Tag: romance

This Chick Read: Catch and Keep by Erin Hahn

Maren Laughlin’s life just took a left turn. When she rejects her boyfriends proposal, she quits her decades long job as a park ranger and moves back to her childhood playground to check in on her inheritance, a decrepit bait shop in Northern Wisconsin. Josiah Cole runs the resort that abuts Maren’s bait shop. A childhood best friend of her brother’s they used to hang out as children but life moves on and he’s now divorced, with two great kids. He’s happy with his life but when Maren moves in next door he starts catching feelings. She’s beautiful, funny, and his kids love her and their friendship is just so easy. Despite her brothers warnings, Joe and Maren are in the middle of a relationship without even trying.

I love these adult novels by Erin Hahn. She describes Joe and Maren’s relationship as just so easy to fall into, and this book was exactly the same. I started reading, and before I knew it I had developed feelings for these characters in part because of the easy flow of the story, but also because of the setting and the kids. This story was a joy and I relished reading Maren and Joe’s story.

There isn’t a great romance novel if there’s not a hint of conflict and we do have a couple of storylines that create that dynamic for our duo. Maren’s brother is Joe’s best friend, and he doesn’t hesitate to warn Maren off of catching feelings for Joe. He’s also a bit of a dope to Maren and gave the reader a person to get frustrated at that wasn’t our hero or heroine. Joe also isn’t the swinging single guy, he comes as a package with his two kids who added a lot to the story- as well as a dumb ex- spouse that the reader could also focus some energy on hating. It was only Maren and Joe’s feelings that were easy breezy, these conflicts gave the story a lot of heart in their conclusions.

I’ve read the other two novels in this stand alone series. I say stand alone and series in the same sentence because Maren’s two best friends were the heroines from the previous two adult novels by this same author. It’s always nice to see how other characters you’ve read have advanced their storylines and I welcomed that brief peek. Despite their reoccurance, you can read this novel as a stand alone and not miss a thing but I bet when you’re done, if you hadn’t read the other two novels you’re going to want to pick them up and catch up!

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

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

Click this link to purchase this book!* Catch and Keep

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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: Wish I Were Here by Melissa Wiesner

Math Professor, Catherine Lipton has a plan for everything but when she starts a new job and her identity disappears she doesn’t even know where to start to get her documentation put back into the system. She reluctantly accepts help from her frustratingly laid-back doorman Luca Morelli. With his help she finds herself breaking the rules, meeting mysterious strangers, and generally having a great time. As she unravels the truth behind her identity disappearance she realizes that she may have been missing for a lot longer than she realized.

The publisher has described this book as being for readers who are fans of Sophie Cousens and Ashley Poston, and you know what? They were exactly right! I like both of those authors and I really enjoyed reading this novel about Catherine’s journey with the help of her very charismatic doorman Luca. Melissa Wiesner did a great job of showing Catherine’s growth from straight as an arrow professor to a more open to anything lady who is drawn to someone who seems to be her complete opposite.

This novel had one of my favorite things that I usually only find in small town romances. A fun, quirky cast of characters. I think because a lot of the story involves the building that they live in that building became the small town and each of those residents were fun, funny, and just plain lovely. Of course, they were all geriatric, so no chance of a second book in the series about one of the other characters in the book, but they added such joy to the novel. It’s funny because in real life young people don’t seem to tolerate the aging generation but in the best romance novels some of those older folks become my favorite characters. There were quite a few in this book.

The romance between Catherine and Luca wasn’t without its frustrations, but the story is what pulled this book together and gave it the gravitas needed to feel complete. The romance was just kind of a side note so please don’t think this is going to be a steamy novel. It’s not, but Catherine and Luca do provide enough sizzle to bring a romantic feel to the pages. That part of the story in my eyes isn’t the most important it was the sense of family and feeling like you belong that struck home for me. I liked this novel and hope this author will continue to write and give us a second book to look forward to! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

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

Click this link to purchase this book!* Wish I Were Here

Copyright 2024 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

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

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This Chick Read: Primal Mirror (Psy-Changeling Trinity #8) by Nalini Singh

Auden Scott is not the child her Psy parents wanted, especially after her brain injury. Her thoughts are scattered and her memory is fuzzy or just blank. The only thing she knows is that she must protect her unborn baby, a baby she has no recollection of conceiving. Leopard Alpha, Remi Lenier’s instinct is to protect, his pack, his allies, and his new neighbor. Her eerie eyes and changing scent confound the man and intrigue his cat. Nothing about Auden is as it seems and when she asks for his help Remi can’t help but respond.

