ALC – Page 4 – Readaholic Book Reviews

Not My Match by Ilsa Madden-Mills

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Series: The Game Changers #2

Release Date: January 19, 2021

Heat Level: 🔥🔥🔥

I received a complimentary copy and ALC from the publisher.

SYNOPSIS

Wall Street Journal bestselling author Ilsa Madden-Mills delivers a smart and sexy romance about a professional football hottie and the girl he’s sworn to never touch.

Homeless and heartbreakingly innocent, Giselle Riley walks into my penthouse and chaos follows.

I shouldn’t have invited the girl genius to live with me, but it’s clear she needs my help—not only for a place to lay her pretty blonde head but in finding real love, which she’s not going to get with the crazy men she picks up online.

Too bad she’s a twenty-four-year-old virgin and I’m a bad boy wide receiver. She’s off limits for a hardcore player like me—and we’re just friends.

Instead, I’m her matchmaking service, no matter how jealous it makes me when I tag along on her dates.

I can keep my self-control. Right? No way will I give in to everything inside me that dreams of a girl like her in my world.

I may be the best wide receiver in the country, but how could I hold on to a girl like her?

REVIEW

Giselle Riley is book smart (she is a physicist after all), but she’s not having the best of luck with her dating life. It doesn’t help that Giselle’s brother in law, Jack (from Not My Romeo) has declared her off limits to his teammates including Jack’s best friend Devon. When a bad date leads Giselle to Devon’s night club, he ends up coming to her rescue and talks her into letting him set her up with a “perfect” date.

When an unfortunate circumstance leaves Giselle homeless for the moment, Devon comes to her rescue and lets her stay in his guest bedroom. Giselle and Devon slowly get to know one another – and Giselle even agrees to let Devon set her up on some dates. While roommates for the moment, Giselle and Devon end up spending a lot of time with one another. Will they stay friends or will their growing attraction towards one another lead to something more?

Immediately when Giselle and Devon were on the same page I could feel their electricity. I loved their sweet friends to lovers story. They truly took the time to get to know one another and that made me root for these two even more. Ilsa Madden-Mills definitely knows how to write steamy scenes and the sexy times between Devon and Giselle were so HOT! But underneath their physical attraction, both Devon and Giselle exposed their vulnerability and I loved that most of all.

Although I did read Not My Romeo, you don’t have to read these books in order to enjoy them. Not My Match can be read as a standalone.

Audiobook:

Story: 5
Narration: 5
Overall: 5

I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook of Not My Match. The audiobook was narrated by Summer Morton and Alexander Cendese. These two did an amazing job narrating Giselle and Devon. I had not listened to an audiobook narrated by either Summer Morton or Alexander Cendese, but I feel like both of them did a wonderful job portraying different emotions for their characters. I could always tell if Devon or Giselle were happy, sad or anxious. I really enjoyed listening to this duo narrate Not My Match.

If you’re looking for a forced-proximity, friends to lovers steamy romance – grab your copy of Not My Match.

Roommate by Sarina Bowen

Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance

Release Date: January 12, 2020

Heat Rating: 🔥🔥🔥

I received a complimentary advanced listener copy from the author.

SYNOPSIS

Wanted: One roommate to share a 3-bedroom house, split the rent, and ideally not be the guy I can’t stop thinking about.
I’m a man with too many secrets, so the last thing I need is a new roommate with a sexy smile and blue eyes that see right through me. Eight years ago, Roderick left town after high school. We’re not friends. I owe him nothing. But back then, I let one of my secrets slip, and he’s the only one who noticed.
Part of me knows I should run far, far away. But the other part wants him to come upstairs and spend the night. But if I let him in, I could lose everything.

Seeking: A room to rent in town. I’m tidy, have no pets, and I will feed you homemade bread.
I should probably add: Gay AF, and has no filter. It’s no wonder my new landlord is so wary of me.
A smarter man would ignore those hot glances from Kieran Shipley. The broody lumberjack wants more from me than another homemade pretzel, but if I push my luck, I’ll end up back on the street.
Too bad I’ve never been smart with my heart

REVIEW

Kieran Shipley is a man of a few words. He works at his cousin’s wife coffee shop during the day and has a desk job in the evenings. He’s content if not exactly happy at the moment. That is until one day Roderick comes blasting back in his life. Kieran and Roderick knew of each other in high school, but were never actually friends. Kieran’s not sure what to make of Roderick being back in town especially since he knows the one secret that Kieran has been hiding from his entire family.

Roderick has been burned by his boyfriend. He’s proud of being gay and had it enough with a boyfriend who wanted to keep him a secret. He’s moved back from Nashville to Vermont and luckily finds a job at the same coffee shop that Kieran works at. Roderick remembers Kieran from high school – only now Kieran is a sexy lumberjack that happens to offer Roderick a spare room to rent in his house. Can these two roomies keep their relationship platonic?

I really loved the relationship between Kieran and Roderick in Roommate. They were sweet and sexy and their chemistry was prevalent right from the beginning. Both Roderick and Kieran had their own issues that they were working through, but they were always there for each other when it counted the most.

I enjoyed being back in Vermont and visiting the Shipley gang again! While Roommate does have us visiting characters from the True North series, it is a true (M/M) standalone and reads as one.

Audiobook

Story: 4
Narration: 4.5
Overall: 4

I enjoyed the audiobook of Roommate narrated by Stephen Dexter and Teddy Hamilton. Teddy Hamilton is a favorite narrator and he was excellent portraying Roderick. This was my first audiobook listening to Stephen Dexter as a narrator, but he was great at portraying Kieran! Both of these narrators were excellent in portraying the different emotions their characters were feeling.

If you’re looking for a sexy, small town, forced-proximity M/M romance, pick up a copy of Roommate!