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Spotlight Review: OUT OF THE WOODS by Hannah Bonam-Young

January 28, 2025

From the publisher:

A married couple joins a week-long wilderness expedition to help them reconnect in this heartfelt companion novel to the viral TikTok sensation Out on a Limb.

High school sweethearts Sarah and Caleb Linwood have always been a sure thing. For the past seventeen years, they have had each other’s backs through all of life’s ups and downs.

But Sarah has begun to wonder . . . who is she without her other half?

When she decides to take on a project of her own, a fundraising gala in memory of her late mother, Sarah wants nothing more than to prove to herself—and to everyone else—that she doesn’t need Caleb’s help to succeed. She’s still her mother’s daughter after all, independent and capable.

That is, until the event fails and Caleb uninvitedly steps in to save the day.

The rift that follows unearths a decade of grievances and doubts. Are they truly the same people they were when they got married at nineteen? Are they supposed to be?

In a desperate attempt to fix what they fear is breaking, Sarah and Caleb make the spontaneous decision to get out of their comfort zones and join a grueling hiking trip intended to guide couples through rough patches.

What follows is a life-affirming comedy of errors as two nature-averse people fight their way out of the woods in order to find their way back to their roots.

“Bonam-Young excels in creating nuanced characters on complicated emotional journeys and she makes Caleb and Sarah’s reconnection believable through both sweet and heat-filled moments. This is a delight. —Publishers Weekly

https://amzn.to/42aNXGS

I must admit I was feeling a bit trepidatious about reading this second-chance romance. It felt like it might be hitting a bit too close to home for me; after all, I met my husband when I was 17, and he was 19, and while we didn’t get married until six years later and our marriage has been a good one, there were ups and downs along the way. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this book. Turns out, I loved it!

Sarah and Caleb have been through a lot together in their seventeen years of marriage. They married when they were nineteen years old, so Sarah’s mom could be at the wedding. She had ALS and died a few months later. Caleb came from a wealthy background but didn’t necessarily always agree with his parents and their life choices. He felt more loved and at home in Sarah’s house.

Sarah was raised by a single mom and her Aunt June, who also had a daughter, Win, who was the same age as Sarah. Caleb felt the loss of Sarah’s mom nearly as much as Sarah did. Several years later, she gets the idea to hold a fundraiser for ALS in her mother’s memory. It’s a formal gala, but the money isn’t rolling in like Sarah was hoping. At the last minute, Caleb gives her a huge check to make up the difference, and that gesture sends Sarah spiraling. She wanted to do this on her own, but after that check, it feels like Caleb rescued her, and she is tired of being rescued. She asks him to name one thing about her that is truly special and unique, and he doesn’t say a word. They end up not speaking for a few weeks.

Then Win tells her about this week-long marriage retreat in the woods that her boss is running. There is an opening for another couple, and while neither Caleb nor Sarah are the outdoorsy types, they decide they probably should go anyway. If being off the grid for a week can help their marriage, they are both willing to try. The camping and hiking trip is no picnic, but they start growing closer again, and it looks like it may have been just what their marriage needed, at least until a dreadful accident occurs.

This was my first read from this author; I believe she had several self-published books before this traditionally published book came out. It was well-written and engaging, and I loved these characters. I couldn’t help but root for their happy ending, and I was sorry to turn that last page. This was a different spin on a second-chance romance as the characters were married, but as someone who has been married for more than forty years, I can assure you it rang true. I laughed, I cried, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Don’t miss it!

1/2025 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

OUT OF THE WOODS by Hannah Bonam-Young. Dell (January 28, 2025). ISBN: 978-0593871867. 336p.

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Audiobook Sunday: BREAKING THE ICE by Amy Andrews

January 26, 2025

Read by Kate Handford

From the publisher:

A bookshop romance with a hunky hockey love interest and a pinch of spice from USA Today Bestseller Amy Andrews!

A bookshop face-off!

NHL hot shot, Nick Hawkeye Hawke has 4 months to recuperate from a potentially career-ending injury. All he has to do is take it easy and keep things low-key. So, looking after his grandmother’s beloved second-hand romance bookshop and working very closely with the ruthlessly efficient Samantha Evans is just what he needs right? Wrong!

