GRR Reviews The Magic of Found Objects by Maddie Dawson

 Phronsie, betrayed by love, is moving back to her hometown for a break. Meeting her best male friend Judd (since kindergarten!) again was great... Then he had a crazy idea... They are best friends, already knew everything about each other. Since passion inevitably fizzles, but friendship stays... Maybe they should get married. And she said yes... Because it made so much sense. But as the preparations get underway, and as the wedding date gets ever closer, Phronsie started having doubts... Just what does it mean to be in love?

An interesting flip of the trope... Usually, you have the reverse... The heart wants the other, but the head says "are you SURE!?"  This one has the head say "makes perfect sense" and the heart goes "but what are you missing?!?"  4/5

GRR Reviews A is for Author by Brenna Jacobs

Emma (actually Emmerson) is the daughter of a famous author, and her first (and only) book was adored by literary critics but doesn't sell that well. Aidan is a handsome former prosecutor turned thriller author, whose books do sell like hotcakes, complete with fangirls wanting signed copies. When they ended up in the same local author event, let's just say sparks flew, and not the loving kind. When they met again in a cafe, they decided to learn what really makes each other tick... Can a literary fiction author actually learn something from a "genre hack" and vice versa?

This is definitely Emma's story, as she's the one who changes the most. In fact, I'd say Aidan didn't really change much. Emma basically gained confidence in her own writing voice, and the background of each was put to excellent use, with Aidan talking like a lawyer (prosecutor) making his points hard-hitting. You can ALMOST call it a coming-of-age novel. But the love... Didn't feel that much of it. 4/5

GRR Reviews Dream Chaser by Brooke St. James

June has a dream: she saved up a bit of money, and she will spend a year in each of the five cities she chose, working all the way, to experience life outside her small town. And just before she's about to leave to chase this dream, a local old lady asked her to consider visiting a small town called Astoria, where she'll meet a man named Jasper, who has a twin brother... and it just happens that Jasper's company's receptionist had to go on bedrest for her pregnancy, and they need a receptionist ASAP... But June was just visiting, and Jasper wasn't ready to fall in love... right?

Ah, nice. The intro was a bit long until the two MC's actually meet. THEN you see how they are made for each other. While this is standalone, you will probably get more out of the book by reading the entire series in order. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews Finding Eden by Jennifer Mancini

Eden thought her life was perfect. She was the only daughter of a famous singer, and her fiancee is a Wall Street young gun. Her summer at the Moutauk (New York) beachhouse should be completely worry-free... Until "Mac" walked into her life. Now Eden realized her life is actually quite empty, and she needs to decide what she wants before she can get it. But going after something also means sometimes, you will lose...

A pretty good coming of age where Eden basically have to figure out what she wants, and Mac, will be there, as Eden slowly realized that what she had really didn't mean anything. But at 500+ pages, it felt about 100-150 pages too long. 4/5

GRR Reviews Let Them Eat Cake by Sandra Byrd

Lexi has a degree in French, but no job to apply it to... Until she finally got one as front facing clerk at a French bakery, after a convo with the manager. Pay is barely tolerable, but she has her eyes on the assistant manager position. She's also interested in the manager/baker, who's French... and quite flirty... Or the young lawyer that comes over quite frequently... After she screwed up his order, and managed to save the day. But as Lexi goes through life, she has to make decisions... Even as life presents her multiple paths... and she will have to choose between safety... and adventure, and God will help her decide.

Overtly Christian without littering the book with Bible quotes, it's spiritual without going overboard with the Christian references. The actual recipes are a delight as well (Boyfriend Bait Beef Stroganoff, any one?)  But this isn't really a romance per se, but more of a coming of age story, about how Lexi finally found her calling, or at least, on her way to it. 5/5

GRR Reviews Murphy's Law (Damaged Heroes Book 1) by Sandy James

"Murphy's Law" by Sandy James has an interesting stipulation to handcuff the couple together, but the subsequent provisions don't really make any sense. Still, there are some good twists and turns to make the story enjoyable.

