Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

From the publisher:

A zookeeper always on the fringe learns to go after her wildest dreams—including a certain television star—in this charming and laugh-out-loud romantic comedy by Kerry Rea, author of The Wedding Ringer.

Lucy Rourke has two great loves in her life: the gorilla troop she cares for as a primatologist and the laundry list of reality TV shows she watches to escape the fact that her actual love life doesn’t exist. And like a reality contestant gunning for the final rose, Lucy’s laser-focused on one thing: getting promoted to head keeper. So when a wildlife docuseries hosted by hotshot TV personality Kai Bridges chooses her zoo as its summer filming location, she sees an opportunity to showcase her beloved gorillas to the world and land a starring role in her department. 

When Kai and his film crew arrive, however, it’s obvious to Lucy that Kai cares more about sky-high ratings than the gorillas, and he considers her a camera-averse know-it-all whose wardrobe consists entirely of khaki. But she’s surprised to discover there’s more to him than his rugged good looks and cheesy catchphrases…and that maybe a promotion isn’t the only thing she wants. But when secrets from their pasts threaten to complicate everything, Lucy discovers that happiness and success aren’t the same thing—and that finding joy just might mean getting a little wild.

“Rea elevates the enemies-to-lovers trope with crackling chemistry, light humor, and genuine emotional nuance. Rom-com lovers should snap this up.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Rea’s second novel, following The Wedding Ringer (2021), is a compelling romantic comedy with a refreshingly unique storyline..Rea’s heartfelt, well-paced novel with realistic and well-developed characters is elevated by the parallel storyline of the gorilla troupe.”—Booklist

https://amzn.to/3U8O3bC

If you’ve ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes at a zoo, this is the book for you! Lucy fell in love with gorillas when she was a little girl, and was thrilled to get the job as a gorilla keeper now that she’s all grown up. She has her sights set on moving up to senior keeper, but her stage fright might be holding her back.

Kai hosts a program on the Animal Planet and is a huge success. His mother is the world’s premier expert on gorillas, and is Lucy’s idol. Kai shows up at the zoo, and he and Lucy get into it over a nickname his mother claims the natives gave her. It’s in her book, which Lucy wants to smack over Kai’s head, but instead he grabs it and takes it away with him. Part of the problem is this guy with the bushy beard is unrecognizable as the TV star, but this is their meet cute and we now know we are in enemies-to-lovers territory.

Both Kai and Lucy have a lot of issues stemming from their childhoods and their famous mothers. When Lucy turned ten years old, her mother landed a starring role on a TV drama, and dropped Lucy off with her grandmother to raise her. Her mother’s show is long over and she’s remarried and has another kid, Mia, who worships her big sister. But Lucy doesn’t have time for either of them.

Kai grew up in the wild with his mother, but it turns out they don’t have the relationship the world thinks they do. We can see how much they have in common, but it takes Lucy and Kai a while to figure that out. There is a lot of arguing before they reach their happy ending.

This was a really interesting book, especially if you like animals. The characters are believable and I couldn’t help rooting for them to finally wake up and realize what they had. There are a lot of laughs and some angst before they get there. A thoroughly enjoyable read!

9/2022 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

LUCY ON THE WILD SIDE by Kerry Rea.  Berkley (September 13, 2022). ISBN:‎ 978-0593201862. 352p.

Kindle

Audible

From the publisher:

Can these opposites turn up the heat… without burning down the house?

House-flipping sensation and YouTube star Maggie Nichols can’t wait to dig into her next challenge. Arriving in tiny Kinship, Idaho, with only a cot and a coffeemaker, Maggie is prepared to restore a crumbling Victorian mansion in four months or less. She has her to-do lists, her blueprints, and her team. What she doesn’t have is time for sexy, laid-back landscaper Silas Wright.

The man takes flirtation to a whole new level. And he does it shirtless…sometimes pants-less. He and his service school-dropout dog are impressively persistent. But she’s not interested in putting down roots. Not when fans tune in to watch her travel the country turning dilapidated houses into dream homes. A short-term fling on the other hand could fit nicely into her calendar. After all, Maggie remembers what fun is like. Vaguely.

As their summer gets downright steamy, Silas manages to demolish the emotional walls she’s spent years building, sending Maggie into a panic. He’s the wrench in her carefully constructed plans. With the end of the project looming, she has a decision to make. But how can she stay when her entire career is built on moving on?

