime targets for scam artists trying to rip them off for millions in compensation. When Alice brushes off his offers for help he should be relieved, but actually he feels guilty that this girl is suffering because of his poor driving, and intrigued be she seems quick to brush him off.

Reagan is the archetypal poor little rich kid, pressurised by his parents into a career he doesn't want, ignored and neglected. Alice on the other hand is the typical over-achiever from a solid blue collar background, struggling to fulfil her dreams.

Full disclosure, I've been having a rough time recently and so maybe my head isn't in the right space to review books - this will be the third book by a favourite author to get a meh rating in less than a week - but this book just didn't really do it for me. It was typical college YA/NA sports romance/ rich kid/poor kid romance. Sure there's a more believable angst than others in the genre but it just didn't grab me. As I read early into this morning to finish the book I got the distinct impression that it was plot moves forward, they have sex, plot moves forward, they have sex. As if every time anything happened it had to be rounded off with sex. Maybe it was the late hour, but yawn!

Maybe I should have passed on a favourite author when I saw it was billed as NA - I'm a bit over the genre TBH - but it's P. Dangelico so I had to request an ARC.

Anyway, if you aren't sleep deprived, bitter, twisted, cynical and a little bit heartbroken you will probably enjoy this well-written NA sports romance.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Elemental Thief

Elemental Thief by Rachel Morgan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Four years ago magical user caused a cataclysmic event which wiped out whole swathes of the world, now all magic use is banned and punishable by death. Citizens have two implants under their skin which prevent them from using magic which rages uncontrollable out in the wastelands.

Before magic broke the world Ridley Kayne and her parents were wealthy, living in Aura Tower, the premier apartment building in Lumina City. But her mother died in the Cataclysm and her father, a jeweller who fashioned beautiful pieces using magic, lost his livelihood, now they eke out a living running Ridley's grandfather's antique store. Having been ostracised by her former friends when her family fell on hard times, Ridley still manages to attend the same school, having won a scholarship.

Ridley's experiences have made her into a futuristic Robin Hood, she steals from the rich to help out those who are struggling. Stealing an antique from the home of the Davenports in Aura Tower one night using her magic, which is different to that used by other people prior to the Cataclysm, to avoid detection Ridley is followed home by a stranger who is later murdered outside the antique shop after the two younger Davenports come to visit, ostensibly to buy their mother a birthday present.

Archer Davenport is the Davenports' son. He left Lumina City a while back and rumours have been rife as to where he is and what he's doing, until he turns up at Ridley's antique shop. Then it seems that he is everywhere and somehow linked to the murder of the man outside the store. But when Ridley's best friend is arrested for the murder Ridley is determined that the Davenports won't buy their way out of trouble and determines to find out what Archer was doing with the victim and prove that her friend isn't responsible for the murder.

This has a little bit of everything. Sort of a bit Gossip Girl, a bit Pretty in Pink, a shade of A Little Princess, magic, teenage angst, secret societies and prom. I loved it and can't wait to read the next book.

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Review: Polaris Rising

Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When Ilona Andrews recommends a book I buy it, no questions asked EVER.

Ada von Hasenberg is the fifth child of the Head of the Hasenberg House in a future where the galaxy is run by the heads of the three High Houses. When her father tries to marry her off to a sadistic son of the Rockhurst House Ada goes on the run, determined not to be forced into a loveless marriage like her two older sisters. But after two years on the run, with a huge bounty on her head, Ada has finally been caught by a group of mercenaries. Thrown into a cell with the notorious Marcus Loch, the Devil of Formax Zero, Ada discovers that hero erstwhile fiance has intercepted the mercenaries' call to her father and is boarding their ship. Knowing her ex-fiance well, Ada knows she will be forced into marriage and possibly forced into betraying her House if she is captured so she and the Devil make a pact to escape.

But as Loch and Ada escape capture they find out that appearances can be deceiving and there may be more to House Rockhurst's actions, motives that could catapult the galaxy into war.