Seth Remington is a playboy, leaving FOUR wrecked cars and countless women in his wake. His father, terminally sick, want to force Seth to be responsible... Seth will go to work for nine months... Or he'll not get any inheritance. Furthermore, he's going to work for a horse trainer Katie Murphy... as a groom (lowest post available) for at least 9 months, with Katie being the final judge. There are provisions to prevent Seth from seducing Katie. Seth had to live locally as "Crash Reynolds", and despite his initial aversion to the smell and dirt, he actually found he enjoyed horse racing, and he even won a few races. Seth/Crash and Katie fell for each other, even as Katie's enemy Rachel wanted to ruin them both... Just as Katie found out she's pregnant... by Seth. But the arrival of the paparazzi means Katie and Seth cannot see each other anymore... Can this star-crossed couple ever get back together?

The twists and turns kinda make sense and kinda don't. I personally find the "no-contact rule" made no sense at all, but it's a good way to make sure each left unable to deny their worst fears. All in all, it was rather enjoyable.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Billionaire forced to live as a horse groomer in order to inherit, fell in love with the horse trainer, can they stay together?

Tropes: forced proximity, hot for boss, fated mate, weird will, coming of age

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Reviews Rebel Wing (Rebel Wing Trilogy, Book 1) by Tracy Banghart

Rebel Wing is a scifi military fiction with a light dose of romance. It is closer in spirit to Starship Troopers (the novel, NOT the movies!) but also with some intriguing conspiracy in the background that together, worked up to a great tale of working past challenges, maturing from naiveness, and embracing one's destiny. Romance is only a MINOR component of the book, even though it formed the initial premise.

The Dominion of Atalanta is at war, but for Aris, who is just coming of age, her heart was set on Calix, her almost-betrothed, and her flying, for she is possibly the best flyer in all of Atalanta. But for the kids, the war is far away, until Calix was drafted into the military as a mender. Aris was willing to do ANYTHING to be close to him, but females are not permitted in Atalanta military, not even as menders. When someone offered her a chance, she jumped at it, no matter the price, and thus Aris, with a little tech help (holo veil and voice changer) from the off-the-books organization, will become Aristos the flyer, a "ghost" (disguised female) in the Atalanta military, and join the Search and Rescue squad, just for a chance to see Calix again. For Calix, Aris will give up her friends, her family, even her identity. And on the way, Aris will find herself in the middle of a great conspiracy to subvert an ally of Atalanta... and realize her true calling.

The book can be described as part Mulan, part Starship Troopers, and part Iron Eagle. For Aris/Aristos still has to survive the training (which means she had to toughen up, and Calix will be no longer her top priority, for she finally understood WHY he had to go, and how selfish her wishes are, but now that she had tasted combat, nothing will ever be the same again. All the emotions rang true, from confusion to bravery to acceptance to rage to doubt... and the plot was weaved quite well.

For the readers who found the premise, the girl abandoning everything just to be with the guy... simplistic and stupid... this is not really much of a spoiler... She'll grow out of it. Give the book a chance. I think you'll find it is a worthwhile read.

Category: Science Fiction

Primary Plot: Young woman following her man to war, entered secret program to enter military disguised as a man; embroiled in conspiracy

Tropes: disguise, fated mate, coming of age, childhood sweetheart

Overall Rating:  5/5

GRR Reviews Up to Date (Better Date than Never Serie by Susan Hatler

Up to Date is a contemporary romance that had a woman trying to get past her own hangup amidst her own attempted career change. But this love affair is mostly one-sided, and the MMC having little to do.

Ginger was taught early on that stable life is better, except her stable office manager job (read: secretary) is boring her out of her mind. Her passion was interior decorating. Also, her dad was an ER doc that drove him into alcoholism and that basically turned her off to all forms of alcohol... and ER doctors, even the hot gorgeous ER Doc called Greg Shaffer. Ginger donated a "home makeover" design package for her friend's charity auction, hoping to drum up business to change careers... and forget Greg. She did not count on Greg buying the condo above her own... and winning the auction. Now Ginger was forced to redecorate Greg's place... and reevaluate Greg... and her own insecurities toward feelings beyond that of "safe and stable"...