Career-driven Sam has impulsively decided to swap her highly stressful corporate job for a slower pace in her favourite bookshop at the exact time her biological clock has started to tick. And she wants absolutely none of that. But when your boss is a hot hockey superstar and you can’t stop daydreaming of him being your baby daddy, forced proximity takes on a whole new meaning.

With temptation around every bookshelf, Nick and Sam find themselves skating on thin ice until they put themselves firmly in the friend zone. But the more they try to resist their slow burn, the more they want each other. How long can they stay in the zone until one of them breaks the ice?

Perfect for fans of Elle Kennedy, Bal Khabra, Emily Rath, and Hannah Grace.

Previously published as Risky Business

https://amzn.to/4a5SXP7

A professional ice hockey player and a bookstore? Count me in! When the owner of Sam’s favorite romance bookstore passes away, she is shocked to find the owner’s grandson taking over. Nick is a pro athlete; what could he possibly know about a romance bookstore?

Sam is in finance and setting the world on fire, that is until her boss decides to give all her accounts to his loser nephew. Sam is furious and quits her job. When Nick finds out she is unemployed, he offers her a job in the bookstore. She takes it, thinking it will be a nice break while she waits for the nephew to bomb out and her old boss to beg her to come back.

Sam and Nick find they have more in common than either originally thought. Sam has some body image issues (shocking, I know) and can’t understand why Nick is flirting with her. On the other hand, he thinks she’s gorgeous and loves her curves; he can’t understand why she puts herself down. The more time they spend together, the more feelings start to grow.

This is a slow-burn, friends-to-lovers romance, and there is a lot of cute banter and a bit of heat, making this a fast and fun read. The narrator was really good, too; she totally brought me into this world, and I hated to leave.

Note: I’ve mostly been listening to audiobooks through Hoopla, a fantastic resource available through many public libraries. Like everything else online, they have an algorithm that suggests other books I may like based on what I’ve checked out. The next thing I knew, I was knee-deep in ice hockey romances! Some are definitely better than others, and I thought this was a good one, although, frankly, hockey had no real part in it! I will be reviewing a few others that I enjoyed.

On the other hand, Pucking Around by Emily Rath was a DNF for me, I got about three quarters of the way through and finally gave it up. It started out good but soon devolved into what just felt like bad porn to me. The plot was pretty thin; the story revolved around the female team doctor for a new hockey team and the men she was hooking up with. It started with a one-night stand leading to more encounters with that man, followed by a throuple. When it turned into a foursome, I gave it up. At that point, it was just descriptions of one sexual encounter after another, and all pretense at a plot was forgotten. It just didn’t feel like a romance anymore.

1/2025 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

BREAKING THE ICE by Amy Andrews. Narrator: Kate Handford. Boldwood Books; November 07, 2024. ASIN: B0DHWD1TC3. Listening Length: 8 hours and 23 minutes

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KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE by Deanna Raybourn

January 24, 2025

Book 1

From the publisher:

Older women often feel invisible, but sometimes that’s their secret weapon. They’ve spent their lives as the deadliest assassins in a clandestine international organization, but now that they’re sixty years old, four women friends can’t just retire—it’s kill or be killed in this action-packed thriller by New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award–nominated author Deanna Raybourn.

Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have worked for the Museum, an elite network of assassins, for forty years. Now their talents are considered old-school and no one appreciates what they have to offer in an age that relies more on technology than people skills.

When the foursome is sent on an all-expenses paid vacation to mark their retirement, they are targeted by one of their own. Only the Board, the top-level members of the Museum, can order the termination of field agents, and the women realize they’ve been marked for death.

Now to get out alive they have to turn against their own organization, relying on experience and each other to get the job done, knowing that working together is the secret to their survival. They’re about to teach the Board what it really means to be a woman—and a killer—of a certain age.

https://amzn.to/4g6jk8H

Being that I am a woman of a certain age, I was intrigued by the premise of this book, and it did not disappoint. Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have been friends and co-workers for forty years. Now that they are sixty, it is time to retire. From being assassins.

They worked for an extra-governmental agency called the Museum. It was founded after World War II in order to hunt down and kill all the Nazis that had escaped Germany after the war. They were also involved in finding all the art stolen by the Nazis, and returning it to the proper owners. In other words, killing for good, not evil. Over the years their targets expanded beyond Nazis to drug traffickers, human traffickers, the occasional dictator, etc. And these women were excellent at their job.