I read an ARC of Nightchaser towards the end of last year and I was a bit disappointed, I loved the premise but I felt Amanda Bouchet had skewed the book too much towards the romance and away from plot. This is the book I wanted that one to be. There are space battles, deserted planets, political dynasties, plotting, chases, fights, advanced technology, secret experiments, kidnapping and plot galore. Sure there's some romance but it's of the urban fantasy low-key variety.

I absolutely adored it and I can't wait for the second book.

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Review: Red, White & Royal Blue

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

You know those books that everyone keeps talking about, that fresh new voice, that cute cover that you read and just don't get why everyone else is enthusing about it? Well this isn't that book, I freaking loved it. That's not to say I didn't find some of the writing and formatting to be beyond frustrating but I just loved this book almost from start to finish.

It's your typical modern royal romance, with a twist. First its a m/m romance and second our non-royal protagonist Alex also happens to be the son of the US President (or FSOTUS). Alex is the half-Mexican son of the first female US President. He, his sister June and Nora, the grand-daughter of the Vice President, are known as "the White House Trio", lots of rumours in gossip rags, wild parties and random hook-ups - or so the press likes to think. In reality Alex has ambitions to enter politics himself and is almost weirdly obsessive about stuff.

Alex loathes and detests Prince Henry, younger grandson of the Queen of England, he thinks Henry is insipid, boring, self-absorbed, stuck-up and supercilious. But after a major incident at the wedding of Henry's older brother Alex and Henry are forced to have a fake friendship for the sake of the press. But as Alex and Henry are forced to spend time with each other Alex discovers his arhc-nemesis is actually very funny, quite shy and hiding a very big secret.

Think Gossip Girl meets The West Wing meet Madam Secretary meets The Royals. Think political shenanigans, romance, improbable antics, karaoke, private planes, secret service agents and lots of emails, texts and other forms of communications.

As I said at the start, this wasn't perfect. I found the writing style off-putting at first, sentences like:

Behind his bedroom door, he can sit and put Hall & Oates on the record player in the corner, and nobody hears him humming along like his dad to "Rich Girl"

the third party narrator mixed with the present tense feels 'off'. Also for the longest time I had no idea who anyone was, Alex and June were introduced and I had no idea who they were: were they the President and spouse, the 'hero' and his mother, I hadn't got a scooby. Also, and this may be a gripe about my ARC which is not present in the finished book, we changed scene and/or perspective and/or time from one paragraph to another without any warning or segue. But these are just niggles, what the book has is heart, a m/m romance which also has lots of politics, a royal romance where the royal doesn't sweep the commoner off their feet, a YA novel that has some challenging thoughts about family and politics and ambition.

I haven't come across Casey McQuiston's novels before but I will certainly scan for other books, this was just a revelation. Loved it. Shout out to Todd whose review here prompted me to request an ARC.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Dangerous Beauty

Dangerous Beauty by J.T. Geissinger
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 33%.

Evalina flees her sadistic Russian mafia boyfriend Dmitri and runs away to Mexico. Naz is a former special ops soldier turned private security operative, his job is to follow a Russian mobster's runaway socialite wife and report on her movements - easy money! But when Eva gets attacked by a group of men in an alleyway Naz feels honour-bound to intervene. Unfortunately in such a small town they keep running into each other and soon overwhelming attraction threatens to jeopardise his mission.

I loved J.T.'s Slow Burn series so a new series from her was a no-brainer for me. Sadly this book just didn't work for me and when I start forcing myself to read a book I know I need to ditch it. What I loved about the Slow Burn series was the humour, that's here too but it just doesn't work in a romantic-suspense novel (in my opinion). Eva's story was too familiar from every other romantic suspense novel I've read, beautiful woman abused by wealthy powerful man, she escapes and falls in love with broken special ops guy, yadda yadda. The humour was great - just in the wrong book for me. This felt like a romantic comedy wedged into a military/special ops romantic suspense.

