GRR Reviews On the Market by Rachael Herron

Liam and his brothers are contractors and house-flippers. Their life is perfect, at least, as perfect as having a foster son driving him nuts can be. Then a TV producer called. They want to do a reality show based on them... with an angle about romance. A woman will buy a house, the brothers will renovate it, and date her. And they'll earn a lot more than just flipping houses. Then the producer, Felicia, arrived. And she fell in love with one of the houses... It's as if it was her dream manifested in reality. Suddenly, she's the contestant, and Liam had to date her. Country boy meets city girl. The Bachelor meets Property Brothers. And their lives will never be the same.

Now that's an interesting setup. Lots of double entendre and hidden meanings. Is it real or is it for the cameras? While reality TV romance had been done many times before, mixing it up with handyman trope is pretty ingenious. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews The Darling Songbirds by Rachael Herron

Adele Darling is back in Darling Bay, the town her great-grandpa founded. She left many years ago, and she lived in Nashville... Until she learned her uncle had died left her the bar, the cafe, and the "hotel". Already a bit down on her luck as a songwriter, she decided to see what may be there. Except only the bar is open, and the only upside to the place is the handsome guitar-playing bartender Nate... who always believed he would be the next owner. Adele and her two sisters were once known as the Darling Songbirds, a top country girl band, and she knew talent when she saw one. She should just sell the bar to Nate and be done with it, but where would she call home? And how would she get to know Nate? Can Nate encourage her to sell? Wouldn't that just make her leave town? Yet without the bar, what would Nate do?

There were a LOT of emotions to unpack. The three sisters had not spoken much to each other for YEARS, due to some big dark blow-up that drove them apart. Adele had to deal with the way she was brought up, for she's the oldest. Being a country music family, there wasn't really any home... except for Darling Bay. Adele basically had to figure out how she can reunite her family... AND put Darling Bay on the map again... by putting in money to fix the place up... Lots of relationships to unpack.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 5/5

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

GRR Reviews The Firefighters of Darling Bay Boxed Set by Rachael Herron

Firefighters of Darling Bay sets up 4 different couples (only 3 involving firefighters though) with quite different setups. Overall, I think it's a fun collection.

As this is a collection, I'm not going to describe each and every book with a full blurb. I'll just give you the couple...

Vol 1: Acupuncturist vs. firefighter hiding his injuries

Vol 2: Firefighter vs. Dispatcher he can't quite have...

Vol 3: Firefighter gets second chance with the girl that left town, but came back

Vol 4: Two paramedic crew deny their attraction to each other (enemies to lovers)

None of the couples are too angst-driven to forget they are normal people to fall into melodrama. I think the acupuncture effects were drummed up a wee bit far, but it *could* happen. Overall, satisfying read.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: N/A Collection

Tropes: different worlds, firefighter, opposites attract, reunion, return, enemies to lovers, unrequited love

Overall Rating:  4/5