Author: deborahkehoe

Hi! I am an avid reader who annoys her husband because I always have my head buried in a book. I was an English major, and have finally decided to do something with the knowledge and skills my parents love and money have given me. Mostly I'm just a chick who reads. A Lot.

This Chick Read: Hidden Nature by Nora Roberts

Natural Resources police officer Sloan Cooper had just arrested three men taking down hikers in the Western Maryland mountains with her partner, when they stopped at a convenience store. Sloan walked right into a robbery in progress and got shot in the chest almost losing her life. She was shocked back to life on the operating table and took some time off to recover at her family’s home in Heron’s Rest. Having a hard time not working, when Sloan hears of a woman who goes missing leaving her car behind in a grocery store parking lot she searches through the database for similar cases. She finds a lot of cases matching the description but nothing ties the victims together. The new man in her life, Nash, proves to be a great sounding board for her theories and with his help she soon finds that missing connection.

There’s just something about the comfort of reading one of Nora Roberts romantic suspense novels. Her pacing is steady, allowing her to build the characters back stories and allow the reader the time to really connect with and care for the characters, but she also develops the romance at that same pace. The two plots don’t outdo each other but rather complement each other so that moving from the romance to the mystery doesn’t distract from the other but rather adds to it. I loved that especially about Hidden Nature.

Sloan’s rehab from her wounds gives the reader a great gage of her head space. She’s exhausted, then frustrated, then angry, then resolved and we’re along for the ride with each of those feelings. When she’s finally ready to embrace those romantic feelings for Nash the reader is brought along seemlessly into those new emotions and is ready for Sloan to feel better, so begins to root for their romance and for Nash to jump on the we love Sloan bandwagon. Of course, he does, and that part of the story feels very natural.

The hardest part for me to read was from the killer’s point of view. Of course, it’s natural to feel uncomfortable, but I kind of wished for a little less of them and more of Sloan and Nash. That’s my only criticism of a really solid novel.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest!

Click this link to purchase this book! Hidden Nature

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*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: It’s A Love Story by Annabel Monaghan

Jane Jackson has built her adult life on the mantra ‘Fake It Until You Make It’. Her childhood was spent on a sitcom as the sidekick “Janey Jakes” but now she’s trying to make it as a Hollywood Executive. When she claims to be able to talk a popular musician, Jack Quinlan, into writing a track to help them launch a movie she’s pitching Jane has to ask for help from her one-time crush Dan Finnegan. Jack is playing a festival in Dan’s hometown and she needs Dan’s connections to help her, well, connect with Jack. A week in close quarters with Dan is Jane’s idea of hell, but stranger things have surprised her.

I recently discovered this author when I finally listened to an audiobook that I’d purchased of one of her other books, and fell in love. I love her style of writing, her lovable yet flawed characters, and most of all that slow burn romance. Annabel Monaghan believes in that big build-up in tension and I just love how that makes me eagerly turn the pages. It’s a Love Story had me feeling all that pent-up emotion that I remembered from the first novel of hers I read, Phoebe Goes Off Script. When combined with humor, charm, and an emotional punch you are left with one stand-up novel that’s just really easy to sit back, read, and enjoy.

Dan was set up to be this kind of co-worker jerk who had stood in Jane’s way on another project but by the end of this novel he was the sweet misunderstood hero that every woman wants to meet. On the flip side, Jack Quinlan is the trauma from Jane’s past that serves as a tool for the conflict Jane’s character needs to overcome to believe in love. The juxtaposition of her past and present with the men from her present and past really gave this novel a punch of feeling. I loved Jane’s journey but especially when she and Dan finally work things out. I can’t wait to listen to this book on audio because I think a great narrator could make me love it even more the second time around.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest.

Click this link to purchase this book!* It’s a Love Story

Copyright 2025 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate – if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: Not So Fast by Karen Booth

Mia Neal has a love for F1 racing and when a friend suggests she starts her own podcast she thought it would be her little side gig. When her comments about struggling racer, Xander Bishop, goes viral her podcast gains popularity. When Xander’s rival invites her to the Miami Grand Prix she accepts his invitation and meets Xander for the first time. Sparks fly during a confrontation and he invites her to the next race as his guest. Will her new fans understand her relationship with Xander?

