Nothing Ventured, Muffin Gained

        

Title: Nothing Ventured, Muffin Gained

Series: The Mysteries of Cozy Cove #4

Author: Virginia K. Bennett

Published: April 28, 2023

Pages: 108

Genre: Cozy Mystery

INVESTIGATING AN ENIGMA PUTS AN AMATEUR SLEUTH AT HIGH WHISK.

Keeping up with the demands of summer tourists is enough to cause a mental bake-down. Mackenzie couldn't have donut without her trusty assistant, Arthur, who has risen to the occasion behind the counter and the computer.

When Mackenzie takes an afternoon off to tee up for a mini golf date with her beau, Brian, they finish with ice cream at the Regional Frozen Dessert Competition. An unexpected medical emergency for a high-profile judge puts the freeze on their plans and sends ripples through the dessert community. Though police say no crime has been committed, Mac suspects there is something half-baked about the situation.

Mackenzie's gut is getting her into trouble. Can her intuition get her out? 

Things have gone south in Cozy Cove.

Beware. Reading this without access to ice cream and/or baked goods is ill-advised. I wanted ice cream SO BAD! 

But I enjoyed this quick trip to Cozy Cove. This tiny town has SO MANY restaurants. What a dream. Also, while there is a lot of ice cream in this one, don't worry, there're vegan options! Just check your allergen labels!

Ratings

Stars: 5/5

Clytemnestra

            

Title: Clytemnestra

Author: Costanza Casati

Published: Sourcebooks Landmark, May 2, 2023

Pages: 489

Genre: Ancient Historical Fiction / Mythology

As for queens, they are either hated or forgotten. She already knows which option suits her best…

You were born to a king, but you marry a tyrant. You stand by helplessly as he sacrifices your child to placate the gods. You watch him wage war on a foreign shore, and you comfort yourself with violent thoughts of your own. Because this was not the first offence against you. This was not the life you ever deserved. And this will not be your undoing. Slowly, you plot.

But when your husband returns in triumph, you become a woman with a choice.

Acceptance or vengeance, infamy follows both. So, you bide your time and force the gods' hands in the game of retribution. For you understood something long ago that the others never did.

If power isn't given to you, you have to take it for yourself.

How is it possible that this book ended in an uplifting way? I guess that's the whole point of regression to the mean. Things can never be too good or too bad, they always settle out somewhere in the middle. I bet Clytemnestra would disagree. She would probably say that things can definitely be too bad. And I would have to agree with her. 

I love a feminist spin on history/mythology. Taking a story that we've heard before and tweaking it just enough to remind you that you have no idea what actually happened, and the winners write the history books. Not just the winners, but the winners and their male advisors and translators. 

I always forget how completely tragic these stories are. Human sacrifice. An abundance of rape. All I can say about it is that Clytemnestra was the Queen of striking when you least expect. She had no problem waiting 15+ years for her vengeance. She knew she was going to get hers. And she got it! 

This was beautifully written. Impeccably narrated. But I definitely need a break from the tragedy before I jump into another book like this. But I think I will be reading more like this. 

Ratings

Stars: 5/5

Thieves & Monsters

           

Title: Thieves & Monsters

Series: Three Fates Mafia #1

Author: Clio Evans

Published: May 9, 2023

Pages: 325

Genre: Dark Mafia Fantasy Romance

When it comes to stealing from mafia men, there are three rules.

Don’t get caught.
Don’t be seen.
And most of all— don’t fall in love with them.
After being hired to steal a painting, I find myself ensnared.
Damon, Minos, and Aaecus are monsters, and they only want one thing.

Me.

Seven days of sin in exchange for freedom from the Three Fates Mafia.
If only it were that easy.

The strings of fate have bound the four of us together, and not even gods or monsters can keep us apart.

Read your content warnings. I cannot stress this enough. Read. Your. Content. Warnings. It is all there.

Now that that's out of the way. I am here for a new spin on mythology. I love reading about characters that I've met many, many times, in new and fun ways. This was certainly new, and it was definitely fun. Very naughty as well. Ashley is a thief, sent to steal from Cerberus by Hercules. She gets caught by the three men that can shift into monsters and combine to form the monster of legend, Cerberus. They are Mighty Morphin' Power Hellhounds!! And I was here for it. 

When they catch her, Damon, one head of Cerberus, wants to kill her. However, his other two monster men, Minos and Aaecus, are not about that. They want her. So they draw up a contract for her to be their sex slave for 7 days. After the contract is fulfilled, they will pay off her debt to Hercules and she is free to go on her merry way.

