Romance

Party of Two (The Wedding Date #5)

Party of Two

Party of Two (The Wedding Date #5)

By: Jasmine Guillory

Blurb:

Dating is the last thing on Olivia Monroe’s mind when she moves to LA to start her own law firm. But when she meets a gorgeous man at a hotel bar and they spend the entire night flirting, she discovers too late that he is none other than hotshot junior senator Max Powell. Olivia has zero interest in dating a politician, but when a cake arrives at her office with the cutest message, she can’t resist–it is chocolate cake, after all.

Olivia is surprised to find that Max is sweet, funny, and noble–not just some privileged white politician she assumed him to be. Because of Max’s high-profile job, they start seeing each other secretly, which leads to clandestine dates and silly disguises. But when they finally go public, the intense media scrutiny means people are now digging up her rocky past and criticizing her job, even her suitability as a trophy girlfriend. Olivia knows what she has with Max is something special, but is it strong enough to survive the heat of the spotlight?

Review:

Olivia is Alexa’s sister. She’s a high powered New York lawyer that’s decided to move back to California and start a law firm with her best friend. She’s tired of men talking down to her, taking advantage of her hard work, and generally being dicks.

Max is a pretty boy senator that is looking to start a relationship because he’s lonely. He’s impulsive, and as a rich, white man has lived an incredibly privileged life. Still, he loves cake and pie, so he’s not all bad.

I don’t know if it’s because I just read the first book in the series, and it was about Olivia’s sister or if this is just the formula Guillory uses, but I noticed a lot of similarities. Max loved to see Olivia’s smile and laugh almost as much as Drew. Both women were hesitant to leap into things, though, Olivia much more so. It was also a long-distance relationship where most of their time together was on the weekend. Lots of deserts and food, which I loved, but dammit someone give me a cake!

Olivia and Drew were a cute couple, and once again, the conflict at the end was very believable. I couldn’t see how it would be overcome honestly, but I liked what they came up with, it was sweet.

I’m looking forward to reading the second book in the series, now that I’ve read the fifth, but I’m also a little apprehensive. Is it going to be as similar? I’ll find out, I guess.

3.5/5

The Wedding Date (The Wedding Date #1)

The Wedding Date

The Wedding Date (The Wedding Date #1)

By: Jasmine Guillory

Blurb:

Agreeing to go to a wedding with a guy she gets stuck with in an elevator is something Alexa Monroe wouldn’t normally do. But there’s something about Drew Nichols that’s too hard to resist.

On the eve of his ex’s wedding festivities, Drew is minus a plus one. Until a power outage strands him with the perfect candidate for a fake girlfriend…

After Alexa and Drew have more fun than they ever thought possible, Drew has to fly back to Los Angeles and his job as a pediatric surgeon, and Alexa heads home to Berkeley, where she’s the mayor’s chief of staff. Too bad they can’t stop thinking about the other…

They’re just two high-powered professionals on a collision course toward the long distance dating disaster of the century–or closing the gap between what they think they need and what they truly want…

Review:

Alexa doesn’t like to describe herself as a prude, and after reading this story, I wouldn’t either. A better term is risk-averse. She tends to overthink things. This seems to work pretty well for her at work, but not so much in romance. She also has body image issues that I related to hard.

Drew is a commitment-phobe. He had a relationship that got serious before he was ready and now ends every relationship after just a couple of months. He’s a pretty boy doctor that doesn’t have an issue finding bedmates that are fine with that setup. Then he needs to find a date for the wedding of the woman he felt was his fallback when he was ready to settle down.

It would have been sooooo easy to hate Drew. He’s a lot of things that I don’t like rolled up into one character, but the way he treated Alexa overcame all of that. I liked reading from his point of view because I got to see that he only thought about the positives of Alexa’s body. All of the fear she had over it never even occurred to him. I also enjoyed that because she viewed this as a fling, she didn’t let those fears overcome her, and by the time she felt like it was more they didn’t matter.

The conflict worked out perfectly, and I had no issue believing it. I also enjoyed how things worked out with Alexa’s sister (which is great because I ended up getting the 5th book in the series from the library before all the others). The side characters seemed interesting enough, but they were not the main focus and only had small parts to play. The one I’m interested in the most is Carlos, so I hope he has his own book.

Finding love with the person you’ve been trapped in an elevator with is a pretty enjoyable trope and not overly done. The Wedding Date was a great start to a series and set my expectations high.

4/5

Blitzed (Playbook #3)

Blitzed

Blitzed (Playbook #3)

By: Alexa Martin

Blurb:

According to Brynn Larson, Maxwell Lewis is more trouble than he’s worth. She doesn’t care if he’s a football god with a rock-hard body that brings most women to their knees. After an encounter that ends poorly, she’s not interested in giving him a second chance. The last thing Brynn expects is for him to turn up at her bar months later, hat in hand. It doesn’t matter if he brings more customers to her business–she’s still not going on a date with him.

Maxwell knows he made a mistake. He’d been waiting to make his move on Brynn since the day he laid eyes on her and he was finally ready to go for it until he screwed up. He wishes he could tell her the truth about what happened that night, but he just can’t. He can’t tell anyone, so he’ll make amends and hope she’ll forgive him.

