I can’t believe that June is here! How did almost half of the year already fly by? May was a great month! A few of my favorite things from this month included baking these cinnamon rolls I baked for mother’s day that turned out amazing. I also got to have happy hour with my girlfriends who I hadn’t seen in 1+ year (all of us are vaccinated) which was so much fun and made my heart so happy. And I listened to more audiobooks on my runs (thank you Hoopla!). I had a pretty great reading month and even had a chance to read one of my most anticipated books of the summer/fall!
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Rating: 5 out of 5.
Battle Royal by Lucy Parker
A Daring Arrangement by Joanna Shupe
Hang the Moon by Alexandria Bellefleur
Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author.
SYNOPSIS
I’m Jake Masterson, single dad, and the General Manager of Seattle’s NHL team. I walked away from a career as a player so I could raise my daughter. For the last twenty-plus years, Queenie has been my main priority, but now she’s getting married.
And there’s a small complication.
A beautiful, sexy complication named Hanna.
She’s my son-in-law’s older sister. Or at least that’s how they were raised. The truth is a little more scandalous than that.
I’ve been drawn to her from the moment I laid eyes on her. And I spent months trying to keep a lid on that attraction.
Until we finally give in.
It starts with one searing kiss, but quickly ends with us between the sheets—and in the shower, and the hot tub, you get the picture—and turns into months of sneaking around.
Here’s the problem: we live on opposite ends of the country. It can’t be anything but casual. And as I’ve already said…it’s complicated.
But when Hanna finds out she’s pregnant…suddenly things get real serious.
REVIEW
After finishing Kingston and Queenie’s book I have been looking forward to Jake & Hanna’s story! Jake is beyond happy that his baby girl is getting married. Wedding planning is a lot, and Jake is ecstatic that he gets to spend time with Hanna – Kingston’s sister/momster while they both plan the wedding. What starts out as a few scorching looks here and there turns into them having an affair. It’s not always easy as Jake lives in Seattle and Hanna’s life is in Tennessee. But what starts of as a mutual attraction towards one another turns into something a lot more than either of them expected. How will they handle this curveball thrown at their relationship?
Helena’s writing is always amazing and A Kiss for a Kiss was no exception! The emotional depth that both Jake and Hanna exhibit really added to their characters. When Hanna finds out that she’s pregnant – I totally sympathized with both Jake and Hanna’s feeling. While the pregnancy trope isn’t one I seek out, I knew I had to read this book especially being set in the All In world which I love!
Seeing the gang again was seriously so much fun! I love that Helena is able to incorporate past characters into the storyline – especially Kingston, Bishop, Stevie and Queenie. Their interactions were always so much fun and brought some comedic relief in a sometimes serious book.
I felt so much for Hanna. The fact that she was so young when she had her first baby definitely makes it a more emotional story for her, and her vulnerability was always at the forefront. Some of my most favorite moments of the book were Hanna and Kingston’s conversations ♥.
While A Kiss for a Kiss can be read as a standalone, I highly recommend reading A Secret for A Secret before picking it up!
Opposites attract in this small town charming romance. Crazy About a Cowboy is sure to be a swoony romance!
SYNOPSIS
Local cowboy Jasper Taylor has to decide if it’s more important to help his hometown of Ido, Texas win a contest or for him to win the heart of the woman he loves.
The little town of Ido, Texas, is up against some big competition. With the state tourism department on a search for the most romantic town in Texas, Ido is pulling out all the stops to win the title. Leading the effort is the newly appointed hospitality host Jasper Taylor. If he can secure the honor for Ido, he’ll be able to hang onto his family’s land.
But when the reigning Miss Lovin’ Texas and celebrity judge, Delilah Stone, rolls into town, she isn’t exactly welcomed with open arms. Delilah’s ready to put her beauty queen days behind her, and the only thing standing in her way is spending the next thirty days in Ido. It should be an easy gig, but someone in town is tired of all of the recent publicity. Somehow everything that ought to go right is suddenly going wrong.
Now it’s up to Jasper to convince Delilah to give Ido another chance by showing her just how romantic the small town can be…without losing his own heart in the process.