Then all Hades breaks loose. Not literally, but nothing goes to plan in this book. Well, I'm sure they went to someone's plan. Specifically, Clio Evans's and the Fates' plans. But certainly not Ashley, Damon, Minos, OR Aaecus. All of their plans go to shit. And it's pretty funny to watch. 

This did drag a little for me. I knew that some of the content, listed in the fairly thorough content warning was not for me, and I was right. I managed to push through, and I'm glad I did. But those things did hang me up a few times and that's ultimately why I can't give this a higher rating. 

Ratings

Stars: 3/5

Spice: 4/5

Today Tonight Tomorrow

          

Title: Today Tonight Tomorrow

Author: Rachel Lynn Solomon

Published: Simon & Schuster, July 28, 2020

Pages: 382

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Today, she hates him.

It’s the last day of senior year. Rowan Roth and Neil McNair have been bitter rivals for all of high school, clashing on test scores, student council elections, and even gym class pull-up contests. While Rowan, who secretly wants to write romance novels, is anxious about the future, she’d love to beat her infuriating nemesis one last time.

Tonight, she puts up with him.

When Neil is named valedictorian, Rowan has only one chance at victory: Howl, a senior class game that takes them all over Seattle, a farewell tour of the city she loves. But after learning a group of seniors is out to get them, she and Neil reluctantly decide to team up until they’re the last players left—and then they’ll destroy each other.

As Rowan spends more time with Neil, she realizes he’s much more than the awkward linguistics nerd she’s sparred with for the past four years. And, perhaps, this boy she claims to despise might actually be the boy of her dreams.

Tomorrow…maybe she’s already fallen for him.

My high school graduation was 17 years ago. This book brought me right back to all of those feelings. So strongly that it may as well have been last month. 

This so perfectly encapsulates the doubt/fear/regret/excitement/pride/joy that I experienced my senior year of high school. Is there a word that means all of those things? If anyone would know, I think it would be Neil McNair. 

Then there's Rowan Roth. She feels so uncomfortably familiar. She's too competitive for her own good. To the point where it affects her friendships. She is idealistic, but also gets so scared of the what if that she doesn't even try. She clings to things that aren't necessarily making her happy because they are "supposed to" make her happy. They're the things that people do, so this must be what she should do. Again. It was all very uncomfortably familiar. 

But it was so well done. The swoon factor is off the charts. I definitely cried a few times. And this Howl game that they're playing? Like a scavenger hunt around Seattle on the last day of school for seniors, that goes all night with the potential to go all weekend? Where was this when I was graduating? It sounds like a BLAST! 

Ratings

Stars: 5/5

Spice: 1/5

The Pallbearers Club

         

Title: The Pallbearers Club

Author: Paul Tremblay

Publisher: William Morrow, July 19, 2022

Pages: 292

Genre: Psychological Thriller

What if the coolest girl you’ve ever met decided to be your friend?

Art Barbara was sonot cool. He was a seventeen-year-old high school loner in the late 1980s who listened to hair metal, had to wear a monstrous back-brace at night for his scoliosis, and started an extracurricular club for volunteer pallbearers at poorly attended funerals. But his new friendthought the Pallbearers Club was cool. And she brought along her Polaroid camera to take pictures of the corpses.

Okay, that part was a little weird.

So was her obsessive knowledge of a notorious bit of New England folklore that involved digging up the dead. And there were other strange things – terrifying things – that happened when she was around, usually at night. But she was his friend, so it was okay, right?

Decades later, Art tries to make sense of it all by writing The Pallbearers Club: A Memoir. But somehow this friend got her hands on the manuscript and, well, she has some issues with it. And now she’s making cuts.

Seamlessly blurring the lines between fiction and memory, the supernatural and the mundane, The Pallbearers Club is an immersive, suspenseful portrait of an unusual and disconcerting relationship.

Let's start with the positive. I LOVE a vampire. I had NO idea that this was a vampire novel. This was a very pleasant surprise for me. Not that it needed to be a surprise, I feel like a cursory browse of the tags for this book would have clued me in. But this was simply a book club pick, so I borrowed it from the library and got to it. 

I love a mockumentary, and I love footnotes! This has both. But....I didn't like this. That's not entirely accurate. I DID like Mercy/Mary's editing/annotating/footnotes. They did help to sow confusion and distrust between me, the reader, and Art, the writer. But this felt...forced, I guess.

