Faye was so sure she was about to die when she asked Chris, a stranger, for her first kiss. There was no other reason she would ask. But after days of being adrift at sea, they were rescued - and now Faye has to live with the consequences. Including the fact that Chris isn't single!
​
I loved the premise for this one - there are many fictional romances that begin far away from reality and I always wonder what happens when the couples go back to their real lives. I really felt for Faye, who I honestly would have befriended myself, and she felt very real to me (even if some of the plot developments didn't). A sweet New Adult romance with writing that shows a lot of potential.

Hannah is a real life witch living in Salem with her parents and the twelve other families that make up her coven. The most challenging things in her life are hiding her many secrets, trying not to get on the bad side of her grandmother, and dealing with an ex who just won't leave her alone. But her problems are about to get bigger. A LOT bigger.

I've read a lot of witchy teen books in my time - I grew up in the 1990s, after all. They're all very samey and unfortunately this one is no different, even if it did have queer representation. The typical 'incompetent adults' were especially incompetent, which I've always found a bit annoying. I think I'm willing to try the second book, since this was a decent enough way to pass the time.

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Stung by an ex and the cancellation of her cooking show, Mai Li has come back to her hometown to restore her family's restaurant. She enlists the services of Dale Miller, a contractor who is adamant about never mixing business with pleasure. But the heat simmering between them is about to boil over.

I'll admit I expected something a little different based on the cover. Maybe a greater focus on the cooking and renovation aspects? But I got over my initial disappointment because this F/F romance has drama, miscommunications and delightfully steamy scenes (heat level 100000!). Dale's sons are strong secondary characters. All in all, it was an enjoyable read, but while the physical aspects of the relationship were really good, the emotional side was more "tell" than "show".

​As an author of romance novels, January lives and breathes happy endings. As an author of literary fiction, August is staunchly against happy endings. They've been fierce rivals since college, but now both of them are struck by writer's block. A bet to switch genres may help them out of their respective funks - and may give them an ending of their own, happy or otherwise.

I am a sucker for books about writers writing. I am a sucker for books involving leads who are both a bit broken. I am a sucker for books that feel like comfort food on a cold winter's night (as it is tonight!). So it was enviable that I fell in love with this one. It was so easy to blitz my way through it, but now I wish I'd savoured it a little bit more. Well, that's what re-reads are for, aren't they? :)

​Iris has set herself up as typical wife material - sweet, docile, completely unlike herself - and it has successfully attracted the Lord of Huntington. But then she does the unthinkable: she jilts him. <i>Twice.</i> Previously unaffected by her, Finn now finds he absolutely must have her for his marchioness.

I wasn't expecting to like this so much, given my last flirtation with Anna Bradley's work. But Iris is one of my favourite romantic heroines of the year - she's clever, discerning, and knows what she wants (once she figures it out!). I enjoyed (perhaps too much) her jilting of Finn and it was satisfying to read/witness him changing into a man more suited to Iris - and a man more worthy of her.