GRR Reviews Barefoot with a Bad Boy by Roxanne St Claire

Gabriel Rossi, ex-spy, now consultant, fell for CIA linguist Isadora while she was training under him. But she left on an assignment, and was later, declared dead. Gabe also learned of a child by Isa, presumably his, also dead. Years later, retired, Gabe was approached on the beach of Barefoot Bay by a woman, who knew things ONLY his Isa would know about... yet she looked NOTHING like her. His spy training told him this had to be a trick, but his heart wonders... could it be true? // Lila has been working deep undercover for years with full body modification, that she no longer sees herself as Isadora. But with unknown threat stalking her, despite her semi-retirement, and the need to protect her son, she had no choice but to approach Gabe for help. But any attempt to get close to Gabe resulted in a splitting headache. And Gabe, instead of offering her sanctuary to hide, offered to help her entrap whoever is after her. They don't realize the threat is actually MUCH closer than they realized... And betrayal comes from unexpected direction...

Good spy thriller combined with romance. 5/5

GRR Reviews Barefoot at Moonrise by Roxanne St Claire

Ken, the fire captain, had always regretted letting Beth go twenty-five years ago, believing her father had covered up the truth regarding his own father's death. After the school reunion they came together for one night of bliss, but they separated again, as their issues were still unresolved. // Beth chose to stay away from her father's business and control, and flip houses for a living instead. She knew her father will always come between her and Ken. Then she found that she's pregnant... despite having tied tubes. Ken was willing to bet it all for a family of his own, but the truth of his father's death will shock even him...

Oh, there's definitely some great twists and turns in the plot here. And the darkest hour / grand gesture was amazing. No surprises here at all, as every turn of the plot was foreshadowed properly. There was some setup for subsequent volumes that felt slightly wordy or tacked on, but it's not major. 5/5

GRR Reviews Barefoot in Lace (Barefoot Bay Brides) by Roxanne St. Claire

Barefoot in Lace started as one of those "no way these two people would meet in real-life" meetcutes, but managed to pivot into the character exploration very deftly as both characters are dealing with deep issues that are more than typical "jilted / betrayed".

Destination wedding planner Augusta "Gussie" McBain has a crisis... Her wedding photographer just quit a week before the wedding. When she ran into famous photographer TJ Demille, she had to ask him to help. But TJ does not do weddings... he's a high fashion photographer. Gussie was surprised when he said yes... If she will agree to one thing in turn: keep his niece entertained. // Tom "TJ" Demille prefers to be alone, after having his heart broken by circumstances beyond his control. When his sister died and left the care of her 12-year old daughter to Tom, he is lost. When Gussie came to ask him for help, and his niece took to Gussie like a duck to water, Tom agreed to the unthinkable: be a wedding photographer (and deal with bridezilla and her mother, among other things). As he gets to know Gussie, he found that Gussie's wigs conceal scars from an old injury. When he needed to take a job in France, he needed to take his niece with her, but she refused to go unless Gussie can come along too. And Gussie agreed. Tom and Gussie had fallen for each other, but he believed he hurt people around him, after losing his parents, then his sister. Gussie thought her own stupidity lead to her injury that drove her brother away and broke up her family. Can these two get past their own wounds, forgive themselves, and learn to love again?

The pivot after the initial story (be wedding photographer) to the subsequent story (lets all go to France) was nicely done, as Gussy gained confidence in her style and beauty, while additional serendipitous developments resolved yet another aspect of her life that she had regrets in (no spoiler!) All in all the extra polish and balanced plot (half about him and half about her) made for a very enjoyable reading

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Woman needing a photographer found a photographer needing some help with a niece he had to raise alone...

Tropes: resort, wedding planner, photographer, scars, single parent, family secrets

Overall Rating:  5/5

GRR Reviews Secrets on the Sand (Barefoot Bay Billion by Roxanne St. Claire

"Secrets on the Sand" is a reunion novel that's slightly over-melodramatic.

Mandy Mitchell was the queen of her high school court. But one disastrous marriage later, she's back in the resort town of Barefoot Bay... as cleaning staff for the resort... and endures constant haranguing from those touting "how the mighty Mandy had fallen". When she got into a bit of situation in Zeke Nicholas' villa, she did not recognize the handsome and built Zeke... as the "Ezekiel the Geekiel" she helped way back when. But her situation turned from bad to worse when she was fired for using the facilities of the villa (at Zeke's insistence when she got wet). Zeke knew Mandy was the girl he always wanted, and he's determined to help... by giving her $5000 to help her start her own cleaning business that the resort can contract... but Mandy is keeping a secret to herself... will Zeke will want her after that secret was exposed?

I find the book above average in polish, and the attraction between the two slightly forced, but otherwise, still good romance between the two about secrets and past affections.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Maid for millionaire on a beach resort, plus a bit of hostile town and right rich guy ready to rescue the woman

Tropes: maid, resort, single parent, differnet worlds, ugly duckling, reunion

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Reviews Barefoot at Sunset (Barefoot Bay Timeles by Roxanne St. Claire

Barefoot at Sunset is a contemporary romance that featured an excellent meet-cute that was followed by "fake fiancee / real love" trope that escalated properly in a rom-com fashion as neither really knew anymore was it pretend or real affection. I find the grand gesture at the end a bit vague though.

To recap... Mark Solomon got wrangled into joining his high school reunion, even though the last thing he wanted was to be reminded that his wife Julia who died sixteen years ago, and no doubt every single woman at the reunion would be hitting on him. He was about to walk out when he found a woman sobbing on his doorstep... Copywriter Emma DeWitt was jaded, jilted, and jobless. She fell in love with her boss and even got engaged. Then two weeks ago he suddenly called it off, basically forcing her to resign as she can no longer work for him. She went to the island resort anyway and was sobbing on the doorstep of the villa she would have occupied for her honeymoon when Mark found her. And he made her an offer: spend a platonic week with him as his pretend fiancee to help him ward off all the advances and questions. Mark believes there was only one soul mate, and he already loved, married, and buried his love. Emma believes love is a marketing concept pitched to romantics to sell them even more stuff. But together, they fit so... right. But when the news of his engagement spread and his affection for her grew, how much of this is just pretend?

I think the idea of pretend fiancee was a bit iffy, though I can understand why Mark would want one after being harped on by the committee that snagged him. And you can tell fundamentally Mark's a good guy as he's trying to save Emma, as she basically arrived without even a reservation. Can spending a week with a gorgeous hunk help her get over her heartache... or only make it worse? Can Mark get through the week without telling even MORE lies? Can they coordinate their stories to ward off the advances of the harpies... and the well-wishers? For all that, you'll have to read the book, as I do find it entertaining, but a little lacking near the end.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Man needing a fake fiancee to ward off suitors found a jilted sobbing woman on his doorstep; can they help each other?

Tropes: fake engagement, jilted, forced proximity, protector

Overall Rating:  4/5