#reverse grumpy sunshine

[jessread-s]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review

✩🧚🗺️Review:

Emily and Wendell’s latest adventure is utterly enchanting!

“Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands” picks up shortly after the first installment, following genius scholar Emily Wilde and her colleague and former rival Wendell Bambleby as they seek out the door to his realm.

To my excitement, this book continues to read like a journal but with more of Emily’s personal feelings recorded alongside her academic musings. Many of those feelings pertain to her relationship with Wendell as it further progresses. I absolutely LOVE that their romance is a slightly more prominent aspect of the storyline because their banter, devotion to one another, and dynamic is not only highly entertaining, but is what makes this novel shine.

I also really enjoyed Emily’s character development in this one. She is the same brilliant scholar we all know and love, but as the stakes get higher, she gradually lets down her walls and learns to listen to her heart in addition to her mind. It was a joy to see her embark on her own quest, cleverly outsmart those in her way, and make some new faerie friends along the way.

I eagerly await book three in this magical series!

Cross-posted to: Instagram | Amazon | Goodreads | StoryGraph

[lexxwithbooks]

📖: 𝑵𝒐𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚'𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒚 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆 (𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑔𝑜 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑠 #3) 🍼🏈👩🏼‍🔬

✍🏽: 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬

[jessread-s]

✩🏒⛸Review:

Grace’s debut novel brings the heat! 

“Icebreaker” alternates between the perspectives of Anastasia (Stassie) Allen and Nathan Hawkins, who are both very competitive when it comes to their respective sports on the ice (figure skating and hockey). Reading from the viewpoints of both characters allowed me to occupy their minds and truly discover when they stopped seeing each other as enemies and instead as lovers. 

Receiving such intimate access to their thoughts also allows the reader to fully realize the extent of the struggles that the characters grapple with. For instance, Stassie struggles with an eating disorder stemming from a diet imposed upon her by her toxic pairs skating partner. Her partner’s behavior negatively impacts her mental health, but she does not suffer in silence. Instead, she raises awareness for readers and becomes a mental health advocate by actively attending therapy sessions, being vocal about how she is feeling, and asking for help when she needs it. I appreciate Grace for handling such sensitive subject matters with care and providing accurate representation for readers. 

Another aspect of the novel I enjoyed is how Stassie’s stubborn and determined nature perfectly compliments Nathan fun-loving spirit, making them the ultimate comfort couple! They support each other, want each other to succeed, and would do anything to make each other happy. I could practically feel their chemistry radiating off the page, which made it all the harder to recover from their absence after reading the final page. 

My only word of caution to those reading this review is to not be deceived by the discreet cover… its contents are steamy. The mature scenes were a bit too numerous for my tastes, but that did not stop Stassie and Nathan from getting my heart in a chokehold!

➤ 4.25 stars

Cross-posted to: Instagram | Amazon | Goodreads | StoryGraph

[betsysbooknook]

📚: Fourth and Falling by Susan Renee

Tropes:

👉 Football

👉 Reverse Grumpy/Sunshine

👉 He Falls First

TWs 😟: mentions of past mental abuse

Main Takeaway 🏹: Shepherd is goals!

Synopsis 📜: As quarterback for the Portland Rush, I make split-second decisions under crushing pressure. I read defenses like books. I adjust. I fix. I lead. I always do.

But Sutton Price, the opinionated bartender who glares at me like I’m everything she hates?

She’s the one play I can’t read.

When she looks at me across the bar, those dark brown eyes cut through my carefully constructed image. To her, I’m just another privileged athlete while real people, like her, struggle. She doesn’t see me, she sees what I represent.

Somewhere between our late-night talks at the bar, and a few shared moments together, something shifts. I’m falling for her, and falling hard, but the weight she carries—the double shifts, that wall of mistrust, the shadows that cross her face when she thinks no one’s watching—is heartbreaking. I wish I could ease her burdens, but when my world collides with her past, I learn one of my hardest lessons.

There are some plays in life I simply can’t call and problems I can’t fix.

I know I can’t shield Sutton from the inevitable rain but I can stand beside her in her storm. I can be the safe harbor she’s never had, the one person who won’t walk away when the thunder comes. And God help me, I’ll wait through a thousand storms for her.

She may not believe in safe spaces, but I’ll spend every damn day for as long as it takes proving she’s found one with me.

