GRR Reviews Their Secret Bargain by Kay Lyons

Nick is the black sheep of the Tulane family full of doctors and lawyers, but he is a shrewd businessman running a fitness center and a bar. When his son Matt has problems in school, he needed to hire a tutor for the summer fast... // Jenn had been put down all her life by her family and her (now ex-) husband for being a full-figured woman, but she loved to teach. // The two made a bargain: she'll tutor Matt, and he'll train her to lose the pounds... For two months, up to her trip to Paradise Island. He, a gorgeous 6-pack hunk, can't possibly want a chubby girl, and she can't possibly fall for a high school dropout... right?

Eh, conflicting feelings for this one. Jenn's fine, but Nick... has mercurial moods. He had NEVER disclosed to his family (he's in his late 20's or early 30's?) that he's functionally illiterate, and grew apart from his family because he feels ashamed. So when Jenn insists that he show up at a family wedding, he decides to dare her to go with him. Eh? And it's not the first book I've read with the plot of MFC finds MMC with a learning disability, cured him and fixed his family problems. Still, the little details are not too bad. 3/5

GRR Reviews Falling in Love with a Police Officer by Ellie Hall

Owen is a single father and police. He moved back to his hometown Hawk Ridge Hollow to help his daughter settle in, even though his brothers have all left the area on their own careers, despite family riches. Falling for his daughter's kindergarten teacher, Brynn, was not in the plans. // Brynn left the big city behind after losing her cop husband in the line of duty. She swore she will never date a cop again. She had no children, and being a teacher seems to be the closest she would get to a family. When Owens needs a sitter for his daughter because he works the night shift, and Brynn needs a "room parent" to help with the school, they ended up spending more time together. But when she made a mistake, how many secrets can they confess to each other to regain trust?

Nice, and the family fortune barely factored into the story, merely as a background element for tension. It's basically two damaged people coming together. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews My Little Rock Airman by Brittany Fichter

Jessie is a pre-school teacher and one of her favorite students is Jade, a young girl with Down's syndrome. At the last day of school, she got an intriguing offer... Jade's mother offered Jessie enough money to finish her master's degree if Jessie will be Jade's nanny for the summer. And Jessie quickly agreed. However Jessie didn't know that she'll be sharing her duties with Jade's big brother, airman Derrick, who pulled strings to be moved back home to Little Rock due to an incident a year ago. And the two developed a hostility to each other... and a cold prank war ensued... Until a truce is called... and understanding is achieved... they both actually want the best for Jade. But is Jessie has rules about love... and #1 is NEVER date an airman... Even as she secretly likes Sam, a fellow teacher. However, Derrick is tempting her to break her rules...

Oooh, VERY nice, a military romance without suspense or special operators, nor terrorists and such. Just regular citizen-soldiers dealing with family and life and its struggles. There is not too much angst, and whole thing is rather light-hearted, even as it deals with some heavy issues. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews Choose me, Cowboy by Barbara Ankrum

Kate won't admit she never really gotten over Finn, even after six years. She just dates and never commits. Enough so her family wanted to run an intervention. After all, she's the kindergarten teacher in Marietta, Montana, and she needs to act prim and proper for her young students. She was shocked when she found that the new 5-year old twins in her class is none other than Finn's children, and Finn has been back in Marietta for a few months (and has been a single father for several years). Furthermore, Finn's ex Melissa, mother of the children, now wants to contest custody, after marrying a rich international tycoon. Kate offers herself as the logical solution: get married and present to the judge a proper family. It would just be a marriage of convenience, right?

While I like the tension, and the bull-riding bit was good, the end solution felt too much like a deus ex machina. 4/5

GRR Reviews Mommy Loves the Rockstar by Shanae Johnson and Janae Ronniesha

Kiara is a single mother and nurse, raising pre-teen Camille. She's usually too tired to care. And she was surprised to run into one of her teenage idol and celebrity crush, Jett Anderson, temping as a substitute music teacher at her daughter's school... But he's only there for two weeks... // Jett used to be a part of a hot boy band and still has fans, but he's ready to settle down and get away from the tour life. When a friend visiting his gig was injured by rabid fans, he decided to take a two week break to help the friend out... by taking his place as a Middle School music teacher. But a music teacher isn't supposed to have fangirls... I mean fanwomen. Right? // Camille wants two things for Christmas... a new cellphone... and happiness for mom. When she realized her new music teacher is her mom's crush, she's determined to bring them together... even if she had to lock them in a room for them to work it out...

Okay, cute. You ALMOST don't realize Kiara is supposed to be black. I can't figure what ethnicity was Jett supposed to be, not that it really matters. 4/5

GRR Reviews Crazy For You by Ginny Baird

Mary Ellen just wanted to be a good elementary school teacher, but when a rooster showed up at her door, she took him in. And when he dashed out into the street, she named him Crazy. And another Crazy escape had her ran straight into the arms of her school principal, and single dad, Wes, who's also her neighbor. // Wes wasn't sure what to do with Mary Ellen. She's beautiful, blonde hair and blue eyes, but she's also a teacher in his school, and teacher of his daughter! But the rooster and the town has other plans...

