The Catch
by Jenna Miles 

Amazon  / B&N / Apple

Poignant and powerful, The Catch is a contemporary second-chance romance that effortlessly captures the nostalgia of young love and relatably reflects the trials that come with family, motherhood, and responsibility.

Julia Dunphy’s husband just left her for the second time, her thirteen-year-old won’t stop swearing in public, and to top it all off, her four-year-old just asked to buy condoms. Needless to say, this isn’t how she’d expected her life to pan out.

Then, Julia’s new work in an aquarium shop washes up old memories of a whale-watching business she once imagined – and of William Quinn, the man she imagined it with. William walked into her life with striking blue eyes and constant surprises. Before she knew it, she was head-over-heels in love. However, the realities of life eventually pulled them apart. When Julia and William’s paths cross again, despite their baggage, an undeniable spark remains.

When she learns that William has made a success of their ideas, she wonders if it’s too late to finally make a success of their relationship. But Julia has already blown her first two chances at happiness with William, so a third one seems like wishful thinking. Then she uses her prowess as a paralegal to save William’s business, and when he shows up to thank her, she dares to wonder – is another chance with him possible, after all?

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

That guy has probably been inside more vaginas than a gynecologist.

She lifted the pendant to take a closer look, and smiled. “A mermaid. Now why on earth would that make you think of me?” He squeezed her around the shoulders. “I’ll never forget that night as long as I live. I was so in love with you, and when I saw you, I really thought I could have died a happy man, right then and there.” Her chest flooded with a familiar warmth. She laced her fingers through his and kissed him.  “You make me so happy,” she whispered. “Good,” he said, touching the pendant. “Wear it as long as you still feel that way.”

 

My Review:

 

Regardless of whether it was her first or her tenth published novel, and it was her first, the crafty minx calling herself Jenna Miles has blown me away. Her storylines were unusually compelling, unpredictable, and thorny, while populated with primary and secondary characters who were recognizable yet realistically authentic, aggravating, struggling, smart, troubled, deeply annoying, and magnetic. Their ongoing issues kept me tethered to my Kindle. I was ensnared, nettled, and captivated by this angsty tale, which is quite a rare occurrence for me as I am no fan of self-inflected misery, but I couldn’t bear to put this one down.

I adored and was completely enamored with William, yet I cannot recall a more vexing main character than Julia, I wanted to give her and her narrow-minded family a few good swats with my crocs to dislodge their craniums from their colons, and it would have taken effort as they were really wedged up there. Julia broke my heart, gave me hope, and shredded it yet again. I see on Ms. Miles’s website that she is penning a sequel. There must be something wrong with me as all my fingers and toes are crossed that she hurries.

 

 

About the Author

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An avid writer since she first picked up a crayon, Jenna Miles creates compelling, heartwarming stories that touch on themes of romance, mental health, and feminism. When she isn’t working or writing, Jenna loves to tend her garden and cook delicious, healthy meals for her three sassy daughters. Originally from Dallas, Texas, Jenna now resides in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she saves the world one calorie at a time as a Registered Dietitian. Her dream is to one day pursue an MFA in Creative Writing.

D.E. Haggerty is actually just plain old Dena, but she thinks using initials makes her sound sophisticated and maybe even grown-up. She was born and raised in the U.S. but considers herself a Dutchie and not only because it sounds way cooler. After a stint in the U.S. Army, she escaped the US to join her husband in Holland. She fled Holland over ten years ago when she couldn’t stand the idea of being a lawyer for one single second more. Turns out Bed & Breakfast owner in Germany didn’t do it for her either. When the hubby got a job in Istanbul, she jumped ship and decided to give this whole writer thing a go. She’s now back in Holland, which she considers home. Sorry, Mom.

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LOATHE TO LOVE YOU
(The STEMinist Novellas #1-3)
by Ali Hazelwood 

Under One Roof: An environmental engineer discovers that scientists should never cohabitate when she finds herself stuck with the roommate from hell—a detestable big-oil lawyer who won’t leave the thermostat alone.

