Take a photo of a barcode or cover
tips_and_tropes's Reviews (417)
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
WARNING: Do not start this book until you have some time to devote to it because I can attest, it grabs your complete attention from the very first page. I devoured this story, and from the banter to the spice to the emotional heart of it, I was completely enthralled. Saint Deveraux and Lennon Rousseau have an incredible story from start to finish. The Bad Boy Rule is the first book in the Hellcats Hockey series by Maren Moore. It is a standalone set in her beloved Orleans University world.
These characters have my heart. They are complicated and messy and passionate in all the ways I love. I loved Lennon’s journey of empowerment and taking back her choices for her own life. Saint broke my heart and then stole it completely. His path to being emotionally vulnerable and opening up to Lennon was so well written. And I mean really, who can resist a tattooed bad boy with a filthy mouth who loves to go downtown?? These two have to go through it to get their HEA, but what a ride!
Thank you so much to Valentine PR and Maren Moore for the ARC opportunity!
These characters have my heart. They are complicated and messy and passionate in all the ways I love. I loved Lennon’s journey of empowerment and taking back her choices for her own life. Saint broke my heart and then stole it completely. His path to being emotionally vulnerable and opening up to Lennon was so well written. And I mean really, who can resist a tattooed bad boy with a filthy mouth who loves to go downtown?? These two have to go through it to get their HEA, but what a ride!
Thank you so much to Valentine PR and Maren Moore for the ARC opportunity!
Gloves Off is book 4 in the Vancouver Storm series by Stephanie Archer, but they are interconnected standalones, so while you will have more background and enjoy the cameos more if you've read the first three, it's not necessary in order to enjoy this story.
I definitely vibed with this book hard. It's full of enemies-to-lovers (with some actual enemy time before the flip), snarky banter, coded insults in flower language, an independent baddie FMC, a jealous/possessive broody MMC, and the spice is nice, but not the total focus. This entire series is great, and I love Archer's writing style and voice. These books all have heart and heat, which I love. I am one of those readers who can't put the book down when the enemies are about to become lovers, and this one really had me. The scene at the benefit is probably one of my favorites in the whole book; between the jealousy and the spice, I ate it right up!
I listened to an ALC (advance listener copy) of the audiobook, and it was so good. J.F. Harding and Stella Hunter handled the narrator duties with all the snap, snark, and spice you hope for in a romance audio. And it's in DUET!
Thank you to Stephanie Archer and her team for the ALC & ARC opportunity.
I definitely vibed with this book hard. It's full of enemies-to-lovers (with some actual enemy time before the flip), snarky banter, coded insults in flower language, an independent baddie FMC, a jealous/possessive broody MMC, and the spice is nice, but not the total focus. This entire series is great, and I love Archer's writing style and voice. These books all have heart and heat, which I love. I am one of those readers who can't put the book down when the enemies are about to become lovers, and this one really had me. The scene at the benefit is probably one of my favorites in the whole book; between the jealousy and the spice, I ate it right up!
I listened to an ALC (advance listener copy) of the audiobook, and it was so good. J.F. Harding and Stella Hunter handled the narrator duties with all the snap, snark, and spice you hope for in a romance audio. And it's in DUET!
Thank you to Stephanie Archer and her team for the ALC & ARC opportunity.
hopeful
Winging it With You is charming, sexy, and full of heart. This is my first Chip Pons book, and I really enjoyed his voice and writing style. I found this rom-com with it’s reality travel competition backdrop (think The Amazing Race) to be a fun, spicy twist on fake dating with a heaping helping of queer joy throughout. I read queer books all year long, but if you’re looking for a romance to read as part of celebrating PRIDE, you won’t go wrong with this one.
Asher Bennett and Theo Fernandez come together over a mozzarella stick meet-cute in an airport bar, and the next thing you know, they’re on a world wide adventure travel reality show pretending to be madly in love. The slow burn of this love story builds to tighten the tension with a sizzling shower scene that I didn’t see coming, all the way to the ultimate payoff that is both erotic and sweet. I love a well written slow burn that keeps me hooked like this.
Winging it With You is a joyful, messy, neurotic, erotic delight, and I would definitely recommend it.
Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Group Putnam, and Chip Pons for the ARC opportunity.
Asher Bennett and Theo Fernandez come together over a mozzarella stick meet-cute in an airport bar, and the next thing you know, they’re on a world wide adventure travel reality show pretending to be madly in love. The slow burn of this love story builds to tighten the tension with a sizzling shower scene that I didn’t see coming, all the way to the ultimate payoff that is both erotic and sweet. I love a well written slow burn that keeps me hooked like this.
Winging it With You is a joyful, messy, neurotic, erotic delight, and I would definitely recommend it.
Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Group Putnam, and Chip Pons for the ARC opportunity.
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
After getting glimpses of their history in the first two books of the Rust Canyon series, it’s time for Tripp and Penny to take center stage in Crashing the Altar. Let me tell you, it was worth the wait! The payoff after a lifetime of mutual pining they have both been oblivious to is sizzling hot and extremely satisfying.
While you can read all of the books in the series as stand alone novels, if you’ve read Festive Faking and Coming Home Country, you’re already familiar with the dance Tripp and Penny have been doing around each other all their lives. Once they finally reveal their hearts to each other, their dynamic is a flip on some standard tropes, giving us a virgin MMC and an FMC who calls the shots in the bedroom. Penny is a wild child at heart, and she’s more than happy to lead Tripp straight into temptation in the best ways. It feels like the spice level seems to be increasing the further we get into the series, and it’s scorching in CTA.
If you are into small town spicy romance, don’t miss this series by Siena Trap. It’s emotional, heartfelt, and filthy at the same time—exactly the kind of stories I love.
Thank you to Siena Trap and her team for this ARC opportunity to review.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Tourist Trap is an amazing summer beach read from Morgan Elizabeth, one of the queens of modern spicy rom-coms IMO. I ate this up! We’ve got an FMC who has left a relationship behind that wasn’t serving her, and moved to be closer to her besties at the Jersey Shore for a much needed “Hot Girl Summer”, and a blue collar MMC who has been working too hard, and yearning too long for our girl Claire? Loved it! The dynamics between these two had me sighing (in the best way) and flipping these pages like I was being paid for it.
I was granted access to an ALC as well. The performances were great, and just added to the fun and spice of the text. Sebastian York is one of my OG narrator faves from when I first started getting into audiobooks, and this one just reminded me why. CJ Bloom did an amazing job as Claire, capturing all the vulnerability and sass with just the right sparkle. This book is narrated in the dual style, and both narrators did a great job with all the different characters and voices.
Thank you to Morgan Elizabeth and her team for the ARC & ALC opportunity to review.
I was granted access to an ALC as well. The performances were great, and just added to the fun and spice of the text. Sebastian York is one of my OG narrator faves from when I first started getting into audiobooks, and this one just reminded me why. CJ Bloom did an amazing job as Claire, capturing all the vulnerability and sass with just the right sparkle. This book is narrated in the dual style, and both narrators did a great job with all the different characters and voices.
Thank you to Morgan Elizabeth and her team for the ARC & ALC opportunity to review.
Sweet on You reads like an ode to the spirit and people of home. For author Dani Galliaro, that’s Appalachia, West Virginia specifically, but as a small town girl from a big family myself, I definitely related. Seeing the author’s note about how this series could also be considered a love letter to 90s country music let me know that I definitely made the right choice picking up this book.
Let me tell you, I ate this up. If you, like me, often find yourself in need of a little treat, this book gave me such a serotonin boost. The dynamic between Jake and Darcy is so familiar to me considering I’m the black cat to my husband’s caretaking golden retriever, but it’s not just the sweet that makes it a slam dunk for me. The spice in this book really works for me too. The light daddy k1nk, the “live to serve” MMC, the sweetheart of a cowboy with a truly filthy mouth...it’s like I wrote a shopping list of my favorite things.
I had so much fun visiting Rosetti’s Peach Farm and Painter Creek, West Virginia, and I think you will too. I’ll definitely be back for more!
Thank you so much to Dani Galliaro and Grey’s Promotions for the ARC opportunity.
Kiss Me, Maybe is the second book in the Librarians in Love series by Gabriella Gamez. I absolutely adored The Next Best Fling (Marcela and Theo’s story), so I was super excited to be granted an ARC of KMM.