Personal Thoughts 🤔: Shepherd Haynes is a book boyfriend dream! Sutton had a lot of past trauma that keeps her from opening up and allowing herself to love Shepherd the way she wants to. He’s so patient with her and he reads her so well. The 3rd act drama is juicy and so satisfying! This is a great start to a brand new series of books from Susan!

[ovalleba]

A Very Cheeky Christmas #blitz

Title: A Very Cheeky Christmas A The Naughty List Series Standalone Author: Kat Baxter Genre: Steamy Romantic Comedy Tropes: Reverse Grumpy Sunshine/Holiday Romance He Falls First/Forced Proximity Release Date: November 14, 2023 BLURB I’ve been voted Mr. Perfect Cheeks for the last five years. Though I do have a nice smile, it’s not those cheeks that warrant the attention. So yeah, my behind…

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[theromanceriot]

Glittery: A Christmas Novella by Dani Galliaro

Preorder Glittery: A Christmas Novella by Dani Galliaro coming 10/24!

After a self-destructive past, Sloane’s been good for a really long time. And now, she’s got the opportunity to be extra good for her brother and his partner by acting as their surrogate. But as she struggles to get pregnant, she feels somewhat unfulfilled in the bedroom department. Enter Noah, the gorgeous guy eyeing her while she’s dancing the night away at a bachelorette party. After a hot…

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[pollyssecretlibrary]

“Time for You”, by Renee Harless

The author of this book kindly sent me a digital copy of this book so I could give you my honest opinion about it.

Publishing Date - April13

This is the first book of the Sunny Brook Farms series

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

This is a small town romance between a 24 year old woman and a 34-ish year old man. It is also reverse grumpy-sunshine, and the hero falls first. Autumn Easterly is an event planner in New York whose boss and boyfriend, who used to take advantage of her work, cheated on her and left her homeless and fired on the same day. That’s when Autumn goes back to her small town in Tennessee so she can lick her wounds surrounded by her loving parents, her half-brother Andrew and her sisters Alex, Rory (Aurora), and Aspen. Yes, all the names of the siblings start with an A. But then, when she arrives,  the old feelings of not fitting in amongst her old friends and neighbors come back, and also the pressure of not having met their expectations. It’s all in her head but she can’t help it. Colton Crawford is a former hockey player who used to be a star who earned a lot of money and dated the top models of the moment. But he retired two years ago and the woman he was dating by then was a gold-digger who not only left her for another, more ambitious, man but also she sent the press many photoshops and fakes showing Colton in the most scandalous scenes with other women. So Colton sees the opportunity of leaving New York behind when his old mentor and father figure invites him to spend a few weeks with him and his wife in their little hometown in Tennessee.

There is this old house in town which used to belong to the Easterlys since the foundation of the town until an ancestor lost it. To Autumn, it is her house, where she would like to live. But Colton has fallen in love with the place too. There is an auction for the house and, of course, he has all the money to outbid Autumn. Instead of being angry about it and because Colton wants to restore the place, mama and papa Easterly think that perhaps Autumn could help the man with the historical details… and maybe, they would connect. There are also secrets and traumas to work with between these two, and the parents are not even subtle about being matchmakers, but I don’t want to give everything away. I had a lot of fun reading this book. The author has a good story in her hands and she manages to develop it well, though not to its full potential. Still I was not disappointed at all. The writing could have been a little bit deeper, especially with the side characters, which felt just ok, except for the parents. Nash and Marisol Easterly were my favorite characters, and Colton too. Autumn is a good character but she doesn’t stand out much if you compare her with other main characters in rom-coms. To me the only negative point was that the beginning of their romance, their first kisses and whatnot felt a bit awkward, a bit rushed and sudden. Colton sees Autumn for the first time and he knows he has to have her, while he should be reluctant to start a new relationship due to his very very recent issues with his ex. He never gives the impression of being a womanizer so that kind of attitude felt unnatural. He’s a really nice guy.The rest of the townspeople in the background made a picture of a charming place, cosy and welcoming. Funny with their gossip web which ran faster than fire, heartwarming and dreamy in general. I would have liked more descriptions of the place and the mountains to make the book perfect. Maybe I will get that in the next books? I’m looking forward to reading More of Renee Harless including her back catalogue. Thank you to Renee for trusting me with this copy!