GRR Reviews All for Love by Lucy Kevin

Paige is a dance instructor, who inherited the dance gene of the family, and still grieves over losing her mother and betrayed by the only guy she ever loved. But this Christmas break will be spent teaching a hot TV star how to dance... // Christian is a hot TV star on a hit medical show who just got his movie star break... He'll star in the remake of the Fred Astaire / Ginger Rogers classic, but he needs serious lessons ASAP. // Chemistry sizzled between the two from the first meeting. Christian never knew someone like Paige existed, so effortlessly beautiful and talented, with virtually no ego... so much so she's self-effacing. And Paige sees Christian as nice, lovely, shares her passions, but she can never be worthy... or can she?

Good polish on the old "different worlds" story, peppered with good details and plot developments as well as trivia about the old classic. The grand gesture at the end is right on the money. So why not 5/5? No karma for the evil ex. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews Signature Sweethearts Boxset Books 1-3 by Kelsie Rae

Note; 3 book collection

Liv: Liv's humble yet perfect life ended when her husband died in a car accident, leaving her alone and pregnant. She was so close to making it. Her husband's family never really liked her, but they eloped and went their own way. Now she has nowhere to turn to...  Except Luke, childhood friend, until she fell for the other boy and married him... Will the reunion be sweet... or salty? Will he still love her? What about the baby?

Good second chance romance with the complication of "left-over baby". 4/5

Breezy: Her name is Bree, but she's always known as Breezy, sort of a joke about her no-nonsense personality. Oh, and she's Luke's sister (see book 1: Liv) Breezy has an HR degree, but she's waitressing in a sports bar. She met Derrick when she spilled nachos on him. She later got a job at Derrick's company as the new HR assistant and wanted Derrick, now her boss, but Derrick's been hurt before and used the no-fraternization policy to refuse to date her... Until Jude decided to help them out by pretending to date Breezy...

The "spilled food" meet-cute had been done gazillion times. But the subsequent dialog may be a classic. Breezy's forthrightness is a delightful change from the meek female who can't speak their mind (it's never the right time). 4.5/5

Jude: Jude used to be an online gaming champ and when the company decided to sponsor a gaming team, he was assigned as the assistant coach for his name recognition and talent. He found himself drawn to Q (real name: Quincy), the only female player on the team, extremely quiet away from the keyboard. Turns out her father is having dementia and her gaming is the only thing keeping a roof over their heads. Jude wanted to help her, but he's much older, and even he can see that she doesn't trust easily, either in or out of the game. Can he teach her that men can be trusted, both for himself and the game, with the championship coming up soon?

Good use of the gaming world as a backdrop, with the championship sort of a parallel to their love life. 5/5

Overall, 4.5/5

GRR Reviews The Perfect Comeback by Kacey Shea

Matt is a former MMA contender forced to retire after injury. He took his savings and started a gym, forever hating his wife-beater of a father (who asked him to throw his final fight). But his gym is hitting hard times, and he needs some extra income to help train his few contenders for the semi-pro matches, hoping one of them get noticed by NFC scouts. It was when he's acting as a bouncer for a bar when he noticed Mia... // Mia was completely burned out and jaded on relationships... She prefers to be by herself and her female friends, and one gay friend Jared. Mia is a total nerd and was not impressed by Matt's muscles and alpha attitude, When Mia and her gay friend was assaulted by a drunk patron, Matt took care of the problem and offered to train her in exchange for updating his gym website, despite Mia's prickly and sassy attitude. Mia and Matt eventually got together, but neither would admit it's a relationship...

Some parts are good, some parts are TSTL. Mia just came across as bitchy, not sassy, until she mellowed out a little, at least until the darkest hour. Then she did the "overheard something and got the wrong idea but won't give them a chance to explain" trope.  ARGH. Also, I am not sure a game designer is the best person to ask for website design? And a game designer is a very different position from a web PROGRAMMER...  I like the background laid out for Matt, but Mia's thoughts and phobias came a bit too late for it to be believable (not enough foundation laid). 3.5/5

GRR Reviews Her Favorite Mistake by Barbara Lohr

Vanessa wants to take her cake business to the next level, and joining a reality show where entrepreneurs decide if they want to coach her would give her the exposure and help. What she didn't expect was for one of the coaches on the show to be her one-night stand in Vegas from four years ago... // Alex, internet mogul, definitely recognized Vanessa from four years ago... She slipped out before dawn, and Alex was tempted to exact revenge... but he's also intrigued by her... and her child. After, he's her "favorite mistake", right?