To celebrate their retirement, they take a cruise together, but they spot a former co-worker. Since he hasn’t contacted them, they immediately get suspicious. Two of them search his room and find a briefcase with a bomb in it, set to detonate in a few hours. They realize that they are the targets and need to figure out who is responsible for making that decision, and why. The rest of the book is in pursuit of that end, and it is a lot of fun getting there! There is plenty of tension and some surprises, some laughs and some tender moments. All in all, it was a fun, satisfying read and I am looking forward to the next book in the series, Kills Well with Others, which comes out March 4. Pre-order now!

1/2025 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE by Deanna Raybourn. Berkley; Reprint edition (August 15, 2023). ISBN: 978-0593200704. 368p.

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ICEBREAKER by Hannah Grace

January 24, 2025

Maple Hills, Book 1

From the publisher:

A TikTok sensation! Sparks fly when a competitive figure skater and hockey team captain are forced to share a rink.

Anastasia Allen has worked her entire life for a shot at Team USA. It looks like everything is going according to plan when she gets a full scholarship to the University of California, Maple Hills and lands a place on their competitive figure skating team.

Nothing will stand in her way, not even the captain of the hockey team, Nate Hawkins.

Nate’s focus as team captain is on keeping his team on the ice. Which is tricky when a facilities mishap means they are forced to share a rink with the figure skating team—including Anastasia, who clearly can’t stand him.

But when Anastasia’s skating partner faces an uncertain future, she may have to look to Nate to take her shot.

Sparks fly, but Anastasia isn’t worried…because she could never like a hockey player, right?

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Over 1 million copies sold!

Hannah Grace’s #1 New York Times bestselling Icebreaker in a spectacular deluxe hardcover edition featuring:
New bonus material
Pearlized and foiled jacket
Stunning sprayed edges
Designed endpapers
Foil stamped case

https://amzn.to/4jl63fl

I don’t read a lot of books with college student protagonists; I work in a college library supervising student workers, and I don’t need the added drama. But I heard good things about this book, plus it was centered around skating, so I gave it a shot. I was sucked in from the first page and didn’t put it down until the last.

Nate is the captain of the college ice hockey team, and he takes it very seriously. He’s already been signed to the pros, so he just has to get through his senior year without injury or trouble, easier said than done when he has to herd a bunch of rowdy college boys.

Anastasia is a figure skater with an eye on making it to the US Olympic team. She’s a pairs skater, and her partner is a good skater, but a lousy human being. Unfortunately, it takes her a long time to figure that out. There is a serious incident that causes one of the skating rinks to be shut down, forcing the hockey team and the figure skaters to share the ice. The coach demands to know who is responsible, and Nate takes the blame so the rest of the team can keep competing.

Schedules are worked out, and Nate goes to all the practices. There he meets Anastasia, and they start hanging out. She becomes friends with some of his roommates, and eventually, they fall for one another. Meanwhile, another incident occurs with Anastasia’s skating partner. He sustains a bad injury and blames Nate. Anastasia believes that Nate is innocent, but he still gets benched for several games. Nate offers to help Anastasia practice while her partner is out, and learns the difference between figure skating and hockey skating.

Eventually, the truth wills out as it always does, and Nate and Anastasia find their happy ending. There is a lot of drama and some laughs along the way, and a bit of heat, too. I understand why this book is so popular, and I’m looking forward to the rest of this series, which are all available.

The Maple Hills Series:

1/2025 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

ICEBREAKER by Hannah Grace. Atria Books (November 19, 2024). ISBN: 978-1668080399. 464p.

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Spotlight Review: MY INCONVENIENT DUKE by Loretta Chase

January 21, 2025

Difficult Dukes, Book 3

From the publisher:

USA Today bestselling author Loretta Chase continues her Difficult Dukes series with this charming brother’s best friend second-chance historical romance.

Of all the dukes in all the world, why does it have to be him?

Lady Alice Ancaster needs a husband, and fast, because her reckless brother is going to get himself killed, leaving the dukedom—and her future—in their repellent cousin’s clutches.

The Duke of Blackwood has known Alice since childhood, and they’ve always had a special connection. But years ago he broke it, when he chose a riotous life with his two best friends instead of a reasonable one with her.