I still love J.T. as a writer but this was a did not finish for me. Luckily from early reviews I have seen everyone else loved the book.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: In a Badger Way

In a Badger Way by Shelly Laurenston
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Stevie MacKilligan is a honey badger hybrids, a brilliant scientist and terrified of bears. Shen Li is a panda bodyguard for a child genius that Stevie is mentoring. Stevie and her sisters are vicious hybrids because their no-good loser father liked to play the field.He also robbed another branch of the family of millions.

When shifter bodies start turning up, partially shifted in death, Stevie is sure that someone is trying to cure shifters, something she desperately wants to do because her hybrid is hugely destructive and uncontrollable, she also think she knows who it might be.

Let me start by saying I love Shelly Laurenston and I love her books but I have to say this one did nothing for me, I felt like it was a roll-call of characters from every previous book just thrown into the mix, there were too many plots and too many characters. Stevie was bit like Irene Conridge (who features in this book) but not as good, in fact I think that having so many much-loved characters in this book just highlighted that Stevie and Shen just weren't as memorable.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book (hey, its still Shelly Laurenston, one of the funniest writers on the planet) but compared to some of her previous books this was a bit of a hot mess.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Story of Us

Story of Us by Jody Holford
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sophia Strombi returns to her hometown after her business and personal lives implode spectacularly. She hasn't been home for 10 years after the weight of her family's expectations about her role in the family restaurant led her to run far, far away. Now she's back and begging her older brother Marcus's BFF Declan James for a job in his bar.

Declan James was that boy in high school and hasn't changed as a grown man. A bad boy with a cute smile and a smoking hot body he has reputation as a ladies man, but lately as his friends have found 'the one' he feels increasingly like he is missing out. He doesn't want to give little Sophie Strombi a job, especially since he's been very careful to avoid thinking of Marcus's little sister as a woman for quite some time, but he can see she is desperate and the Strombi's are as judgemental as ever.

This was okay, but it didn't rock my world. How Declan ever got a reputation as a ladies man I don't know seeing as he acted like a shy, insecure nerd for most of the book. Similarly, the Strombi men seemed to have this dictatorial attitude "Do this, do that, don't do the other" and berate Sophia for her choices (because it was necessary for the plot) and then cave and become pussy cats at the end. I thought there were too many things which were only in the book as plot devices to force issues - eg Sophia can't go home to stay because she and her family are at loggerheads.

I've been having a bad time of it recently so maybe it's me and not the book, but I just didn't feel invested in either Sophia or Declan, looking back I didn't even finish the first book in the series so maybe this series isn't for me - I have loved other books by Jody Holford.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Don't You Forget About Me

Don't You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Georgina Horspool is living a dead-end life in Sheffield. She wants to be a writer and supports herself by working as a waitress in the world's worst Italian restaurant. When a restaurant critic from the local paper complains about his food Georgina ends up getting sacked and then walks in on her semi-famous comedian boyfriend having sex with his PA. Her mother and sister are constantly telling Georgina to get a better job and to stop messing things up.

Then a one-off job bartending at a wake leads to the offer of a job, and Georgina finds her new boss is the boy she was madly in love with at school - the worst thing? He doesn't remember her at all.

This reminds me very much of some of Marian Keyes' earlier novels: the life spiralling downwards; the knock after knock; the humour; the judgemental family; the kooky and eclectic group of friends; the unfolding of a secret; and the honesty. At first I wasn't sure about Georgina, I still struggle to understand why she would work in such a foul restaurant, but maybe it was her way of emphasising that this was only temporary, not a vocation.

After a rocky start, I really started to enjoy this, Georgina's stand-up comedy was quirky and endearing and I came to love her as a character as she finally find her voice.

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Review: Kiss Me at Willoughby Close

Kiss Me at Willoughby Close by Kate Hewitt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the first book I have read in this series but I found it easy to read as a stand-alone.