Eh, didn't feel much with this one. Just doesn't feel that memorable. 3/5

GRR Reviews His Vow by Lilian Monroe

Zane is a CIA agent, undercover with the Russian mob, trying to nail a US Senator for smuggling arms. It just happens that Senator Nathan Blanchet had destroyed his family fifteen years ago. And Zane was about to get his revenge when he found that Senator's daughter Sadie, the girl he had kissed once, is now all grown up, and a pawn in Senator's power games. He must protect her... at the risk of his duty... and his honor.

Sorry, but this CIA agent is a joke. Let's not even worry about CIA on FBI's turf (arms smuggling and treason is FBI's territory, not CIA) or *possi commitatus* act... The fact that Zane's handler actually called him by his REAL name over the phone instead of cover name is just BAD OP-SEC AND STUPID. Zane saved Sadie from being trampled at a concert and actually revealed his identity to her was stupid, but almost believable. For her to be in his class (his cover was international law professor) was okay (with his cover name). But his decision to REVEAL TO HER that he's a CIA agent is just outright STUPID. And how can CIA not know about his past with the Blanchetts? And age problem. He's a professor already, and he once kissed this girl? How old are they again?  And that's where I stopped reading this piece of crap.

This is basically some amateur writing some generic hero and tried to cast him as a CIA agent WITHOUT proper research or editing. There are way too many holes in the plot it's worse than Swiss cheese. It's total crap. 1/5

GRR Reviews Abby's Promise by Rebekah Dodson

Joey and Abby were best friends and lovers. Until he left for the military, and they eventually lost touch. Abby ended up marrying Joey's best friend Evan, when she got pregnant, but he never really loved her... Then Evan died, and Abby became a single mom. Eight years later, Joey is back, taking a class in community college, when he found to his surprise that the history professor was none other than his Abby. She promised to never let him go, and so did he. Now he's back, but it seems she had moved on... Or did she?

This book has some weird plotting that sort of acted as complications, but they didn't quite make sense. Abby's mother-in-law and brother-in-law apparently were hostile toward Abby because she kept baby Zoey away from them. Joey's father was a strictly religious MD that claims to know secrets about the night of Evan's death (let's just say he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but was there someone ELSE in the room?) and wants to keep the pair apart.


SPOILER

AHEAD

I WARNED YOU!

Then out of nowhere, the brother-in-law Malachi resorted to kidnapping baby Zoey. Then somehow, the mother-in-law, who's using a cane and walked very slowly, was able to get baby Zoey out of the house down to the police station. WUH?  Then Malachi broke into Abby's house, and Joey had to charge in and save her, only to be arrested for "assault".  All of the evil are really flat and boring. The good parts are good, the bad parts, however, balanced out the good, leaving it a mess. 3/5

GRR Reviews Late Bloomer by Barbara Lohr

Carolyn is back in Santa Fe to visit her grandmother, and to care for her as she broke her hip three months ago. And she ran into Brody, one of her students years ago. He was a jock, and he set the record for detentions due to way too much female attention and other disruptions. But he's now a proper man. And grandma, aka "Mama V" has a new beau and recovered completely, and encouraged her to have a fling with Brody... and Brody is certainly not a kid anymore. But can Carolyn ever see Brody is a man, not as a former student?

