missdevo's reviews
290 reviews

This is the first book in the Sugarland Creek series of interconnected standalones that tells the love stories of the members of the Hollis family. We start off with a bang for only daughter Noah and the twice her age cowboy she meets at the Franklin Rodeo. Fisher and Noah are steamy from the start, and I am here for it! 
Tor Thom and Maxine Mitchell do a nice job with the narration duties in this audiobook. It's dual narration, so they each take the chapters from their character's POV. My only minor quibble is the pace of Tor Thom's narration. He's leaning into the whole slow talking Southerner stereotype, and at times it almost takes his accent into cartoony territory. I tried listening at a higher speed, and while that didn't have any negative impacts to Maxine's narration in my opinion, the same can't be said for Tor's. It definitely warps his accent into a less pleasing caricature. For me, this one is best enjoyed at 1x speed. 
None of that takes away from the story though. Brooke Montgomery has pulled me into the world of the Hollis family and their neighbors and friends so thoroughly, that after reading and loving book#3, I had to start at the beginning and binge them all!

 When it comes to Ambrose "Row" Rhett Casablancas, I have rarely read another man so devoted. He is down bad for Calla Polina "Dot" Litvin and has been since they were teenagers. Both damaged by trauma in their pasts, they have gone on to very different lives, but the death of her father has brought Calla home again at just the right time to run headlong into Row.

L.J. Shen just doesn't miss for me. I've been a fan since I came across the Sinners of Saint series, and have devoured everything of hers I've found since. This book is a balm to my 90s rom-com loving heart. It's sweet, it's angsty, it's full of some of my favorite tropes, and spicy enough to have me fanning flushed cheeks at times. 

I was in high school in the 90s, so all the music and pop culture references are sweetly nostalgic to me, which set the mood for this book about revisiting your past perfectly. Row Casablancas is a top tier book boyfriend. The way he has pined, and supported, and loved Cal from afar for so long just hoping for the chance to do it up close one day... *SWOON*. He's the epitome of only soft for her, and his silent devotion for all this time is just epic. 

I don't want to spoil anything, but I will rec this book to anyone in a slump because it was the perfect cure for mine. And really - I can’t wait for more from this universe because I’m so invested in virtually EVERY side character we meet in this book!

Huge thanks to L.J. Shen & The Author Agency for the ARC opportunity ! 

 Maddox Sterling is in a dry spell since his career ending injury. His former teammate Braxton Slate hits him up to come out the night before the announcement of his hiring as the new head coach of the Indy Speed, his former team. He hems and haws long enough, that they're gone when he shows up, but he runs into a whiskey drinking, tone deaf, redhead at Pipes (karaoke bar hangout favored by the Speed) singing karaoke.
Bristol Cooper is fresh out of a devastating situationship, and has sworn off hockey players for good. She's relocated to Indianapolis for a fresh start and new job as a journalist covering the Speed. Her former roommate and bestie Dakota and Braxton (the couple from Second-Rate Superstar) take her out to Pipes for a welcome celebration before her first day. She figures what better way to get over one guy than to get under another? And the green eyed devil who pulled up a chair at her table looks like a good option. No names. No details. One night only...?
This is my favorite Siena Trap book yet! I was sad to be leaving the Comets behind, but the Speed *whew* they are a whole other level. Bristol's self esteem is so damaged that she's let herself settle for way less than she is worth from a partner, because she thinks that is all she deserves. That makes Maddox's path to winning her over an uphill one, but nothing he can't handle. Sterling is top tier book boyfriend material. He dotes on Bristol and shows her what it looks like when a man cares for a woman while still letting her stand on her own two feet. And when they're in bed together, he shows her what it's like to be worshipped and revered by a man who truly understands her worth. He is down so bad for her from the moment they meet, and I am here for it!
I'm all in on the Indy Speed, and I can't wait for Jenner's story (that epilogue!). Siena Trap has all the right ingredients here to have me hooked. The spice is so yummy, the longing is so deliciously angsty, and the vulnerability of both main characters emotionally has me in a tight grip. You don't need to have read the Connecticut Comets series to read this book, but why wouldn't you? 😉
Huge thanks to Siena Trap for the ARC opportunity. 