Okay, good meet-cute, many LOL moments, and good twist about Crazy. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews How Daddy Got His Groove Back by Nathan Waqa

NOTE: The full title is actually "How Daddy got his groove back, with a LOT of help from me, Matchmaker Extraordinaire!!!"  You can see why I have to shorten that a bit.

Cassie loves her daddy. He makes the greatest pancakes, and he takes very good care of Cassie and sister Anna. But there is one thing missing in his life... mommy! When Cassie met Esmeralda, the substitute teacher for her class, Cassie knew she found "the one" for Daddy. Now... how to get them together... It just requires a plan, like her 272-step plan for world domination...

It is a fun read, mainly for amusement value as adults try to sit with a straight-face while Cassie enacts her naive plan. 4/5

GRR Reviews Second Chances by Henley Maverick

Kade had no choice but to move back to his home town with his 3-year old daughter after death of his fiancee. Finding Bria, his first love, as his daughter's pre-school teacher was a... welcome surprise. And now he can't think of any reason why they shouldn't get back together... // Bria let Kade go a long time ago, as she knew he had to take care of his baby, despite promises. She's perfectly fine with her life now... Until Kade came back. Can she forget the past for a future with Kade?

Eh... This plot had been done many times before, and this one is really nothing special. 3/5

GRR Reviews Who's the Daddy by Taryn Quinn

Kelsey is the pre-school teacher in Crescent Cove, a small town. Her friends are getting married, but she knew she had to change her life, and when she let her ex bad into her bed, once, she decided enough is enough, and left town and resettled in Crescent Cove. Meeting Dare, blue collar single father, as her pizza delivery guy was... unexpected. But Dare was too busy for love. He, however, will gladly give Kelsey a night she won't forget, NSA of course. But later, they found out that his son Wes was in her class. And it seems Kelsey is pregnant. But by her ex Tommy... or by Dare?

Eh... There really was no competition. Tommy is an immature jerk while Dare is an alpha protective guy. The tension is from whether Kelsey can let her guard down to accept Dare. So in a way, the story may not be quite what you'd expect. This is not a triangle at all. 4/5

GRR Reviews Sound Advice by L B Dunbar

Emily had to head back to her hometown of Elk Rapids to check up on Nana (grandma), as she seems to have moments of dementia. Emily encountered neighbor Jess, and his daughter Katie, who turned mute when Jess' wife just left the two. Emily helped Jess and Katie learn ASL so they can communicate instead of just guessing. Emily bonded with Katie, but Emily may not be staying as her career is still out East, and Jess can't fall for someone who's not staying...

Good emotional ebb and flow, but there are moments that are extremely slow, and the escalation didn't quite flow right. 3.5/5

GRR Reviews His Curvy Teacher by Sara Hazel

Lincoln knew love at first sight exists... He just fell for his daughter's teacher, Caitlyn, and BBW. Yes, he's a bit older, and she's a bit young, and she had some bad experience with her douche-y boyfriend who basically told her she's too "big". But he likes her BBW size just fine. But she also has a sister who hated her... and he'll need to protect her...

Eh... there are a lot of problems in the writing, and the story line is pretty juvenile. I am pretty sure there's a place where the author used "affect" instead of "effect", for example. And for a guy, his mind is extremely wordy. Sure, there's some heat, but this is average, at best. 2.5/5

GRR Reviews The Perfect Distraction by Susan Coventry

Beth can't live in the city anymore when her fiancee called off their wedding. She moved to Harbor Springs to live in her aunt's cottage. It was just for the summer, and be reunited with her sisters is a bonus. She didn't count on meeting Colton... // Colton is a single dad taking care of his son Joey and working in his family's woodworking biz. The divorce was contentious and he is in no mood for any relationship, not even with the beautiful neighbor Beth. But when he learned that Beth is a teacher, he hired her to tutor Joey over the summer. And what was meant as the perfect distraction to help Beth heal over the summer soon became a lot more...

Now that's the proper way to do a slow-burn romance, when love came from an unexpected direction. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews Savage Protector by Kai Lesy

Layla refused to go into law and follow in her father's footsteps. She went into music and was happy teaching kids to appreciate music. She came to know Hugh when his son Charlie was in her music program, but Charlie was an introvert and Layla was suspicious of Hugh, who's quite intense. When Layla's father, the DA, was prosecuting a local criminal kingpin, the kingpin in turn threatened the DA, and DA daddy hired Hugh to protect Layla... And Charlie treats Layla like a second mom...

Good bodyguard romance, with tender moments. No sex until near the very end, though the kingpin threatening someone personally? VERY naughty of him, and very stupid. And the darkest hour... I don't quite like it. It seems like a vast overreaction for a guy. 4/5

GRR Reviews My Convenient Marriage by Rachel Taylor

Declan is a businessman too busy for love. So when CPS showed up at his business with a girl in tow, he was shocked... But there's no denying Callie was his daughter, and the mother... was in a less than legit profession as both mother and her BF were arrested. Having never cared for a child in his life, he was totally overwhelmed, as Callie won't even talk to him. As he had to work, the only solution was to enroll her in daycare. // Abby loves kids, but doesn't trust men. Working in daycare was the next best thing to having her own. Abby bonded with Callie, the new student, and cleaned her up... then noticed signs of abuse.. .and was mortified to find she had accused the wrong person, Declan. She offered to help, and Declan eagerly accepted. But when Declan tried to contest for custody, his lawyer told him he needs a real family... suburban house, picket fence, wife, and all that. And Declan saw his solution: he'll ask Abby to join him in a marriage of convenience. It was about Callie, not love... At least that's what he told himself...