“Come for the romance, stay for the mysteries and scene-stealing side characters.”  ―USA Today

“This steamy, opposites-attract contemporary romance is fast-paced and engaging. The book is well written, with exceptional dialogue and witty banter among the characters. Silas and Maggie are likable and relatable, and readers will fall in love with them and their found family. Highly recommended, especially for fans of Nora Roberts and Tessa Bailey.”  ―Library Journal (starred review)

https://amzn.to/3RJ7dU1

I love a tough female main character who excels in a man’s world – in this case, Maggie has a YouTube show where she renovates old houses. She’s basically homeless, living in her projects then moving on to the next once completed. Her latest project is an old Victorian mansion in the tiny town of Kinsdale, Idaho. The house hasn’t been lived in for years and is barely habitable, but Maggie moves in and starts hiring the crews necessary to complete the reno.

Silas is the landscaper she finds and not only is his work good, but Maggie is sure he will also be a sensation on camera with his good looks and hot body. What she isn’t counting on is falling in love, and she fights it every step of the way.

Maggie has a lot of issues, but Silas is charging full steam ahead in his mission to make Maggie his. I loved the witty banter and their chemistry is apparent to everyone who sees them – except Maggie is fighting it. Can Silas win her over? Of course! This is a romance and a really fun read, sure to please HGTV fans as well.

9/2022 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

MAGGIE MOVES ON by Lucy Score. Forever (June 21, 2022). ISBN:‎  978-1538707081. 416p.

Kindle

Audible

From the publisher:

After butting heads, an event planner and a wedding officiant begin an enemies with benefits arrangement as wedding bells chime around them in the newest rom-com from acclaimed author Denise Williams.

Divorce attorney RJ would never describe herself as romantic. But when she ends up officiating an unplanned wedding for a newly engaged couple in a park, her life is turned upside down. The video of the ceremony goes viral, and she finds herself in the unlikely position of being a sought-after local wedding officiant. Spending her free time overseeing “I dos” isn’t her most strategic career move, but she enjoys it, except for the type A dude-bro wedding planner she’s forced to work with.

Former pro-football event manager Lear is a people person, but after his longtime girlfriend betrayed him, he isn’t looking for love. He knows how to execute events and likes being in control, so working with an opinionated and inflexible officiant who can’t stand him is not high on his list. He’s never had trouble winning people over, but RJ seems immune to his charms.

Surrounded by love at every turn, their physical attraction pulls them together despite their best efforts to stay an arm’s length apart. Lear refuses to get hurt again. RJ refuses to let herself be vulnerable to anyone. But when it comes to happily ever after, their clients might not be the only ones saying “I do.”

“RJ and Lear are instantly likable: Each has a lovely sense of humor, and their personal struggles ring true and demand empathy…Williams has a talent for weaving moments of genuine warmth and tenderness with sizzling sexual chemistry in ways that are consistently engaging.”—Kirkus

https://amzn.to/3q3FHEj

Lear has hit rock bottom. He lost the woman he loved and his dream job event planning job for an NFL team. He’s moved into his cousin’s basement and is helping her with her wedding planning business. His cousin is going to be out of town for a while, and Lear basically has to run things. Easy peasy. Until he meets RJ.

RJ is a divorce attorney who sort of fell into the wedding officiant business after a viral video. She is a workaholic who enjoys the extra wedding work. Until she meets Lear and their first interaction is when she runs headlong into him and he tells her she should smile more. Do men really still say that? He knows as soon as it comes out of his mouth he shouldn’t have.

That inauspicious beginning leads to an “enemies with benefits” situation and their chemistry is off the charts. RJ’s ex is getting married, and she’s determined to stay prickly enough to keep any man at a safe distance, especially Lear. But as they spend time together, well, you know what happens.

Both of these characters have back-breaking baggage so it takes a long time before they can move past all of it, but the journey is a fun and sometimes emotional ride. I wish RJ didn’t take forever to move past her issues, but maybe that is more realistic anyway. All in all, this was an enjoyable read with a satisfying ending.

9/2022 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

DO YOU TAKE THIS MAN by Denise Williams. Berkley (September 6, 2022). ISBN:‎  978-0593437193. 352p.

Kindle

Audible

From the publisher:

A #1 LibraryReads and Indie Next Pick!

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis comes a new STEMinist rom-com in which a scientist is forced to work on a project with her nemesis—with explosive results.

Like an avenging, purple-haired Jedi bringing balance to the mansplained universe, Bee Königswasser lives by a simple code: What would Marie Curie do? If NASA offered her the lead on a neuroengineering project—a literal dream come true after years scraping by on the crumbs of academia—Marie would accept without hesitation. Duh. But the mother of modern physics never had to co-lead with Levi Ward.

Sure, Levi is attractive in a tall, dark, and piercing-eyes kind of way. And sure, he caught her in his powerfully corded arms like a romance novel hero when she accidentally damseled in distress on her first day in the lab. But Levi made his feelings toward Bee very clear in grad school—archenemies work best employed in their own galaxies far, far away.