 Riley Conrad and Reign Thorn grew up alongside each other, but in completely different worlds. Reign comes from a well off family, and Riley has always had to struggle. None of that seemed to matter when hockey came into the picture and made them inseparable. After an accident led to an injury, and hard feelings that couldn’t be overcome, their paths diverged into two different schools and futures. Until Reign discovered that his childhood soulmate had become a woman-a woman he very much wanted.
There is just something about the level of angst created when the MMC is unfairly harsh and cruel to the FMC, and then ends up being unable to be away from her that really works for me as a reader. That feeling in the pit of my stomach when the FMC has the strength to bear up under the brutality of a bully. I love a good bully trope, and it's definitely well written here. It makes the payoff when he flips his switch so much sweeter, and boy does Reign Thorn’s switch flip! The only thing that makes him madder than Riley herself, is how much he discovers he wants her. When it's followed up with "soft only for her", it's *chef's kiss*. My only wish is for more of a grovel after all he's put her through as they approach, evade, and dance around each other trying to decide if the other can be trusted enough to be vulnerable. They both get feral for each other, and towards anyone trying to get between them, and the spice is very nice.
Thank you to The Author Agency and Ashton Brooks for this ARC opportunity. 

I like my love stories a little angsty, and this one definitely delivered. Beau Eaton is a man with unplumbed depths. Most of his friends, and even his family only see what he wants them to see because they haven't had nearly as much trauma as he's seen. Bailey Jansen is from the most notorious (for all the wrong reasons) family in Chestnut Springs. She's never been given a chance by the nicest of the town, and has been the target of the rest. When Beau decides that he can help Bailey overcome some of the obstacles in her way, and prove to her that people are nicer than she gives them credit for, Bailey doesn't hesitate to open his eyes to her reality. These two broken people might be the only ones who can see what's inside each other. 
This is easily the most emotional book in the series, and I see why Elsie Silver saved Beau for last. He's a tough nut, and Bailey is just the girl to crack him wide open. She's had to be tough her whole life, but she lets herself be soft with Beau. And the spice....🥵 soo good. 

Everly Sparks has had a rough go of things, and after finally leaving her terrible husband behind has brought her young daughter Willow back home to Cozy Creek. She’s been missing the comfort and support of her best friend Hayley McCreedy and the family that essentially took her in as a kid and raised her on their ranch alongside Hayley and her brothers, Nash and Kincaid.  Everly has loved Nash since she was a kid, but even after an early rejection sent her into the arms of the wrong man, she still hasn’t been able to put him in the rear view. Nash has been drawn to his little sister’s best friend since they were still too young to really go there, but then he took a little too long growing up and missed his shot when the timing was right. Now they’re both wary and afraid of crossing that line again with each other.
     If you, like me are a Swiftie, Autumn lover who is a sucker for an emotional second chance read with some angst thrown in for seasoning, this book is right up your pumpkin spice loving alley. It’s got me sooo ready for fall, and the day I started it I woke up to a 63 degree morning in Kansas City-IN AUGUST. All the vibes were vibing for this warm hug of a love story. It’s Gilmore Girls meets Heartland, with spice, and just one of a 6 book series of interconnected standalone books by different authors writing in the same universe releasing between 8/19 and 8/30.  The tropes for this one really spoke to me.  It’s the mutual pining, slow burn, second chance romance with the reformed bad boy for me. This one will speak to all the girlies who knew Rory should have ended up with Jess. 
Thanks to Erin Branscom & Grey’s Promotions for the opportunity to review this ARC.

 While this is the 3rd book in the Sugarland Creek series, it's the first I've read. The audio version I enjoyed features Aaron Shedlock, as Landon, and Stella Hunter, as Ellie, in a dual narration style (they alternate chapters and do all the voices in their chapter). They both do a great version of each other's character, so it works well even though duet style is my favorite (where they always do their own character's voice for the entire book). The southern accents are there but not cartoony, and when it's hot, it's HOT! The character development through the story peels back the layers on Landon & Ellie over time, so we learn as we go that their assumptions about each other have some adjusting to do in a way that feels balanced with the plot.
This story starts on a heavier note, and swings back to that feeling briefly in the 3rd act, but in between, it's a fun, steamy romp full of fantastic banter, long term pining, unrequited desire, and rodeo dreams. As I am firmly in my spicy cowboy era, I loved the vibes throughout. The Hollis siblings are funny, engaging, honest, and hard working people who love to have a good time. They are a rowdy bunch, but I was drawn in quickly by their dynamics and love for each other, and I will be catching up on the previous two books in this series ASAP as a result. There is also a suspense subplot in this book that adds a little zing too, and from context clues about the previous books in the series, it sounds like that might be part of the connecting thematic thread of these stand alone books.
If you're an audiobook girlie too, and love a spicy small town cowboy romance, don't miss this series from Brooke Montgomery!
Thank you so much to Brooke Montgomery for the opportunity to review this ALC of Fall With Me! 