What’s not to like about this story? First, I, like many of the US, has gotten to know and love F1 racing and reading a story set in that world intrigued me. Second, podcasts are just the thing in romance novels right now, so combining those two things seemed a smart strategy. Mia and Xander were totally likable characters, with both being surprisingly down to earth and normal. Xander didn’t throw his money around, was a family man, and his struggle to succeed in the F1 world was an interesting take. Mia, too, had a great back story and a struggle to overcome and her need to stay true to herself and her fan base gave her character a truthfulness that you just couldn’t turn away from. I liked them both!

The only thing missing for me was that the author toned down the glitz and glamour in order to make the characters real and easier for the reader to connect with. I would’ve actually liked to read about the behind the scenes world in F1 racing including the money and fashion. However, what we got was still fun and made for a great weekend read. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest.

Click this link to purchase this book!* Not So Fast

Copyright 2025 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: The Love Haters by Katherine Center

Katie Vaughn’s life has gone up in flames. She’s ended a bad relationship and now her job is facing lay-offs. In order to save her own, she take a job producing a video in Florida about a Coast Guard rescue swimmer, Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson, despite not being able to swim. Something she hides from her coworker, Cole- who is also Hutch’s brother. That’s just the first lie she ends up telling. When she gets to Florida and meets Hutch, who’s possibly the most handsome man she’s ever met, she gets caught up in a few more lies, the least of which is not being able to swim. As she faces some of her fears, and gets to know Hutch and his aunt Rue, Katie realizes she needs to take this chance to really be brave at last.

Katherine Center’s novels come out every year just as Summer is about to start. I look forward to reading her books because I know I’m going to love the characters and the fears and/or obstacles they are always trying to overcome. She writes with a tongue in cheek sense of humor but also with a lot of heart, which makes her books lovely to read. The Love Haters had all of these things. Wonderful characters who weren’t perfect and needed a little smoothing over, and obstacles that they needed to overcome before finding their happily ever after. This story wasn’t any different, so why didn’t I connect with it as much as I usually do?

Katie and Hutch were interesting, their lifestyle choices understandable, and the conflicts in their lives emotional. Each of them separately were amazing. I think I didn’t feel a huge connection between them as a couple. Katie had a tendency to hide herself behind some of her phobia’s and Hutch had learned from a young age to hide his feelings. These walls each of them had built kept the reader, or at least this one, from that connection that I’m always looking for between the romantic couple. For me, that was problematic and I felt a little like I was reading a synopsis of a therapy session. Hoever, the story was great, their situations relatable, and they were both lovely, nice people and you couldn’t beat the sunny setting.

Maybe it’s just me, but because of these little things I held back on my rating by one star. Nothing huge, this one is still a four out of five rating, but normally I go all in with five stars for this author, so it’s a bit of an anomaly for me. You may feel completely different! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest!

Click this link to purchase this book!* The Love Haters

Copyright 2025 the Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate-if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: Slipstream by Madge Maril

Documentary filmmaker Lilah Graywood never thought she’d be producing a film on F1 racing but when her co-owner and boyfriend of their business convinces her to spend their summer doing this she doesn’t have the heart to say no, until he dumps her and tries to fire her from her own company. As revenge she and back-up race car driver Arthur Bianco decide to create a secret partnership where she will film his comeback and take control of Max’s documentary. When she and Arthur have to fake a relationship she gets to know the real Arthur, and his hidden vulnerabilities. Their chemistry soon makes it hard to pretend and Lilah has to face her true feelings.

F1 has certainly become a popular subject in romance and as an F1 fan I was worried that this novel wouldn’t portray it well, but you know what? Madge Maril did the sport justice, AND gave us really likable characters in an interesting romance. When Lila got dumped I was all in for the revenge plot, and her relationship with Arthur seemed like it would lean towards a friends to lovers, which is my favorite trope. What I didn’t expect was for their to be so much depth to these characters! I loved Lilah’s love for documentary filmmaking, but also how she began to love this sport that she at first thought was ego-driven and dumb. When she began to see how she could create this great story about Arthur’s comeback and then also began to let herself fall for him while filming it? Wonderfully written.

