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stephsnextread's reviews
390 reviews
This was such a fun way to close out the series! While it could be a standalone, I highly suggest reading the other books first because there are sweet moments with the characters from the other books (like the book starting out with Stella and Luca’s wedding!!).
I loved the opposites attract love story. There’s charming, spreadsheet-loving investment banker Charlie. Then there’s independent, people-pleasing tattoo artist Nova. I loved them both individually, and they each had such great character development throughout the story. Their chemistry together was swoon-worthy, with so much shameless flirting. They were both convinced they just needed to hook up once to get it out of their systems, but obviously that didn’t work. Even though the spice started early, their relationship felt more than purely physical. They were so sweet together and really seemed to understand the other in a way that no one else had before. I absolutely adored them together! I highly recommend this series, especially for those who love found family and sweet small towns!
Read if you like:
💕 Opposites attract
💕 Friends-with-benefits to lovers
💕 Found family
💕 Small town romance
💕 Migraine rep
💕 ADHD rep
I loved the opposites attract love story. There’s charming, spreadsheet-loving investment banker Charlie. Then there’s independent, people-pleasing tattoo artist Nova. I loved them both individually, and they each had such great character development throughout the story. Their chemistry together was swoon-worthy, with so much shameless flirting. They were both convinced they just needed to hook up once to get it out of their systems, but obviously that didn’t work. Even though the spice started early, their relationship felt more than purely physical. They were so sweet together and really seemed to understand the other in a way that no one else had before. I absolutely adored them together! I highly recommend this series, especially for those who love found family and sweet small towns!
Read if you like:
💕 Opposites attract
💕 Friends-with-benefits to lovers
💕 Found family
💕 Small town romance
💕 Migraine rep
💕 ADHD rep
This book has such a fun concept with top-tier tropes! Type-A lawyer Charley teams up with her childhood best friend (and ex-best man) to stop her sister’s spontaneous wedding to one of their other childhood best friends!
I really enjoyed Charley and Ethan together. They both had thorough backstories that explain why they don’t think a relationship between then could ever work. Since it’s been years since they’ve been close though, they might not know each other as well as they think they do. I loved watching them rediscover each other in the present timeline while simultaneously reading about how their friendship was built in the past timeline. There are glimpses of their undeniable connection throughout the story, and it’s so satisfying when they finally realize they’re in love with each other. I had such a good time reading this book and I highly recommend it!
Thank you to Ellie Palmer, Putnam, and NetGalley for this gifted e-ARC; all opinions are my own.
Read if you like:
💕 Friends to lovers
💕 Opposites attract
💕 It’s always been you
💕 Road trip romance
💕 Lawyer FMC x musician MMC
💕 Dual timeline
💕 Celiac disease rep
I really enjoyed Charley and Ethan together. They both had thorough backstories that explain why they don’t think a relationship between then could ever work. Since it’s been years since they’ve been close though, they might not know each other as well as they think they do. I loved watching them rediscover each other in the present timeline while simultaneously reading about how their friendship was built in the past timeline. There are glimpses of their undeniable connection throughout the story, and it’s so satisfying when they finally realize they’re in love with each other. I had such a good time reading this book and I highly recommend it!
Thank you to Ellie Palmer, Putnam, and NetGalley for this gifted e-ARC; all opinions are my own.
Read if you like:
💕 Friends to lovers
💕 Opposites attract
💕 It’s always been you
💕 Road trip romance
💕 Lawyer FMC x musician MMC
💕 Dual timeline
💕 Celiac disease rep
This is the second book in Ellie K. Wilde’s Oakwood Bay series of interconnected standalones. I loved the first book, and I might have loved this one even more!
This book was so much fun!! It was the perfect blend of romance and comedy, with quite a bit of spice. Brooks and Siena were great characters with a lot of depth. They each have complicated issues they are working through, and fake dating might just help them both. I loved their backstories and the way that they slowly grew to trust each other. They were both so flirty, with great banter and chemistry. He falls first and hard, and she keeps him on his toes! I highly recommend this book, and I’m so excited for the third book (If Only You Knew), releasing in February!
Thank you to Ellie K. Wilde, Atria, and NetGalley for this e-ARC; opinions are my own.
Read if you like:
💕 Sports romance (football)
💕 Enemies to lovers
💕 Fake dating
💕 Forced proximity
💕 Dual POV
This book was so much fun!! It was the perfect blend of romance and comedy, with quite a bit of spice. Brooks and Siena were great characters with a lot of depth. They each have complicated issues they are working through, and fake dating might just help them both. I loved their backstories and the way that they slowly grew to trust each other. They were both so flirty, with great banter and chemistry. He falls first and hard, and she keeps him on his toes! I highly recommend this book, and I’m so excited for the third book (If Only You Knew), releasing in February!
Thank you to Ellie K. Wilde, Atria, and NetGalley for this e-ARC; opinions are my own.
Read if you like:
💕 Sports romance (football)
💕 Enemies to lovers
💕 Fake dating
💕 Forced proximity
💕 Dual POV
Fading country music star Luke Randall is only still making money because of his hit “Another Love Song”. He gets offered the opportunity to open for Black country music star JoJo Lane when she is inducted into the County Music Hall of Fame. Unfortunately for Luke, this means returning to his home town and facing JoJo’s daughter, August—Luke’s first love and the woman who actually wrote the lyrics for his hit song that he claimed were his own.
This was an emotional book that had such complex and interesting characters. Luke and August were heavily shaped by their experiences earlier in life, which included addiction, domestic abuse, and abandonment. The book is told in two timelines (2009–when they were in high school, and 2023–as adults). As teenagers, Luke and August were able to see each other for who they truly were, and they built a beautiful friendship that turned romantic, but then it crashed and burned. The book takes a long time for the second chance romance to play out, but the story that is woven along the way is beautiful. This book explores race in country music, family dynamics, betrayal, forgiveness, healing, and love. It is heavy at times, and is absolutely a story worth reading.