This kind of felt like he really wanted to write an ode to pop culture and literary allusion, but also wanted to make sure we knew that he "wasn't taking himself seriously." Which, ultimately, made it feel like he's taking himself way too seriously and also not owning it. Maybe it's more on the nose than I took it, but *shrug*. 

I will say, other than the surprise vampire reveal, the not surprise vampire ending was my favorite part.

Ratings

Stars: 3/5

Paladin

 

Title: Paladin

Author: Onley James

Published: May 16, 2023

Pages: 334

Genre: LGBTQ Dark Romance

Arseny Lebedev lives a normal life. During the day, he’s a mechanic. At night, he livestreams a fairy tale video game called Paladin. And sometimes—only sometimes—he kills people. But they all deserve it.

Ever doesn’t know his last name. He doesn’t know much of anything. Most of his life has been torture, bought and sold by a woman who calls herself his mother. He’s resigned himself to a life of servitude, until he meets Arsen.

The moment Arsen sees Ever, they’re bonded. Ever is both fragile and feral, willing to defend himself with any tool at his disposal, even teeth. Arsen is color and light, a beacon in Ever’s darkness, as brave as the knight in the game he plays.

Arsen protects Ever fiercely, but just when he feels safe, someone attempts to drag him back to his old life, reminding him that reality isn’t fairy tales or video games. He knows staying puts Arsen in danger. But Arsen insists they’re safer together. Can Ever truly have his happily ever after or is it game over?

I have been drooling for Arsen's book since we met him in Moonstruck. I am now gnashing my teeth for Cree's book, but we're not there yet!!! 

Arsen is a mechanic who sometimes kills bad people in his neighborhood. He is one cog of a little vigilante machine that Jericho runs. He's on a seemingly easy job, kill the child abuser, when he discovers she has a boy locked in a closet wearing a shock collar with a GPS chip like a dog.

Ever is that boy who was locked in a closet. He may be teeny, but he's 19 and nearly feral. Arsen calls in reinforcements, they remove his GPS chip and they take him home. This is the first chapter people! 

Arsen is hot and everyone in town wants him. Ever is compared to MANY things, but I think bush baby was my favorite. So he's adorable and naive and in a near constant state of wonder at all of the new things in his world. He's also in a constant state of near-panic that bad things are just around the corner. But I mean, he was a slave in a closet so I can't say I blame him. And because this is a dark romance...the bad things really are just around the corner. (Also because this is dark romance there is a LOT of sex and it is HOT.)

BUT we have our favorite vigilantes to save this day. Ultimately, I loved it! It has the pit falls of many "first of a planned series" books where you can feel a lot of set up happening and you know you're not going to get any resolution for a while yet. But boy am I looking forward to those resolutions!

Ratings

Stars: 4/5

Spice: 4/5

Under the Whispering Door

Title: Under the Whispering Door

Author: TJ Klune

Published: Tor Books, September 21, 2021

Pages: 390

Genre: LGBTQ Fantasy Romance

Welcome to Charon's Crossing.

The tea is hot, the scones are fresh, and the dead are just passing through.

When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own funeral, Wallace begins to suspect he might be dead.

And when Hugo, the owner of a peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace decides he’s definitely dead.

But even in death he’s not ready to abandon the life he barely lived, so when Wallace is given one week to cross over, he sets about living a lifetime in seven days.

Hilarious, haunting, and kind, Under the Whispering Door is an uplifting story about a life spent at the office and a death spent building a home.

Cassandra Khaw said this is, "A warm hug of a book about a Grinch of a man." That is a perfectly concise review of this book. Everything about it was a warm hug. The message, the audio production, the characters, the ghost dog. All of it was so cozy and lovely. 

Wallace Price sucks. He is a bitter, oblivious man. And then he has a heart attack and a total of 7 people attend his funeral. Including him. And his reaper. She shows up to take him to his next stop on his afterlife journey. Charon's Crossing, a quirky tea shop run by Hugo the Ferryman. Hugo thought he was being awfully clever when he named the tea shop, if a bit on the nose.

Wallace takes some time getting the hang of this being dead thing. You watch him go through all of the stages of grief for his lost life, and then you start to see some changes. They're really sneaky at first. 

This book covers the touchiest of subjects: Death. Death in almost all of its forms. The tragedy and the beauty. The pain and the rage. How the dead have to deal with it, but then so do the living. It's a really beautiful study of the next great adventure. And if you're in a place to appreciate that, I highly recommend it. And if you're not, be gently with yourself. 