Primal Mirror is the 8th book in the series, but this Psy-Changeling world is over 20 books in. I’ve read a few across both Psy series and I feel like if you’re familiar with the details of this world you can jump right in mid series. That’s what I’ve done when I chose to read Primal Mirror, the newest novel in this world. It didn’t matter that a few characters may have had recurring plots, I was intrigued by Remi and Auden and wanted to read their story, not the backlog of other novels. It was easy to immerse myself in this world again and get wrapped up in this intriguing and kind of eerie story.

After reading the synopsis of Auden Scott and her memory issues and pregnancy I knew the plot could be slightly uncomfortable and without going into too many details that might spoil the plot, I will say that this was the case. If you can’t remember getting pregnant, chances are that the how’s and what-for’s are probably not going to be all sunshine and rainbows. As the plot surrounding Auden’s mystery is revealed it was very easy to root for the good guys, which is a great transition to the subject of Remi. As an Alpha, his instinct is to protect, but that doesn’t explain why he is drawn to someone that shouldn’t intrigue him, but he is a cat and cat’s are curious. Once he unveils the mystery he is all in to help Auden and keep her baby safe. I liked their interactions with each other, despite their personality differences. It certainly helps that Auden doesn’t seem to be interested in being removed from emotion as are most Psy. This makes their meld into a couple not seem so forced.

I’m not usually drawn to read Nalini Singh’s books, although I do like the mysteries she has started to write, but for some reason I was drawn to this book. It could be that the promotional tour did it’s thing and I seemed to cross paths with this book more than her others, but I’m not sorry that I did pick it up. Maybe because I’ve only read a few of these novels, but I found this one interesting, easy to read, and easy to get into. All in all, a solid weekend read! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book!* Primal Mirror

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This Chick Read: The Match by Sarah Adams

Evie has dedicated her life and limited funds to Southern Service Paws, the company that matched her with, Charlie, her service dog trained to assist her with her epilepsy. She loves nothing more than helping to match other people in need with service dogs and when she gets a letter from a father looking for a service dog for his ten year old daughter who was just diagnosed with epilepsy, Evie jumps at the chance. When she meets them at their consultation meeting she finds out that the daughter sent the email signing her father’s name and he had no idea and was not pleased at the meeting. Despite his hesitations, pretty soon he comes on board and both Evie and Sam’s service dog change their lives.

I was drawn to this book because of the synopsis. It’s not often you read a description with a heroine that has epilepsy. I was really curious how this romance would work. Enter adorable kid, with a handsome father and voilá, cute plot ensues. There was a small hint of enemies to lovers at the beginning of this novel, but Jacob gave up on his disgruntlement pretty quickly. He loves his daughter and what’s best for her comes first. Awwww…

Evie also wasn’t what I expected. Yes, she has epilepsy and a service animal herself, but she is my favorite kind of heroine, sassy and sweet! She doesn’t have trouble standing up for herself even though her epilepsy can be quite debilitating. She has learned to live with her fears and so can look past them to the happiness that’s on the other side. She and Jacob were good with each other and I loved that she bonded with his daughter as well. Despite the newness of the premise, it was a pretty standard romance with only a small conflict to resolve. A quick and enjoyable weekend read! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book!* The Match

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On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: The Christmas You Found Me (Heart of the Wilderness #1) by Sarah Morgenthaler

It’s Christmas, a time for joy and happiness, but with her family gone and her marriage over, Sienna Naples is having trouble finding joy in the season. When a friend publishes an ad in the local paper saying Sienna is looking for a husband as a joke, she paints on a smile. Until single father Guy Maple shows up answering the ad. His daughter has stage-five chronic kidney disease and needs a kidney transplant. Guy needs to show that he can afford Emma’s anti-rejection medicine in order to be approved to be on the list. A heart-breaking story that Sienna can’t turn down.

I’m a fan of this author’s and have enjoyed all of her previous novels. Their light-hearted humor and sweet small town romances were easy to read and totally enjoyable. The Christmas You Found Me has the same sweet small town, and there is some light-hearted humor but this story has a lot more depth and feeling than her previous novels. The story was rich, moving, and I couldn’t help but fall in love with all the characters. Yes, it was a little insta-love, but the fact that this family needed each other so much was really moving and Emma’s story in particular was heart-breaking and imbued the book with love. At the end of the book was an author’s note about Sarah Morgenthaler’s husband dying suddenly and the tough time she’s had that made this shift in emotional content make complete sense and hopefully was cathartic. I know it made me feel all sorts of things both comfortable and uncomfortable and I really appreciated the journey.