Awwww, a nice job doing a May-September romance that has just a HINT of that taboo feel. 4/5

GRR Reviews Kiss at Midsummer by Meg Easton

Elise lost her mother six years ago. She wanted to complete her mother's bucket list, and one of the items was to buy her childhood home back. She found a job at the Royal Palm Resort and worked her way up to activities director. She needs to cater to this special client, Merit, to get the bonus pay which would give her enough for the down payment. But there's a condition: Merit's business partner wanted him to date and have fun. But Elise also knew that Royal Palm has a "no fraternizing with guest" policy. Merit turns out to be a total workaholic who had to be forced into his vacation, and it took Elise some creative finagling to get him to forget work with activities such as parasailing and sand castle building (with kids). But an unplanned spa day (accidental couple) and a dance at the Midsummer Ball, and other activities as a couple, and Merit found himself falling for Elise, and vice versa, even though Merit was supposed to date other guests, not Elise... And Elise found her job in danger when she was caught with Merit...

The darkest hour was pretty much trope "sensitive ears, fragile ego", when Merit found out about the "side bet" bonus deal his business partner made with Elise, and concluded she's a golddigger and cut off all ties, and thus Elise may lose her job and her chance to buy back her old home. Resolution? A bit of meh. Still, the slow burn was pretty good. 4/5

GRR Reviews Class is in Session by Laura Westbrook

Kara is 19 and attending university, and she's falling for the professor... Jack.  She already failed this class before under a different professor, and she can't fail this class again. She thought she felt a bit more attention than normal from Jack, but he's so professional. Then he called her to his office after class, after a test... and that's when he found who her mother is...

Basically, taboo love, with the complication that her mom is the college president. But it's barely mentioned, and there really wasn't much of a struggle. It's hot and steamy, but more in an erotica way than romance. As erotica, it's 4/5, but as a romance... it's 2/5, no complications other than "taboo". So overall, 3/5

GRR Reviews Strictly Professional by Kathryn Nolan

Roxy is a beautiful tattooed goddess badass...except when it comes to business. Her tattoo parlor is failing, as the area is gentrifying. So when a proper Brit wandered through her doors, drunk and broken-hearted, she was surprised, but not shocked. And he's VERY charming. His name is Edward, and he's a hotelier who was expected to marry someone his family approves to inherit the hotel he had been managing most of his adult life. Except the last "approved" woman betrayed him already (which caused him to be drunk and ended up at Roxy's). And Edward has some dark desires he can never share with a "proper" woman... but with Roxy... Oh, yes.  Roxy was going for MBA hoping to fix her business, and one of the projects was being mentored by a businessman. Who'd knew that her mentor would end up being Edward?

Ooo-la-la. This opposites attract story does indeed have explosive chemistry. The end solution was slight bit of deus ex machina. Who'd knew family can be so... ****tards?   4.5/5

GRR Reviews Lovers in Training by Alicia Street

Shannon lost her mother to suicide by OD. Forever haunted by her failure to save her mom, she hated her dad for driving her mother into it. With no heart to give into any relationship, she moved from job to job, until Tate entered her life. // Tate sold his company at a high and now is a rich man looking for his next passion. When he had to protect Shannon from two drunks intending nasty deeds, it was just being a nice guy. But he can't forget Shannon. When Shannon became a private fitness coach, Tate had to hire her, just to see her again, and see where this can go. But Shannon is broken, and cannot love Tate at all. Then Shannon learned the real truth behind her mother's death... and everything changed...

I think Tate's a bit too perfect here, and Shannon needs to see a shrink, as her family is... seriously dysfunctional. But the novel's good, not great, as it relies on this "one revelation" of epiphany. 4/5

GRR Reviews Austen, Party of Two by Britney M Mills

Lexi had a bad experience with romance during culinary school, and after graduation, threw herself into her food truck business, with no time for love. Speed-dating didn't help, as she's becoming known as a one-date-wonder (nobody wanted to date her twice). When her best friend asked her to be one of the coaches for a charity celebrity bake-off series, she can't refuse... Until she found out her student is the gorgeous jerk from last week's speed-dating event... // Brennan is a journalist and a fitness guru. When his family charity is holding a celebrity bake-off, he had to join, but he's as shocked as her when she's assigned as his baking coach. And he's definitely feeling the heat. But Brennan proved to be a surprisingly fast learner, perhaps, not as bad of a jerk as he had shown Lexi. But Brennan had one item he hadn't confessed to... He was the food critic that gave her horrible reviews a few months back... when he didn't know ANYTHING about food trucks...

