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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Loved it. All the things I love best in a romance novel wrapped up in one. Perfect.
Tropes and what to expect:
- small town
- fake dating/fake engagement
- reverse grumpy x sunshine
I really enjoyed this book! It had everything a romcom needs to have, including those Hallmark movie vibes. It was funny, light, and the plot and the characters were great. I expected at least a little bit of spice and was disappointed when there wasn’t any so fair warning.
Mae is a librarian in her small Texas hometown. She has her hands full with caring for her mom after she had a stroke, and trying to keep her rebellious little sister in line. Her normal, boring life is thrown for a loop when football star Chris Sterns arrives in town and she begrudgingly makes friends with him (they even start a romance book club y’all!). But when they agree to a mutually beneficial fake engagement, everything changes for her — even though she swore she’d never fall for him.
Chris was such a cinnamon roll MMC and I loved how much of an effort he made for Mae. Her sarcasm was awesome but at times it felt like she was a little too mean to him. Their backstories were well developed and I really felt for both of them. The side characters fit the story so well and I especially loved Mae’s best friend Ali and her crazy revenge plots.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book as it was well written, had a fun plot and included some of my favorite tropes. There was some miscommunication between the main characters that I found annoying and Mae’s personally bothered me a little at times. Like I get her whole independence thing but as a slightly older FMC than I normally read about, it came off as immature. I was so sad that there was no spice as I thought the characters had amazing chemistry, so I lived for those non-explicit kissing scenes lol. 4 stars!
Thank you to Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
- small town
- fake dating/fake engagement
- reverse grumpy x sunshine
I really enjoyed this book! It had everything a romcom needs to have, including those Hallmark movie vibes. It was funny, light, and the plot and the characters were great. I expected at least a little bit of spice and was disappointed when there wasn’t any so fair warning.
Mae is a librarian in her small Texas hometown. She has her hands full with caring for her mom after she had a stroke, and trying to keep her rebellious little sister in line. Her normal, boring life is thrown for a loop when football star Chris Sterns arrives in town and she begrudgingly makes friends with him (they even start a romance book club y’all!). But when they agree to a mutually beneficial fake engagement, everything changes for her — even though she swore she’d never fall for him.
Chris was such a cinnamon roll MMC and I loved how much of an effort he made for Mae. Her sarcasm was awesome but at times it felt like she was a little too mean to him. Their backstories were well developed and I really felt for both of them. The side characters fit the story so well and I especially loved Mae’s best friend Ali and her crazy revenge plots.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book as it was well written, had a fun plot and included some of my favorite tropes. There was some miscommunication between the main characters that I found annoying and Mae’s personally bothered me a little at times. Like I get her whole independence thing but as a slightly older FMC than I normally read about, it came off as immature. I was so sad that there was no spice as I thought the characters had amazing chemistry, so I lived for those non-explicit kissing scenes lol. 4 stars!
Thank you to Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
What an ADORABLE, wholesome book! I took a full star off because it felt at times like the author didn’t know how to fully explain the plot she wanted, and because of that, the beginning felt a little bit all over the place and kind of slow. The characters were also immature at times, and I’ve learned that I’m not crazy over the golden retriever MMC vibe.
Once the trope started though, it was only up from there! The pool house — all I’m saying
Once the trope started though, it was only up from there! The pool house — all I’m saying
I came across this on Kindle Unlimited. So adorable and sweet! Just a cozy little books with characters that are fun and entertaining. And fake dating/engagement is one of my fav tropes ever, so can’t go wrong with that!
I laughed throughout this book. The banter was excellent. Good banter is a must-have for me, so *chef kiss* Well done.
The romance was believable, and I am a sucker for the fake dating. I have some reservations because Chris kept doing lovely things for Mae, but I wanted to see more of why Chris fell for her. It felt a tad too insta love for me but not a massive negative.
I also prefer steamier romances, which I thought we would get what with all the romance book reading, but it was rather tame. Again, I enjoyed it enough that this wasn't a huge problem.
*forgot to say, I read this book as a Netgalley ARC.
The romance was believable, and I am a sucker for the fake dating. I have some reservations because Chris kept doing lovely things for Mae, but I wanted to see more of why Chris fell for her. It felt a tad too insta love for me but not a massive negative.
I also prefer steamier romances, which I thought we would get what with all the romance book reading, but it was rather tame. Again, I enjoyed it enough that this wasn't a huge problem.
*forgot to say, I read this book as a Netgalley ARC.
Mae is a librarian in a small town. She is taking care of her family, her mother is in recovery and medical bills are piling up. She has a younger sister who is just finishing high school. She works weekend nights in the next town as a waitress to make ends meet.
She is driven, dedicated and an around badass. :)
One night she wants to lock up the library, only there is a guy sleeping three. She can't wake him up, so she ends up listening to a spicy audiobook. Only the story is not only in her earbuds. :)
He is a famous football player, spending some time in the town. He proposes that they start a book club, just for romance books. He seems to be everywhere and keeps want spend time with her, but Mae, even though she thinks he is very hot, doesn't have time for that.
Then he proposes a deal. A fake engagement. He needs to clean up his rep, without outing his family and she is in desperate need of money. It all goes well, but spending all this time together, she gets to know him and his family and starts to fall for him, hard.
They have so much chemistry between them, but past habits are hard to break and she is afraid of the future.
I love reading the story, it's fun and romantic and I just couldn't put it down. The MCs are both such good people you can't help but root for them. :)
got it on Netgalley, all thoughts are my own
She is driven, dedicated and an around badass. :)
One night she wants to lock up the library, only there is a guy sleeping three. She can't wake him up, so she ends up listening to a spicy audiobook. Only the story is not only in her earbuds. :)
He is a famous football player, spending some time in the town. He proposes that they start a book club, just for romance books. He seems to be everywhere and keeps want spend time with her, but Mae, even though she thinks he is very hot, doesn't have time for that.
Then he proposes a deal. A fake engagement. He needs to clean up his rep, without outing his family and she is in desperate need of money. It all goes well, but spending all this time together, she gets to know him and his family and starts to fall for him, hard.
They have so much chemistry between them, but past habits are hard to break and she is afraid of the future.
I love reading the story, it's fun and romantic and I just couldn't put it down. The MCs are both such good people you can't help but root for them. :)
got it on Netgalley, all thoughts are my own
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It is a cute light-hearted romance with a sweet marriage of convenience trope.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this story! The ending felt a little underwhelming, personally. I was expecting the story to sort of round itself out but it felt cut short.