Ava was married to a much older man, a millionaire, for five years. When her husband dies she finds out that he has left her a pittance in his will, the same amount as their new part-time cleaner, and his grown-up children waste no time in chucking her out of the family mansion. Ava moves into a cottage in Willoughby Close where she gets to know the other residents and the caretaker Jace. But for the first time Ava, a woman who has relied on her looks and charm for most of her life, is trying to stand on her own without a man to fix things. Can she find a job and make some friends?

I liked this but I felt there were a lot of loose ends that didn't get tied up (maybe fodder for the next book in the series) and the book ended very abruptly.

Excellent value for a kindle freebie, it was pleasant enough but didn't really have much of a plot.

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Review: The One Saving Grace: From the author of the bestselling 'A Village Affair'

The One Saving Grace: From the author of the bestselling 'A Village Affair' by Julie Houston
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The continuing adventures of Harriet Westmoreland. I requested this book and its predecessor at the same time on NetGalley, I liked the first book so I was looking forward to reading this one but unfortunately I did not enjoy it as much as the first.

Just a short time ago Harriet was a teacher with three children, she and her husband were struggling financially, her mother in law was living with them and she was afraid that her old school nemesis/crush was trying to steal her husband.

Now Harriet and Nick are financially secure, she has given up her job, she is about to give birth to twins and she is secure in the knowledge that Nick would never look at another woman. Her best friend Grace is also pregnant with her toy-boy Sebastian's baby, son of the aforementioned nemesis. But things never go according to plan, just as Harriet starts to emerge from the roundabout of children and housework and cooking she falls madly in love with the handsome Alex Hamilton (in Harvey Nicks of all places) and Grace gets a severe case of post-natal depression.

This seemed to be almost the opposite of the first book in which Harriet was the poor put-upon, drown-trodden, overworked mother coping single-handedly while her husband is working abroad with a predatory, beautiful woman. In this book Harriet is a woman of, relative, leisure with a godsend housekeeper/babysitter taking all the pressure, she's selfish, reckless and frankly unlikable. I struggled desperately in the middle of the book, forcing myself past the need to DNF the book, I only read on because I was interested to find out what happened with Grace, even then I was disappointed. Although the book picked up towards the end for me the damage was done.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Wild Country

Wild Country by Anne Bishop
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's not long after Namid's teeth and claws wiped out huge swathes of humanity in Thasia as retaliation for the slaughter of the Wolfgard and other shifters.

Bennett is a small town close to the Wild Country, run by Toly Sanguinati there is a small population of terra indigene (non-humans) and a Wolfgard sherriff.

Jesse Walker is the unoffical leader of the nearby Intuit village (people with special skills like ESP or hunches), she tells Tolya that the towns need to get bigger, to replace those eliminated by the Elders, or it will stagnate and die. Accordingly Tolya opens up the land to a select group of people chosen by the Courtyard. But what Tolya and Jesse don't realise is that there is a viper in their midst, a wolf in sheep's clothing, and opening the town to settler will also bring outlaws and strife.

Into the mix strides Jana Paniccia, a newly qualified police officer who can't get a posting anywhere, until a mysterious call tells her to travel to the Courtyard for a jobs fair. Now this human is assisting a hostile Wolfgard sheriff and learning about life on the edge of the Wild Country.

I really enjoyed this book, it felt more accessible than the other books in the two series, maybe because it didn't flick backwards and forwards between seemingly unrelated people quite so much. Or maybe because the relationships were explained earlier?

The only thing I found a little confusing was that I couldn't really tell who was the focus of the novel, I assume it was Jana but she felt a little off-centre. Also, I get this is fantasy rather than romance but the romantic leads seemed a little blurred, almost as if the relationship between Jana and the sheriff was of more interest than the instalove.

Anyhoo, this is like saying there are too many toppings on my ice-cream - a nothing complaint. I loved it and can't wait for the next one, although I think there are more stories to tell in Bennett.