The trouble is, the tall, dark, sardonic rogue keeps turning up exactly when needed, and ready—though he sometimes needs a push—to play the hero, if only for as long as it takes.

Being irresistibly drawn to the Wrong Man is not convenient, but when events come to a crisis, Alice has to make a choice. The question is, can she live with it?

A Captivating Historical Romance with a Rebellious Hero, Perfect for Winter 2025, Fall in Love All Over Again

“With the latest dazzling addition to her Difficult Dukes series, readers will again revel in Chase’s buoyant yet deliciously sharp sense of wit and her ability to craft radiantly romantic love stories rendered with the meticulous attention to detail she pays to everything, from nuanced characterization to an expertly evoked historical setting.” — Booklist (starred review)

https://amzn.to/42fXg8H

I usually love Loretta Chase books, and while I enjoyed this one, I also found it a bit odd, for lack of a better word. Lady Alice’s brother, Ripley, has two best friends, Blackwood and Ashmont. They have been friends since she was a child, and they’ve been getting into trouble ever since. But Alice has decided it is time for her to marry, after spending several years traveling on the Continent. She’s back in London, and has set her sights on a Duke with a previous aversion to marriage, but he seems fairly smitten with her.

Alice had a very bad experience as a child when her father, a man who was not in his right mind, sent her to an awful school where she was severely mistreated. A few months after her arrival, her aunt and uncle rescued her, and she’s been safe with them ever since. Her aunt drew her into helping create good schools for impoverished children, and that has become her mission in life. And being a Duchess would be helpful in that regard.

One thing leads to another, and Alice finds herself in a compromising position, having spent the night out of town with Blackwood. He attempts to help her find a missing boy and, in doing so, compromises her, so he offers her marriage. She accepts, and it seems like little more than halfway through, they are married. Then some problems arise. Meanwhile, her brother marries and eventually Ashmont does as well, but both are merely mentioned in passing. Eventually, Blackwood helps Alice with the schools and some other family issues, and they live happily ever after. I’m not sure why but the story felt rushed in getting everything squared away and all loose ends tied up.

The characters were interesting, and while Blackwood didn’t have much backstory, Alice certainly did. The secondary characters were all just slotted in to make the story work, with little emphasis on their character development. Even Blackwood remained pretty much an enigma. The first book in this series, A Duke in Shining Armor, was one of my favorite reads that year. I loved the second book, Ten Things I Hate About the Duke. This one was a disappointment.

1/2025 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

MY INCONVENIENT DUKE by Loretta Chase. Avon (January 21, 2025). ISBN: 978-0063094550. 336p.

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2 Comments | Book Reviews, Fiction, Romance | Tagged: Historical | Permalink
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Audiobook Sunday: THE ONE I DIDN’T SEE COMING by Piper Rayne

January 19, 2025

Read by Jason Clarke & Ava Erickson

Plain Daisy Ranch, Book 3

From the publisher:

It’s the classic story—girl returns to her hometown only to end up moving in with her high school crush, who she hates.

Returning to Willowbrook was my only option after Chicago chewed me up and spit me out. Technically, it wasn’t Chicago’s fault. It was his fault—the man I thought I knew who turned out to be a liar.

My older sister, always the one to swoop in and fix things, secured me a job as a yoga instructor on her fiancé’s family ranch. As my self-assigned protector, she’s keeping one eye on me and one eye on Emmett Noughton, her fiancé’s brother.

He’s the charming, fun-loving, take-life-as-it-comes kind of guy, and once upon a time, his name was scribbled in my notebooks. Back then, I was invisible to him. Now, he’s looking at me like I’m the only thing in the room. But he lost his chance with me a long time ago.

It’s easy to keep him at arm’s length and nurse the grudge I’ve held onto for years. Until the house I’m staying in sells, and I have nowhere to go except his house. Now, resisting him isn’t just difficult—it’s impossible.

https://amzn.to/420T1h4

Briar has moved back home, but her house sells almost immediately, leaving her temporarily homeless. Her sister’s father-in-law insists that she move in with Emmett, the youngest son, as he has tons of extra space. Unfortunately, Briar had a huge crush on him when she was young, but overheard him say something about her that she didn’t like, and now she hates him. But a roof over her head is a necessity so she moves in.