Now, her equipment is missing, the staff is ignoring her, and Bee finds her floundering career in somewhat of a pickle. Perhaps it’s her occipital cortex playing tricks on her, but Bee could swear she can see Levi softening into an ally, backing her plays, seconding her ideas…devouring her with those eyes. And the possibilities have all her neurons firing. But when it comes time to actually make a move and put her heart on the line, there’s only one question that matters: What will Bee Königswasser do?

“Snappy dialogue with witty zingers make this tender enemies-to-lovers story, set at NASA in Houston, an unforgettable follow-up to neuroscientist Hazelwood’s popular The Love Hypothesis…Light espionage, some derring-do, and an unexpected villain are just some of the delights in Hazelwood’s smart, unusual, and superbly enjoyable tale.”—Booklist, starred review

“The snappy prose, engaging and twisty plot, and utterly endearing characters combine to create pure romance gold.”—Publishers Weekly

https://amzn.to/3wwojeX

It is the strangest thing – when I read Hazelwood’s books, which are often rooted in the hard sciences, the rational part of my brain knows I couldn’t possibly understand half of what these characters are dealing with, yet somehow, she makes me feel as if I do. That is remarkable, especially in a romance!

Bee Königswasser is thrilled that she was picked to head up a new project for NASA, especially as it gets her out from under her misogynistic boss at the National Institute of Health. She is less thrilled to find out she is co-leading the project with Levi Ward, her long time nemesis from grad school. When strange things start happening – lost emails, lost files, etc. Bee assumes it is Levi trying to make her look bad. We all know what happens when you assume…

Lots of angst leads to lots of laughs, and eventually, a happy ending, but not before some serious drama goes down. This book was such a page turner that I stayed up way too late to finish it, and I was so sad when I did. I grew so attached to these characters that I didn’t want to leave them, which says a lot about this author and her writing style. I can’t wait for her next book, but I’m going to have to – she only writes one book a year.

8/2022 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

LOVE ON THE BRAIN by Ali Hazelwood. Berkley (August 23, 2022). ISBN:‎ 978-0593336847. 368p.

Kindle

Audible

From the publisher:

Two high school sweethearts get a second chance at their perfect ending in this charming new romance by Kerry Winfrey, author of Very Sincerely Yours.

Once upon a time, Sandy Macintosh thought she would have her happily ever after with her high school sweetheart, Hank Tillman. Sandy wanted to be an artist, Hank was the only boy in town who seemed destined for bigger things, and they both had dreams to escape town together. But when Sandy’s plans fell through, she stayed in their small town in Ohio while Hank went off to Boston to follow his dreams to be a musician, with the promise to stay together. Only that plan fell through, too.

Fifteen years later, Sandy runs a successful greenhouse while helping her parents with their bed and breakfast. Everything is perfect…until Hank rolls back into town, now a famous alt-country singer with a son in tow. She’s happy with the life she’s built by herself, but seeing Hank makes her think about what might have been. There aren’t enough cliché love songs in the world to convince Sandy to give Hank another chance, but when the two of them get thrown together to help organize the town’s annual street fair, she wonders if there could be a new beginning for them or if what they had is just a tired old song of the past.

“A warm, heartfelt novel that’ll get stuck in your head like your favorite love song.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Winfrey’s sweet, low-heat read, with endearing and humorous characters and small-town setting, will appeal to fans of Candis Terry and Victoria James.”—Library Journal

https://amzn.to/3d9rMcM

Winfrey has turned into one of my favorite authors, and I really enjoyed this book. Sandy and Hank grew up together, best friends until they grew their relationship into something more. He was a musician who longed for a bigger life; she was an artist with the same longings. They planned to go away to college together, but a family emergency leaves Sandy with no money for college. Hank goes off to follow his dreams, and Sandy stays behind.

Sandy quickly realizes that she has to end things with Hank or he will come back to this small town and forget about his dreams. She loves him too much to do that to him, so she breaks his heart. Fifteen years later, Hank returns to town, a young son in town, recently divorced and a single dad. Sandy tries to avoid him at all costs -she has never stopped loving him.

You can guess what happens in this second-chance romance, but spending time with these characters was so much fun it doesn’t matter. This is a popular trope for a reason. The small town and all its quirky characters inject a lot of humor into this book. It is a fast, fun read and I loved it.

8/2022 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

JUST ANOTHER LOVE SONG by Kerry Winfrey.  Berkley (August 2, 2022). ISBN:‎ 978-0593333433. 336p.

Kindle

Audible