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Review: The Perfect Match

The Perfect Match by Katie Fforde
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This started well and fizzled out by the end for me.

After falling in love with a married man at work and a forbidden kiss under the mistletoe Bella Castle abruptly left her job and her home, moving away to avoid temptation. Three years later she is working for her boyfriend Nevil at a small estate agents ad living with her godmother Alice. Bella kids herself that she and Nevil are in love even though he wants her to pretend they aren't a couple while they are at work, he never listens to anything she says, he criticises her clothes and what she eats, he is patronising and belittles her.

As with all Katie Fforde heroines, Bella is special. Although she is an estate agent (often considered the lowest of the low), Bella has a gift for finding the right property for her clients and will cheerfully take them round hundreds of properties pointing out issues and generally being a Disney princess. On the other hand, if her clients are selling properties she will persuade them to do some minor improvements to help them achieve a better sale. One of her clients is Jane, who is living in a large house which is too much for her to manage but she doesn't want to sell. Originally sent to try to persuade Jane to sell, Bella now just visits Jane as a friend and helps out with some of the minor chores.

Jane's nephew comes to stay with her and turns out to be Bella's married crush from three years ago, Dominic Thane. Even worse, he has decided to move to the town and is looking for a home. Bella can barely ask about Dominic's wife and the baby they were expecting when she left.

So here we are, a love triangle between the rebound guy who is just plain nasty and the married man from her past. Also, as a bit of light relief, Alice meets a younger man on the train and begins an unlikely romance.

As I said, I quite enjoyed the start of this novel but by the end Bella had degenerated into an Enid Blyton teenager (something she kind of acknowledges) investigating nefarious deeds by Nevil and a mysterious man, she blunders around with no evidence whatsoever and is frankly TSTL. Also, I didn't buy into the Dominic love, either he behaved really badly while he was still married or Bella dreamed up a romance, then he is back in town and Wham! she is in love with him again. Someone pointed out in a review of another Katie Fforde novel that her heroes are always metaphorically patting her heroines on the head and telling them not to be silly,the big strong man will sort it out. Now while I agree that Bella was being silly, I found Dominic's condescension, especially when he hadn't declared himself, to be equally as obnoxious.

If you like Katie Fforde escapist romance I am sure you will like this too, just not my favourite.

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Review: A Summer to Remember

A Summer to Remember by Sue Moorcroft
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Six years ago Clancy's cousin Alice stood up her fiance Lee on their wedding day. The repercussions of that selfish act have affected all of them to some extent, including Lee's best man and older brother Aaron.

Now, Clancy has been forced out of her home and the company she helped to build by her ex-fiance Will. Somehow he humiliated her, cheating on her in a very public way, and yet she is the one forced out. With nowhere to go, she decides to take up the vacant position of caretaker to a row of cottages part-owned by her cousin Alice and Lee's brother Aaron. Over the years whilst Alice has been globe-trotting Clancy and Aaron have corresponded about maintenance of the cottages etc and so this seems like an ideal place to regroup and lick her wounds. The tiny village of Nelson's Bar doesn't have any mobile phone coverage so it will be a complete rest from the outside world and allow Clancy to forget her heartbreak.

Aaron can't believe it when Awful Alice's cousin waltzes back into the village demanding to be the new caretaker, trouble is Alice still owns half the cottages so he doesn't have much choice. But he worries how the reminder of Alice will affect Lee, who has been very fragile since he was jilted.

Can I just say I love Sue Moorcroft's books. Always set in near-idyllic country settings, she manages to create characters with real emotions and character flaws, no-one is perfect, everyone makes mistakes, just because it's the country doesn't mean there isn't bigotry or spite or angst. Even Clancy comes to realise that things aren't quite the way she originally saw them.

