MyLastRomanceNovel

Such a fun cute read

Revisado: 04-24-25

My Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️.5
Spice Meter: ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 Spicy. More than some in the genre.
Narration: ❤️❤️❤️❤️

In Short: The pining, the will they or won't they, the comedic exploration of all the tropes! An excellent debut by Victoria Lavine.

General Thoughts: I decided to read this one after seeing how many of my friends absolutely loved it, and it did not disappoint. This book was such a fun ride. Predictable at times, but I never mind that. I think some of the best books are predictable. I loved the characters and how the author explored so many layers to them. The plot and the story itself were so fun and well done. This is an excellent, cute read. Banter was bantering. Tension was tensioning. I loved it, and I can't wait to read more by her.

Romantic Tropes:
-dual pOV
-meet cute but not so meet cute
-grump and grumpier (who's secretely a softie)
-one tent
-snowed in
-dislike to love
-close proximity
-FMC who doesn't believe in love and HEA
-and on an on

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RUN & go go listen to this one!

Revisado: 04-21-25 El oyente recibió este título gratis

My Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

In Short: Do not walk, RUN to go listen/read this one. I devoured this one in one sitting. Absolutely loved it. No notes!

General Thoughts: OH MY GOSH! This one is SO SO SO GOOD! So good that I had to break out the all caps and the exclamation points. The chemistry, the spice, the banter, the side characters, the plot, the writing--all exceptionally well done. I haven't read anything by Julia Connors before, and I want to slap my past self for that. How/Why did I not read this author sooner? Learn for my mistakes, and pick her up right now. It's been a while since I've been fully engrossed in a book like I was with this one. So so good. Take a look at the tropes, and you'll see some of what made this one so, so good. Just some exceptionally good tropes! But again, this one was exceptionally well-written, and none of it felt forced at all. I will immediately be going to read her backlog. I received an audio review copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Spice Meter:❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 Spicy, and so so good! I was down bad.

Romantic Tropes and Things:
-contemporary realistic
-sports romance
-hockey romance
-older FMC age gap
-dislike to love
-love to hate you/hate to love you
-GM and player
-off-limits
-secret romance
-all the spice
-workplace romance
-he falls harder and faster
-boy obsessed down bad MMC

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Fun read

Revisado: 04-11-25 El oyente recibió este título gratis

My Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️

General Thoughts: Second book I've read by this author, and second I've read in the series. After reading the first one, I knew that Willow was a talented writer, and that was confirmed here. She crafts her characters well, plots her stories well, and the pacing is excellent. I have loved reading about the friendship these guys have for each other. Male friendship is important. I also love the friendship amongst the women in the story, too. It's what I call football/sports-lite. Sports is there but definitely in the background. All in all, this was an enjoyable story, and I am glad to have read it. Curious to see what comes next. I received a review copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Spice Meter:❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 Spicy. Not as spicy as some but still there.

Romantic Tropes
-dual POV
-romance
-contemporary realistic
-one night only
-grump sunshine
-small town
-football
-sports

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Grump sunshine at its best

Revisado: 03-19-25 El oyente recibió este título gratis

My Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️

In Short: Great opposites attract, grump sunshine with great banter.

General Thoughts: This was my first read by this author, but it definitely won't be the last. I could tell I was jumping into an interconnected series here, but I never felt lost. Stacy's writing was engaging and fun, and the story was an intriguing one. I loved how Stacy crafted this. I enjoyed the characters and how they grew throughout the story. I loved how she crafted this opposites attract and sunshine grump. It didn't feel over the top or too forced. I also really loved the dynamics between the two main characters. I received an audio review copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. Thanks to the author and Valentine PR. 🎧

Spice Meter:❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 Spicy but not frequently so or overly detailed.

Romantic Tropes and Things:
-contemporary realistic
-close proximity
-dislike to love
-Right guy wrong time
- Saving her from Mr. Wrong
-opposites attract
-grump sunshine
-banter

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Moments of brilliance

Revisado: 03-01-25

My Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️

In Short: Many moments of brilliance and some great commentary on many important topics and a great exposition of grief, but the brilliance is slightly lessened by some loose threads and some disjointed themes.

General Thoughts: This was a book club read. Similar to Black Cake, I enjoyed a lot about the book. Many moments in this book shone and were really thought-provoking. I loved how Charmaine really delved into grief and also how intergenerational trauma can complicate that grief. I also loved the symbolism and history of the jar. Charmaine is at her best when she dips into family lore, and the snippets into the past were really one done. There was a lot to love about this book.

However, at the conclusion of part two, I found myself thinking, how are we only halfway through the book? The book is only 368 pages, but it felt so much longer. I think that's indicative of some of the pacing issues in the book. Now, there were many parts of Parts 3 and 4 that I absolutely loved, but the book at times felt disjointed or like some threads didn't fully connect. I felt it could have benefited from some pruning and tightening up a bit. Some characters and POVs felt like they cluttered the story. I said I felt like the author tried to do too much in book one all at once, and I felt that way here, too. But I would definitely read more by the author because I think she'll get there. Lots to love about this book, but some parts were hard to get through.