If you love F1 this book is a no-brainer and you need to read it. If you love romance novels and don’t know anything about F1? Still read this book! The characters are well written, the pace of the story is fast (as it should be when about racing!), and the chemistry is fab-u-lous! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest!

Click this link to purchase this book!* Slipstream

Copyright 2025 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you have purchased this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: Rules for Ruin (The Crinoline Academy #1) by Mimi Matthews

Just outside of London lies an institution with a secretive aim, to train young women to distract, disrupt, and discredit the patriarchy. When a powerful lord’s systemic attacks on young women’s rights in Parliament, the Academy sends for one of their best pupils to infiltrate the lord’s inner circle. If she brings down the viscount she earns her freedom. Betting shop owner Gabriel Royce has different plans for the viscount. He needs his support to help him rebuild the rookeries of St. Giles and Effie’s plans completely stand in his way. Effie and Gabriel engage in a battle of wits and wills that’s complicated by a blossoming desire.

Mimi Matthews delivers another really great historical romance. This time with the theme of women’s rights. Although I got the feeling that Effie was more interested in her freedom at first, but as the story moved forward you could feel her shift to believing that what she was fighting for was in fact what was best for her. Her attraction to Gabriel was immediate and their conflict gave a really great tug and pull of both their developing feelings but also where they stood in the fight for womens rights. Gabriel had his own interests he wanted to protect, but it ended up being the love of a good woman that won him over in the end.

This author has always shown us different sides of London society and this novel was no different. Although Effie was passing herself off as a lady, she had a mysterious background that was a sub-plot and gave insight into her actions. She and Gabriel ended up having a lot in common which drew them together as well. With the addition of a truly reprehensible bad guy to add more conflict to an already great story this one you shouldn’t miss reading. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest!

Click this link to purchase this book!* Rules for Ruin

Copyright 2025 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez

When Samantha finds a kitten in distress she takes him to the closest veterinarian clinic. When Xavier Rush walks in the door, Samantha is gobsmacked by his Greek god vibes, until he opens his mouth proving himself to be a surly SOB, delivering his professional opinion about the cat and the entire human race. Samantha loves nothing better than proving an SOB wrong, unless he can admit his mistake. They go on one date, and it is absolutely perfect, but Samantha has some family issues and is moving back home to Los Angeles the minute their date ends. Only neither one of them can forget the other.

Abby Jimenez is the queen of delivering romantic comedies with a lot of heart and this novel definitely had both. I laughed out loud at the great dialog, and felt emotional stirrings about all of the difficulties Xavier and Samantha had to overcome. Sounds great, right? So why was I left feeling slightly disappointed? Stop reading here if you don’t want some small spoilers.

This story had all the things, it really did. Romance, good looking girl, great looking guy, lots of chemistry, comedy, but what it didn’t have was our two main characters in the same city for the majority of the book. I thought the author did a great job of showing how a long distance relationship has been proven to break up couples. It was frustrating for me as a reader to not have them holding hands in the evening over a good meal or tv show, I can only imagine how it would feel in real life. So, I spent a great deal of this story, in between brief chuckles and heart tugs, feeling frustrated. That’s not really how I want to feel when I’m reading a romance novel. Hence the disappointment.

The good parts of this novel were really great. I loved both characters, I liked their back stories, I LOVED them together. I just didn’t get enough of that togetherness. Despite that frustration it was still a well written book by an author I love, it just wasn’t a five star read. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book!* Say You’ll Remember Me

Copyright 2025 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchased this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: Crossing Paths (Beneath the Wild Sky#2) by Katie Ruggle

Norah Pax works with her sisters in the family bail bond business as their researcher. She works completely behind the scenes but when one of their skips hacks into her computer and starts taunting her she decides to up her game and takes personal defense lessons from an ex-MMA fighter and very grumpy Dash Porter. Taking those lessons with Dash become the highlight of her week and he very quickly becomes someone she trusts. When he realizes the danger she’s in he takes the opportunity to stick close to her side.

