Influencer Program – andrea's galley

“I’ll always give you more than what you ask, love. Even when you don’t know what you want.”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 5 stars
Spicy Meter: 2 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Describes a stalker, infidelity, and toxic relationships. Contains explicit sexual content.

“The Long Game” follows Adalyn Reyes, an executive reporter for the Miami Flames Football Club, after she is sent to live in a small town and coach a girls soccer team pro bono after causing a scene back in Miami. The only reason she wasn’t fired was because her father is the owner of said soccer club. What she did bot expect was to find Cameron Caldoni, an acclaimed professional goalkeeper that retired out of the blue and escaped the public eye, also coaching this soccer team in this remote town. This was supposed to be her thing, and she isn’t willing to take it on as a team… until they have to.

I have never simped after a fictional man, but I will simp for Cameron Caldoni. Enemies to lovers, when done well, can be some of the funniest and most enjoyable tropes. Watching Adalyn and Cam be as stubborn as they come was downright comical, but also watching them care for one another was literally heartwarming.

I wouldn’t change a single thing about this book. “The Long Game” would work wonders for a romance book club, as some of the actions and stances both main characters take at different points of their story can be great sources for fruitful discussions. I would highly recommend this read, no questions asked.

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Or you could click here, and be redirected to Amazon, so you can order the book.

ARC provided by Simon & Schuster/Atria Books, through their S&S Book Club Favorites program, in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: September 5, 2023

“To describe me as anonymous would be unfair, but to notice me other than in passing would be a rarity.”

Genre: Fiction, Mystery
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
Spicy Meter: N/A
Content Warnings: Touches on drugs and illegal dealings. Revolves around a disappearance.

“The Clementine Complex” follows Gary Thorn, a 30-year-old legal assistant, as he sets off to look for a virtual stranger, a beautiful woman whose name he never caught but is calling Clementine, because she was reading a book titled “The Clementine Complex.” Why, you may ask—well, perhaps because his coworker, who he met her with, is suddenly missing so she’ll probably make a good alibi. Or well, perhaps because he simply wants to reconnect with her. Either way, Gary’s journey will be unique throughout this book.

Call this what you want, either a wild imagination or magical realism, but either way this book was absolutely bewildering. Told through the first person, you really get into Gary Thorn’s peculiar mind. I mean, we’re talking to squirrels right up from the first chapter, it’s something for sure.

The only reason I didn’t give it a higher rating is because the narration and the main character in general wasn’t really for me. I enjoyed Gary’s curiousity but the way he described the world that surrounded him? Not so much.

Either way, grab this book if you’ve liked books with peculiar characters like “The Maid” by Nita Prose. And well, if you’re looking for a magical realism read written by a true English legend or just looking for a cozy mystery, then “The Clementine Complex” is for you.

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

Or you could click here, and be redirected to Amazon, so you can order the book.

ARC provided by Simon & Schuster, through their S&S Book Club Favorites program, in exchange for an honest review.