This romance was really one-sided, as it's all Ginger trying to resolve her feelings toward everything: mainly her career change, and her attitude toward love. Yet when "safe and stable" makes her miserable, how will she break the mold? Greg was just there for the ride, so to speak. Basically, Greg was there to help her and make her see that ER Docs won't all turn into her alcoholic father. That made the ride somewhat less satisfying than it could be. Love is a two-way street, right?

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Woman have to get past her own hang-ups about ER docs and stable life to pursue her dreams... and love

Tropes: scars, forced proximity, coming of age,

Overall Rating: 3/5

GRR Reviews Come Monday (Wild Irish Book 1) by Mari Carr

Come Monday is a contemporary romance that managed a fresh spin on things by mixing "hot professor and student" with a light dose of kink.

Keira Collins stepped into the role of surrogate mother to her six younger siblings after her mother died, and worked at the family pub for just about forever. Now at age of 27, she is squeezing in classes at local college and has no time for romance. However, the English professor William Wallace (yes, he knows Braveheart) stirred her blood in ways she cannot quite describe. Will recognized Keira as a people pleaser, because Keira felt she needed control over her life, and hides her own beauty to fit her role, but in private Keira wanted to be cared for, loved, and controlled, i.e. a submissive in a D/s relationship. However, he cannot, in good conscience, bring an innocent into his D/s lifestyle, but their needs cannot be denied. Their sexual chemistry is scorching. As Will slowly break Keira out of her shell, Keira started to feel guilty about leaving her family to fend for themselves... Will she run back to her family role and forsake her love, even as she just found herself and happiness?

I have a slight problem with Keira being such a perfect sub despite never been in the D/s scene, but it's ALMOST plausible as fiction. And the journey was surprisingly emotional, about denying one's nature because of duty.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Woman who spent a decade to be surrogate mother to her siblings found herself drawn to her professor who's into light kink

Tropes: teacher/student, BDSM, family pressure, scars, coming of age,

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Reviews Isabelle (The Princesses of Silicon Valley) by Anita Claire

Isabelle is a contemporary romance in the author's "princesses of Silicon Valley" series. The author is well-versed with mixed cultures of California, and while the mood of this book is darker and thus not as fun or charming as the previous book, "Hita", I feel the character arc was developed quite well.

Isabelle was stuck in her life. She has a dysfunctional relationship with her on-again-off-again boyfriend Paul. They drive each other crazy, but after a little while she misses him and reconciles, until the next blow up, and the cycle repeats. She has a job that's soul-stealing, as her boss only cares about looking good than doing his job (and her master tracking project sparked an inter-departmental war, as engineers found out how much sales oversold the project). She had to live at home because housing in Silicon Valley cost too much, and her Chinese mother was really traditional ("young woman should not open doors"). Her friends were falling in love, making her feel lonely. A trip up to the mountains with friends mountain biking almost ended in disaster, but also allowed her to meet two hot brothers, Jordan and Jake, who saved her. She fell in love with one of them. Will this relationship be the one that broke her string of bad luck?

The cast of characters are interesting and Isabelle was able to learn who are her REAL friends and who are just leeches and how Isabelle learned to stand up for herself. There's a nitpick that we didn't see the MMC until near the end of the book, but this is Isabelle's story.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Woman has to learn to stand up for herself against evil boss, no-good boyfriend, and leech-y friends to find her love in Silicon Valley

Tropes: evil boss, triangle, fmaily pressure, coming of age

Overall Rating: 4/5

GRR Reviews The End of May by KB Richards

The End of May is a half-literary half romance about a woman's adventure in New York City, where her initial joys in coming to the city will crash, and she'll hit rock bottom, as she finally learned the true value of friendship and love.

