Andrea Valcarcel

ARC — The Summer Girl — Elle Kennedy — Avalon Bay #3

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Spicy Meter: 3 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Discusses cheating and an almost forced abortion. Deals with a narcissistic parent. Contains explicit sexual content.

“The Summer Girl” follows Cassie Soul, an almost senior university student living it up in her last summer before college is over. She hasn’t been to Avalon Bay in ages but is back for one last summer with her grandmother, who is selling the hotel that has been in the family for decades. All Cassie is looking for is a summer fling, she just wants some fun and a great summer. And so in comes Tate Bartlett, a sailing instructor and perfect fling material—except he feels the chemistry he has with Cassie is too precious and so pushes for it to stay platonic… but with feelings this strong, will they be able to not cave into the attraction? And beyond that, if they do, will it even stay as a summer fling?

It is not secret I’m a huge fan of the Avalon Bay series, and Cassie’s story definitely didn’t disappoint. Elle Kennedy comes back to this coastal town as spicy as ever and I was there for it—the only caveat was Cassie’s mother, whose narcissistic tendencies really seemed outlandish and straight-on annoying. I was mad half the time but I was also giddy and giggling half the time, so take that as it is.

I honestly cannot recommend the Avalon Bay series enough. “Good Girl Complex”, “Bad Girl Reputation”, and “The Summer Girl” bring in the perfect summer-y series. With mostly likable characters and worthy heroes and heroines, this romance trilogy with captivate your heart, no questions asked.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: July 18, 2023

ARC — Play to Win — Jodie Slaughter

“ “Six.”
The age she was when she met Leo Vaughn.
“Thirty-one.”
Like the day in July she’d kissed him for the first time.
“Fourteen.”
The number of wildflowers he always brought her, two more than a dozen to make up for the fact that he couldn’t get her store-bought ones.
“Twenty-one.”
The most times he’s told her he loved her in one day.
“Fifty-eight.”
The number of days it had taken her to leave the house again after he’d left.”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: 3 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Revolves around abandonment. Touches on infidelity and death of parent. Contains explicit sexual content.

“Play to Win” follows Miriam Butler as she reunites with her estranged husband, Leo Vaughn, in hopes of getting a fast divorce after winning more than 200 million dollars in the lottery.

I was lucky enough to get ARCs for both the book and the audiobook, and I absolutely loved it. Lacy Laurel was the perfect voice for Miriam and for this novel, I can’t believe I hadn’t heard her narrate any other books before.

Jodie Slaughter’s “Bet on It” was amongst one of my favorite books last year. It was charming and spicy and so well-written. “Play to Win” brings exactly that to the table. I just couldn’t give it a 5-star rating because of the nature of this second chance romance—I’ll blame it on my abandonment issues, but leaving your spouse for 8 years just isn’t right under any circumstance and with no explanation, there is no redemption after that. And getting reunited after she won the lottery? I don’t know… was he aiming for her or the money? If I were Miriam, I wouldn’t know—and that’s all I could think about throughout.

Don’t hesitate to grab “Play to Win” if you’re looking for a fast-paced, spicy romance novel. The characters are likable and almost relatable if you can imagine yourself winning literally hundreds of millions of dollars in the lottery.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: July 11, 2023

ARC — Hello Stranger — Katherine Center

“My experience of all this so far was the opposite of the woman who felt like face blindness let her live in a world that had no strangers. For me, right now, everyone felt like a stranger. Even me.”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 5 stars
Spicy Meter: 2 fire emoji
Content Warnings: Discusses parental death and congenital disease. Revolves around face blindness caused by an open brain surgery. Touches on bullying, gaslighting, and suicide attempts. Contains sexual content.

“Hello Stranger” follows Sadie Montgomery, an almost-up-and-coming portrait artist (or so she hopes), as she faces the world with acquired prosopagnosia—aka face blindness. Yes, you heard that right: a portrait artist that can’t see faces after undergoing a sort of elective brain surgery 6 weeks before the most important portrait competition she could’ve ever dreamed of being a part of.

Katherine Center is one of my favorite authors but oh, did I not see this one coming. Katherine has once again brought us a whole new world with such an outlandish (but also possible?) situation. Like, this book was literally Murphy’s Law brought to life (anything that can go wrong will go wrong), and I was there for it.

With quirky and lovable characters, “Hello Stranger” was a very interesting take on how to take one day at a time, even when life feels like it’s falling apart. It’s a true ode to the harsh truth: we’re more than our looks and our mistakes. Also—this book is only set down as a Romance novel, but I swear it is more of a Rom Com if I’ve ever read one, Sadie and the situations she got herself in made me literally laugh out loud. I also kind of saw where the plot twist was coming, but that didn’t make me enjoy it any less.

I would highly recommended “Hello Stranger”, especially if you’re looking for an engaging, unique read, with a super relatable main character and packed with a well carried out (low-key funny) love triangle.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: July 11, 2023

“I’d painted many models over the years, and it was never nerve-racking like this. But this was different. Usually the models were across the room, not right up next to me. (…) And they were not people I had kissed. Or yelled at. (…) Or cried in front of.
They were always strangers.
That’s when I realized that (he) wasn’t a stranger.
I didn’t know exactly what he was to me, but he wasn’t a stranger.”

ARC — Unorthodox Love — Heidi Shertok

Genre: Fiction, Romance
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: 1 fire emoji
Content Warnings: Deals heavily with infertility and parental sickness. Mentions cancer.

“Unorthodox Love” follows Penina, an Orthodox Jewish 29-year-old that at this point has lost all hopes on getting married—she’s infertile and no proper Orthodox Jew will be okay with not having children of their own. But then in comes an indecent proposal—she is to marry a wealthy (secretly gay) Orthodox Jew in exchange for solving all her family’s monetary problems. It’s a perfect arrangement… so why can’t she stop thinking about Sam, the perfectly secular, objectively attractive, son of her boss, who’ll now be her interim boss as his father is receiving cancer treatment. It makes no sense, he is all she can’t have, so why even give it a second thought, right? Well, wrong.

I loved Heidi Shertok’s writing, it was both engaging and entertaining. I am usually not the biggest fan of clean romance but I must say “Unorthodox Love” left me completely content with this love story. It is truly astonishing this is a debut novel, I honestly can’t wait and see where Heidi’ll take us next.

I don’t think I’d ever heard Caitlin Thorburn as an audiobook narrator but oh, will I be keeping an eye out for her as well. Her voice was absolutely perfect for this novel, she truly found a way to portray Penina in all her anxiously-correct glory, with all her doubts and her inner battles.

I hate when a main character or heroine in a romance novel has to leave aside her beliefs (let that be religious or otherwise) to find a happily ever after. I am so so happy this was not the case for Penina.

Don’t hesitate to grab “Unorthodox Love” if you’re looking for a clean workplace romance where opposites attract and religion is a prominent subject (and where an adorably awkward meet-cute was in play).

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ARC provided by NetGalley and Alcove Press and Dreamscape Media in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: July 11, 2023

ARC — How (Not) to Date a Pop Star — Jada Trainor

Genre: Young Adult
Actual Rating: 3 stars
Spicy Meter: 1 fire emoji
Content Warnings: Mentions violence. Contains some sexual content.

“How (Not) to Date a Pop Star” follows Tyler Moore, an extremely famous pop star, and his childhood best friend, Aaliyah Preston, to whom dancing and the arts is more than a pastime, as they reconnect after fame and busy schedules got in the way.

Look, if you’re grabbing a book titled “How (Not) to Date a Pop Star”, you absolutely know what’s coming. Not only is it being published by Wattpad, but it reads 100% like a Wattpad story, and that’s what I loved about it.

If you’re coming in to find an insightful, deep romance, don’t. Do not grab this book, you’ll be disappointed. Now, you’re looking for a silly book that’ll go right over you and just give you the good vibes of a friends-to-lovers quirky story involving a mega pop star? Then go ahead and grab this.

This one is for the fanfic readers and StarStruck (2010 Disney TV movie) lovers. I don’t regret grabbing this advanced reader copy because it was exactly what I needed to get out of this reading slump I’ve been in.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and Wattpad Books in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: July 11, 2023

ARC — Going Bicoastal — Dahlia Adler

Genre: YA, Romance
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Spicy Meter: 1 fire emoji
Content Warnings: Touches on subjects like scars and self-harm. Describes the aftermath of the divorce of parents.

“Going Bicoastal” is pretty much about what its title implies—a bisexual teenager having to choose between spending the summer on the East or the West Coast of the United States, both options bringing on their own adventures and challenges. Yes, you’ve heard that right. Natalya Fox is a 17-year-old that could either stay home in NYC for the summer with her dad and pursue the girl she’s been crushing on or spend the summer with her estranged mother in LA. Finding it hard to decide, both summers play out in alternating timelines, with LA bringing an unexpected boy into the picture.

I am absolutely on my knees for this book. It is not often I find books that portray bisexuality the way I’ve felt it and lived it and I was so happy to find Dahlia Adler’s portrayal of bisexuality through Natalya really spoke to me. told through alternating timelines, this book is perfect to read in one sitting (trust me, you’ll want to). I mean, you’re getting two romance stories for the price of one, literally nothing could go wrong.

I would highly recommend “Going Bicoastal”, especially if you’re not afraid of reading about young women who aren’t scared or ashamed of their sexuality and religious beliefs. These were some beautiful coming-of-age stories, and how I would love to read it all again for the first time.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and Wednesday Books/St. Martins Press in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: June 13, 2023

ARC — A Love Catastrophe — Helena Hunting

“I’m a professional cat sitter.”
(…) “You’re serious?”
(…) “Yup. I own my own business.”
(…) “You can make a living off of that?”
(…) “There’s a woman who makes six figures from farting in jars. Why can’t cat sitting be lucrative enough to pay the bills?”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
Spicy Meter: 2 fire emoji
Content Warnings: Touches on heavy subjects like child and parent death. Describes dementia and a car accident. Contains sexual content.

