Love & Romance

Finders Keepers

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by Sarah Adler
First sentence: “Given all the change I’ve had foisted upon me recently, it’s nice to find that Mr. FArina’s naked torso is pretty much the same as I remember.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: June 24, 2025
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is swearing, including multiple f-bombs, and two on-page sex scenes. It will be in the romance section of the bookstore.

Nina is not in a good place: she lost her adjunct professor job up in Boston the same time she broke up with her boyfriend (for Reasons, mostly to do with they weren’t compatible anymore), and has arrived at her parents’ house jobless and relationshipless. So, the last person she wants to see is Quentin Blake, aka her ex-best friend who broke her heart when he left town at age 15, soon after they were arrested for trespassing trying to find the hidden treasure of a local eccentric (and long-dead) soda magnate.

So when Quentin suggests they resume their search for the treasure, Nina is reluctant: what if he leaves again? What if he breaks her heart again? But, she has nothing better to do, and the job search is a bit fruitless, and what else is she going to do? So, they pick up where they left off, and find that while there are similarities to their younger selves, they’ve both grown and changed, and maybe what she’s really needed has been at home all along.

While I don’t think this has the same magic that Mrs. Nash’s Ashes does, I think Adler has a gift for weaving historical elements and contemporary romance. I do love how she writes about long-lost love and the joy of finding your soulmate. This is a sweet book, one that has some genuine humor, and I loved the way she wrote both Nina and Quentin. They had good chemistry together, and I loved the way Adler balanced their relationship when they were teens with the adults they are in the book. It’s a charming, lovely story, one that I found absolutely delightful to read.

The Bridge Kingdom

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by Danielle L. Jensen
First sentence: “Lara rested her elbows on the low sandstone wall, her eyes fixed on the glowing sun descending over the distant mountain peaks, nothing between here and there but scorching sand dunes, scorpions, and the occasional lizard.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is violence (lots- the body count is high in this one), on-page sex, and swearing including multiple f-bombs. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Lara – along with 19 of her half-sisters – has been trained by her father, the king of Maridrina – with one goal in mind: marry King Aren, the king of the Bridge Kingdom, gain his trust, infiltrate his country, and help her father bring the country to its knees. At first, Lara is all-in on this plan: she has come to believe that Aren and his country are responsible for the starvation and plagues in her own. But, as she comes to know Aren and his people, she’s not so sure. Perhaps, just maybe, things are not quite as they seem.

I had kind of low expectations going into this one, and I was pleasantly surprised. It was a solid fantasy – I liked the world-building that Jensen did, which never felt overly expository, and I liked the characters she developed. I didn’t get much of a sense of many of the minor characters (there were so many!), but Lara and Aren were really fully developed, which I liked. I did think the sex was a little bit… performative? If that’s the right word; it just didn’t feel as connected as I feel it could have been. My biggest complaint though was the twist with 40 pages left in the book. I don’t mind reading a sequel, but I do get a bit annoyed when the story is left unfinished and I feel I have to read the sequel to finish it out. That said, though, Jensen is a decent writer, and this was a solid book

Fast & Reckless

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by Amanda Weaver
First sentence: “Will Hawley downshifted, desperately attempting to hang onto his car as the laws of physics tried to rip it off the track.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is a lot of swearing, including many f-bombs, as well as quite a bit of on-page sex. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Mira Wentworth has been away from the F1 circuit for seven years, when she was exiled in discrace. Will Hawley is back on the F1 circuit after 3 years away, ever since his disastrous rookie season. When both of them show up to the new season – Mira as her father’s personal assistant (he’s the team principal) and Will as a driver – neither of them want a relationship. Mostly because a relationship between them would be disastrous. But, there’s chemistry, and tension, and sparks fly (pun intended!), and yeah… of course there will be drama. It’s F1.

Things I liked: that Mira’s scandal was truly horrifying, and her coming to terms with it was a definite growth arc. Will was very sassy, though I’m not as convinced he’s changed. The spice level was high but not off the charts. I have no idea how accurate the behind-the-scenes F1 stuff was, but it was fun to travel the world to the places I have seen on screen and in the app. None of the people were real, but there were elements; I could guess at who, maybe, that driver could be. It was silly and it was fun, and it was a quick read.

I really don’t want much more out of a romance, especially an F1 one.

Beg, Borrow, or Steal

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by Sarah Adams
First sentence: “I don’t care who you are, when you live in a town the size of your thumb, if you don’t like the way your hair turns out at the salan, you stuff it deep down an never acknowledge it.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: When in Rome
Content: There is a narcissistic parent, swearing, including f-bombs, and a couple of on-screen sex scenes. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Emily Walker and Jackson Bennett have been bickering and competing since they met (accidentally; he bumped into her and spilled coffee on her shirt) their freshman year of college. So, she should be happy that he’s moved to Nebraska to marry his fiance. But, she’s not, not really. And so when she hears that he’s back in town after breaking his wedding off, and moving in next door, she shouldn’t be as furious as she… kind of is? As the summer goes on, Jack and Emily realize that maybe their bickering and competing is maybe hiding something deeper.