Marcella May Burke has finally achieved her dream: moving to New York City. She wanted to take the city by storm, preferably by working in fashion and she has the guts to succeed. Living with her boyfriend was a start, until he turned possessive and stalkerish. She found a great job by getting to know someone, but an early indiscretion came back to haunt her with dire consequences. An indecent proposal turned into something more that crushed her soul. A visitor's death sent her life into a downward spiral that has no chance of recovery until she hit bottom... But with a little help and kindness, she may be on her way to recovery... And this is her story.

The story flowed perfectly logically with each step and decision logical yet somehow came to be wrong in retrospect, and as the snowball rolls downhill it gets worse. Marcella had to deal with the problems as they come, and finally realize her dreams can change, even as the price she paid for those dreams may not seem worth it. It was a thoroughly emotional journey. However, the author's narrative style reads somewhat strange, as it is not quite first person, yet not quite third person either. It is as if the author was skipping between first person and first-person omniscient as if it was written as a memoir, which is really weird.

Category: Contemporary / Literary

Primary Plot: New woman in the city had her life crash around her when bad things happened to her relationship, job, and family...

Tropes: fish out of water, woman in peril, evil ex, coming of age

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Reviews Sexy in Stilettos (Sexy Contemporary) by Nana Malone

Sexy in Stilettos is a contemporary romance with a woman betrayed by her own family to find her own worth with help of a friend and a lover who is richer than he seems.

Jaya Trueax, an event planner, was hyper-organized until she was blind-sided by her entire family, including her ex-fiancee, when she prepared a presentation to her client her way and was fired from her family business. With no fiancee, no job, and fully humiliated, and still expected to attend a family wedding in a few weeks, Jaya left the office in tears and ran into total stranger Alec Danthers in the elevator, who let her cry on him. Alec is a half-blood whose father was one of the richest men around, and he was just here to resolve the problem of his brother Max who pulled a disappearing act, leaving the clubs and restaurant he was supposed to manage in a mess. Alec was a bit of a manwhore and live for the moment, and was surprised to find himself falling for Jaya, the sassy-listmaking, and uptight woman, and he lead Jaya to see her true worth... and be a bit more spontaneous, but is that enough for Alec to consider settling down, even as he tries to untangle his brother's mess, which apparently involved the mob...

The push-pull was quite good, but the mob reference was a bit vague and light. The character arc was quite good. All in all, enjoyable story.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Woman fired from her family business had to find her self-worth with help of a friend who's hiding a secret: he's very rich

Tropes: fling to a thing, tarnished reputation, coming of age

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Reviews A Single's Guide to Texas Roadways by H. Claire Taylor

A Single's Guide to Texas Roadways is a combination travelogue / serial dater diary with light-heartedness. The prospects are quirky and touching, and the humor is often right on the money without becoming slapstick.

Natalie cris-crosses Texas looking for love in all the wrong places, and met a lot of interesting men, including triplets (who fortunately did not try to play switcharoo on her), ex armed forces, jet-setter, and more. She had many prospects, but it's often right guy wrong time, or wrong guy right time or even wrong guy wrong time. So is she ever going to find right guy at the right time?

If you enjoy quirky characters and chasing for that one relationship to end all relationships, only to find it was right next to you all along, this is a quirky book you should enjoy thoroughly.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Young woman travelled all over Texas, searching for love and happiness, but never quite finding the one...

Tropes: everyone but you, serial dater, coming of age

Overall Rating:  4/5 (rounded up)

GRR Reviews Pretty Instinct (A Standalone Contempor by S.E. Hall

Pretty instinct is an interesting contemporary romance with an interesting meet-cute, an overall arching plot and mystery to solve, and some serious angst in the background for both characters.