Stuck with You: A civil engineer and her nemesis take their rivalry—and love—to the next level when they get stuck in a New York elevator.

Below Zero: A NASA aerospace engineer’s frozen heart melts as she lies injured and stranded at a remote Arctic research station and the only person willing to undertake the dangerous rescue mission is her longtime rival.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Under One Roof

Honestly, your boss is a shit nugget and he doesn’t deserve you and you should quit and leave him to stir in his shit broth!

“Could it be that we’ve just been exceptionally unlucky?” There is some noise on Hannah’s side of the line. Maybe she is sharpening a shiv. “Could it be that the tides will turn and we’ll finally meet dudes who don’t deserve to be fed a bowl of thumbtacks?”

Stuck with You

Wait. What you’re saying is that all this time we’ve been doing weekly summoning circles to give this guy disfiguring genital warts and toenail funguses and those giant subcutaneous pimples people get surgically removed on YouTube . . . but he did not, in fact, deserve any of it?

I missed you… I only knew you for twenty-four hours, but I’ve never missed anyone so much.

Below Zero

Mara and Sadie have managed to worm their way into my heart, causing me to amend my previous I did not come here to make friends stance to a slightly altered I did not come here to make friends, but hurt my weird Cheez-It friend or my other weird soccer friend and I will beat you up with a lead pipe till you piss blood for the rest of your life. Truculent? Perhaps. I feel little, but surprisingly deeply.

“Hey, he’s my cousin-or-something.” Sadie pats her on the shoulder. “It’s the or something that gets me every time. You can really feel the unbreakable family ties.”

My Review:

This collection was my introduction to the amusing and clever scribblings of Ali Hazelwood and I couldn’t have picked a better selection to start with. I gleefully smirked my way through all three wittily written novellas and sighed contently upon completion. Each character was uniquely contrived yet authentic, as well as endearingly awkward and socially inept. I adored them all. I have a new favorite author and have added her entire listing to my TBR.

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Jamie Westenberg and Bea Wilmot have nothing in common except a meet-disaster and the mutual understanding that they couldn’t be more wrong for each other. But when the people closest to them play Cupid and trick them into going on a date, Jamie and Bea realize they have something else in common after all—an undeniable need for revenge.

Soon their plan is in place: Fake date obnoxiously and convinces the meddlers they’re madly in love. Then, break up spectacularly and dash their hopes, putting an end to the matchmaking madness once and for all.

To convince everyone that they’ve fallen for each other, Jamie and Bea will have to nail the performance of their lives. But as their final act nears and playing lovers becomes easier than not, they begin to wonder, what if Cupid’s arrow wasn’t so off the mark? And what if two wrongs do make a right?

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Jamie smiles. It’s soft and small and crooked, but it’s there. I watch it unfurl, and my heart morphs into a gilded balloon that bursts, a shower of gold-leaf glitter sparkling in my chest.

“Don’t downplay your work,” she says fiercely. “Don’t make yourself small just because someone else has.”

He’s stuck around. Like a bug on fly paper.

…you are exquisitely precious to me.

My Review:

I delighted in this cleverly penned tale and have added this crafty author’s entire listing to my TBR as I have become her most rabid and fervent fangirl. Her deft storytelling kept a smirk on my face and caused the little pea in my brain to spark as I fell into her bewitchingly engaging tale which featured deliciously quirky yet authentic characters that were well-textured and are now indelibly etched on my gray matter. I adored them and their amusing vengeance plot of having an “Instagrammable romance”/fauxmance that quickly morphed into something much more carnal and delightfully steamy. I have a new favorite author to add to the top of my To Do list.

Allie is the author of the Suncoast University series, the Bishop Brothers series, and the Lessons Learned series. She lives in sunny Florida with her husband, daughter, and two cats. A librarian by day, she spends her nights writing happily ever afters. She enjoys reading, playing video games, and all things Disney.