I can always count on Katie Ruggle to write a good women in jeopardy story. Norah is strong of heart, but she’s not the most physical or athletic Pax sister. With Dash’s help she grows in confidence both physically and mentally and that is a very attractive trait in a romance novel. Dash himself is very physical, both in fitness and mental agility. He’s attracted to Norah from the start and as soon as he realizes she’s in trouble he’s all in. You got to love that in a hero!

Just as with Katie Ruggle’s other novels there’s a lot of action and adventure which makes this a very quick moving fun novel to read. I love the interactions between Norah and her sisters. There’s a lot of love on these pages, not just between the romantic leads. If you haven’t read any of Katie Ruggle’s other books, you really don’t need to read the series in order. This and all the other books can be read as stand alone’s, but you might get a little more enjoyment if you’ve read the other books first. Either way, you’re going to enjoy Norah and Dash’s story. Get ready for a fun ride!

❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest!

Copyright 2025 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: The Woman Left Behind (Misted Pines #4) by Kristen Ashley

Sheriff Harry Moran has a stack of files on his desk of cases that the inept sheriff before him may have messed up. When a gun in a double homicide gets traced back to one of those files, Harry makes the decision to head to the woman left behind. When Lillian Rainier opens the door, Harry is jolted by feelings he hasn’t felt since his wife died. As far as Lillian’s feelings, she’s had a crush on Harry for years but with this cold case mystery pending they take the time to not only investigate the murder but also to investigates they both are starting to feel for each other. When a witness turns up, they realize the killer is cleaning up his past mistakes.

Kristen Ashley’s Misted Pines series are good old fashioned romantic suspense novels and I’ve enjoyed getting to know all of these characters. A few of these characters make an appearance in The Woman Left Behind, a couple of whom help Harry with some out of town investigating. Otherwise, this story really centers on two characters who have not really been in any of the previous novels. Harry on the periphery, but only just. I enjoyed the lack of distraction as it read like a stand alone more than a part of a series.

The mystery in this story was quite good. It was a cold case regarding the disappearance of Lill’s parents when she was 18 years old. I liked the use of this case as a back story for the difficulties Lill had faced in her life and the obstacles she’s had to overcome. As Harry was the Sheriff and privvy to these details it allowed them to jump forward emotionally a little more quickly than would in real life, but then all of this author’s novels have a bent of a jump in time element speeding the romance along. Their emotional connection didn’t suffer from any insta-love backlash for the reader, but more of a whiplash reaction to all the emotions Lill was going through because of the appearance of that weapon being tied to her missing family.

Was this the best novel in this series? No. I still enjoyed the first book the best but I did think this was a solid romantic suspense novel and enjoyed getting to know these characters and their stories. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book!* The Woman Left Behind

Copyright 2025 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

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This Chick Read: One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune

When Alice was seventeen she spent a summer at the lake with her Nan. It’s where she took a photo of three teenagers in a yellow sailboat. A photo that changed the trajectory of her life. Now, a photographer, Alice is struggling to find that magic she felt when she first started taking photos. She has a successful career making her clients happy, but she is searching for that happiness for herself. When her Nan needs to recover from hip surgery, Alice decides to take them back to that cottage on the lake hoping that they’ll both find that magic that will put them back on track. What she doesn’t count on is Charlie Florak.

When she and Charlie meet there’s an instant connection, but deciding to be just friends, they fill their days in each others company. He’s one of the teenagers in the sailboat, still flirtatious and charming, but there’s something holding him back from the feelings that are growing between he and Alice.

I relish a great Summer beach read novel and Carley Fortune delivers every year when I’m jonesing for a vacation when I can spend time immersing myself in a delicious setting, and complicated characters that make you want to root for them. One Golden Summer captures that feeling so well. Alice’s journey to find herself while capturing the love for photography while having a summer “friendship” with Charlie was easy breezy reading. It made me feel warm with happiness while at the same time tense with nervous anxiety. Just as with any good romance, there is a hiccup to happiness that they must overcome. I’ll admit I shed a few tears reading this novel but that’s a sign of a strong connection to the characters. I was hooked and stayed up until late in the early morning hours to finish this novel because I just couldn’t put it down. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest!

Click this link to purchase this book!* One Golden Summer

Copyright 2025 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads