Tag Archives: 4.5 fire emojis

Love Her or Lose Her — Tessa Bailey — Hot & Hammered #2

“I think I said, ‘If you loved me, you’d understand what I’m going through.’ ”
“And I said, ‘I do love you, Rosie. That’s why I want to go through it with you.’ ”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 5 stars
Spicy Meter: 4.5 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Discusses army service and parent death. Also has a ton of very explicit sexual content, as to be expected in any book by Tessa Bailey.

“Love Her or Lose Her” follows Rosie and Dominic Vega, two high school sweethearts who, after surviving long-distance due to Dominic’s army service and then being married for 5 years, are deciding to separate. Well, ‘are deciding’ makes it sound plural. It’s more like Rosie finally came to terms with how Dominic isn’t fulfilling her anymore—or even trying to talk to her—and so she decides to leave. Dominic is not okay with it. At all. He knows Rosie is, and always has been, the one. And so they both agree: couple’s therapy it is.

This second chance romance was most literally just the book I needed to read. I don’t remember the last time I read a book about a separated couple that tries to work through their differences. These are the kinds of book we should be reading now. The ones that tell us that love is worth fighting for, not only when you’re chasing after your crush, but when its been years and things get rough.

I think Tessa Bailey isn’t a hit-or-miss author for me. I think I love all her books, even if I love some more than others. And I definitely loved “Love Her or Lose Her” the most.

I cannot recommend this book enough. I was utterly mad at their couple’s therapist, but overall, it’s a lovely, steamy read. I wouldn’t change a thing—definitely enjoyed it more than the first book in this series.

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“We build resentments toward our loved ones. Sometimes we’re not even aware of them. But they grow so strong, they prevent us from remembering what we loved about our partners in the first place. Maybe one or both no longer wants to give their significant other the satisfaction of showing their amusement, so the other person stops trying. And the laughter dies.”

Fix Her Up — Tessa Bailey — Hot & Hammered #1

“I’ve met her twice in my life. This time, I was smart enough to fall in love with her.”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: 4.5 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Describes child abuse, verbal assault, and sexual content. Involves gaslighting and diminishing younger members of a family.

“Fix Her Up” follows Georgie Castle, the youngest of the Castle family siblings, part of the family who runs the best renovating company in town—but Georgie deals with nothing of the sort. She went for working as a clown and planning children’s birthday parties instead of making houses pretty. She’s set on expanding her business when, unexpectedly, her childhood crush moves back to town after an injury kicked him out of major league baseball. These two things should have nothing to do one with the other, yet they do. Because Georgie’s family has no respect for her or her business, still seeing her as a child. But dating an ex-professional athlete could change that, right? Or so she hopes.

It has already been well-established that we love and stan Tessa Bailey in this blog. But gosh, was I not ready for this book. I am an absolute sucker for childhood crush books because I was lucky enough to end up with my childhood crush.

Georgie, although annoying and immature at times, was sweet and considerate and down-to-earth. Funny how a clown wasn’t funny tho. Or maybe that was just my perception. Nonetheless, “Fix Her U really delivered on how spicy it was. This book series is called Hot & Hammered for a reason, that’s all I’m saying.

If you like fake dating romances and books with professional athlete main characters, then “Fix Her Up” is for you. Can’t wait to see where this series will take me next.

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“If I ever start to lose strength again, I’ll just think of how it felt to lose the girl who loved me, even when I couldn’t love myself.”

ARC — Vanessa Jared’s Got a Man — LaQuette

“Michael’s place was not her home, yet she clearly understood that she’d be lying if she said part of her didn’t wish it could be.”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 5
Spicy Meter: 4.5 stars
Content Warnings: Discusses cheating, gaslighting, parent death, car accident, codependency, and describes sexual content.

“Vanessa Jared’s Got a Man” follows Vanessa Jared (surprise surprise), a divorcee who, after being bossed around and manipulated by her ex—and getting to keep half his fortune after the divorce—, is approached by Michael Park, the sheriff of a small town called Monroe Hills, who’s little sister is about to marry Vanessa’s ex. Vanessa, naturally, wants nothing to do with it, until she sees the ring her ex used to propose to his new fiancée. Vanessa’s grandmother’s ring. Which was coincidentally “lost” in the middle of her ex moving out in the middle of the divorce. There is no way Vanessa can then let her ex get away with it, and so she agrees to go with Michael to Monroe Hills and tell his little sister who Vanessa’s ex really is. But perhaps she’ll find more than exes and anger in Monroe Hill. Perhaps she’ll even find love.

This book is so so good. Don’t take how long it took me to read it as a sign of it being boring, but take it as a sign of me being extremely busy. Yes, it took me 4 months to finish this book, but I also read it in huge sprints. Once I started reading, I would refuse to put it down—that’s how good it was.

“There was something too intense to describe about Michael. The more time she spent in his presence, the more apparent it became. That kind of power and confidence could ruin a woman.”

I don’t think any review would make this book justice. Michael is most literally my dream man. I loved Vanessa and her support system. Their chemistry was so real. I loved the small town feel of it all. I literally would not change a single thing about this book, hence the 5-star rating it got.

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy romance novels with strong leads. Both Vanessa and Michael are stubborn, loyal, and independent as hell. If you’re more into shy characters, this is not it. Also, be read for some real spiciness. The sexual tension is worth the wait.

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

Publication Date: September 20, 2022

“Whether the results are good or bad, my choices are my own. I’ve lived with a man who controlled everything from how I wore my hair, to what shade of lipstick I was allowed to put on. I can’t do that again.”

To Sir Phillip, With Love — Julia Quinn — Bridgertons #5

“I had to do something, (…) I couldn’t just sit and wait for life to happen to me any longer.”

Genre: Historical Romance
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Spicy Meter: 4.5 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Discusses suicide, parent death, child abuse, and grief.

“To Sir Phillip, With Love” is the fifth book in the Bridgerton book series, and it follows the fifth out of eight Bridgerton siblings: Eloise. Eloise Bridgerton is already considered a spinster, unmarried at 28 years of age, when she starts to correspond with her distant cousin’s widowed husband, Sir Phillip Crane. After a year’s correspondence, and right after her best friend Penelope marries her older brother, she decides to run away to meet him and properly determine if he could be the one for her.

If you’ve seen the Bridgerton Netflix series, you’ve actually met Sir Phillip Crane already, he is the one who’s married to Marina, who’s portrayed in the Netflix series as a Featherington cousin and is a prominent character in the first season, while she’s written as a Bridgerton cousin in the books and hadn’t really been mentioned until now.

This book is sweet and gentle, filled with suspense, as we never know what Eloise might do with her volatile nature. Through this story, we get to see sides of her, both maternal and affectionate, that we haven’t really seen before. It was truly a wonderful read.

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy Regency Era romances, and who like the idea of pen pals falling in love, sight unseen. Also, it gave me some Sunshine meets Grumpy trope vibes, but take that with a grain of salt.

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ARC — For Butter or Worse — Erin La Rosa

“You have excellent taste in wine and terrible taste in men, are you happy?”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 5 stars
Spicy meter: 4.5 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Discusses panic attacks, relationships with a narcissist, and parent death.

“For Butter or Worse” follows Nina Lyon, a renowned, award-winning chef, and Leo O’Donnell, a restauranteur who’s made his family restaurant into a famous franchise. They have been cohosts (and nemesis) on a cooking reality TV show for 3 years, but things quickly go south when management decides to have their final episode for season 3 filmed live, and Nina ends up quitting mid-episode. To make matters worse, when Leo goes to Nina’s restaurant to apologize, they’re photographed in a compromising position, sparking up dating rumors…which actually end up helping both their restaurants? Seeing the effect their “relationship” has on their respective businesses, their publicist decides it’d be best if the fake date, at least for a while—they’ll just have to not kill each other while doing so.

Um, can I just say I can’t believe this is Erin La Rosa’s debut romance novel? The story she’s told is well written and complex without being pretentious. Both main and side characters were lovely but imperfect. I loved Nina, I loved Leo, I loved their family and friends, I loved and lived vicariously through their story. I found out I apparently love cooking themed romance novels? I can’t get enough of it. I just finished reading it and want to grab it all over again.

And on the spicy side… I’ll just say it didn’t disappoint. The last few novels I had read were sort of lacking on that front, but “For Butter or Worse” definitely delivered. Also, I found it hilarious how in the acknowledgements, Erin La Rosa thanks (and apologizes to) her cousin, Mela Lee, who’s an audiobook narrator and who narrated the audiobook version of this book—with sex scenes and all.

I’ll be recommending this book for the rest of the year. It’s that good and entertaining, there is not a single dull moment. It’s relatively fast-paced and the different points of view really built on the pressure between Nina and Leo.

If you enjoy fake dating romances, close proximity tropes, books with “famous” characters, or books that involve the culinary world, then “For Butter or Worse” is definitely for you. Also, just in general, if you’re looking for a steamy, generous read… then grab this novel as soon as you can.

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

Publication Date: July 26, 2022

“Believe it or not, I’ve dealt with bigger assholes than you.”
“Give me a chance. I’ll try harder.”

ARC — Fake It Till You Bake It — Jamie Wesley

“What happens in the supply closet stays in the supply closet.”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 5 stars
Spicy Meter: 4.5 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Bullying and harassment.

“Fake It Till You Bake It” follows Donovan Bell, a football player who’s also the owner of a (hopefully) up-and-coming bakery, and Jada Townsend-Matthews, an ex-reality-tv-show-star, as they end up in a fake relationship that benefits them both—bringing traction to Donovan’s bakery and helping shed a must-needed good-light on Jada’s reputation.

I knew I was going to love this book from the get-go. I love football (and books about football players) and I love fake-dating romance books—and that’s exactly what “Fake It Till You Bake It” delivers. Jada and Donovan are charismatic and have undeniable chemistry, both physically and emotionally, yet they’re not perfect characters nor do they try to be, they have their stories and backgrounds and simply meshed together perfectly. I just finished this book and already want to grab and reread it all over again.

Also, I don’t know what it is with St. Martin’s Press books but they’ve never been a miss to me. If it’s a romance book and it’s published by them, I know it’ll be fire emoji x 5. Something as simple as fake-posing for a romance cover in the middle of a book club meeting was made incredibly tense and spicy, that’s all I’m saying.

I would recommend this book to every single contemporary romance book reader, specially those who enjoy rocky starts and the fake-dating trope.

If you click here, you’ll be redirected to Goodreads, so you can add the book to your TBR list.

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

Publication Date: June 21, 2022

“I promise to do better.”