Age-Gap – Readaholic Book Reviews

Hopeless by Elsie Silver

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Heat Level: 🔥🔥🔥

Series: Chestnut Springs #5

Release Date: October 13, 2023

I received a complimentary copy of this book/audiobook from the author.

I have loved loved loved this series and I am so sad to see it come to an end! If you’re looking for spicy, swoony and oftentimes hilarious romances I recommend the Chestnut Springs series by Elsie Silver!

SYNOPSIS

Beau Eaton is the town prince, a handsome military hero with a tortured past.

I’m the outcast bartender, a shy girl from the wrong side of the tracks.

He’s thirty-five and all man, and I’m twenty-two and all… virgin.

He’s also my fiancé. Correction: my fake fiancé.

We start out as a bet. He doesn’t believe that anyone holds my last name against me. So he offers me his to prove a point.

It’s win-win. He gets a break from his concerned family’s prying, and I get a chance to shed my family’s reputation while I save up to ditch this small town.

He says all I have to do is wear his ring, follow his lead, and pretend I can’t keep my hands off of him in public.

But it’s what happens between us in private that blurs all those carefully drawn lines.

It’s what transpires behind closed doors that doesn’t feel like pretending at all.

This engagement was supposed to be for show. This agreement? It has an end date.

He once told me he’d never fall in love.

And yet here I am, head over heels for my fake fiancé.

REVIEW

What you can expect to find in Hopeless
-fake dating
-playful banter
-slow burn
-age gap (she’s 22 and he’s 35)

Beau is back from deployment and isn’t having the easiest time. His family means well but they are tip-toeing around him. Careful not to say the wrong thing, careful to always include him in the ranching lifestyle. Everyone in Chestnut Springs treats him as a hero and he’s not sure how to feel about it.

Bailey’s life has never been easy. Growing up everyone knew the Jansen’s and what trouble makers they were. Bailey tries to separate herself from her brothers, but they insist on making life a challenge for her.

Beau has always been kind to Bailey and Bailey isn’t afraid to tell him when he’s wrong or overstepped unlike the rest of the community. When Beau proposes a challenge for Bailey she’s not sure what to make of it – Beau proposes (ha!) that Bailey and him pretend to be engaged. That way maybe she’ll get better opportunities in town with his name attached to hers and he gets his family off his back. When the fake engagement starts to feel all too real – there will be some hard decisions for both of them to make, especially since Bailey wants out of the town that seems to make her life miserable.

Okay first of all if there’s a fake dating ploy involved I am going to eat it up! Second of all, this is an Elsie Silver novel so when I think “umm…I’m not sure I’m gonna like an age gap/virgin heroine” she proves me wrong. I loved loved loved Bailey and Beau. They were funny and sweet and I loved the sass that they gave each other. Their slooooooow burn romance was burning up the pages while I was reading Hopeless.

For a book that tackles some sensitive subjects like PTSD, trauma from war, parental abuse and neglect, I feel like Elsie did a good job including them in the book without making the book overtly heavy. I have to admit, I was a bit worried that this would be a heavier book, but it was actually the opposite. Beau was such a golden retriever and I love it!

I also had an opprotunity to listen to the audiobook of Hopeless and it was narrated so well. Jason Clarke is one of my favorite narrators and he did an amazing job portraying Beau! I really liked Angelina Rocca’s portrayal of Bailey. I could always tell when these narrators wanted us to be happy, excited or sad. If you like audiobooks I highly recommend you listen to Hopeless.

I am super sad that the Chestnut Springs series has come to an end – but what a series it was!!

Chestnut Springs ranking (they are all five star reads).
1. Flawless
2. Hopeless
3. Heartless
4. Reckless
5. Powerless

Bitter Sweet Heart by H. Hunting

Genre: New Adult/Sports Romance

Series: Lies, Hearts & Truths #2

Heat Level: 🔥🔥

Release Date: September 1, 2022

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author.

SYNOPSIS

From the outside looking in, I live a charmed life: hockey legend for a father, my own promising future in the league, a great family, awesome friends. It’s not untrue, but it’s not quite that simple either.

My dad’s advice has always been to make hockey my number-one priority—at least until I make it to the pros. So, going into my senior year of college, I have a plan. I’ll put in the effort required to pass my classes, play hockey like my life depends on it, and avoid relationships. All I have to do is stay focused on the end game, and I’ll walk away with a degree and into a career in the NHL.

It should be easy.

But when a woman literally floats into my dock, just before summer ends and my senior year begins, I can’t resist one last hookup. What harm could a one-night stand do? It’s not like we even exchanged numbers.

Everything is fine until I run into her on campus.

It’s a big school. I should be able to avoid her.

Except she happens to be in my class.

And she’s not a student.

She’s my professor.

REVIEW

Maverick has a seemingly perfect life. His father is a hockey legend, he’s on his way to becoming an NHL player himself – what could he possibly be worried about. As summer comes to an end, Maverick happens to have one last hot summer fling. He never expects to see his summer fling again.

Clover has been having a hard time. Separating from her husband hasn’t been easy and she’s always found some solace at the lake. So when she happens to have a one night stand, she doesn’t think anything of it. Never expecting to see Maverick again, Clover is floored when Maverick just so happens to be a student in her class. Will these two fight their attraction to one another or try to make a relationship work between them?

This age gap romance was full of angst and sweetness. While Maverick may come across as someone who has his crap together, past trauma left a lasting impression on him and he’s been fighting these demons for a long time. And while I understood Clover’s hesitations with starting a relationship with Maverick, she saw through Maverick’s facade and always there for him when he needed her the most. I don’t always have the easiest time with an age gap romance, but these two worked together in Bitter Sweet Heart.

I love the world that Helena has created starting with the Pucked series. These characters hold such a special place in my heart and I love revisiting with them. I seriously can’t wait for the next book in this series!

Although technically a standalone, I would definitely read Little Lies before starting Bitter Sweet Heart. Lavender’s (Maverick’s sister) journey is essential to this story.

CW: anxiety, ptsd, harassment/gaslighting