definitely, possibly, maybe

harrison wynn finally gets his turn in for the win , and of course, it is with yoga instructor arya ross. we've seen harrison and arya interact in earlier books in the series, and it's clear from the get-go that these two are meant for each other. if only arya didn't have some very real trauma to get past. after a man in her past quickly made the turn from date to stalker, she has some issues trusting new men in her life. especially one who feels persistent. and while harrison is persistent, he isn't ever disrespectful, and this is a very tight rope to walk. and one, to be very fair, he doesn't even know he is walking, because arya doesn't tell him about her past experience well past when she should. and i'm not saying she needed to dig into her trauma earlier, but you can't get mad at someone for not instinctively knowing what might be triggering if they have no context, especially if it's interaction that seems harmless for someone without th...

only mostly devastated is the queer  grease retelling we never knew we needed. after spending a summer at a north carolina lake, california boy ollie will is shocked to learn that his parents have decided to stay. in large part it's because his aunt is facing a terminal cancer diagnosis, but it's his senior year and he had plans. but silver lining, he'd had this amazing summer romance with a boy named will, and maybe, just maybe things will work out? except will totally ghosts him. and when ollie realizes that he's accidentally outed will to his new friends, who are all friends with will's regular crew, things get complicated. will isn't out, but he's trying to figure himself out. because he can't or doesn't want to stay away from ollie. and ollie wants sto give him as many chances as he can. i inhaled this book in one sitting, and i was shocked when it ended, because i would have gladly kept on reading. this story is so, so good. just abso...

the latest book in the cavensham heiresses series, wild, wild rake ties up the series pretty nicely, it might continue, but i'm not sure who else in this world is looking for a partner. anyway, this story gives lady avalon warwyk, the third cousin who jilted the previous hero for another man, her chance to find true love. when devan farris shows up on avalon's doorstep, however, she's not really thinking about true love. she's calculating the best way to get him out of her hair. what she knows of devan is that he is the person who witnessed her greatest humiliation and who also coined the nickname lady warlock. a nickname he has teased her with for over a decade. it turns out that both devan and avalon had some severe misconceptions about each other's character. and they are both astonished by the chemistry that sparks between them, and at how well they fit each other and agree with one another's thinking. both devan and avalon are strong characters wit...

willa frank is wound a little tightly. to be fair, she's had to overcome a lot in her life, so the fear of failing and worrying about where her next meal is going to come from is a very real thing. and part of being wound so tight and worrying about her own safety means that she isn't really willing to let someone else in. because then she'd have to worry about their safety too and really she's got enough to be anxious about. so willa has a rule, she'll give a guy two dates and that's it. so she meets grady and he's the kind of guy who doesn't let things get to him, mainly because thinking about bad things and hard things isn't something he enjoys. he's a smokejumper, so he knows quite a bit about bad things and hard things. he just rather focus on the here and now instead of worrying about the future. and he likes spending time with willa. so much so that he goes out of his way to make sure all the time they spend together doesn't count ...

you wouldn't think that the wrong bed conceit could endure through a whole series, but it's seriously working for rebecca brooks. in wrong bed, right man  we find rose campbell, who we've met in prior books in this series, picking up the pieces of her life after she caught her fiancé cheating on her. when she first meets owen crowley, he's meant to be moving her grandmother's bed and old furniture out of the apartment she shared with her ex. when he realizes what a jerk the guy is he tears up the check and agrees to help her out. and then he manages to hit on her in a non-creepy way. this would only ever work in a romance novel, because in real life this could never happen. nor would she be working at her ex's ikea-like furniture business who has targeted ads on the small furniture businesses in the area. that seems like a terrible use of advertising money. but those believability issues aside, the heart of this story is the connection between rose and owe...

the romance in tricks and bids begins as a transaction. michael propositions dillon by offering to be his submissive for the night. dillon shouldn't say yes. but there's something about michael that tempts him in a way he hasn't been tempted in a long time. his former lover was killed in an accident, and since then he hadn't connected with anyone. until michael. and what starts out as something transactional and temporary becomes something more. something meaningful. this is short and in spite of the seedy beginning, the love story works, in part because michael is the perfect counterpoint to what dillon needs. **tricks and bids will publish on february 17, 2020. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/ninestar press in exchange for my honest review. 

the latest in the clean slate ranch series is hard ride , and derrick massey finally finds his guy after trying things out with several other ranch hands. those past hook ups happened in prior books, so you aren't bothered by derrick's past. from the moment derrick connects with slater, it's pure chemistry. but then slater is badly injured and needs a place to recover that isn't the ranch. and derrick happens to need a guy who is willing to be his date for a series of family weddings. he wouldn't be upset if slater agrees to be that guy. the fake boyfriend trope works here because the characters behave like adults and communicate with each other. slater experiences some big epiphanies while he's convalescing with derrick, but he also needs time to make sure that he's not just reacting to circumstances, and that what he wants is something real. i love that the characters in this series behave like rational people. and i'm so glad that there is at ...

