missdevo's reviews
290 reviews

Jasper freakin' Jervais...🥵whooo
Jasper and Sloane have been eyeing each other since the moment they met. It's all very "invisible string" how they've stayed in each other's orbit by virtue of family but kept their secret longing for each other to themselves. They both have family trauma in their pasts and find it hard to open up to each other at first. When Jasper finally unclenches and lets Sloane in... wowza. The spice hits in this one for sure. The whole Eaton family and those they've added and adopted make appearances to brighten the story as well. The angst and the pining... perfection. Teddy Hamilton gives another stellar performance as Jasper, and CJ Bloom brings a lovely note to Sloane. I'm trying to pace myself through this series so it's not over too soon, but it's so hard to not binge it all!

 The lure of Daddy Adam is a powerful thing. The biggest *ahem* cinnamon roll of them all doesn't just fall, he dives head first. I loved the audio on this one. The narration was great, and even though there are a ton of side characters, everything was kept very distinct. Alex Kydd is quickly moving up the ranks of my favorite male narrators for sure. Kasha Kensington was great too, especially considering she had the bulk of baby Connor's voice to do too. The plot of this book is really well balanced. The emotional moments really hit, the smut is very hot, and the love story is so sweet. I highly recommend this one, although all of the Playing for Keeps Series has been wonderful. 

This was not my favorite of the series so far. It had some things I really liked - Spencer's character for the most part, but the MFC was too flakey for my taste. Also, Spencer flipped and accepted Sylvie way too quick for my liking. I like the pain and angst of a second chance romance, and I felt like that was missing. Also, I found Sylvia to be almost cartoonlike in her characterization. She was so over the top that it's difficult to believe ANYONE could miss what she was doing. It was nice to see Crew/Wren, and Whit/Summer popping in from time to time though.

 

  The Brotherly Shove is my first Emily Shacklette read, and a Swiftie coded, bisexual awakening, second chance football romance with spicy scenes hot enough to get me feeling some type of way is a hell of an introduction! This book sucked me in so fast, I devoured it in basically one sitting. It's a swoony "idiots to lovers" story with two guys who grew up in Philly, played together as the center and QB1 on their college football team, and now find themselves playing on the same pro team in San Francisco. 

     I appreciated that the love story wasn't focused on trauma and negativity. Sure, it is angsty and filled with the pining associated with believing your feelings are unrequited, but those are universal to us all. Shacklette tells a sweet sexy story of friends falling in love sprinkled with fun Swiftie "winks" in the form of lyrics and song titles that enrich the background and sentiment. The title of the book is even a reference to the QB sneak play Philly fave (and future hall of fame Center) Jason Kelce and the Eagles are known for. I also saw on her IG, that Shacklette said TBS is less spicy than her two previous books, and after experiencing how she writes sex and intimacy, I've put both of them towards the top of my TBR. I highly recommend The Brotherly Shove for any sports romance fan, even the ones who only watch to cheer on Taylor's boyfriend.😉.
     Thanks again to Truly Yours PR and Emily Shacklette for the ARC opportunity.

 

     This is my first Micalea Smeltzer book, but now I'm excited to go back to the start of this series and read more! RBFH is the 6th book in the series "The Boys", but I don't feel like I missed a ton by not having read the others first. It's a virtual buffet of some of my favorite romance tropes: marriage of convenience, second chance, friends to enemies to lovers, it was always you... *chef's kiss*
     I enjoyed the character development for both Daire and Rosie. The writing showing us inside Daire's head as he falls so hard and grows up so much, so quickly is really well done. Without giving the game away, it gets complicated quickly for our MCs, and everything takes on new stakes. Rosie is a complicated girlie, and watching Daire try to take care of her in the way that makes sense for her is so sweet. The hockey part of this hockey romance is kept to the background of the book for the most part. It's there, but it's far from the main focus. My only teeny gripe is that I wanted a little more drama before Daire gave in. I love a good grovel. He does ultimately become a gooey cinnamon roll of a man for Rosie.
     If you have sensitivities, check the content warnings, but nothing feels gratuitous to me in the writing. Thank you to Micalea Smeltzer and Valentine PR for the ARC opportunity!

 Second Rate Superstar is the third and final book in the Connecticut Comets series. It’s pretty meta - a romance novel about a romance author allows a lot of “inside baseball” about tropes and writing that basically break the fourth wall and wink directly at the reader. Dakota basically acknowledges in the book that the group of players and friends she meets through Braxton (and coming from previous books by Trap) represent an entire backlist of work:

Both Braxton and Dakota have a history of family trauma that is still getting in their way as adults. As much as Braxton is seemingly instantly obsessed with Dakota, she’s so closed off to everything about him. Seeing them stumble their way to their happy ending is entertaining and sweet. That’s not to say there’s no heat in this story, though. Braxton is a cinnamon roll of a man with a filthy mouth, and not even Dakota can resist him for long. She’s closed off due to her painful past, but his persistent gentle persuasion has her lowering her walls for him. She may start the book a virgin, but thanks to Braxton, by the end she doesn’t have many inhibitions left. 