Ratings

Stars: 5/5

Spice: 1/5

Ship Wrecked

          

Title: Ship Wrecked

Series: Spoiler Alert #3

Author: Olivia Dade

Published: Avon, November 15, 2022

Pages: 413

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Maria’s one-night-stand—the thick-thighed, sexy Viking of a man she left without a word or a note—just reappeared. Apparently, Peter’s her surly Gods of the Gates co-star, and they’re about to spend the next six years filming on a desolate Irish island together. She still wants him…but he now wants nothing to do with her.

Peter knows this role could finally transform him from a forgettable character actor into a leading man. He also knows a failed relationship with Maria could poison the set, and he won’t sabotage his career for a woman who’s already walked away from him once. Given time, maybe they can be cooperative colleagues or friends—possibly even best friends—but not lovers again. No matter how much he aches for her.

For years, they don’t touch off-camera. But on their last night of filming, their mutual restraint finally shatters, and all their pent-up desire explodes into renewed passion. Too bad they still don’t have a future together, since Peter’s going back to Hollywood, while Maria’s returning to her native Sweden. She thinks she needs more than he can give her, but he’s determined to change her mind, and he’s spent the last six years waiting. Watching. Wanting.

His shipwrecked Swede doesn’t stand a chance.

This book has it all. Plus-size main characters that are HOT. Lovers to friends to lovers! Second chance romance. Found family. Some truly beautiful character growth from both love interests. 

Peter is an actor who has something to prove. He says he doesn't, but pretty much every decision he makes is to prove that he's successful and worthy.

Maria is an actor who loves what she does, and isn't afraid to quit if she doesn't love it. This was unthinkable to Peter. You can just quit if you're not happy? Did not compute for ya boy! 

Peter and Maria run into one another, share a *steamy* night, and then Maria bounces before Peter wakes up. Cut to Peter's audition later that day with none other than Maria. The sexy Swede who ghosted him. The audition goes great, but their reunion does not. However, they have the next 6 years of filming remotely to smooth things over. 

Watching them build a friendship and family with their crewmates over those 6 years was really cool. And I say them, but I mean Maria. Peter, poor baby, is the most introverted of introverts and he would have spent those 6 years barely speaking if not for his gregarious costar. 

But seeing them open up to one another, and build trust, and grow, both separately and together was really good stuff. They both make mistakes. And they both piss me off! But it is truly a nod to Ms. Dade's talent that I was absolutely boiling mad at Maria while reading from Peter's POV. Then with like 3 sentences from her POV, I was ready to go to war for her! Both of them had valid reactions to the same set of stimuli, and until they got some space and perspective it was ROUGH. Thank goodness this was a romance because I edged that third act breakup for like 2 days. I was dreading it so much! But watching it play out was exceptional. I should never have doubted.

Ratings

Stars: 4/5

Spice: 3/5

Heartsong

         

Title: Heartsong

Series: Green Creek #3

Author: TJ Klune

Published: Tantor, October 22, 2019

Pages: 391

Genre: LGBTQ Fantasy Romance

All Robbie Fontaine ever wanted was a place to belong. After the death of his mother, he bounces around from pack to pack, forming temporary bonds to keep from turning feral. It's enough - until he receives a summons from the wolf stronghold in Caswell, Maine.

Life as the trusted second to Michelle Hughes - the Alpha of all - and the cherished friend of a gentle old witch teaches Robbie what it means to be pack, to have a home.

But when a mission from Michelle sends Robbie into the field, he finds himself questioning where he belongs and everything he's been told. Whispers of traitorous wolves and wild magic abound - but who are the traitors and who the betrayed?

More than anything, Robbie hungers for answers, because one of those alleged traitors is Kelly Bennett - the wolf who may be his mate.

The truth has a way of coming out. And when it does, everything will shatter.

I was so completely confused at the start of this book. Bravo!!! At first I thought I had waited too long between finishing Ravensong and starting Heartsong. Then I thought maybe we were starting Heartsong a long time ago, kind of like with Wolfsong and Ravensong. We would get some overlap of the timelines and then we would get a bit of time moving forward. But no. It's even better than that and it was so confusing and really set the tone for Robbie's experience. I loved it.

Robbie is this little orphan baby who just wants to have a pack and an alpha. He doesn't ask for much and he's just kind of bumbling through for the most part. 

Kelly is this solid, sweet man who has just always been himself. He knows what matters and he knows what's right and he fights hard for those things. But he's also fully capable of sitting back and enjoying them, which is more than a lot of people can say. 