Good polish, but nothing really out of the ordinary. I saw every major plot point coming a mile away. He thinks she doesn't love him (she kinda said so at the beginning), she thinks he doesn't love her (because she had said she didn't love him). It's a bunch of stupid assumptions until it boiled over and they had to admit their feelings, which is a trope in itself. 3.5/5

GRR Reviews Basketball Mom by Ginny Baird

Tess, single mom, wants the best for her son, Jake. And Jake wants to be on the basketball team. Unfortunately, his abilities are somewhat lacking. It didn't help when their neighbor, single dad Colin, is the basketball coach, and his daughter, Dakota, is dribbling circles around Jake. In desperation, Jake wished upon a shooting star to become the best basketball player in the state or even the world... But the magic landed on his mother instead. Tess's accidental demonstration at her son's basketball tryouts was filmed and immediately went viral, and Colin's friend, a WNBA scout, came to town to investigate #basketballmom. Tess is overwhelmed, as even she can't explain her freakish abilities, and now Jake's mad at her for "stealing" his wish. Tess is also drooling over her handsome neighbor Colin, but she can't get involved with her son's coach... Right?

Ah, nice comedy with a dose of magic. Let's just say Tess doesn't get to keep her ability, but Jake didn't turn into a superstar either. But the love that came from that temporary gift is what lasts forever. A fun tale. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews Blind Date by Victoria Snow

Ellie moved to Florida and found a job as an elementary school teacher. She has a hot neighbor single dad, who's also ended up as her blind date. His name is Will, and they got into an NSA relationship. But her school has a no-dating-staff-and-parents policy. And while Will keeps saying "no love" because his daughter's mom ran away, Ellie may have fallen for Will, but Ellie doesn't want to lose her job...

This is sorta erotic romance, as the book got into sex almost immediately (with thoughts of masturbation). It's not bad, but it's not particularly good either.  3/5

GRR Reviews Second Chance with the Billionaire by Remi Carrington

Milo adopted his orphaned nieces after their parents died in a car accident. He can't believe his fiancee Amy left him after he presented her with the news. But his nieces are family, and anyone who can't accept his family will never be a part of his. Three years later, when dropping off the girls at school, he just found out their new teacher is none other than Amy, his ex. // Amy knew she panicked that day... her own family trauma made her doubt she can ever be a mom, much less two kids at once. By the time she decided that she can take a chance at that life, Milo had cut all contact, and she left town broken-hearted, to pursue her teaching degree. Three years later, she's back. She wants a second chance with Milo, but Milo still won't see her. But the girls love Amy... And perhaps, Milo still loves her a little...

Ah, very angst-y type of second-chance romance. And the setup was quite good. It will take a LOT of setup to force this couple together, from sick/comfort (girls fell sick) to matchmaker (his friends and even the girls setup them up), from cougars on the prowl (other mothers at school) to secret wealth (he's a secret billionaire) this book has a little of everything.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

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

GRR Reviews The Billionaire and the Therapist by Kim Koby

Natalie changed her name and her life to get away from her stalker. Starting over in Texas is proving to be harder than she imagined. So when a widower billionaire father John offered her room and board AND 200K for a year to help his daughter. she can't refuse. But the daughter witnessed the death of her mother and had stopped speaking altogether. John was grateful to have found Natalie, even though he is certain she's keeping a secret. As they get closer to each other and witnessed his daughter's slow recovery, will that secret tear them apart?

Uh, sorry, the ending was a total fakeout. The threat was dealt with in a single sentence. I feel robbed. Same with John's father's threats about having her investigated. Nor did we ever figure out how did the stalker figure out where Natalie went, despite she has changed her name, moved across the country, AND taken up residence in John's exclusive town. The book has too many of these WTF? moments.

Category: Contemporary / Romantic suspense?

Overall Rating: 2/5

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

GRR Reviews Mommy Loves the Principal by Shanae Johnson

Kylee, voted most likely to succeed by her class, did not. She skipped town with the local "bad boy", got pregnant, and got hitched, and had to divorce the loser. Now a single mom, she's back in town working for a testing center... And found the geek in her class, Ron, is now the elementary school principal. And Ron had always had a thing for Kylee. Unfortunately, principals are not supposed to date their students' parents, and Ron, being the youngest principal ever, can't risk his position. He wanted to adopt the new test prep courses that Kylee's company wants to see, but is dating Kylee ethical, while she's working there? Ron and Kylee may be reluctant, but Kylee's girl is determined to see the two together... and she has a plan...

Ah, good bits. A bit short, but right on the money with all proper plot points.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 4/5

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