EXCERPT
Jasper ran his palms over his denim-clad thighs. Delilah Stone had been in town for less than five minutes and he’d already screwed up. How the hell would he explain to his dad that he’d managed to ruin Ido’s run for the title before the judge even made it up the steps of city hall?
“What in the world happened?” Lacey entered her office, her cheeks flushed.
He jumped to his feet. “I don’t know. I was cleaning the pigeon shit off the sidewalk and all of a sudden there she was.”
“You didn’t hear her? See her heading your way?”
Jasper shook his head. “I came around the corner and before I knew what was happening she was soaked through.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll fix this.” Lacey crossed her arms over her chest, her mouth set in a determined line.
“Me?” His stomach dipped. “How do you expect me to do that?”
“I need a hospitality host, and you owe me.”
“Wait a sec. I said I was sorry and I meant it. But I don’t think—”
The office door creaked open. Delilah Stone entered. She’d changed into dry clothes, but her hair still hung in damp curls, framing her heart-shaped face. He’d expected the beauty queen to be, well, beautiful. But beautiful was too dull a word to do justice to the gorgeous woman who’d just entered the mayor’s office.
Lacey rounded the desk and moved toward the door. “Ms. Stone, welcome.”
Jasper rose to his full height and drew in a breath. Then he forced what he hoped looked like a reassuring grin and turned it on Miss Lovin’ Texas herself.
She might have been drenched from head to toe a few minutes ago, but she handled herself with the composure of a queen. Her spine ramrod straight, her face scrubbed free of any trace of makeup, she entered the office like she owned the place.
“We’re thrilled to be hosting you as part of the Most Romantic Small Town in Texas competition.” Lacey glanced toward him and he braced himself for the inevitable introduction. “I’d like you to meet Jasper Taylor, our hospitality host. He’ll be your main point of contact while you’re here in town.”
Jasper shot a look to Lacey, who lifted one shoulder in a slight shrug. Great. He didn’t want to undermine the mayor, even if she’d made an incorrect assumption that he’d changed his mind about taking on the role. He’d let it go for now. But once Ms. Stone left the office, he’d have to set Lacey straight.
“It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Stone. I’m sorry about getting you all wet. Although I’ve gotta say, you look just as pretty soaked right through as you did when you won your title.” He had to give major props to the beauty queen, she didn’t flinch as she slid her hand against his.
Delilah glanced over to Lacey. What the heck was wrong with him? Based on how he was handling his interaction with Delilah, she’d probably never believe he actually held a degree in business and had aced his professional communications courses. For some reason his tongue seemed to get all hog-tied when facing the woman with the smoky green eyes who held the fate of Ido in her soft, delicate hands.
She slipped her fingers out of his grip and followed Lacey toward the desk. “It’s my pleasure, Mr. Taylor.”
“Oh, you can call me Jasper.”
“It’s my pleasure then, Jasper.” The tight smile she gave him held more than a hint of frustration, making him think she’d rather slap him than have to rely on him for anything during her time in Ido. She probably thought Lacey was crazy for putting her trust in him. At least they were on the same page with regard to that.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and audiobook courtesy of Harper Audio & Libro.fm
SYNOPSIS
In a delightful follow-up to Written in the Stars, Alexandria Bellefleur delivers another #ownvoices queer rom-com about a hopeless romantic who vows to show his childhood crush that romance isn’t dead by recreating iconic dates from his favorite films…
Brendon Lowell loves love. It’s why he created a dating app to help people find their one true pairing and why he’s convinced “the one” is out there, even if he hasn’t met her yet. Or… has he? When his sister’s best friend turns up in Seattle unexpectedly, Brendon jumps at the chance to hang out with her. He’s crushed on Annie since they were kids, and the stars have finally aligned, putting them in the same city at the same time.
Annie booked a spur-of-the-moment trip to Seattle to spend time with friends before moving across the globe. She’s not looking for love, especially with her best friend’s brother. Annie remembers Brendon as a sweet, dorky kid. Except, the 6-foot-4 man who shows up at her door is a certified Hot Nerd and Annie… wants him? Oh yes.
