While We’re Young by K.L. Walther

 2.75 Stars

Grace, Isa, and Everett used to be an inseparable trio before their love lives became a tangled mess. For starters, Grace is secretly in love with Everett, who used to go out with Isa before breaking her heart in the infamous Freshman Year Fracture. And, oh yeah, no one knows that Isa has been hanging out with James, Grace’s brother—and if Grace finds out, it could ruin their friendship.
With graduation fast approaching, Grace decides an unsanctioned senior skip day in Philadelphia might be just what they need to fix things. All she has to do is convince Isa to help her kidnap Everett and outmaneuver James, who’s certain his sister is up to something.
In an epic day that includes racing up the famous Rocky steps, taste-testing Philly's finest cheesesteaks, and even crashing a wedding, their secrets are bound to collide. But can their hearts withstand the wreckage?

There was so much repeated in this book because everything had to be explained from each characters POV and there were four of them. I got really tired of reading the same thing over and over again. The idea was there and the writer has written amazing stories. This one just didn’t work for me.

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Her Pucking Stepbrother by RJ Sterling

2.5 Stars

Being shamed out of college and forced to move back home is bad enough.
Having nothing but a thin wall separating my bedroom from my stepbrother's is even worse.
But the cherry on top?
The reminder that, before my dad and his mom ever thought to make us "family"... he was my first.
And now he hates me.
Puck my life.

Book was so freaking slow. Add in the cliffhanger ending with no next book. This is a book I would skip. MMC was an ass to FMC through most of the book and he never really makes up for it. Then the ending happened and I was so mad.

Book 1 Royal Icehole

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Any Trope but You by Victoria Lavine

3 Stars

Beloved romance author Margot Bradley has a dark secret: she doesn’t believe in Happily Ever Afters. Not for herself, not for her readers, and not even for her characters, for whom she secretly writes alternate endings that swap weddings and babies for divorce papers and the occasional slashed tire. When her Happily Never After document is hacked and released to the public, she finds herself canceled by her readers and dropped by her publisher.

Desperate to find a way to continue supporting her chronically ill sister, Savannah, Margot decides to trade meet-cutes for murder. The fictional kind. Probably. But when Savannah books Margot a six-week stay in a remote Alaskan resort to pen her first murder mystery, Margot finds herself running from a moose and leaping into the arms of the handsome proprietor, making her fear she’s just landed in a romance novel instead.

The last thing Dr. Forrest Wakefield ever expected was to leave his dream job as a cancer researcher to become a glorified bellhop. What he’s really doing at his family’s resort is caring for his stubborn, ailing father, and his puzzle-loving mind is slowly freezing over—until Margot shows up. But Forrest doesn’t have any room in his life for another person he could lose, especially one with a checkout date.

As long snowy nights and one unlikely trope after another draw Margot and Forrest together, they’ll each have to learn to overcome their fears and set their aside assumptions before Margot leaves—or risk becoming a Happily Never After story themselves.

The story was just ok. Margot was irritating throughout the book. It was a standard romance without any surprises. And as the title says about any trope there were a bunch. Way too much and it bogged down the story.

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Banished Mate by Allie Santos

3.5 Stars

To my pack, I was a broken girl—mute, unable to shift, and easy to forget.

I spent my life in the shadows, invisible to everyone but the future Alpha. He was my everything. But he needed a strong mate, and that could never be me, not without revealing the truth.

I was an Omega—a secret that could cost him his life.

So I did nothing.

I would have kept hiding what I was forever, but then I was captured. With one chance to escape, I shifted and ran—straight into the arms of two of my mates. Fierce. Protective. Mine.

But danger was closing in. The past I’d tried to outrun was catching up fast, and this time, it wasn’t just my life on the line.

I am questioning the location of the story. She ends up in Scotland and acts like that is so far but when she goes to confront people in the old pack it’s a really quick trip to get home. World building needs to be done. Otherwise the story was good.

Book 2 Omega Heat

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Willing Prey by Allie Oleander

4 Stars

An exhilarating, primal summer fling in the woods leads to an intensely sexy, edgy romance, where anything goes—just remember your safe word.

Divorced and buried in student loan debt, Claire Collins eagerly enters a spicy business agreement with an acquaintance who wants to explore his primal desires. The deal is simple: thirty days as his sexual prey, $30,000 in her bank account. All she has to do is give Shane Underwood the hunt of his life.

Claire’s a physical education teacher and perfectly happy to spend her summer having wild, kinky sex instead of working her usual serving job. But once they cross the tree line, she realizes how little she knows about the corporate lawyer paying her to be his prey.

Shane is different in the woods. Brutal. Devastating. Feral.

That’s okay with Claire—she is, too. And she’s sinking her teeth a little deeper into Shane’s heart every time he catches her.

The trigger warning page sold me on this book. It was spicy and different in the best ways possible. I loved how Shane was all in with Claire for so long. He opted for what he thought she would accept but he wanted so much more with her. He stalks her long before the deal. I love the deal was his romantic gesture to her and to keep her close.

Book 1 Feral Love

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Love’s a Witch by Tricia O’Malley

4 Stars

She’s hexed. He’s vexed. And for Scotland’s most magical small-town, their feud might just spell disaster.
Sloane MacGregor swore she’d never return to Briarhaven, but with her twenty-fifth birthday looming—the day witches come into their magic—her grandmother summons her and her sisters back for one tiny task: break the centuries-old curse haunting their bloodline.
Knox Douglas, Briarhaven’s grumpy mayor, has worked tirelessly to make his town a haven for magical folk. The last thing he needs is a cursed MacGregor wreaking havoc. It doesn’t matter he once crushed on her. For the sake of Briarhaven, Sloane has to go.
But magic has other plans—and in Briarhaven, love really is a witch.

This book was so sweet and I loved it so much. Sloane was a little bitchy in the best ways. Knox was a dick for reasons. The curse was interesting and I hope with future books we delve deeper into it. The story flowed nicely and I can’t wait for the next book.

Book 1 The Scottish Charm

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Worst Wingman by Abby Jimenez

4 Stars

They’re falling in love, yet they’ve never met. Maybe fate can intervene in a heartwarming “what-if” short story about new beginnings by the New York Times bestselling author of Yours Truly.

Holly is dealing with the impending death of her grandmother and still reeling from a bad breakup. One bright spot: a Valentine’s Day card on Holly’s windshield—even if it wasn’t meant for her. An amusing mistake soon turns into a lovely exchange of anonymous notes, little acts of kindness, and a growing affection between two strangers. What happens when one of them has to say goodbye?

Another good audiobook from her. I loved the kismet in this book. The relationship felt rushed but I still enjoyed it.

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