Emmett is trying to find his place in the family business, but his siblings all pretty much ignore the baby of the family. But Emmett is no baby, and it takes some moxie to make his family realize that. He also has a strong protective streak that works out well for Briar. Unfortunately, the eldest brother pretty much threatens Emmett with bodily harm if he goes near Briar, but the more the family tries to keep them apart, the closer they get, especially when living together.

Like all of Piper Rayne’s books, this is a spicy romance with a lot of humor. The story is compelling, and I really enjoyed listening to these narrators; they were both really good and brought the story to life. I’ll read anything by the writing duo known as Piper Rayne, and lucky for me, they are prolific!

1/2025 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE ONE I DIDN’T SEE COMING by Piper Rayne. Narrators: Jason Clarke, Ava Erickson. Piper Rayne Inc.; September 06, 2024. ASIN: B0DG9D8YY6. Listening Length: 6 hours and 46 minutes

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FORGET ME NOT by Julie Soto

January 17, 2025

From the publisher:

A wedding planner and her grumpy ex must work together to plan a celebrity event in this deliciously spicy and funny novel from Ali Hazelwood’s “favorite writer.”

Ama Torres is an optimistic wedding planner who doesn’t believe in marriage. But weddings? They’re amazing. Elliot Bloom is a brooding florist who hates owning a flower shop…until a certain bright-eyed, donut-loving workaholic shows up at his door.

Once upon a time, they collaborated on events by day, and by night, Ama traced the intricate flower tattoos etched along his body. Then Ama shattered his heart and never spoke to Elliot again.

Now they’re working on an event that could make or break both of their careers—except neither of them has gotten over what happened two years ago. Things are not helped by the two brides, who see the obvious chemistry between Ama and Elliot and are determined to set them up, not knowing their complicated history. But as the wedding takes on a life of its own, Ama and Elliot are about to discover that some things can survive a complete catastrophe . . .

Smart and hilarious, Forget Me Not is about two people giving themselves—and love!—a second chance.

https://amzn.to/40nELxI

I read this author’s second book, Not Another Love Song, and I liked it so much that I hunted down this one. There are a couple of characters who cross over, but both books stand alone just fine.

This book is about a wedding planner, Ama, who worked for one of the most successful wedding planners in town, but with her boss’s blessing, she’s gone out on her own. Her boss does strictly high end weddings, and Ama wants to work with brides on a budget. Her business is going pretty well, but she’s barely scraping by, using a myriad of relatives to help in lieu of paid full-time staff. But everything changes when a social media influencer wants Ama to plan her & her bride-to-be’s wedding, and money is no object. The brides also insist on using Bloom as the florist.

Little do the brides know, but Ama and Elliot Bloom have a history. The story spends a lot of time in the past, building up to the reason why they no longer work together and are “enemies.” But Ama knows that Elliot is very talented and is happy to swallow her pride and ask him to work on this wedding. The details of the wedding are so original, it added another layer of interest to the story.

Elliott is the strong, silent type – even rude to a point, but Ama understands him perfectly. With every hiccup in the planning, Elliot is there to back her up and help. His caring for Ama overrides any issues I may have had with his grumpiness (and I really didn’t have any,) and the second-chance romance leads to a happy ending.

I enjoyed this read and was so excited to see what Soto would do next that I checked, and boy, am I disappointed. She has two books coming out later this year; one is a Young Adult book, and the other is a romantasy, the latest trend in romance, and a subgenre I don’t particularly care for. I wish her the best with both books, of course, but doubtful I’ll be reading either. Lucky for me, there are still lots of terrific romance writers who haven’t been driven to the dark side, by which I mean romantasy.

1/2025 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

FORGET ME NOT by Julie Soto. Forever (July 11, 2023). ISBN: 978-1538740880. 352p.

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Spotlight Review: ACCIDENTALLY AMY by Lynn Painter

January 14, 2025

From the publisher:

A stolen latte results in a meet-cute for the ages in this brand-new edition, with bonus content, of New York Times bestselling author Lynn Painter’s rom-com Accidentally Amy.

Isabella Shay is usually a very honest person. But when she’s running late for her first day at her dream job and the barista yells for “Amy” three times with no answer, she does the unthinkable.

Izzy takes that PSL.