There were so many things I loved about this book. I liked that Sienna was recovering from a horrible divorce and that this small family’s need filled her heart. I liked that Guy and Emma were puzzle pieces that fit into Sienna’s life right from the start but that the story moved slowly so that you could really feel all the emotions this author put into the plot. There were quirky townies that hopefully will get their own stories, and plenty of small town feel for those of you who love those small town romances. This novel was different but hit all the right notes. I really liked it. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❣️

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 Christmas You Found Me

Copyright 2024 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: If the Shoe Fits (Meant To Be #1) by Julie Murphy

Cindy loves shoes. A recent graduate from fashion school she has moved back home with her step-mother a tv producer for the very famous dating show Before Midnight. When a few of the contestants fall through she and her two sisters fill in. Cindy hopes her clothing and shoe choices will get her noticed, what she doesn’t count on is falling in love with the bachelor.

As a plus-sized romance, this story certainly delivered the goods. I loved how Cindy was confident and stood up for herself, all while presenting herself fashionably. Unlike other Cinderella re-tellings, she and her step-sisters actually have great relationships with each other. Their antics were refreshing and I’ll admit the behind the scene’s “bachelorette” moments were as well.

Henry, the bachelor, was down to earth and wonderful. He filled those Prince Charming shoes extremely well and was totally likable as the romantic interest. Despite his having to go on all of those dates. The story was filled with secret moments between the two of them which fulfilled the romantic aspects of the book, but it was Cindy that stole the show. She is a character that the majority of women can identify with and was totally likable to boot! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❣️

Click this link to purchase this book!* If The Shoe Fits

Copyright 2024 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved.

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This Chick Read: The Woman By the Lake (Misted Pines #3) by Kristen Ashley

Nadia Williams needed to escape to a peaceful setting to recover from the trauma of the death of her mother. She rents a small one room cabin on a beautiful lake with only one other home close to hers. Doc Riggs cherishes is peaceful lake and when his new neighbor makes demands on his privacy his instinct is to stay far away, despite her good looks. When the local sheriff, and his best friend, shares her traumatic story, he decides to befriend her in order to make sure she receives any help she might need. He doesn’t expect the protectiveness he feels when she and the cabin she’s living in is targeted by activities that are both spooky and dangerous.

The Misted Pines series is a bit of a departure from this author’s normal novels. These books fall into more of a romantic suspense category and the eerie lake setting and the mysterious noises in The Woman By the Lake provide a creepy scene perfect for a hero to come to the damsel’s rescue. Nadia Williams has plenty of spunk and fire, but she’s more of a girly girl and seems to appreciate leaning on her handsome neighbor. That lean quickly evolves into a romantic relationship that turns Riggs into the alpha hero we come to expect from a Kristen Ashley novel.

I think I preferred the previous novels more than this one but I still enjoyed Nadia and Riggs’ story. The mystery was well developed and captured my interest but I never felt the spiked tension that the first two novels gave that the serial killer mysteries provided. Despite that the romance between Nadia and Riggs was fun and I loved all of the detailed moments that the author provided to set the scene. I wish I had a place to escape to like Nadia’s place, it sounded like the perfect girlie cabin in the woods. All in all this was a fun story and perfect for a weekend of reading. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book!* The Woman By The Lake

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

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This Chick Read: No One Does It Like You by Katie Shepard

When Broadway actor Tom Wilczewski is about to jump into raging waters during a category 3 hurricane to save his co-lead, he calls his ex-wife and leaves her a message telling her he regrets their divorce and still loves her. Two months later Rose Kelly is in a bad place and hear’s Tom’s message for the first time. She reaches out and asks for his help to revitalize her family’s B&B in Martha’s Vineyard and Tom, hoping for a reunion agree’s. What she doesn’t count on is for the rest of his Broadway cast to show up and help.