Robbie and Kelly have this whole entire life together, and then it's ripped from them. They have to rebuild all of that trust and love together. And they do and it's so beautiful. It's this beautiful, tragic thing. 

Can we take a second to talk about the villain though? We've had a few in this series, but they can all be traced back to Robert MFin Livingstone. He is the most entitled man and it pisses me off so much. It's an exceptionally scary situation that's all too familiar. He feels entitled to people as belongings. So he never does anything to earn or deserve their love and loyalty, he just expects it. Then when they have a mind of their own and tell him to his stupid face that he's an evil POS, he is flabbergasted and does some evil-er stuff! What a great villain. I hate him. But like. SUCH VILLAIN!

Ratings

Stars: 5/5

Spice: 2/5

Plot Twist

    

Title: Plot Twist

Author: Erin La Rosa

Series: The Hollywood Series #2

Publisher: Canary Street Press, November 14, 2023

Pages: 336

Genre: Contemporary Romance

She’s written off more than she can chew…

Romance author Sophie Lyon’s ironic secret just went viral: she’s never been in love. Though her debut novel made readers swoon, Sophie’s having trouble getting her new characters to happily-ever-after, and she blames it on her own uninspired love life. With a manuscript deadline looming, Sophie makes an ambitious plan to overcome her writer’s block: reunite with her exes to learn why she's never fallen in love—and document it all for her millions of new online followers. Which also means facing her ex-girlfriend Carla, the one person Sophie could have loved.

Luckily, Sophie’s reclusive landlord, Dash Montrose—a former teen heartthrob—has social media all figured out and offers to help. But he doesn't mention that he’s an anonymous online crafter, a hobby that helps him maintain his sobriety. No one knows about his complicated relationship with alcohol and he intends to keep it that way. His family is Hollywood royalty, so Dash has to steer clear of scandal.

As Sophie and Dash grow closer, they discover a heat between them that rivals Dash's pottery kiln. But Sophie needs to figure out who she is outside her relationships, and Dash isn’t sure he’s stable enough for the commitment she deserves. So Sophie suggests what any good romance author would: a friends-with-benefits arrangement. Surely a casual relationship won’t cause any trouble…

**ARC REVIEW**

I requested this ARC purely for the cover. That pink is scientifically mixed to bring me joy. And you know what they say about not judging books by their covers.....I hate it. I will never not judge a book by its cover. Sometimes I'll read books whose covers I don't like, but I will still judge them for it! 

I have a lot of feelings about the book in general. I really enjoyed the chemistry between Dash and Sophie. Dash is a childhood actor struggling with alcoholism. Sophie is an author struggling with writer's block. And the chemistry between the two of them is HOT. I have only good things to say about the romantic and spicy scenes between the two of them.

I love a good trope. I love a sibling's best friend. I love when there's only one bed. I do understand that as a romance author, it made sense for Sophie to call out the tropes that she sees in her real life. But it did seem like there were some moments when she was expounding on tropes a bit much. 

Then we have Sophie's journey with her exes. I have so much to say about it. I don't want to put spoilers, but this was rough. I know that characters have to be flawed for the story to be interesting and all of that. But like the writer's block was enough. 

And then there's Dash's struggle with alcoholism. It was really hard to read. I have watched people that I care about struggle with addiction, and the daily struggle to keep it together and stay strong rang true. The only thing about this that I didn't like was when Sophie decided to stop drinking as well. The way it was written it was an unconscious choice after learning about Dash's struggles. But I wish that it would have been more of a conscious choice. Like she was actively choosing not to drink to support Dash. Rather than the way it was written. Part of Sophie's issues was that she wasn't true to herself in her past relationships, so immediately starting to unconsciously do what she thought Dash wanted felt.....not great. 

Ultimately, I really enjoyed this!! I do recommend. And I really think one of the best parts are the spicy scenes. I love a good role play. :)

Ratings

Stars: 4/5

Spice: 3/5

The Witch Elm

        

Title: The Witch Elm

Author: Tana French

Publisher: Penguin, October 9, 2018

Pages: 526

Genre: Suspense

Toby is a happy-go-lucky charmer who’s dodged a scrape at work and is celebrating with friends when the night takes a turn that will change his life—he surprises two burglars who beat him and leave him for dead. Struggling to recover from his injuries, beginning to understand that he might never be the same man again, he takes refuge at his family’s ancestral home to care for his dying uncle Hugo. Then a skull is found in the trunk of an elm tree in the garden—and as detectives close in, Toby is forced to face the possibility that his past may not be what he has always believed.