I was looking for something light and fun to read and this absolutely fit the bill. I know there’s another one in the series that I haven’t read (I think I have it on audio) but it doesn’t really matter. I liked the banter between Emily and Jack and I liked that Adams gave them both a darker deeper backstory. It gave the book enough depth to make it have some weight, but honestly, I was there for the fun. And it absolutely delivered.

Maybe I will get around to listening to the other one now.

Audiobook: Onyx Storm

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by Rebecca Yarros
Read by Rebecca Soler, Teddy Hamilton, Justis Bolding & Jasmin Walker
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Others in the series: Fourth Wing, Iron Flame
Content: It’s super sweary, super violent, and lots of on-screen sexytimes. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Spoilers for the first two books, obviously.

It’s picking up again, where Iron Flame left off – there’s venin (I think that’s how you spell it), Xaden’s turning into one (though he’s trying hard to stop it), the king won’t let refugees in, and they need to find Andara’s (is that spelled right?) dragon family.

And we’re going to spend 500+ (23 hours!) pages doing this.

I started out liking this one – Solner is still delightfully unhinged, I thought the travels around the islands were interesting, and it was nice to have Violet back being a smart badass again. But, as the book went on I lost patience with it. It dragged in the middle. I wanted to punch Xaden in the face on a number of occasions. I hated the “I wanted you but I don’t trust myself” parts and the miscommunication. The last one was a lot, but this was even MORE. And by the end, I was just not interested. (Speaking of the end: I hated it. So much.)

And, after three 500 page books in a five-book series that could have been a solid trilogy, I think I’m done. I have zero interest in where the story is going, in Violet and Xaden’s future, or in all the many plot strings Yarros left undone.

(If I consider reading the fourth when it comes out, remind me that I’m probably going to be annoyed and frustrated with it and that it’s probably not going to be worth my time.)

Audio Book: The Broposal

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by Sonora Reyes
Read by André Santana & Alejandro Antonio Ruiz
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is domestic abuse, swearing (including multiple f-bombs), threats of ICE reads, talk of drug abuse, and on-page sex. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Alejandro – Han for short – and Kenny have been best friends since second grade. Han’s an undocumented immigrant, and Kenny has been in a long-term on-and-off again relationship. When Kenny breaks up with his girlfriend (she was making him choose between her and Han) and then witnesses some of the discrimination and uncertainty that Han goes through as an undocumented person, he gets this idea: why don’t he and Han get married? It’ll help Han get his green card and head toward citizenship, and no one ever needs to know it’s fake, right?

Except, as they get more into it, they discover that they have deeper feelings than “just” best friends. But a conniving boss and a desperate ex-girlfriend threaten to throw a huge wrench in their plan. Will they be able to get to their wedding day with their relationship still intact?

I liked this one a lot. I liked how Reyes tackled tough subjects like abuse and discrimination against undocumented people. I liked the support of both Han’s and Kenny’s families. I liked that these men were 23 and still trying to figure everything out. I really liked the narrators; they probably made the book for me. It was sweet and charming, hitting the tropes without being overly fluffy, which I also appreciated.

Definitely a good one to pick up.

Back After This

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by Linda Holmes
First sentence: “The trick was not to be noisy.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: Feb 25, 2025
Review copy sent by the publisher and given to me by a coworker who knows I like Linda Holmes’s books.
Content: There is some swearing, including a couple f-bombs, and some off-screen, mostly fade-to-black sex. It will be in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Cecily is a podcast producer and mostly likes her job. She’s not really valued at the company she works for – her ex took the only successful show she ever worked on and that was four years ago and she’s stuck doing mostly the jobs no one wants to do. That is, until the bosses decide to create a dating podcast, the premise is that the dating influencer Eliza will set Cecily up with her perfect mate using Logic and Data and not her gut. Cecily has no interest in a relationship, but she agrees to the premise, if only to protect her job and that of some of her co-workers.

The problem comes when Cecily accidentally meets a guy – Will – who is nothing like the men that Cecily wants her to date. And even though she’s trying to give the podcast her all, she keeps bumping into Will, and they seem to have that undeniable Chemistry. But, will she give in to her heart? Or what Eliza and the demands of the podcast?

In many ways, this is a lot like Is She Really Going Out With Him? – similar enough to be notable. But, even though it’s similar, it’s not the same. I liked Holmes’ take on podcasts (she should know, being on the long-running NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour) and it was interesting to see the work that goes into producing a successful podcast. I did like the logic vs. heart aspect of the story (spoiler, though not really: heart wins out) and Cecily’s journey to figure out what she wants in a relationship and how to get it. I liked the banter between Cecily and Will and the way that their relationship developed. Holmes is good with chemistry, though I think she’s just good at writing normal people well. I liked that Cecily would do anything for her sister or her friends, and the female bonds in the story.