It’s the exact drink she ordered and paid for, only way further ahead in the queue—and she’ll take whatever bad karma is coming for her; she’s desperate and very late. But when she turns around and runs directly into the most attractive man she’s ever seen, spilling the drink all over his made-for-GQ shirt and tie, she ends up having the ultimate meet-cute. Karma who? Sparks fly and things feel beyond promising, until he says to her: “See you tomorrow, Amy.”

Izzy reasons she can just straighten things out the next day, no biggie. Only when she gets to her new office and meets the VP of her department, it is none other than Blake Phillips—the hottie from Starbucks. And the man might’ve been charming to “Amy,” but he is an arrogant grump to Izzy, an arrogant grump who does not find her explanation funny at all. But day by day, an attraction simmers between them and they’ll have to find a way to work together without ripping each other’s heads—or clothes—off.

“A charming meet-cute . . . there are plenty of funny and heartwarming moments along the way” —Publishers Weekly

https://amzn.to/42aNXGS

This book started off life as a serial distributed via Painter’s newsletter. She took that serial, fleshed it out some more, and expanded it into this very cute romcom.

The meet-cute sets up the whole story. Izzy is starting a new job and stops at Starbucks on her way in for the first day of Pumpkin Spice Lattes. The place is packed, and as she waits for her drink she starts getting panicky that she will be late for her first day of work. The barista keeps calling “Amy,” and no one is picking up that drink, so in a rash decision, Izzy grabs the PSL for Amy, turns around, and spills it all over a very good-looking man. Mortified, Izzy tries cleaning him up, makes some bad jokes, calls him Mr. Chest due to his fantastic build, and completely intrigues the man. They agreed to meet the next morning back at Starbucks.

Izzy starts her new job, on time, as a Human Resources generalist. It’s a great company to work for, and she is really excited about it until she meets her boss’s boss, and it turns out to be, you guessed it, Mr. Chest from Starbucks, AKA Blake. What Izzy doesn’t know is that Blake has had a bad breakup in the not-too-distant past because he found out the woman was lying to him. So Izzy’s stealing Amy’s latte puts her squarely in liars camp, and he wants no part of that. But they do see each other at work and at Starbucks, and before you know it, they have decided to be friends. This fabulous company they work for has a strict no-fraternization rule when there is a power difference, with no way around it. Until the company merges with another company, and the organizational structure changes. Or does it?

Lots of texting and witty banter lead to real feelings, but the inevitable breakup occurs. Can they find their way back to one another? Of course they can, this is a romance! It is also a fun, entertaining read and doesn’t try to be any more than that, and sometimes, that is enough.

1/2025 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

ACCIDENTALLY AMY by Lynn Painter. Berkley (January 14, 2025). ISBN: 978-0593817087. 352p.

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Audiobook Sunday: TWO CAN PLAY by Ali Hazelwood

January 12, 2025

Read by Kelsey Navarro Foster

From the publisher:

An enemies-to-lovers spicy romance set in the world of video gaming from the bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis—available only in audio!

Viola Bowen has the chance of a lifetime: to design a video game based on her all-time favorite book series. The only problem? Her co-lead is Jesse F-ing Andrews, a.k.a. her arch-nemesis. Jesse has made it abundantly clear over the years that he wants nothing to do with her–and Viola has no idea why.

When their bosses insist a wintery retreat is the perfect team-building exercise, Viola can’t think of anything worse. Being freezing cold in a remote mountain lodge knowing Jesse is right next door? No, thank you.

But as the snow piles on, Viola discovers there’s more to Jesse than she knew, and heat builds in more ways than one.

“Foster’s expressive delivery keeps listeners invested in Viola and Jesse’s evolving relationship, audibly illustrating Viola’s change from hating Jesse to realizing the misunderstanding between them and deciding to begin a relationship. Foster’s overall performance of this short romance is entertaining” AudioFile

https://amzn.to/4ggICBG

This is the audio equivalent of a novella and is not available in print or ebook format. I love Ali Hazelwood, so I was happy to listen and this did not disappoint at all. I also am not often a fan of novellas, usually finding them lacking in character development and short on plot. I was delighted that this had neither problem. The plot was good; video game designers who are competitors and forced to work together and the companies involved take their staff on a wintry retreat for bonding fun. This new game is based on Viola’s favorite fantasy book series, so there is no way she’s giving this up, even if she has to work with her design nemesis, Jesse. Turns out it’s not as difficult an assignment as either one of them feared. In fact, the more team building they do, the more Jesse grows on Viola, and before a snowball can melt, they are in bed and developing a good game and a good relationship.