Rose and Tom’s relationship ended because of a lack of communication and they were only 22 years old. Way too young to figure out that they needed to fight for their marriage instead of just give up. 10 years later, Tom is still acting and in his first big Broadway role, yet he doesn’t hesitate to rush to Rose’s side to provide whatever help he can give. In the telling of this story we learn quite a bit about their dynamics as a couple and what went wrong, and what I loved about that telling is that with more adult eyes, the things that were so important at 22 were not as important at 32. It’s the message behind trying to make things work that, well, made this kind of awkward novel work too.

There was a fun sub-plot to this story about Tom being romantically involved with his male co-lead, Boyd, who’s actually a very well known actor. The reality is a bit different that what’s playing out in the gossip rags, but Tom is actually bi-sexual, as he was when he and Rose met. This sub-plot was a bit of mis-direction but also had a lot of charm and brought a sense of lightness to what could have been a kind of serious novel about second chances. A lot of that had to do with Boyd, his not very bright decision making, and his pack of groupies. I was never sure where the scene would lead when Boyd entered the page, but I always looked forward to it.

This novel wasn’t perfect. Tom and Rose’s second chance was filled with a lot of doubt and gray areas that sometimes made their character’s decisions kind of hard to follow. I loved Tom’s fortitude in wanting to win Rose back despite all of her hesitations. He was all in, and because of that I was all in too.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

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

Click this link to purchase this book!* No One Does It Like You

Copyright 2024 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

This Chick Read: No More Secrets (Blue Moon #1) by Lucy Score

After a tour of duty, Carter Pierce is settled back into life on the farm, hoping for a quiet life to recover from his wounds. New York journalist, Summer Lentz, is living with him for a week while she writes an article for her magazine. She’s a fish out of water with her expensive clothes, but willing to try anything to add meat to her story. At first Carter thinks she’ll scare off easily but after a couple of days he never wants to see her go.

When Lucy Score gets into her small town romance groove, you feel the love. The characters are slightly kooky, and in the small town of hippie-filled Blue Moon that certainly applies, but these same people also fill the pages with a lot of heart, making the reader want to travel to a similar type of small town and soak in the love. No More Secrets and the Blue Moon series, is not a new novel from Lucy Score, and in fact, I read this novel five years ago when it came out. I only vaguely remembered the story, but I definitely fell back into the charm, no problem.

Carter and Summer, despite the synopsis of grumpy guy and city girl, actually hit it off right from the start. She may be a city girl but she’s got some insecurities that make her perfect for the love of this gentleman farm, and Carter doesn’t fight his attraction, at all. For all that he’s recovering from his time overseas, he is a pretty charming guy who knows what he wants when he see’s it. He quietly woo’s Summer right from the start. I loved how Carter, his family, and the town all broke down her defenses. The story was simple, sweet, and even thought it was a second time read, I enjoyed it again. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

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

Click this link to purchase this book!* No More Secrets

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

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This Chick Read: Bananapants by Penny Reid

A spin-off of Reid’s Knitting in the City series, Bananapants is the story of childhood best friends Ava Archer and Des Sullivan. Inseparable until they were fifteen when Des suddenly moves away. Ten years later, Ava is wearing a costume, pretending to be someone she wasn’t, when Des shows up out of the blue and drags her away from the party claiming that he was doing so for her own safety. Her childhood friend is now a thief and he’s in town to infiltrate a secret society that has stolen technology from a friend of his. He’s going to steal it back. Unfortunately, Ava keeps getting in the way.

What a wonderful surprise to find out that the two main protagonists were children of characters from another series I loved so much. I enjoyed getting to know Ava and Des, and also being reminded why I love this author so much. These characters, while wonderful, beautiful, and funny, are also flawed. One of them is dealing with a serious mental health issue that they’ve had since they were young. Being desperately in love, while also dealing with this issue made for an interesting novel, one that I really enjoyed. I like my characters real. Life isn’t a fairy tale and this novel, despite it’s silly name certainly reflects the realness of life.

Not surprising, if you’ve read Reid’s novels before, but there was a bit of an action-adventure type mystery enmeshed in this love story. Des kind of comes off as a swashbuckling hero, but Ava is not shrinking violet. She has a few moves herself, but it’s her shining personality and quirky humor that makes her stand out. As they get to know each other again, there is plenty of great dialog and fun interactions that provide lots of insight into their characters. These interactions also move the plot forward in interesting and new ways that held my interest and kept me reading long into the night. Oh, I really liked this one. I will say, though, that if you have a mental health trigger, reader beware. This may be a difficult story for you to read.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book!* Bananapants

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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