If you enjoy romance set in the English countryside with a side order of teen angst, family feuds, jealous exes and small businesses struggling to get by you will love this novel. Another winner form one of my favourite authors.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Team Player

Team Player by Julianna Keyes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Gwen Scott, rabid baseball fan has got a dream job in PR for her favourite team, the Charleston Thrashers. The only problem is her boss is super-scary, the Thrashers are having an appalling season, her colleagues loathe baseball and she has just been given a hospital pass to deliver the 'talking points' to Rax Stripper, the team's manager - a job that got the last person fired. Luckily Gwen's encyclopaedic knowledge of baseball allows her to make some better suggestions for comments to the press and suddenly she has an in to the team manager.

Tyler Ashe was the star player for the Thrashers until his best friend went to jail, now he can't seem to get a break and everyone is blaming him for the team's poor performance, including the sassy new PR girl who doesn't pull her punches.

Gwen can't believe her childhood pin-up Tyler Ashe is someone she gets to speak to on a regular basis, but she can't allow him to slide out of press conferences or duck his team commitments. As the season progresses teasing and banter turn into flirting and forbidden kisses. But with the team's reputation on the line, can Gwen and Tyler keep their budding romance a secret, especially when an old sex tape from eight years ago threatens to surface?

I recently read another ARC of a sports romance and while I liked it I wasn't blown away, in fact I had almost completely forgotten the book within a few days. This was different, more nuanced characters, more plot, more baseball, more emotions, more heart. In the blurb at the back Julianna Keyes outs herself as a lifelong baseball fan and it really shows.

This had everything, romance, bromance, suspense, humour, sport and I loved it.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Team Player

Team Player by Julianna Keyes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Gwen Scott, rabid baseball fan has got a dream job in PR for her favourite team, the Charleston Thrashers. The only problem is her boss is super-scary, the Thrashers are having an appalling season, her colleagues loathe baseball and she has just been given a hospital pass to deliver the 'talking points' to Rax Stripper, the team's manager - a job that got the last person fired. Luckily Gwen's encyclopaedic knowledge of baseball allows her to make some better suggestions for comments to the press and suddenly she has an in to the team manager.

Tyler Ashe was the star player for the Thrashers until his best friend went to jail, now he can't seem to get a break and everyone is blaming him for the team's poor performance, including the sassy new PR girl who doesn't pull her punches.

Gwen can't believe her childhood pin-up Tyler Ashe is someone she gets to speak to on a regular basis, but she can't allow him to slide out of press conferences or duck his team commitments. As the season progresses teasing and banter turn into flirting and forbidden kisses. But with the team's reputation on the line, can Gwen and Tyler keep their budding romance a secret, especially when an old sex tape from eight years ago threatens to surface?

I recently read another ARC of a sports romance and while I liked it I wasn't blown away, in fact I had almost completely forgotten the book within a few days. This was different, more nuanced characters, more plot, more baseball, more emotions, more heart. In the blurb at the back Julianna Keyes outs herself as a lifelong baseball fan and it really shows.

This had everything, romance, bromance, suspense, humour, sport and I loved it.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an hnest review.

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Review: The Wedding Deal

The Wedding Deal by Cindi Madsen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Charlotte James is the HR manager for the San Antonio Mustangs NFL team. Her job just got a whole lot harder when her old boss died and left the team to his grandson, former quarterback for the Tennessee Titans Lance Quaid, her peaceful existence was over. Lance can't believe how his grandfather allowed so many of his employees to slack at their jobs and he's not going to tolerate it on his watch, he starts by firing half the staff and using inflammatory language.

As the two of them work together to fill the vacancies with the right staff, and make sure they have legally terminated everyone that Lance sacked, Lance learns that Charlotte has a encyclopedic knowledge of NFL stats and Charlotte learns that her hot boss is also a secret geek. Then, when all the work isn't enough pressure, Lance's family are on his back about his brother's wedding and his plus one. Cunning idea ... why not get Charlotte to act as his fake date, they can work when not involved in wedding activities and he'll get some respite from the family pressure.

This was fun, light-hearted chick-lit romance. Well-written and easy to read, but nothing memorable.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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