full disclosure: sonya weiss is a client, and the kiss list  happens to be the first book i sold to a publisher. going into this you all know that i like this story. my favorite thing about the kiss list  is how little max and haley like each other at the start. it's years and years of active dislike, and all of a sudden they find themselves in a situation where they can't keep away from each other. and between the sparks and the banter, it's a clear path to love, right? even though this is a category romance, there is some emotional depth in the story. haley's late mother plays an important part of her reasoning for making her deal with max. and max has a hard time believing that things will work out with love given the fact that he's failed so spectacularly at it once. you don't have to take my word for it, but if you do, i think you'll love this story too.

keep me wanting isn't something i'd say i regret reading. it's not terrible. it's just somewhat preposterous from start to finish. liam, our hero, is some billionaire ex-con who happens to be propositioned by coffee shop girl, maggie, who happens to be the daughter of the detective that sent him to prison and is out to get his brother, who is a really bad dude, but whom liam refused to snitch on years earlier. anyway, maggie needs a date for a family reunion and kind of made up a boyfriend who looks just like liam, and liam's brother has his eyes on her family because he's doing something ultra shady and so liam decides that he'll play the part of fake boyfriend to protect maggie and her family and maybe figure out a way to get maggie's dad the info he needs to arrest his brother. does any of this seem believable or reasonable? nope. does anyone react like a normal human in this story? nope. i just, listen, this isn't the worst thing i've ...

book 2 in the joker's wild series, wild nights , focuses on nicholas pine, master illusionist and gorgeous man. as a magician he's full of superstitions and surprisingly for someone who works in tricks and sleights of hand, he's got some big hang-ups about being lied to. zelda quincy doesn't lie to him per se. she doesn't talk about her past. or the fact that she's one of the waterstones of the waterstone magic family. she thought she left magic behind after everything that happened, but something drew nicholas to her. and that something keeps them coming back together for more. i really enjoyed this story, the way the two characters fall headlong in love without meaning to. i love how when zelda has to confront her past and share it with nicholas, after he deals with his own baggage he finds a way to exorcise her ghosts. i've always enjoyed this author and was glad to have a chance to read this one. **wild nights will publish on february 10, 2020....

house rules  is a short and sweet novel that finds two exes reuniting in new york city in order to split the rent on an apartment. you will be pleasantly surprised to hear that this was a second-chance romance story that really worked for me. seventeen years have passed since the two have seen each other. they have both changed and not changed. but they're in this different moment in time, and the attraction is still there. watching the interplay between simon and lana and how this time things have a chance to end differently really is quite enjoyable. **house rules will publish on february 10, 2020. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/carina press in exchange for my honest review.

will watt's scottish accent is to die for. he embodies mac and it is perfection. mac and freya are perfection, best friends who fall in love long before they are willing to admit it. charlotte cole is a delight as freya though the cornish accent is less delightful, that's not really her fault. i just love the dual narration here, because the characters always keep their voice and it feels more like you're listening to a play than anything. you can check out my original review of blindsided here .  **blindsided published on february 4, 2020 in audiobook. i received an advance listener copy courtesy of amy daws in exchange for my honest review.

against the backdrop of a race to mars that echoes the early astronauts' race to the moon, the boys in the gravity of us  are caught up in their parents' ambitions to join one of the chosen few on the mission. but in modern times, no competition like this would be complete without a reality tv crew. cal is a high school-aged street journalist, who takes his career seriously, and who has no intention of giving over his news channel to some trashy tv conglomerate. the move to houston from brooklyn is begrudging and he has every intention of leaving all things mars behind as soon as possible. he doesn't believe all that much in his dad's ability to succeed and until he meets the astronauts and scientists who are working so hard to achieve their goal, he doesn't really believe in the project. leon has his own struggles, namely depression and a sense of aimlessness that makes cal a little twitchy. from the get-go, the boys share a spark, but they need to figure out...

the worst best man is an all-around delight, and it starts with the sparkling chemistry between our two leads. lina santos has her reasons for hating max hartley. most of them having to do with the fact that she blames him for the fact that she was left at the altar three years ago. and if that weren't bad enough, the fact that she was a wedding planner left at the altar only makes it worse. when max and lina are forced to collaborate on a project, sparks fly. but soon the two find themselves drawn to each other in unexpected ways. but with all the baggage between them is there any way for the fire between them to grow? it gets plenty hot is all i'll say. this is just a delightful read. **the worst best man will publish on february 4, 2020. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/harper collins (avon) in exchange for my honest review. 

in  hearts on hold  charish reid creates a small town university setting that feels vividly real. maybe it’s all the time i spend on a college campus. but victoria is a total academic, from the top of her control-freak head to the tips of her slightly socially awkward toes. the way she and john fall into a relationship is so oddly straightforward it’s funny how the two of them get all tangled up. they can’t figure out what they’ve agreed to or what they want. even though everyone else in their life sees the truth.   some of the family meddling was a bit much, but in the end it was good hearted enough, though victoria’s mom is always kind of a challenge on the page.  anyway, i really enjoyed this one. and hope there is more set in this world, there were a few characters who kept hinting at stories.   **hearts on hold will publish on february 3, 2020. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/carina press in exchange for my honest ...