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My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Sure, excluding the kitchen staff and bouncers, my co-workers were all mostly naked and covered in glitter, but that didn’t bother me any. I worked with kindergartners nine months out of the year. They also liked to take off their clothes and paint their bodies with glitter.

This kid made no sense. Kids weren’t supposed to be interested in interesting things. They were supposed to be interested in pointless things, making too much noise, spreading disease, and telling stupidly long stories that had no ending and made no sense.

It was rare for me to be at a loss for words. I felt verbally bankrupt at the moment.

How much worse can my reputation get? I’m the town pity-project, as my mother loves to remind me all the time. I’m on the bless-your-heart bingo card.

Everyone knew Jackson James didn’t throw parties, or drink, or eat good tasting food, or have fun. If he were a paint color, he’d be beige. If he were a food, he’d be dry, white toast. How a firecracker like Charlotte had ever dated his boring ass, I had no idea.

My Review:

Reading Penny Reid’s cleverly penned missives is always good fun and a guaranteed smirk-producing activity. I adore her complex, multi-layered, and well-textured characters and the couple featured in this sparkling installment has become my new favorite. Even the secondary characters were brilliantly imbued with authentic and brain-snagging idiosyncrasies. I continue to be totally enamored with Hank days after finishing his tale.

Ms. Reid’s storytelling never fails to dazzle and delight me and I sank into this engaging tale as if I was sitting in the corner watching it occur. I may even have hissed a few times when the plagues of real life intruded upon my perusal.

And to prove my mother wrong in her stance that reading fiction was not educational and a waste of time, I am pleased to report that I learned a new word with “dingly” as well as a plethora of text emoticons, which I was required to Google to fully appreciate. As such, I owe Ms. Reid my undying gratitude for continuing to plug the holes in my knowledge that my scholarly endeavors have left sorely lacking. Obviously, future Reid editions are now compulsory reading.

Knock Out
(Fighting for Love, #4)
by Jiffy Kate 

In the blink of an eye, Willow Bernard goes from stocking shelves at the Piggly Wiggly to kicking butt at Viking MMA.

Willow Bernard has taken a lot of hits in her twenty-two years but always manages to come back swinging. Hoping to fly under the radar for a change, she relocates to Green Valley. Her strategy works until one fateful phone call initiates a series of events that shakes up her quiet existence.

Tattooed adventure-seeker Ozzi Erickson goes where the wind takes him. When he blows into Green Valley for his big brother’s wedding—and to figure out his next move—he isn’t prepared for the knock-out punch coming his way.

With Ozzi sticking around the Tennessee mountain town, his brother gives him a temporary assignment as Willow Bernard’s trainer.

His job is to teach her how to fight. But will she have the skills required to protect her heart?

‘Knock Out’ is a full-length contemporary romance and can be read as a standalone. Book #4 in the Fighting for Love series, Green Valley Chronicles, Penny Reid Book Universe.

Start the Fighting For Love series of standalones!

Read for FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

Stud Muffin

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My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

My dad laughs. “I hate to break it to y’all, but she never oohed and ahhed over any of you like she does this baby. What they say, about grandkids being your reward for making it through parenthood, is right.”

Those Erickson boys are finer than a frog hair split four ways… or five, I guess.

I will not cry today. I know the old song about it being my party and I can cry if I want to, but I don’t want to.

My Review:

The storylines were carefully built and slowly paced although still engaging. The storylines featured and carried over endearing and authentic characters from previous installments. The main character of Willow was admirable yet also rather heavy on the angst, which isn’t one of my favorite things, although I enjoyed the arc of her blossoming confidence and steamy romance and appreciated the welcome hits of wit and humor provided in the other characters’ encounters. There is one more brother to go, the grumpiest of the bunch, I’m already curious.

Favorite Quotes:

Sadie, we both know forbidden love is the hottest kind. You have no chance. The more you fight it, the hornier you’ll get for each other. Y’all are like Green Valley’s Romeo and Juliet without the death. Well, maybe not Romeo and Juliet since you’re both hella old and our families get along, so never mind. Ahhhh! This is so hot. I’m excited for you. I would give anything to be in a sexy forbidden relationship!