“A Love Catastrophe” follows Kitty Hart, a cat lover, cat-sitter, and cat influencer, as she accepts to care for a cutesy little cat for a not-so-cutesy, low-key rude guy. Miles Thorn isn’t much of a cat person, but he has to find someone to care for his mother’s cat, Prince Francis, as she moves on to a long-term care facility—and that’s where Kitty comes in, in all her Cat Whisperer glory.

I thought I was coming in a little biased on this one, as Helena Hunting has been one of my favorite authors this past year, but the truth is not even that could help me overcome the cringe-y puns contained in this book. I am as much a cat lover as any other crazy cat lady, but really? Do we think we people talk like that in real life?

Setting the cringe-yness aside, “A Love Catastrophe” was still a cute, light, and quick read. I would recommend this book if you’re looking for a quirky read that, although touches on some heavy subjects, overall leaves you all bubbly and giggly. Definitely will be re-reading this after some heavy reads.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and Forever Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: June 13, 2023

ARC — Miss Matched — Wendy Million

“Thank you.” (…)
(…) “For what?”
“For giving me another chance, for letting me back in, for showing me that fear of the unknown can be beautiful instead of scary. What an adventure we’re going to have.”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
Spicy Meter: 3 fire emoji
Content Warnings: Describes toxic relationships. Contains sexual content.

“Miss Matched” by Wendy Million is “The Soulmate Equation” by Christina Lauren meets second chance romance—Tayla Murphy, a vet doctor in search of her soulmate, falls for what she now thinks is a ridiculous scheme. There’s a super expensive dating algorithm that pairs you with your soulmate, but Tayla was inexplicably matched with her absolute worst ex, Simon Buchannan. He can most definitely not be her soulmate. There must be something very wrong with said algorithm, although it has worked for many others. But after putting up all that money and facing their no-return policy, Tayla has one of two options: either she absolutely ignores this ever happened, or she gives who she thought was the love of her life a second chance.

This was a fast, quirky read. It was entertaining, but not life-changing, and I’m not 100% sure I will still remember things about this book a few weeks from now, but it was still a fun time. Did it sort of feel like other books I’ve read before? Yes. Was I still there for it? Also, yes.

If you’re looking for an uncomplicated, short read, then “Miss Matched” is your book.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and W by Wattpad Books in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: June 13, 2023

ARC — The Dos and Donuts of Love — Adiba Jaigirdar

Author: Adiba Jaigirdar
Narrator: Priya Ayyar

Genre: Young Adult, LGBTQIA, Romance
Actual Rating: 5 stars
Spicy Meter: 1 fire emoji
Content Warnings: Discusses fatphobia, racism, xenophobia, and homophobia. Displays toxic relationships, toxic friendships, and gaslighting.

“The Dos and Donuts of Love” follows Shireen Malik, a Bangladeshi-Irish girl, as she competes in the very first Junior Irish Baking Show and is paired up against no other than her recent ex girlfriend, Chris. Facing both racist and fatphobic criticism, Shireen will try to succeed and thrive against every single contestant and come out more confident of her skill than ever.

I got to listen to an audiobook of this novel, and I was completely mesmerized and caught from the very beginning. I was right at the start of a reading slump but Priya Ayyar and her narration immediately swep me off it.

I’m not gonna lie, this book is not as predictable as you might think. Starting off, I could’ve sworn I was going to know every single twist and turn, but I am happy to say that I was thoroughly surprised more than once by this story Adiba Jaigirdar has constructed. Her characters were so well thought out and her pace quick enough that you wouldn’t get bored but also slow enough that we were left with some sneaky cliffhangers for a bit.

I would highly recommend this read for someone who’s looking for a young adult book with queer and diverse characters and who doesn’t want it to be too spicy (or spicy at all). Obviously it’s a plus if you like cooking and baking shows, but I personally don’t most of the time and I still thoroughly enjoyed “The Dos and Donuts of Love.”

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ARC provided by NetGalley and Dreamscape Media in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: June 6, 2023

ARC — Ciao For Now — Kate Bromley

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: 1 fire emoji
Content Warnings: Describes toxic relationships and mentions death of a parent. Contains some sexual content.

“Ciao for Now” follows Violet Luciano as she and a few of her colleagues embark to Rome for a fashion internship. Little did she know that as soon as she got there she would stumble into her mentor’s son, ruining his computer, and effectively laying on the worst first impression ever—an introduction that leaves them as, essentially, enemies… But if they’re enemies, then why do they feel this pull towards each other? Better look away, I guess.

I have read other books by Kate Bromley, so I can’t say I’m completely surprised I adored this book—her writing style has captivated me before and her quirky characters always capture my heart. Now, sprinkle in some more forbidden romance, in true Kate Bromley fashion, and you had me hooked.

“Ciao for Now” is the perfect summer-y read. Set in Rome, this read will have you wanderlust and wishing you, too, will follow your dreams wherever they might go. Sitting just over 300 pages, this was a short, quick read, perfect for some airport hopping, so don’t hesitate to grab this book if you’re looking for a lighthearted, heartwarming enemies-to-lovers romance.

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ARC provided by Graydon House and Harlequin Trade Publishing in exchange for an honest review.