GRR Reviews Tell Me by Abigail Strom

Jane is the quiet sister, for she can never hope to compare to her vibrant sister Samantha. She had a hankering for the family friend Caleb, who's also a real cowboy from Colorado, but she never said anything for Caleb is also Sam's business partner in an adventure company. Caleb did push Jane to go after what she wanted, but Caleb and Jane have nothing in common except Sam... Until tragedy struck... and Sam's last wish was for Jane to scatter her ashes on a specific mountaintop, and to do that, she will need Caleb's help. But is Jane really going there just for the final wish, or is she going there to meet a man that could be the man of her dreams, that's NOT Caleb?

Hmmm... I liked the book right up to the end when he did the "my cowardly stupid self-sacrifice" thing. He ran away when he got jealous and hurt, and he reasoned it away as "I am no good for her, she's better off without me, and be with someone she really likes"... Which is, obviously completely the WRONG interpretation. GAH!

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Bookseller must honor her sister's last wish by enlisting her unrequited love's help, but she cannot love him... Or can she?

Overall Rating: 3/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below.

GRR Reviews Into Your Arms by Abigail Strom

Into Your Arms is more than about merely chemistry or denial of such, but rather, how the couple meet their crisis and deal with them, whether apart... or together.

Sara wasn't looking for love. She had been dancing since she was very young, and her career required her entire attention, but she's 35 and may be close to the end of her active dancing life. She has a boyfriend who is... okay, so she shouldn't like the sexy stranger Nick who just moved in next door... Nick is in the city to help his brother break his addiction to alcohol, and to help a local candidate win her election as a campaign advisor. He'll be gone in a few months. But one look at the dancer next door, or the time he saw her in her underwear breaking in her dancing shoes... and he's smitten. Yet the more they deny their attraction to each other, the stronger it got. But when each meets their own crisis, will they break their hearts?

The push-pull was good, but what took it over mediocre was how they deal with the respective crises and how that affected their love.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Can two completely opposite neighbors fall in love, when one of them was just here temporarily?

Tropes: neighbor, opposites attract, fling to t a thing, family pressure,

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Reviews Anything But Love by Abigail Strom

Anything But Love is a contemporary romance about a second chance to go after who you wanted.

Socialite Jessica Bullock was a pleaser, always doing things to please her parents. She's about to marry... Until her man left her at the altar... for a guy. As her greatest moment of triumph burned to the ground, she found her childhood friend, Ben Taggart, whom she drove away in high school, was there to help her pick up the pieces. And since Ben had a month or two of free time, before moving to Chicago to take up his new teaching position, he has time to go with Jessica to Bermuda, as the 10-day honeymoon was already paid for. Ben just wanted to see Jessica happy again and agreed to keep things platonic, but an unplanned kiss left their resolve (and soon, their clothes) on the floor. They told themselves what happened in Bermuda stays in Bermuda, but can that really happen?

The setup was pretty good, and everything seems to make sense, at least within the context of the story. I find the idea of Jessica allowing Ben to accompany her on the vacation slightly incredulous, as they haven't been friends for a very long time, even if Ben happened to be available. But it's a fun tale nonetheless.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Woman who just had her wedding plans burned at the altar found her old friend willing to accompany her on her not-honeymoon

Tropes: friends to lovers, jilted, childhood sweetheart, forced proximity, fling to a thing

Overall Rating: 4/5