In short, it was a good all-around, charming book.

Audiobook: Is She Really Going Out With Him?

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by Sophie Cousens
Read by Kerry Gilbert
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is some swearing, including multiple f-bombs, and a couple of fade-to-black sex scenes. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Anna Appleby is just trying to keep her job as a columnist at a Bath magazine. Except there is someone – Will – in-house who is trying to steal her thunder and the new bosses want something more “intimate” out of her. So, she finds herself with a gimmick: she and will will run complimentary dating columns, and hers will be an offline one, where her two kids (ages 13 and 7) pick out who she’s going to date.

As Anna goes on both weird and interesting dates, she comes to realize that the one person she keeps thinking about is probably out of bounds. And she’s not really interested in a relationship. Or is she?

This one was incredibly charming. I liked the premise a lot – there were silly dates and uncomfortable dates, and the people Anna met (and not just the ones she went out with) were just delightful. I did like the push and pull between her and Will and thought that they were both stubborn and fun together. I did like the added level of Anna dealing with her ex and his new girlfriend, and the complications with co-parenting.

And Kerry Gilbert was an absolutely delightful narrator to share the journey with. This one was lot of fun!

Swordheart

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by T. Kingfisher
First sentence: “Halla of Rutger’s Howe had just inherited a great deal of money and was therefore spending her evening trying to figure out how to kill herself.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: February 25, 2025 (though you can get the original paperback here)
Review copy pilfered from the ARC shelves at work.
Content: There’s some swearing (maybe some f-bombs? They didn’t stand out), and some fade-to-black sex. It will be in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Halla is a respectable 36-year-old widow who has spent the past 15 years carrying for Silas, her dead husband’s uncle, as he aged and eventually died. As payment (thanks?), Silas leaves everything to Halla, something which her dead husband’s other relatives have issue with. So, what she decides is that all of this would go away if she were dead, and she unsheaths an antique sword Silas had tucked away to do the deed. Except the sword turns out to be a man – Sarkis – who is tasked with serving the wielder of the sword, which happens to be Halla. What Sarkis expects is a lot of fighting…. what he gets is a very long journey to the temple of the Rat God to petition for help solving the inheritance problem, and then a very long journey back.

It sounds like a whole lot of nothing, but Kingfisher is brilliant in making the nothing so much fun. There are laugh-aloud moments, there is a lot of back-and-forth silliness between Sarkis and Halla (not to mention the Rat Priest, Zale, who is pretty delightful themselves) and a very charming slow-burn romance. I usually don’t like the slow burn ones, but this was, well, charming, cozy, delightful, and very rewarding. It’s not spicy, but I found it didn’t matter. It’s very much like a warm hug of a book, one that you read with a smile on your face the whole time. I wanted to finish it faster than I did, but I’m glad I lingered. And yes, I would happily revisit the land for other stories (I think this is a reprint of a book that’s part of a series? I am going to see if I can find the others) set here.

And I’ll reiterate something I’ve come to believe: I’ll read pretty much anything Kingfisher writes (I’m trying to work up the courage to read her horror, too).

Audiobook: Lost and Lassoed

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by Lyla Sage
Read by: Jason Clarke and Samantha Brentmoor
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Others in the series: Done and Dusted, Swift and Saddled
Content: There’s quite a bit of swearing – these characters don’t hold back – and a lot of on-page sexytimes. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

It is well established that Gus Ryder and Teddy Anderson do not like each other. They’ve been at each other’s throats, barely civil for years. So, when Gus needs a babysitter for his daughter while her mother is away in Jackson Hole, the last person he wants is Teddy. But Teddy is freshly out of a job because the owner of the boutique she works at decided to sell out and close, and she needs not only the money, but something to do. And who doesn’t love Riley? She’s adorable. What starts as an uncomfortable truce grows into something more over the summer – but what happens at the end, when Camille comes back? Will Gus and Teddy stick? Or will they go back to sniping at each other.

I may have cowboy romance burn out, because I wanted to like this one more than I actually did. I think part of it was Clarke’s narration: his Gus voice was so low and gravelly that I had to crank the volume up just to hear him (I’m not one for deep voices, I guess). Which was more annoying than it should have been. But, while I like enemies to lovers a lot, this one lacked banter. I think it’s because the bulk of the enemies-to-lovers tropes that I like took place in the previous two books, and that just left the resolution for this one. Which kind of left me flat. I wasn’t thrilled with the way Emmy ended up in this one – she was quite self-centered, which you could blame on planning a wedding – and I disliked some elements of the way Sage wrote Teddy and Emmy’s friendship. I did like Teddy and Riley together; that came off as genuine, sweet, and fun.

I think it was me, though. I like cowboys and trucks and rural Wyoming well enough (shoot, those are my people, as my grandmother would have said), but maybe I need a break from them for a little bit.