The audiobook has four narrators: Bahni Turpin, William DeMerritt, January LaVoy, and Stephanie Cannon. It was extremely well done, and the narrators’ voices brought the story to life. I highly recommend the audio!
Thank you to Regina Black, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley for this gifted ALC; all opinions are my own.
Read if you like:
💕 Books about musicians
💕 Second chance romance
💕 Country music
💕 Dual timeline
💕 Dual POV
This was an emotional book that had such complex and interesting characters. Luke and August were heavily shaped by their experiences earlier in life, which included addiction, domestic abuse, and abandonment. The book is told in two timelines (2009–when they were in high school, and 2023–as adults). As teenagers, Luke and August were able to see each other for who they truly were, and they built a beautiful friendship that turned romantic, but then it crashed and burned. The book takes a long time for the second chance romance to play out, but the story that is woven along the way is beautiful. This book explores race in country music, family dynamics, betrayal, forgiveness, healing, and love. It is heavy at times, and is absolutely a story worth reading.
The audiobook has four narrators: Bahni Turpin, William DeMerritt, January LaVoy, and Stephanie Cannon. It was extremely well done, and the narrators’ voices brought the story to life. I highly recommend the audio!
Thank you to Regina Black, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley for this gifted ALC; all opinions are my own.
Read if you like:
💕 Books about musicians
💕 Second chance romance
💕 Country music
💕 Dual timeline
💕 Dual POV
Another of Hannah Bonam-Young’s books hit perfectly for me! This book is connected to Next of Kin but can be read as a standalone.
I absolutely adored Lane and Matt’s story. Lane is so realistic as an extrovert with anxiety. Her past has shaped her into the person she is now, and she has some things to work through before being ready for a relationship. Matt is sturdy and constant in his love. His patience allows Lane to heal herself and her family relationships enough to be able to open herself to love. The grand gesture was so romantic and the ending was perfection to me. Both characters were crying, I was crying, so so sweet. I highly recommend this book!!
Read if you like:
💕 Friends to lovers
💕 He falls first
💕 Bisexual rep
💕 Anxiety Rep
“Maybe the reason you haven’t figured out how to fit your pieces with someone else is because you haven’t found the right puzzle.”
This book was such a wholesome, cozy read for me! Don’t get me wrong, there was spice, but the characters were just so sweet and kind and perfect for each other. Layla Dupree, the baker at Inglewild’s Christmas tree farm, has given up on love after a string of bad dates. When she runs into Caleb Alvarez, one of her loyal customers, out of his element at a tiki bar for his brother’s birthday, she starts to see him in a new light. Caleb proposes a social experiment—one month of no-strings dating so he can teach Layla what she deserves in a man and she can help him improve his dating game.
These two together were perfection! Caleb was so endearing. He was a little dorky and very attractive, which totally drew Layla in. Layla was an amazing combination of outgoing and vulnerable. Things often went wrong on their practice dates, and I loved the way they worked through these obstacles and came out stronger because of them. Caleb was head over heels for Layla from the beginning, while her feelings were more of a slow and steady development. This story was as sweet and delicious as Layla’s bakery treats and I definitely recommend it!
Read if you like:
💕 Practice dating
💕 Small town romance
💕 Cinnamon roll MMC
💕 Dual POV
I DNF’d this book when it first came out, but I was determined to try again so I could finish the series (I’m a person who needs to read all of the interconnected books in order). I was reminded right away why I DNF’d. The book starts off with a one-night stand, and then only focuses on each character’s individual stories for a long time (even when Evie comes to stay in Beckett’s home town). I found myself bored at first. I did read the whole book this time, but it still wasn’t my favorite.
I really liked both Evie and Beckett separately. Beckett is such a caregiver for everyone in his life, and his love for animals was so heartwarming. He is clearly neurodivergent (likely autistic), which is shown through his actions and not mentioned explicitly. I enjoyed Evie’s career exploration and really identified with her burnout and need for a break. I just really wanted more from the romance between Evie and Beckett. It felt mostly physical, and I couldn’t really tell why they liked each other. I do love this small town and the cast of characters, so I’m excited to continue the series (with Layla’s story next!).
Read if you like:
💕 One night stand to lovers
💕 Small town romance
💕 Dual POV
💕 Neurodivergent rep
This book was so much fun! Gemma Stanton used her high school crush turned pro hockey player, Mason Morreti, as inspiration for a character in her debut historical romance book. After Gemma and Mason are reunited on a morning show interview, Mason suggests fake dating to boost her book sales and his reputation.
I loved that Gemma and Mason have known each other since kindergarten. The history is deep! This book is in one timeline, but the reader seamlessly learns about what happened in the past, which really worked for me. I really enjoyed Gemma and Mason’s reconnection. There was healing, love, and healthy communication!
The audiobook is narrated by Patricia Santomasso and Sean Patrick Hopkins. I enjoyed both of their voices for these characters. The audiobook is duet narration, which means the male narrator says the MMC’s lines in the FMC’s point of view chapters and vice versa. Duet narration is my favorite, and this one was so well done! Another little bonus was the added sounds for text messages, which I hadn’t heard before and I loved. I definitely recommend this book, especially in audio if you enjoy that format!
Thank you to Kelley Armstrong, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley for this ALC; opinions are my own.
Read if you like:
💕 Fake dating
💕 Second chance romance
💕 Dual POV
💕 Duet narration
💕 Dyslexia rep
💕 Older characters (mid 30s)