This is a spicy romance with characters I couldn’t help but care about and root for. The storyline was interesting and the secondary characters were really just background noise. The narrator was terrific and I really enjoyed this!

1/2025 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

TWO CAN PLAY by Ali Hazelwood. Narrator: Kelsey Navarro Foster. Spotify Audiobooks; October 01, 2024. ASIN: B0DGYFBMQC. Listening Length: 4 hours and 24 minutes.

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BEG, BORROW, OR STEAL by Sarah Adams

January 10, 2025

When in Rome, Book 3

From the publisher:

Two feuding second-grade teachers (and neighbors) find themselves teaming up in this new rivals-to-lovers romance set in Rome, Kentucky—from the New York Times bestselling author of The Rule Book and Practice Makes Perfect.

Emily Walker hates having her carefully crafted world disrupted by anyone, most of all her legendary nemesis, Jack Bennett. He’s the opposite of the wonderful heroes she dreams up in her double life as a romance writer, which is why Emily was perfectly happy when Jack left Rome, Kentucky, mid-school year with his fiancée. The last thing Emily saw coming was Jack’s return at the start of the summer after calling off the wedding and ending his relationship, but he’s here to stay—as her colleague and her neighbor.

Jack is glad to be back, eager to renovate his house and work on the next mystery novel under his bestselling pen name. But when he realizes he’s now neighbors with the one woman who has always pushed his buttons, he discovers something he’s even more excited about—thwarting Emily and her petty plans to sabotage his return.

With their chemistry-fueled animosity at an all-time high, Emily accidentally sends an email to their school’s principal that could reveal her secret literary side hustle. She needs to steal back her manuscript, and Jack—she hates to admit—is just the man to help her. Surprisingly, he agrees. Will their unlikely alliance put an end to their rivalry? Or could it lead to a steamy plot twist they never saw coming?

“Feuding second-grade teachers learn they make a great team in this cute rivals-to-lovers romance, the third in Adams’s When in Rome series. This charms.”—Publishers Weekly

https://amzn.to/4fNmVbC

Adams hits it out of the park yet again with this feisty romance. Emily loves teaching second grade, especially since her nemesis, Jack, has moved away with his fiancée. After losing her parents when she was 8 years old, Emily can relate to family turmoil. She’s super organized and loves her students, and she always wants to be available for whatever they need.

Jack left his fiancée and got his teaching job back. He buys the only available property in this small town, a wreck of a house that turns out to be next door to Emily. They met freshman year in college when he bumped into her, spilling coffee all over her. She was in a bad place to begin with, reeling after her four-year high school relationship imploded. She takes out her anger on Jack, and they continue feuding all through college and then again when he lands a teaching job in the same school as Emily. Jack’s not sure why he feels so drawn to her when she has been so harsh to him, but he is determined to get her to soften her stance.

Emily is incensed that Jack has moved next door, and she persuades the towns people to not help him in any way. His contractor walks off the job, and the cashier in the supermarket gives him the stink eye, as do most of the residents. But Jack is a charmer, a trait he cultivated after growing up with his narcissist of a father, a best-selling mystery writer for over twenty years. Jack has watched his father be verbally abusive to his mother for years. He tries to help, but she won’t leave him.

Jack and Emily both have secrets. Emily has written a historical romance novel, her first, and is contemplating whether to burn it or submit it somewhere. Jack is actually a best-selling author, but he writes under a pseudonym. The only people who know his real identity are his agent and his publisher, and he wants to keep it that way.

As Emily and Jack start spending time together, she realizes he is not the villain she has made him out to be. Jack realizes that he has unrequited feelings for Emily, and is determined to worm his way into her heart. There are a lot of laughs along the way, and eventually, Emily realizes she is in love with Jack, and he is in love with her. But there are several bumps along the way before the happy ending. I loved these characters and their story, and the resolution rang true. Another excellent read from Adams!

1/2025 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

BEG, BORROW, OR STEAL by Sarah Adams. Dell (January 7, 2025). ISBN: 978-0593723692. 384p.