I’m sorry I didn’t tell you immediately. I couldn’t figure out how to tell you without making your head blow up. I don’t want your head to blow up. You have enough going on, and I don’t want to clean up that kind of mess. I’m sure brain goo stains.

“Sadie is nothing like Leeann,” he pointed out. “For one, Sadie has never tried to run me over with her van. And for another, the flames of hell don’t trail behind her whenever she enters a room.”

Look in my eyes and memorize the way I see you. I don’t want you to ever forget it. No matter what happens, I will always love you. Always…

My Review:

This was a fun and lively tale that keep a smirk on my face throughout the majority of perusal, despite the inclusion of one of my least favorite tropes. I’m more than a bit rueful to leave this family behind as this volume completes the Monroe family saga, with the sweetest and kindest brother saved for the finale, and ooh la la, Ms. Everly ended the series with a bang as Barrett Monroe was nothing less than a delectable treat. The storylines were entertaining and engaging while laced together with clever wit, snarky humor, authentic and well-textured characters, and sensual scenes hot enough to melt my Kindle.

About the Author

Nora Everly is a lifelong bookworm. She started reading the good stuff once she grew tall enough to sneak the romance novels off the top of her mother’s bookshelf and it has been non-stop ever since.

Once upon a time, she was a substitute teacher and an educational assistant. Now she’s a writer and stay-at-home mom to two small humans and one fat cat.

Nora lives in the Pacific Northwest with her family and her overactive imagination.

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Play Smart, an all-new enemies-to-lovers rockstar romcom from Aly Stiles, is now available in Kindle Unlimited!

Nash Ellis knows music. Producing, performing, writing—if it involves the creative process he’s there for it. He knows nothing about copy machines. Or financial reports. Or anything related to the stuck-up business world his best friends have been chasing since they were kids. But Nash also needs money, so when his roommate gets him a paid internship at Reedweather Media, he reluctantly agrees. At least his know-it-all intern competitor is kind of cute in a nerdy-librarian sort of way—especially when she’s being tormented by an angsty rocker she can’t stand.

The only thing Paige Andrews hates more than failure? Nash Ellis. She has little patience for incompetence and zero tolerance for indifference. He clearly doesn’t belong in their corporate world, so why does he insist on ruining her dream job? And the worst part—he’s not what he seems. In fact, it’s all the things he’s hiding behind those electric blue eyes that make him straight-up captivating in an ironic-slacker sort of way.

But their smoldering friction bursts into open flames when the feuding interns are forced into a high-stakes mission that requires intimate knowledge of the music industry. Yep, what could go wrong when the least-qualified candidate to ever walk the halls of a major corporation becomes their only hope of success?

‘Play Smart’ is a full-length contemporary romance and can be read as a standalone. Book #5 in the Work For It series, Educated Romance World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

You didn’t get me a job. You sent me through a wormhole to Hell…

If lust was a competitive sport, pretty sure I just made Nationals.

He doesn’t look at me as he gets lost in some distant recess of his head. As usual, a part of me wants to follow him there. The other part is relieved I can’t.

We are fire and gasoline, and we’ve become addicted to the flames.

Another win for Zeros Being Heroes, I guess. We’re like the Accidental Avengers. We’re so bad at shit it goes full circle and kinda works.

My Review:

I enjoyed the clever humor, cunning snark, and crisp banter between Ms. Stiles’s complex characters. I delighted in the volatile chemistry and blossoming romance between the two main protagonists. Still, I got a bit lost and disinterested in the corporate politics, espionage, and double and triple spies storylines. I so wanted to befriend Nash Ellis, he was quite the tasty treat despite being anathema to his coworker Paige upon meeting. Both were whip-smart, more than a bit fractured, and had complicated personalities. The writing was emotive, heart-squeezing, as well as scorch the sheets and gasp producing steamy.