Awww, just enough angst to make it worthwhile in this sorta enemies-to-lovers combined with a reality show that's NOT about bachelors and auctions, but more of a Top Chef style show. Nice. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews The Professor's Secret Crush by Elana Johnson

Cassandra's primary concern is to keep her two twin half-brothers safe, and away from their convict father. She moved 6 hours away, changed the twins' name, and is working two jobs, including teaching cooking at the local college, but to special needs students. // Jonathan needs one more class to graduate and get his business degree so he can help run his family farm, and he wanted to learn how to cook to impress a girl. So he enrolled in the cooking class, not that Cass would let him, obviously NOT special needs, can stay. But Jon can be persistently charming. However, the college, with a recent scandal, does not allow any faculty/student relationships. PERIOD! When the twin's father found them, can Jon help Cass protect the twins?

Pretty good, 4/5, even though it's not really THAT taboo. The final action scene feels more like Terminator chasing Sarah Conor, with the bad guy crashing through doors and ****.

GRR Reviews Catching Waves by Kimberly Krey

Surf instructor Carly of Royal Palm Resort is not happy when she found her schedule was hijacked to accommodate a Hollywood hunk by the name of Gage. Her personal life is a mess, as her first partner, Jimmy, was somehow still in her life despite having separated years ago due to a shared tragedy. And Gage was nothing like she expected... // Gage was NOT a Hollywood hunk. He was in school getting his degree in UC Berkeley, but to please his legendary actor father, he'll do ONE film... which happens to be a surfer movie. Carly is an excellent instructor, and soon his own UN-Hollywood manners wooed Carly. But even as Gage contemplated life with Carly, paparazzi found them and Carly's tragedy are exploited by tabloids, and Carly ran... Can Gage show that he's sincere in his love for her?

Good use of papparazzi, with no obviously plot holes and proper developements. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews The Dancing Groom by Taylor Hart

Boston is going to support his brother going in for ALS treatment by going with him to a resort but he's in a social media war with his ex-GF. Spoiling Addison's lunch (by accidentally running her over) was not in his plans. // Addison used to be one of the dancers on Dancing with the Stars. In fact, she met her husband there... and married him, and retired. His death six months ago from a heart attack shook her to her core. Now she's ready for a comeback, but she needs to ace the audition, and she needs to train, and the best way is by taking a part-time teaching position at the resort with the other teacher. Teaching dance to seniors and teens is fun, but Boston and his brother? Infuriating. But Boston proved to be surprisingly nimble on his feet. When Addison's dance partner had to bow out for family reasons, it seems Boston will have to be Addison's dance partner... Until his ex ruined things AGAIN...

Not bad, good bits about dancing, social media, and evil ex.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

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

GRR Reviews Just Dessert by Kelly Collins

Katarina "Kat" is just a student, but when her friend accidentally double booked herself escorting two gentlemen to a black-tie event, she can't turn her down. That's how she met Damon, nightclub owner, as his "arm candy". Damon was a total gentleman, but he admits he's too broken to date... because he kept offering her money for another date, and she kept refusing. But when they discover they were reading the same romance book, they decided to give some of the taboo fantasies in the book a try. However, can Damon ever move on from his wounds?

I was loving the book right up to the darkest hour, which felt VERY VERY contrived. Basically, she saw his ex put a move on him, and she ran. ARGH!!!!!!! Her excuse? "If I can't have all of you, I don't want any part of you."

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 4/5

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

GRR Reviews Late Night Confessions by Mia Madison

Maya is a 22-year-old virgin, chatting anonymously on a "confessions" chat board. When she admitted she's a virgin, and she planned to lose her v-card the next day with her best friend (but a mere friend with benefits, not in love), she got a ton of solicitations... Except one from an older man that caught her eye... He did not sext her, but rather, discussed sex and love. She found the chat with him stimulating, and not believing he's real, he ended up sending her his picture. It was a few days later that she found out, to her horror, that her chat buddy is her new academic advisor in the university... and she had to stay away. But the most they get to know each other, the more they want to taste the forbidden fruit...