Brynn’s not like other women, though. Playing for the Mustangs doesn’t impress her and gifts make her scoff. Max will have to bring his A game if he hopes to win her over.

Review:

Brynn has been one of my favorite characters in the series so far. She knows her mind and goes after what she wants. At least, when it comes to work. She’s had a crush on Maxwell for years and just sat by lusting after him.

Maxwell is super smart and a fantastic athlete. He makes the all-star team, or something like that, every year, and he went to Princeton. He’s also shy unless he’s putting on a persona for his job. I like shy dudes. He’s also very aware of consent.

I loved that they were friends beforehand. There was a ton of sexual tension, so it was not what I consider friends to lovers, but Brynn really tried to make people believe that’s all they were.

I was a little disappointed in the small drama between them at the end. I didn’t find it believable at all. Brynn was always worried that she would do something terrible but immediately jumps to believing that Maxwell is the bad guy. I didn’t buy her reasoning at all. It just felt off. I could have also done without everyone telling her she’ll change her mind about kids. She is very adamant she doesn’t want any, but in the end, she’s planning on them.

3.5/5

Fumbled (Playbook #2)

Fumbled

Fumbled (Playbook #2)

By: Alexa Martin

Blurb:

Single-mother Poppy Patterson moved across the country when she was sixteen and pregnant to find a new normal. After years of hard work, she’s built a life she loves. It may include a job at a nightclub, weekend soccer games, and more stretch marks than she anticipated, but it’s all hers, and nobody can take that away. Well, except for one person.

TK Moore, the starting wide receiver for the Denver Mustangs, dreamt his entire life about being in the NFL. His world is football, parties, and women. Maybe at one point he thought his future would play out with his high school sweetheart by his side, but Poppy is long gone and he’s moved on.

When Poppy and TK cross paths in the most unlikely of places, emotions they’ve suppressed for years come rushing back. But with all the secrets they never told each other lying between them, they’ll need more than a dating playbook to help them navigate their relationship.

Review:

I cried through this entire book. I’m a crier, so don’t take that as a sign this is a sad book. I cried cause Poppy was such a good mom. I cried cause I could feel her fear. I cried cause it was so happy. So don’t worry, unless you’re like me you’ll just really enjoy this book.

Poppy is the level of mom I hope to attain. She dedicates everything to her son, and the love jumps off the pages. I also agree one hundred percent about her not letting him play football.

T.K. has a gorgeous ass. It is mentioned a LOT. He’s a good guy, but after six years in the NFL, he’s suffering from early symptoms of CTE. I so appreciated it being talked about in Fumbled. I was a little annoyed that it wasn’t discussed much in the last book, but it was a decent part of this story. If you’re going to write a football story, I don’t know how you could avoid it.

There was not much wooing with Poppy and T.K. They’d had a previous romance, and while a lot had changed, the feelings were still there. They made a sweet couple, but Poppy and Ace and all of Poppy’s friends were more interesting than T.K.

This was an excellent follow up to Intercepted and has me looking forward to the next book in the series.

4/5

Intercepted (Playbook #1)

Intercepted

Intercepted (Playbook #1)

By: Alexa Martin

Blurb:

Marlee thought she scored the man of her dreams only to be scorched by a bad breakup. But there’s a new player on the horizon, and he’s in a league of his own…

Marlee Harper is the perfect girlfriend. She’s definitely had enough practice by dating her NFL-star boyfriend for the last ten years. But when she discovers he has been tackling other women on the sly, she vows to never date an athlete again. There’s just one problem: Gavin Pope, the new hotshot quarterback and a fling from the past, has Marlee in his sights.

Gavin fights to show Marlee he’s nothing like her ex. Unfortunately, not everyone is ready to let her escape her past. The team’s wives, who never led the welcome wagon, are not happy with Marlee’s return. They have only one thing on their minds: taking her down. But when the gossip makes Marlee public enemy number one, she worries about more than just her reputation.

Between their own fumbles and the wicked wives, it will take a Hail Mary for Marlee and Gavin’s relationship to survive the season.

Review:

Intercepted was a lovely palette cleanser after the last book I read. I was a little bit concerned at the beginning, though. Marlee is in an abusive relationship; her boyfriend of almost a decade is a pro football player that takes a lot out on her. I was starting to wonder why I kept picking up books with women in abusive relationships, but thankfully it didn’t last long.

Marlee was easily one of my favorite heroines of the year. Her humor was hilarious, and I loved the relationships she had with people. She’s the type of character you wish you could be friends with in real life. Seeing her discover again who she is without the dead weight of her ex was beautiful.

Gavin was sex on a stick. He tried to protect her but would occasionally go too far. He didn’t give Marlee a chance to defend herself; something that ended up biting him in the ass later.

Marlee and Gavin made a great couple, but what I loved the most was the ending. Marlee could have so easily just jumped from her ex into a relationship with Gavin; instead, she took the time to succeed on her own. I really, really liked that part of the story.

I’m not a football fan and getting to see an almost behind the scenes look did not win me over, but I loved the enthusiasm Marlee had, and I’m excited to read the next book in the series.

4/5