Weekly Round-Up

Happy Friday everyone! I can't believe yet another week has gone by. Things are slowly returning to normal in some areas and I'm hearing more about life slowly returning to normal, let's cross our fingers it happens sooner than later!

I've read some fantastic books this week, check out my reviews by clicking on the pictures below:

                            

Plus, don't miss out on my six favourite laugh out loud romance novels here! Find out which romance books and authors make me laugh (to the point where I did have a few awkward questions asked) out loud.

Next week I'll be reviewing some more fantastic books including All Stirred Up by Brianna Moore, scheduled for release 8th September 2020.

Susan Napier's family once lived on the success of the high-end restaurants founded by her late grandfather. But bad luck and worse management has brought the business to the edge of financial ruin. Now it's up to Susan to save the last remaining restaurant: Elliot's, the flagship in Edinburgh.

But what awaits Susan in the charming city of Auld Reekie is more than she bargained for. Chris Baker, her grandfather's former protégé--and her ex-boyfriend--is also heading to the Scottish capital. After finding fame in New York as a chef and judge of a popular TV cooking competition, Chris is returning to his native Scotland to open his own restaurant. Although the storms have cleared after their intense and rocky breakup, Susan and Chris are re-drawn into each other's orbit--and their simmering attraction inevitably boils over.

As Chris's restaurant opens to great acclaim and Susan tries to haul Elliot's back from the brink, the future brims with new promise. But darkness looms as they find themselves in the crosshairs of a gossip blogger eager for a juicy story--and willing to do anything to get it. Can Susan and Chris reclaim their lost love, or will the tangled past ruin their last hope for happiness?

Finally, don't miss out on Harlequin's sale this weekend, buy two books, get two free!

What are you reading this weekend? Drop us a comment and let us know! Valid from 29th May 12:00am-31st May 11:59pm ET using the code MAYB2G2.

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(ARC) - Shy Queen in The Royal Spotlight - Natalie Anderson

She didn’t see her own beauty…

Then he unmasked it!

Royal assistant Hester knows playboy Prince Alek is totally out of her league. Shockingly, out of the blue, he proposes a marriage of convenience! In return, she’ll have millions to help disadvantaged women. Warily, Hester agrees…

To retain the throne he’s sacrificed everything for, Alek must choose a bride. It’s Hester’s quiet discretion that catches his attention…until their unstoppable chemistry reveals her startling beauty and inner fire. Alek sees the queen that Hester could truly become—but the real question is, can she?

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Romance, I received this novel the day after it came out (19th May release date) and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

One of my first forays into the world of romance novels was the Harlequin Presents series, started when I was 16 or so, and quickly fell in love. I tend to find that now, I either read 10 day after day and nothing else, or leave them for a few months and come back to them, and Natalie Anderson has always been one of my favourites.

We're quickly thrown into the plotline and characters, and some familiar tropes, but dissimilar enough to not make me feel like I'm reading the same book again. I found the line that our male-lead straddled intriguing with his internal reflection over whether the makeover the female-lead goes through is what results in his attraction, or is it something more. I was a bit underwhelmed by our heroine's changes of heart throughout, it didn't seem quite enough build-up, but it was interesting.

I do usually really like Harlequin novels, but I did find this one just a little sad for my liking. I usually like my romance novels to be overwhelmingly happy, and yes, there are obstacles to overcome, but nothing that really detracts from the happy arc. With this novel, I felt that the sadness that the characters both bring detracted from my enjoyment of the book and did make me a little sad.

Overall, an interesting novel and a good read that flowed, but just a little sad for my liking.

Rating: 3/5

Click here to purchase from Amazon, available 28th May.

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(ARC) Crazy About Her Impossible Boss by Ally Blake

A man in a million…There’s only one problem: he’s her boss!

Single mom Lucinda Starling has lost faith in love or happy-ever-afters. She must protect the important things: her young son and her job working for entrepreneur Angus Wolfe! Her commitment phobe boss must never know she’s crazy about him! Until one evening at a conference he looks at her like she’s the only woman in the world… Dare she risk all and be tempted by Angus?

When reading Harlequin romance novels, I find that I either read 20 back to back, or leave them for a few months without reading one, there's little in between.

I picked up Ms. Blake's book, tempted by the cover (as always, despite the old adage), and by an intriguing description. As this was given to me as advanced reading copy, I was prepared for some formatting and grammatical issues, as this is not the final copy. While this is an advanced copy, I was perturbed by the formatting, leaving many words hyphenated at the end of the line, pulling the reader out of the story with the interrupted flow. Some mistakes were also present with spelling and flow again, leaving some awkward phrasing. Hopefully both of these issues will be corrected in the final proof.

To the story itself, Ms. Blake has an interesting premise and one that is typically enjoyable to this reader, but this time it did fall slightly flat. While description is always appreciated and necessary to the reader, at times there was just too much description that did not add to the story, and detracted the reader's attention from the plot point to describe something less important. Some descriptions were also slightly off in their tone, leading the reader to lose the thread of the story and focus on lengthy description. Sometimes there was also simply too much description and not enough action to move the story along.