Getting involved would be a terrible idea—her stay is temporary and he wants forever—but when Brendon learns Annie has given up on dating, he’s determined to prove that romance is real. Taking cues from his favorite rom-coms, Brendon plans to woo her with elaborate dates straight out of Nora Ephron’s playbook. The clock is ticking on Annie’s time in Seattle, and Brendon’s starting to realize romance isn’t just flowers and chocolate. But maybe real love doesn’t need to be as perfect as the movies… as long as you think your partner hung the moon.
REVIEW
Annie has made a plan. She’s going to move from Philadelphia to London where a career advancement awaits her. But before she does that she decides to spend some quality time with her best friend Darcy in Seattle. Except… Darcy isn’t there – she’s on vacation with her girlfriend Elle. Darcy decides Annie will have to get to know Seattle better with her brother Brendon! Annie remembers Brendon as a sweet dorky kid – so she doesn’t think anything of it. Except Brendon isn’t so dorky now – he’s actually smoking hot and there is a definite attraction between the two of them.
Brendon is a big fan of love. He loves love and everything that goes along with it. The grand gestures, the romance movies – everything! Annie is the opposite and doesn’t see love lasting after the happily ever after. Brendon decides to show Annie that romance is real by taking her on romantic outings in and around Seattle. Will he eventually get her to believe in love and stop her from moving halfway across the globe and settle in Seattle instead?
After reading Written in the Stars last year I couldn’t wait to read Hang the Moon ! Annie and Brendon were so cute together. Their scenes either had me laughing out loud or I had hearts in my eyes. I loved how swoony their romance was. And although I’m not a big fan of insta-love, I did believe in the romance between Annie and Brendon.
I loved seeing Darcy, Elle and Margot again too! The easy dynamic between all of the characters really added to the storyline for me. Not only did I love Brendon and Annie together, but I also loved how deep Annie and Darcy’s friendship was.
Audiobook:
Story: 4.5 Narration: 5 Overall: 5
Hang the Moon was narrated by Lauren Sweet and I think she did a wonderful job narrating both Annie and Brendon. I switched back and forth between the audiobook and the e-book version of Hang the Moon and I loved how easily Lauren was able to take me to Annie and Brendon’s world. I listened to the audiobook on my runs, on my commute and any other chance I got! I feel like the audiobook really added to Annie and Brendon’s characters.
Add Hang the Moon to your TBR if you’re looking for a funny, swoony and sweet romance. I would rate Hang the Moon 4.5-5 stars (rounding up).
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.
SYNOPSIS
A hilariously quirky novel that is equal parts murder mystery, rom-com, and a celebration of mothers and daughters as well as a deep dive into Chinese-Indonesian culture, by debut author Jesse Q. Sutanto.
1 (accidental) murder 2 thousand wedding guests 3 (maybe) cursed generations 4 meddling Asian aunties to the rescue!
When Meddelin Chan ends up accidentally killing her blind date, her meddlesome mother calls for her even more meddlesome aunties to help get rid of the body. Unfortunately, a dead body proves to be a lot more challenging to dispose of than one might anticipate, especially when it is accidentally shipped in a cake cooler to the over-the-top billionaire wedding Meddy, her Ma, and aunties are working, at an island resort on the California coastline. It’s the biggest job yet for their family wedding business—“Don’t leave your big day to chance, leave it to the Chans!”—and nothing, not even an unsavory corpse, will get in the way of her auntie’s perfect buttercream cake flowers.
But things go from inconvenient to downright torturous when Meddy’s great college love—and biggest heartbreak—makes a surprise appearance amid the wedding chaos. Is it possible to escape murder charges, charm her ex back into her life, and pull off a stunning wedding all in one weekend?
Story Locale: Southern California
REVIEW
Meddy is the good girl in her family. Amongst her cousins – she’s the only one to go into business with her mom and her meddling aunts. She’s the photographer for her family’s wedding business and they’ve been pretty successful so far!
One part of working with her family that Meddy isn’t too fond about is how they love to get into her business about everything. Including her love life (or lack of one). When a blind date (hilariously set up by Meddy’s mom & her sisters) goes horribly wrong – and Meddy ends up killing him (whoops) she’s going to need as much help as she can get from her family. With a looming wedding the next day that they have to prepare for and an ex that Meddy can’t stop thinking about showing up at the same time – Meddy is way in over her head. Will she find a way to clear herself of the mess she’s in?