The resolution of this final book in the Comets series also serves to launch the next series, and I am excited to see if the FMC is who I suspect...

Thanks to Siena Trap for the ARC opportunity. 

The Fall of Bradley Reed is really the death of the "people pleaser" inside Olivia Anderson. As someone who also has a lot of people pleaser in me, I really loved seeing Olivia come into her own and stand in her own power. Andre is a king, backing her up and not letting her backslide when it gets tough.  The spice in this book is *chef's kiss*, and the emotional heart is the cherry on the sundae here. I have so far loved everything I've read of Morgan Elizabeth's, from her rom-coms to the very emotional All My Love. The surrounding cast of supporting characters, the group found family dynamics, and the sharp humor throughout make this book a great, can't miss read to me. 

 I do love a hockey romance, and this one features prickly black cat/filthy mouthed golden retriever vibes. Avery has family trauma that's colored the way she sees all relationships, and Cole decides right away that it's Avery or no one, and he isn't into casual. This is the second installment of the Beyond the Ice series, and the chemistry between these two sizzles right off the page.
I appreciate the complexity of Avery's character. She's been through so much, and she's still going. She can come off as a PITA because life has taught her that even the people who are supposed to love you unconditionally will forsake you, and Cole has to use all his patience to try and break down her walls. He's the star left winger on the Teagan University hockey team, and Avery's soft place to fall. He's also a part time Henry sitter and a master of duck related puns.
The bit of suspense and intrigue in the 3rd act was something I didn't see coming, but it played out well enough to be the final push for everyone to lay their cards on the table and get really honest, really fast. Overall I enjoyed this book, my first read from this author, and would recommend it to fellow hockey romance fans. I plan to go back and read the first book in the series before the 3rd comes out. While I think Reese's story will be good, it's Mase I want to get to the bottom of... 

 I liked this book, but it did take a minute for me to get into the story. As someone who experienced high school in the 90s, I liked that there were a lot of nostalgic details that were sprinkled in to help set the scene. It was almost like Cruel Intentions set in Arkansas.
I enjoy a good bully romance and dark romance, but this one stayed pretty light overall. Don't get me wrong, there are non-con/dub-con scenes that would feel right at home in a darker story, but the overall tone didn't feel that dark to me. It also almost felt like we jumped into the middle of the story at times. The MMC is morally grey, and sort of a bully, but virtually all of the bullying happened off page before the story even began. That made it hard to build tension based on the group dynamics at the school. It was also confusing for the FMC to say she and the other "nerds" had been bullied by all of the jocks, including her brother, as her brother's over protectiveness towards her is a man plot point. I kept hoping we'd get some sort of flashback to fill in the gaps, but it never came.
It felt like this book was trying to do a lot, but not enough simultaneously at some points. We jumped from light teasing, to what basically amounts to SA in public and it didn't really feel organic to the characters at that point to me. There were some hot spicy scenes I enjoyed, and the dynamics between Sebastian and Vivienne started to get some depth to them, I was pulled into the story more. This book is set in the same universe as several others from the author's backlist, but this is described as a standalone. I wonder if having read more in the "Faulknerverse" previously would have made this story better to me? I enjoyed it, but some parts felt like missed opportunities.

Thank you to Booksprout and Selena for the ARC opportunity. 

The Quit List is a fun closed door rom-com from Katie Bailey. 
This is the first book I've read from this author, and while I don't typically seek out closed door romance, I enjoyed this audiobook. There's a lot to like here.  Abigail Reno (as Holly), and David Bendena (as Jax) both do an admirable job with the narration, but I can't help wishing that David's voice was a little rougher to go with Jax's mountain man persona. Bendena's Jax sounds like he would be more at home in an office instead of leading hiking tours in the Appalachian Mountains.  It's a small quibble though, and he still does a good job with the material. 
     Overall I appreciated that the big lesson for Holly was one of self discovery and choosing to discover what she really wants out of life. Jax is a great example to her as someone who planned and worked hard to make his dream a reality when it would have been easier to just coast in his job as a bartender. I also liked that Jax had his own challenges with leaning into an actual relationship with Holly. The big "screw it" moment is a fun payoff for the slow burn of their friends to lovers transition. I would recommend this book to rom-com lovers who like closed door or "clean" romances. This one is sweet and funny, with no third act breakup as it builds to a satisfying end.
Thank you to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media, and Katie Bailey for the ALC opportunity.