The characters themselves kept my attention and the heroine was likeable, along with the supporting cast, but I found myself slightly annoyed with the hero and some of his actions, and would think some of his actions may not come off as well off the novel pages.

Overall, an interesting, quick read, with some edges to smooth and soften from the author, and some issues to address with the formatting of the file.

Rating: 3.5/5

Click here to buy from Amazon.

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Increased Romance Sales

I read an interesting article this morning about the surge in romance sales due to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. As much as I love romance novels myself, I've never really spoken to friends or family about liking this genre, it's always been a private thing. Lots of my friends and I speak about fiction, or non-fiction books that we read, but I find that reading romance novels isn't always something people are open about, and why is that?

As the article states, this isn't the first time that sales in romance novels have increased. And not only have sales increased, "sales for most every consumer item you can think of declined - except for romance novels." This surge of sales has not only just recently happened, but happened in the great recession of 2008-2009, post-9/11, and other times. But why?

Romance novels mostly follow the same premise, people who are intended to be together, end up together, something that can seem very comforting "when the world seems to be falling apart." Humans are social beings in nature and as Dianne Moggy, Vice President of editorial with Harlequin states, "Harlequin books are a safe place in the world because there is a guaranteed happy ending for every story; they deliver feelings of hope and positivity that can remain with you long after the last page."

For me, and many other readers, we want that happy ending, the hope and positivity that comes with reading a romance novel. Not only are we able to escape the current world and our uncertainty, fear and unhappiness, but we are given the promise of a happy ending and positivity - something that will always pull my attention to a romance novel.

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Welcome To The Bookshelf!

Well, it's safe to say that no one really expected that 2020 would be starting off on the foot we have, and it's important to be finding our joy where we can. For me, at the moment that's a mix of completing some online courses, painting (don't be too impressed, it's paint by the numbers), crocheting (again, a beginner, but I'm enjoying it), growing some vegetables, and reading. So, what am I looking forward to reading soon? Welcome to the bookshelf.

I'll confess, I'm on a little bit of an Avery Flynn kick at the moment. Her books follow a similar format, but can I stop reading them? No. I'll admit her earlier books are a little more serious, so I've been heavily enjoying her later works which are fluffy, steamy, and light-hearted, something everyone needs a bit of at the moment. So, starting off with her Hartigan series, I'm heading to read, 'Butterface.'

It’s true. I’m not what most people would call “pretty” and, well, high school was rough. Fast forward ten years and life is good…Until a bunch of jerks think it’s hilarious to put the “butterface” (AKA me) on a wedding Kiss Cam with the hottest guy ever—and that old humiliation hits hard.

I recognize him immediately. The sexiest cop in Waterbury and totally out of my league. But then he kisses me. And we totally forget the room, the crowd, everything. Then he tells everyone we’ve been dating for months.

Soon everything starts to feel too real, from adorable fights over “necessary” tools to fix my broken porch to surviving a free-for-all dinner with his six siblings to picking up where our last kiss left off. But there’s something he’s not telling me about why he’s really hanging around, and I’m pretty sure it has to do with my mob-connected brothers. Because this is not a make-over story, and Cinderella is only a fairy tale…

Click here to purchase from Amazon.

One of my favourite authors will always be Meg Cabot. I've loved her writing for 18 long years, and I highly doubt anything will ever change that. And right now, I need a bit of familiarity, so it's time for a re-read, and a very strong recommendation, for the Princess Diaries series.

‘You’re not Mia Thermopolis any more, honey,’ Dad said. ‘You’re Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo. Princess of Genovia.’

A PRINCESS?? ME??? Yeah. Right.

One minute Mia’s a totally normal Manhattan 14-year-old. Next minute she’s heir to the throne of Genovia, being trailed by a trigger-happy bodyguard, taking princess lessons with her bonkers old grandmere, and having a makeover with someone called Paolo. Well, her dad can lecture her till he’s royal-blue in the face, but no way is Mia going to turn herself into a style-queen. And they think she’s moving to Genovia? Er, hello?

Click here to purchase from Amazon.

 And it's time to add an Advanced Reading Copy to my list, kindly supplied by Netgalley. I haven't read novels from Ally Blake before, but I will confess to loving Harlequin Romance novels.

A man in a million…There’s only one problem: he’s her boss!

Single mom Lucinda Starling has lost faith in love or happy-ever-afters. She must protect the important things: her young son and her job working for entrepreneur Angus Wolfe! Her commitment phobe boss must never know she’s crazy about him! Until one evening at a conference he looks at her like she’s the only woman in the world… Dare she risk all and be tempted by Angus?

Click here to purchase from Amazon.

What are you reading, or looking forward too? Drop me a comment and let me know!

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