Not bad, no obvious stupidities, proper online etiquette and follow-up. The school stuff about zero fraternization ended up as the darkest hour, but then, what's what taboo  student-teacher relationships usually end up as. Not bad.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

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

GRR Reviews A Christmas to Remember (Hero Hearts) by Hayley Wescott

April, a teacher, was pulled over by state trooper Clay when she drove a bit over the speed limit. Turns out she's teaching two of his kids... and he's a widower, but when she reminded him that he didn't come to the PTA meeting, he got mad and gave her a ticket instead of just a warning. But they can't forget about each other, and as they struggle to do the best for their kids, they slowly discover how good they can be together... But when the school reminded April that it's NOT proper to date a student's parent, will the relationship end?

All I feel are some warm fuzzies. it's okay, but nothing really special. The solution turned out to be a technicality.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 3/5

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

GRR Reviews WOMEN WHO DARE: Three Book Bundle by Bobby Hutchinson

NOTE: This is a 3-book bundle. The three titles included are reviewed separately.

A Legal Affair -- Jenny, from her experience with the court system, wants a law degree to help promote social justice. Zach, the senior lawyer advisor for the free legal clinic, is there to date beautiful law school students. After all, the big shot corporate lawyer doesn't need to be there. But Jenny's love for lost cause horrified his sensible side, and Zach's corporate law and lifestyle is everything Jenny would not want in a man... He's mercenary and rich, and would never imagine going on contingency only for a low-probability case. But for Jenny... can he change his mind?

Swoon-y and above average, as both end up bending for the other, but he bent a bit further. 4/5

Menu for a Wedding -- Francesca "Frankie" has a hat-making business, so shopping for a caterer with her mom for her sister's wedding was not exactly high on her to-do list. At 26, Frankie's the oldest and due to her single status, is considered spinster of the family. When the caterer Eric, who's an ex-footballer (NFL) turned restauranteur met with mother, the menu was NOT settled, nor was Frankie's heart. Eric knew this catering job would not be easy, but he did know he wanted to see Frankie again. When Frankie is determined to put her business first, Eric would have to find help from a different quarter...

Cute, good slow-burn large-family and messy gossip, with the guy being incredibly sweet and impossible to live with. Light mood. 4/5

Island Sunrise -- Charlie, a carpenter, with her two best GFFs just got their dream assignment: a special construction job out in Hawaii, of all places. The only problem is Ben Gilmore, the local liaison, and technically her boss. Their job is to bring an old resort back to life, and Ben's clumsy meetcute ended up with his ankle broken, and the two can't stand each other. But someone is sabotaging the construction project, with graffiti, vandalism, broken equipment, and worse. Ben couldn't possibly leave the "girls" out there... but it used to his aunt's resort, and he needs the job done... and nobody local would do it, believing the place is haunted. As the two get to know each other, their hostility lessened, but that saboteur is still out there...

The "hostile meeting" meetcute is good, the transition is good, and the mystery kept the momentum going. The ending was both a bit sad and happy. 4/5

Category: Contemporary / Collection

Overall Rating: 4/5

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

GRR Reviews Not By Sight by Kay Lyons

Ian was a Navy SEAL and fought his own battle with claustrophobia from a childhood incident. When he went along with his brother's security company to rescue a hostage, he ended up getting shot in the head and lost his sight. Now he's blind, in permanent claustrophia, and deep depression. In desperation, Ian's brother hired a tutor... a BLIND tutor, Emma, who had been blind from a car accident since she was 14. Emma wanted the money to live independently since her family is a bit smothering, but her biggest challenge is not engaging Ian's interest... but not to fall for Ian... When there seems be someone stalking Emma... can a blind SEAL still protect his woman?

Very good touches on adapting to blindness, without beating you over the head with details, yet enough details to satisfy. I did guess who the stalker was pretty early. Romance is interesting, but nothing too outstanding.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 5/5

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