Happy weekend! As the weather turns, many are inside reading and getting ready for the holiday season. I was traveling this week. I am visiting family and getting ready to go to Philadelphia next weekend for Indies Invade Philly. I am excited to reconnect with authors and book friends as well as meet new ones. This week I read one ARC and what ended up being two books by new-to-me author Lucia Franco. I am doing better at reading more authors prior to a signing. After reading her books, I am excited to meet Lucia and discuss them with her. I hope everyone has a wonderful week reading and never let your TBR run dry.
#Holiday #BrothersBestFriend #GrumpySunshine #ARC
5 STARS
This is a standalone holiday novel that ends with a
HEA. It is written in first person from
an alternating dual POV.
I absolutely loved their blind date meet cute. I was laughing out loud in the first
chapter. Kenzie is a girl who loves all
things Christmas. Andrew is grumpy and
has good reason to not like the season. I really liked how confident Kenzie
worked to be, even when she wasn’t feeling it.
She has a good heart and is a genuinely good person. Andrew didn’t stand a chance. I adore how hard he falls once he lets
himself really see her. His heart opens
up in a beautiful way. Their hot times
are seriously hot, and their emotional connection warmed my heart.
This was a fun, steamy (Hello, hot British hero), and low-angst, holiday read. If you like a feel-good holiday read with a side of heat, this needs to be on your TBR this season.
#NewAdult #AgeGap #Taboo #Billionaire #Erotica #Escort
This book is my first read by this author. It is written in first person from Aubrey's POV and ends in a HFN.
The blurb doesn't give much away. I expected a steamy book, and it is definitely that. Aubrey is a 21 year old college student who finds her way into a high end escort job in Manhattan. She and her roommate, Natalie, live a wild life (apart from school) where drugs, alcohol, and sex with strange guys in bars is a normal weekend. Becoming an escort was not much of a stretch for her. About the first 40% of the book is about Aubrey and how she handles this new job, and it is quite explicit. It reminded me a lot of The Girlfriend Experiment show on Starz (I watched part of only one season before I let that one go.)
James is a man who has a successful life that he has worked hard to obtain. He is a 52 year old tatted, bearded, silver fox. He is alpha, a little kinky, and he ends up falling hard for Aubrey. I love how he is willing to do anything for her.
Now the tough part: Aubrey is very unlikable in this book. Maybe it is her youth, but she is very selfish. She makes a lot of what I would consider to be poor choices. Her actions cause emotional hurt to a lot of people in this book. Though I came to understand James better as the book progressed, he was also not easy to like in the beginning. This is a super steamy read, falling more into the erotica category than romance. As other reviewers have stated, the end of this book wraps a little too quickly. (There is a follow up book, which I just finished that gives the couple a real HEA and wraps up their relationship better.) There is a lot of the book that happens before Aubrey and James meet, and I felt like I needed more of them as a couple. This is one of those books where it is almost like a train wreck. I had to keep reading just to see how this could possibly work out. I felt like the writing was good. In the end I ended up loving James and Aubrey was OK. I went on to read the next book, so I guess that says something too.
Trigger Warnings: Drug Use, Alcohol Abuse, Cheating (on page H and h)
This is the sequel to Hush, Hush. It is written in first person from mostly Aubrey's POV and ends with a HEA. There is an epilogue from James' POV.
This was a steamy, age gap romance. The book begins two years after the end of Hush, Hush. Aubrey and James have grown as a couple and are madly in love. This book addresses how a couple like them, with a 30+ year age gap, look at taking the next step. They have to discuss children, marriage, and fear of loss.
I loved seeing the growth in their relationship since the first book. I liked the many steamy moments between them. I adored the romantic scenes and the emotions they share. I loved James even more in this book. I do believe this book was a good addition to their story and I was glad I was able to read it right away.
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