I found a lot to like in this story. I appreciated the discussions of the ACE spectrum and choosing to define your own sexuality for yourself, especially when self discovery and exploration can change the way you feel about it for yourself over time. I felt that the combination of informing/educating on the subject in a natural and fluid way was handled well as a part of the story.
Gamez kept me wanting more with how great she is at building tension with her pacing in KMM. She’s effectively edging us all while we watch Angela navigate her journey to her first kiss. There are some really steamy and intimate scenes even without the explicit descriptions I’m used to reading. It’s sexy, but it’s more sensual. The only thing I missed was maybe having Krystal’s point of view along the way.
Overall I really enjoyed this book, and I’m looking forward to more from Gabriella Gamez and the Librarians in Love series.
Thank you to NetGalley, Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and Gabriella Gamez for the ARC opportunity.
Charmed and Alarmed is the third book in Cleo White’s Daddy Issues series. It’s a fun, sexy, novella, and I really enjoyed it. Leni & Holden share a sexy but brief moment when they run into each other on New Years Eve, and now that she’s working at her dad’s architecture firm after being sidelined from her ballet career by injuries, they can’t stop thinking about what might have been. When the tension that just keeps building, finally snaps and they give in, the spice is sizzling hot.
Holden’s past is filled with a host of sexual experiences (including some shared alongside Leni’s dad-his business partner) and no desire for a long term relationship, but after a taste of life with Leni, he’s a one woman man. Leni on other hand has been so focused on her dance career that she’s got so little experience as to still be a virgin. It’s all the forbidden, age-gap, workplace romance vibes wrapped up in some top tier sexy times. If you’re looking for a quicker read that still packs a punch, look no further.
Thank you so much to Luna Literary MGMT and Cleo White for the ARC opportunity!
This audiobook was great. The story is so charming, and sweet, and sexy, and Asher Jamison is the GREENEST of flags. I absolutely adored the main characters in Change of Pace. Maybe it’s because a seemingly large part of the story is inspired by the author’s own experiences with Kawasaki disease and having an ICD, or her deft hand at writing plus size baddies in a realistic and sensitive way, but I think this is my favorite Kayla Grosse book yet.
As someone who exists in a larger body, so much of the inner dialogue and feelings of Jesse ring true to me, from her dealing with occasionally insensitive straight size friends to her fears of judgement from others. I know that when I read this author’s work, I will find a celebration of learning to love your own body, and finding partners who do the same, without shame or fetishizing the FMC. This is such a large part of why I find Change of Pace to be so refreshing. It’s the story of two people falling in love who also happen to exist in larger bodies, and it is not their entire personality. I am always looking for diverse body representation that is not the entire focus of the characters existence.
This is the first time I’ve gone the audiobook route with a Kayla Grosse book, and I really enjoyed the narrators’ performances. Grayson Owens and Victoria Connolly both do a great job in the dual format with all of the individual character voices. This is the first time I’ve heard them, but I noticed Kayla has cast them in several of her other books, so it won’t be the last!
Thank you to Kayla Grosse, Fat Babe Publishing, Dreamscape Select, and NetGalley for the ALC review opportunity.
As someone who exists in a larger body, so much of the inner dialogue and feelings of Jesse ring true to me, from her dealing with occasionally insensitive straight size friends to her fears of judgement from others. I know that when I read this author’s work, I will find a celebration of learning to love your own body, and finding partners who do the same, without shame or fetishizing the FMC. This is such a large part of why I find Change of Pace to be so refreshing. It’s the story of two people falling in love who also happen to exist in larger bodies, and it is not their entire personality. I am always looking for diverse body representation that is not the entire focus of the characters existence.
This is the first time I’ve gone the audiobook route with a Kayla Grosse book, and I really enjoyed the narrators’ performances. Grayson Owens and Victoria Connolly both do a great job in the dual format with all of the individual character voices. This is the first time I’ve heard them, but I noticed Kayla has cast them in several of her other books, so it won’t be the last!
Thank you to Kayla Grosse, Fat Babe Publishing, Dreamscape Select, and NetGalley for the ALC review opportunity.