A spellbinding standalone from one of the best suspense writers working today, The Witch Elm asks what we become, and what we’re capable of, when we no longer know who we are.

The unreliable narrator is one of the best tools in a suspense writer's toolbox. And Tana French has perfected the art of the unreliable narrator. To the point where the narrator didn't even know he was unreliable for most of this book. Certainly didn't admit it in his narration most of the time. 

Toby is a champagne bubble of a person. Just floating through life, easy peasy, until he experiences an assault that leaves him with brain trauma. Now he's scruffy and quick to anger, scared all the time and barely taking care of himself. Until his uncle gets sick and his cousin asks him to move in to keep an eye on him. Uncle Hugo has recently been diagnosed with brain cancer, and he doesn't have long. Toby is already off from work while he recovers from his own brain injury, so it makes perfect sense for them to look after one another. From the start, this felt like a ploy to keep the two most unreliable characters in an easily controlled environment.

But Toby and his girlfriend move in, and they live their lives in this perfect little bubble again. Until one of Toby's cousin's kids finds a skull in The Witch Elm in the back garden. Now Toby's brain injury is more inconvenient than ever. He's lost a lot of his memory, and a lot of his cunning, and he can't remember if he killed someone and stuffed them down the tree. And if he did, he can't remember why! 

This book takes you on the journey of the investigation with Toby. Through all of the toxic places that a family will go when secrets begin to come to light. And the book did a really good job of keeping me on my toes. You never really know who to trust, or what's real. It was SO well done!

Ratings

Stars: 4/5

The Cheat Sheet

       

Title: The Cheat Sheet

Author: Sarah Adams

Publisher: Dell, August 17, 2021

Pages: 322

Genre: Contemporary Sports Romance

The friend zone is not the end zone for Bree Camden, who is helplessly in love with her longtime best friend and extremely hot NFL legend, Nathan Donelson. The only problem is that she can’t admit her true feelings, because he clearly sees her as a best friend with no romantic potential, and the last thing Bree wants is to ruin their relationship. But those abs . . .

Nope! Nothing but good old-fashioned, no-touching-the-sexiest-man-alive, platonic friendship for Bree. In any case, she has other things to worry about. After a car accident ended her chance at becoming a professional ballerina, Bree changed paths and now owns her own dance studio, with big dreams to expand it. But one more rent increase could mean the end of the studio entirely.

Then, as usual, Nathan comes to the rescue and buys the entire building. A stubborn Bree is not happy about it and decides to rebel with a couple—okay, maybe more than a couple—of tequila shots. Then her plan backfires as she spills her deepest, darkest secret to a TMZ reporter. One viral video later, the world thinks Nathan and Bree are the perfect couple. Before they can really talk about her confession, Nathan’s publicist proposes a big opportunity that could mean financial security for Bree. The catch? They have to pretend to be in love. For three whole weeks.

What will happen when Bree gives in to the feelings she’s been desperately hiding for so long, and could she be imagining that Nathan is actually enjoying it? Sarah Adams scores more than touchdowns in this exciting romantic comedy.

I have so many conflicting feelings right now. I couldn't put this down. It was very compelling. But I think it was compelling in the way that you can't look away from a car crash...

Bree and Nathan have been best friends since high school. Bree is a ballet instructor who runs her own studio. Nathan is an NFL quarterback in LA. This is the first time they've been single at the same time since they reunited after college. And they're both too scared to do anything about it. 

The miscommunication and straight up lying runs RAMPANT throughout this book. There were 3214676278234908 opportunities for one or both of these characters to show one shred of sense and/or vulnerability, and they just....DIDN'T. I mean, it's a romance novel so like, obviously eventually they did. But it took FOREVER! 

We do have some "fake" dating sprinkled in there, which helped a lot to get me through to the end of this book. Because I was ready to throw my phone after the 1000th, "I'm going to do this. I'm going to treat this like a real date," declaration, and then they promptly DID NOT DO THAT AND STEPPED ON THEIR OWN FEET! 

But again. It was very compelling. I was mad about it, but I read it. This is now a thing that I have read. After the high from Practice Makes Perfect, though....this was not it. So I am going to take a break before I jump back into another book by this author. Which is a little sad because I kind of want to read The Off-Limits Rule....

Ratings

Stars: 3/5

Spice: 1/5