Tropes:
-historical fiction
-multi pOV
-family saga
-family mystery

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Rage-inducing, transcendentally evocative

Revisado: 02-02-25

My Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️.5

In Short: Rage-inducing, transcendentally evocative, and a gripping story.

General Thoughts: I always say I don't read a ton of historical fiction, but when I do, it's really good historical fiction. This follows that pattern. I picked this up since it was a book club read, and I loved it. It took me a minute to get invested in the story (I didn't admittedly love the prologue/epilogue of sorts on this one). But once I got in the story, it was really well done. I was so invested in the characters of this town and in Martha Ballard. Did not realize such a cool woman existed, which is why the author wanted to write this one. So she can count me now knowing about her as a success.

I loved how Ariel characterized Martha and brought her to life. I can see why this one was so highly praised last year. Definitely deserving. I work with survivors, so this book was infuriating because it's still so apt. I enjoyed the social commentary, Martha's POV, and her relationship with her family. Massive kudos to the authors. I would recommend this one.

Tropes:
-historical fiction
-first-person POV
-midwife
-older FMC

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Perfectly Adorable

Revisado: 01-09-25

My Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

In Short: Such a cute, adorable, swoonworthy read.

General Thoughts: Sarah Adams knocked it out of the park with this one. While some of her books can be a bit hit or miss for me, I have LOVED all in this When in Rome series. Three five-star reads from me. I still think my favorite is Practice Makes Perfect, but this is a very close second. This series is adorable. I love the tie-ins to Audrey Hepburn films. This one was Breakfast at Tiffany's. It wasn't overdone at all. I loved the nods. I could relate to the FMC. I thought Sarah did a great job demonstrating her need to be needed and perfect. I loved the relationship between the two characters. Emily and Jackson are great. Jackson is book boyfriend goals. Another hit for me. I can't wait for the Sabrina one. Such a great series.

Spice Meter:.5❤️‍🔥

Reading Order: You can start wherever you want, but prior characters make cameos.

Romantic Tropes
-dual POV
-hate to love you
-neighbors to lovers
-dislike to love
-close proximity
-small town

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Loved this whole series!

Revisado: 01-06-25

My Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️

In Short: This series caught my eye from start to finish. Dark. Well executed. Great characters.

General Thoughts: Sometimes I feel like characters in a series can start to resemble each other too much. However, in Sophie's, each couple and every main character felt unique and different from the others. They all had a strong personality type, which I loved. They also didn't feel too much like character-casting. Sometimes, it's easy in novels to think, "Oh, this character is the blank type of character," but there wasn't too much of that here.

I have loved binging this series. They are all well done in any format. I really enjoyed this one. I wouldn't say it's my favorite of the series; the first two and the fifth ones definitely rival that. However, this was an enjoyable read. It was a bit easier to predict the plot in this one, maybe because I have now read six in the series, but I enjoyed it all the same. I can't wait to read more by this author.

Spice Meter: ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥.5

Disclaimer: I received a review copy and a review listening copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you, Netgalley and the author.

Romantic Tropes
-dual POV
-hidden agenda
-dark mafia romance
-rival families
-close proximity
-insta-attraction
-inexperienced/virgin FMC

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Love this series

Revisado: 01-05-25

My Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️.5

In Short: A hint of danger. A pinch of romantic suspense. And a whole lot of cowboy and cowboy-themed spice.

General Thoughts: The binge-read of this series continues. I loved this one. I loved the dynamics between the main characters and the writing styles. This was a high point in the series for me. Sophie Lark has done a great job with this series. I can't wait to see how the series ends and to read more by her. I have always loved a good fictional cowboy, and this one delivered.

A mesh of different tropes and genres that Sophie blended together well. A fun read.

Spice Meter: ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥.5 Spicy.

Romantic Tropes:
-dual POV
-dark mafia-ish
-cowboy
-bodyguard
-close proximity/forced proximity
-military
-law/legal

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Always here for a heist story

Revisado: 12-31-24

My Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️.25

In Short: I've always loved a good heist story. I blame Ocean's 11 and the Italian Job. Make it a hot romantic story, and I'm there.

General Thoughts: I really loved the first two in the series, and so I was excited to read this one. I didn't know what to expect going into it, but I had high hopes after the first two. I have loved all three in the series. This one was a bit slower for me to get into than the first two, but I loved Nero and Camille. I also liked when we got to the heist part. Because I love heists, I wouldn't have minded that part taking longer. I also wanted more of Camille and Nero's story. But this was an enjoyable read that I loved. Onto book four we go.

Spice Meter: ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 Spicy.

Romantic Tropes
-dual POV
-dark mafia
-rich guy, poor girl
-opposites attract
-heist

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