 If I wasn’t firmly in my dirty cowboy era before, I am now. The way this book left me jonesing for a hard working man with a mustache and a backwards baseball cap over his slightly too long hair to say filthy things to me in a raspy Southern accent, I mean 🥵… Throw in a cowboy hat, and the enemies to lovers trope, and I am so in. BTW: If Riley Green isn't the blueprint for Cash-he's the manifestation.

One of my favorite things about this book is how the character development of our leads plays out. They’re both grieving the loss of the same person and their resentment of the relationships the other had with him. I appreciate that we didn’t shy away from the complicated feelings of parental estrangement and how Mollie is working through her grief while navigating the stipulations of her father’s will. The way they banter, bicker, and finally succumb to each other is completely delicious, and I savored it all. 

I love how supportive they remain of each other through it all. The ways they give each other permission to chase their dreams without giving up on the promise of what they're discovering together-completely swoon worthy.

I always get sad the closer I get to the end of a great book, but the best part of this one is the joy that it's our introduction to a whole family of hot cowboys, and I am so looking forward to each of their stories. I can't wait to read more about the Rivers boys and the family they've built on the Lucky River Ranch.

Thank you to Valentine PR & Jessica Peterson for the opportunity to review this fantastic ARC. 

 Josie Winters is on a temporary contract to be a digital librarian at the San Francisco Public Library. Wesley Bryant is a pro hockey player on the San Francisco Sea Dogs. In one of the best "meet cutes" I've read, they come together to bail each other out of a sticky situation.
Lauren Blakely is one of the best rom-com writers of our time, and this book is another banger. It's a fun read with lots of spicy banter some great steamy scenes between Josie & Wesley. It dances down the line between sweet and filthy in a delightful way. It's a joy to watch these two fumble their way to their HEA while navigating family pressures, career goals, chasing their dreams, and processing grief.
I was blessed to get an ALC and ARC, and I found myself bouncing back and forth to the text while listening because I wanted to highlight all the fantastic one liners and banter between Josie and Wes. Erin Mallon and Connor Crais are incredible, and the audio is in duet format where they always voice their own character. There's a moment in chapter 47 (3:10) where Connor groans the F word in a way that hits just right. 🥵🌶️If you're into audiobooks, I highly recommend this one. It's cute and spicy in all the best ways. It's also got real heart, and the dyslexia representation is handled with care and sensitivity, even going as far as providing resources for people with dyslexia and those who love them at the end of the book. I thought that was a really nice touch.
Huge thanks to Good Girls PR & Lauren Blakely for this ALC/ARC opportunity. 

 I adored this book. I am prescribing this book to everyone I know who needs some fun in their lives. It made my whole week! I feel like my teeth are whiter and my hair is shinier just from having read it. The dopamine rush I got from Wyatt and Wren as they texted, and bantered, and bickered their way to an incredible HEA... I wanna bottle it up and sell it! These two have so much chemistry, they sizzle off the page. The banter is just TOP-TIER, and as the black cat to my husband's golden retriever, the tone and dialogue are just right. Wyatt tells AND shows Wren that she's not too much, and he is all about her just the way she is. I really loved that the characters are much more than they appear at first glance. We get to really know these people through some truly excellent writing. I would simply pass away for an audio version to hear Wyatt in all his Alabama glory say all the things...🥵 This book will have you giggling, kicking your feet, sighing, and swooning all over the place, but don't mistake that for thinking it is all fluff. This story has a heart, sacrifice, and some great examples of family at its core. One of my favorite things about it is how strong Wren and Wyatt both are despite their early impressions of each other.

This is the 2nd book in The Newhouse University series, and you best believe I'm about to go back and binge #1. 
Thank you so much to Luna Literary and Ginger Walls for the ARC opportunity!