Elizabeth "Lizzie" Carmichael lives on the go with her best friends, the Foster Brothers (Jarrett and Rhett), with her uncle Bruce the driver, and Conner, her brother, as they travel from one town to the next as traveling musicians, playing a gig here and there. Connor is an adult but acts like a kid. Later we learned that he suffered a traumatic brain injury and entered a coma, and woke up as if he regressed X years, and this injury (which was never talked about) plus her mom's suicide later, lead to an irreconcilable split between Lizzie and her father, whom she blamed for both. When Lizzie had to kick a member of the band off the bus, they were forced to consider canceling the next gig, until they spotted a guy with a guitar case and bag on side of the road. They invited him onboard as they need another performer. He is Cannon Blackwell, and he had been dumped by the side fo the road by his girlfriend, who apparently had her tubes tied without telling him, then when he confronted her in the car, basically ordered him out, dumped out his stuff (except his phone), and drove off (and never came back). Cannon was actually a pretty good vocalist and guitarist, and he fitted in right away, even as he came to appreciate this dysfunctional family... And Lizzie especially. And as Lizzie fell in love with Cannon, both have to struggle with issues. Both cannot stand betrayal, and as both fall madly in love with the other both are weary of even the possibility of betrayal... but Cannon slowly made Lizzie realize she cannot shelter Connor the way she had, and she needed to confront the past that she didn't know.

The twist I had suspected but it was sweetly emotional and powerful. The sex scenes were quite good, but may be a turn-off for some. But this is Lizzie's story, Lizzie needed to learn the truth until she can love someone.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Traveling band leader Lizzie fell for latest member Cannon, even as he pushed her to learn the truth behind her brother's injury

Tropes: Performer, forced proximity, family secrets, betrayal, coming of age

Overall Rating:  5/5

GRR Reviews Master of the Mountain (Mountain Maste by Cherise Sinclair

Master of the Mountain is a BDSM-themed romance that was surprisingly deep into character growth, but there are a few instances where BDSM protocol seems to have went by the wayside for the sake of plot, which would rile some responsible BDSM players.

To recap, Becca's boyfriend talked her into joining his swinger's club on a mountain retreat to "spice up their sex life", but she refused to partake in musical beds, and almost froze to death on the porch swing. Logan, the lodge owner, hauled her into his own bed (clothed) and found that while Becca may no be a swinger... she may be a submissive. Becca has curves, and scars on her hips from a dog attack at age 10, and she had been deathly afraid of dogs, and have serious self-esteem issues about her sexuality and body image. But Logan skillfully stripped her of her mental shackles... and her inhibitions, and she never had so many orgasms in her life, and she found herself wondering, what would life with Logan be like? But Logan considered himself damaged man. PTSD and rendered him dangerous... he even put a scar on his own brother's face once when he woke up from a violent dream. He cannot take that chance with Becca and have to send her back into the city once the retreat was over. But is that really the right course to take?

There were a couple instances where Becca said no or stop but Logan kept going, as if he's reading her mind and knew she didn't mean it. While it feels hot and romantic, it's a serious violation of BDSM protocol for a dom to ignore his/her sub's answers. On the other hand, Becca's development from a woman unsure of herself and her place in the world (one lacking in orgasms, among other problems) to a woman who accepts who she is and worked past many of her traumas and regained her self-esteem was a great character arc. As for what did Logan and Becca decide to do at the end... You'll have to read the book.

Category: Contemporary / BDSM

Primary Plot: Woman unsure of herself found best time of her life with the swinger's lodge owner; is there long-term between them?

Tropes: different worlds, scars, PTSD, coming of age

Overall Rating: 4/5

GRR Reviews Kiss Me Kate (Madison Girls Book 1) by Mari Carr

Kiss Me Kate by Mari Karr is about personal growth and healing one's own wounds. However, this novel feels as if it wasn't outlined properly, but there are continuing errors from chapter to chapter as if the author forgot about what was written before, and as a result, the character at times feels schizophrenic, sad in one, but immediately changed to passionate, and so on. There's also some disturbing physical violence near the end that came out of nowhere.