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t quite sure what kind of book Dial A for Aunties was going to be. Was it a thriller? A murder mystery? A romance? I guess the best way to describe Dial A for Aunties is that it was a mix of all of these and throw in some humor that had me laughing out loud on multiple occasions. Think Weekend at Bernies + friends-to-lovers second chance romance. And while the plot line was a bit out there – I found myself enjoying it so much. Especially the scenes where Meddy talks about her heritage and culture. I identified with so much of the Indo-Chinese culture that Meddy discusses in the book and that made me really connect with her character and the storyline.
I am so excited that Dial A for Aunties is going to be made into a Netflix movie! I kept on stopping to share funny passages with my husband and I can’t wait to watch the movie. Definitely add this book to your TBR if you’re looking for an own-voices book to make you laugh with just the right amount of romance sprinkled throughout!
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.
SYNOPSIS
From the author of Ayesha at Last comes a sparkling new rom-com for fans of “You’ve Got Mail,” set in two competing halal restaurants
Sales are slow at Three Sisters Biryani Poutine, the only halal restaurant in the close-knit Golden Crescent neighbourhood. Hana waitresses there part time, but what she really wants is to tell stories on the radio. If she can just outshine her fellow intern at the city radio station, she may have a chance at landing a job. In the meantime, Hana pours her thoughts and dreams into a podcast, where she forms a lively relationship with one of her listeners. But soon she’ll need all the support she can get: a new competing restaurant, a more upscale halal place, is about to open in the Golden Crescent, threatening Three Sisters.
When her mysterious aunt and her teenage cousin arrive from India for a surprise visit, they draw Hana into a long-buried family secret. A hate-motivated attack on their neighbourhood complicates the situation further, as does Hana’s growing attraction for Aydin, the young owner of the rival restaurant—who might not be a complete stranger after all.
As life on the Golden Crescent unravels, Hana must learn to use her voice, draw on the strength of her community and decide what her future should be.
REVIEW
Hana’s family’s halal restaurant Three Sisters Biryani Poutine has seen better days. Hana waitresses there part time while also working as a intern for the local radio station. But what she loves doing the most is podcasting where her identity is kept anonymous. Her listeners really enjoy her content and she also forms a friendship with one “bot” in particular.
Hana’s mom enlists on some help from relatives in India. Soon Hana is sharing her house not only with her immediate family, but also her aunt as well as teenage cousin. Hana’s work/life balance is about to get even more hectic when direct competition moves into the neighborhood. The mysterious Aydin is about to open a halal restaurant across the street from Three Sisters. Hana needs to be clever to outmaneuver the clever Aydin! Will her family’s restaurant survive and can Aidyn and Hana ever act on their growing attraction to one another?
Hana Khan Carries On was the first book I have read written by Uzma Jalaluddin and it was such a delight! Being a second generation Indian American desi woman, I related to so much of what Hana goes through in the book.
Perhaps one of my favorite things about Hana Khan Carries On is the multifaceted way Jalaluddin tells the story. You feel how vulnerable and true Hana feels when she’s recording her podcasts and her relationship with her anonymous listeners. Hana wants to move up in the world of broadcasting, and yet she keeps feeling like she’s stuck with no where to go. And most of all you feel the anguish and heartbreak of knowing that her family’s restaurant might not make it if she doesn’t fight for it alongside her family.
I absolutely loved the You’ve Got Mail style of romance set in Hana Khan Carries On. And while the romance is essential to the story, it isn’t the only focus of the book. If you’re looking for a sweet romance filled with some (mild) family drama, and a sense of community – definitely pick up Hana Khan Carries On!
I have so many passages highlighted of this beautifully written book. I can’t wait to go back and revisit my favorite passages. Overall I’d give Hana Khan Carries On 4.5 stars!
April flew by and I can already feel the beginnings of my favorite season – Summer! My reading lately has been hit and miss. Sometimes I can read a few books back to back and other times I just need a break or a re-read. I didn’t read very many books in April, but the books that I did read were mostly really stellar! Standouts included The Love Hypothesis and People We Meet on Vacation. Looking forward to reading some great summer romances in the next few months!
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