To recap, Kate's husband skipped down with the local hairdresser, leaving her, the tame schoolteacher, as the butt of the town gossip about her inability of "keep her man". Desperate to get a fresh start, Kate took up an offer by two DEA agents to be their housesitter while they go on a long assignment elsewhere. Kate slowly recovered her self-esteem and looks, lost weight, and became a better person... and her emails to Rick, one of the agents, were replied, and both started to secretly lust after each other. When the assignment was finally over, Rick (and his partner Wes) came back, and Rick wanted to pursue Kate in person... But Kate was afraid of getting her heart broken and only wanted NSA sex. Rick struggles to hold his needs in check while getting from Kate what he can while trying to convince her he's in for the long haul... Then Kate's husband came back...

While Kate's personal progress was good, she's STILL not ready for a relationship about almost a YEAR, but she's ready for NSA sex... Uh... weird? Also, this involves a spoiler...

SPOILER AHEAD

I WARNED YOU!

Anyway, when Kate's no good husband came back, he apparently wanted Kate to take him back, even though she's a much better person without him. When she said "no way", he got violent because he's also drunk. Given that we didn't know anything about him before, other than he ran off with the local hairdresser, this tendency to violence really came out of nowhere, and that's NOT good writing. Obviously, she was saved by Rick.

The story's pace was a bit on the slow side too. Overall, I think it rated average, as while the personal growth theme is good, the inconsistencies and odd plots left it mediocre.


Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Woman whose cheating husband ran off grew out of her shell and fell in love with a DEA agent away on assignment

Tropes: law enforcement, betrayal, coming of age, evil ex

Overall Rating:  3/5

GRR Reviews Falling in Angels Falls (A Falling in Paradise) by Casey Hagen

Falling in Angel Falls is about a girl finding herself, but roughly 60% of the book it pivoted into secret baby/ love interrupted story, so it is as if the original story and its sequel were bundled into a single book.

Alexa Dayne is the family black sheep, who chose hair salon as her career instead of the family bakery business. And she'd finally made it, and with a comfortable nest egg, she decided on an adventure... a hike to Angel Falls, Venezuela. She even paid a guide that's supposed to be reputable. What she got instead (after her guide's a no-show) was Ben Marx, Steel Force Adventures owner. Ben is trying to escape the bad memories of losing so many friends in the Middle East and achieving a dream. The long-legged beauty dogging him was NOT in his plans. The girl has ZERO jungle skills, just a lot of attitude, and Ben can't bear to see her kill herself trying. So he agreed to take her... but he's not going for the bottom... He's going for the TOP of the falls. And on the way... they fell in love but agreed that it's a no-strings affair... And at the end, they went their separate ways. Five months later, he wandered into town, visiting his mother, and found Alexa VERY pregnant...

The character arcs in the first half were excellent, the second half, a bit less so. The interrupt in the middle really made me feel as if the author decided to make the book longer by tacking on a separate story, albeit with the same characters as there is a bit of unfinished business, i.e. instead of Happy-For-Now, she'll give them the Happily-Ever-After, but only after the author put the characters through another emotional wringer. If you don't mind finding the interruption in the middle, it's a fine book.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot:  Woman with no jungle skills decided to hike Angels Falls, and fell in love with her reluctant guide there for his own reasons

Tropes: coming of age, secret baby, reunion, forced proximity

Overall Rating:  4/5 (rounded up)

GRR Reviews Mail Order Bride: Westward winds by Linda Bridey

Westward Wings is a historical Western romance about taking chances to get what one loves. The characters are detailed, without involving violence.

Tessa refused to follow her family plans to be a socialite as the suitors are all pompous suits with no substance. Feeling trapped, she approached her "crazy aunt" for her chance at freedom... become a mail order bride to Dean Samuels, a widower, rancher and father of a child in Montana... He doubted she'll stay as she's too good for this dusty ranch. She doubted he'll want her due to her somewhat lack of domestic skills and she can never take place of his dead wife. Can they grow to love each other? And what will happen when her father found her?

The pressure to flee was documented in great detail and the life on the ranch was nicely described as well. She wanted to write and life on a ranch is an adventure. He did look for a mother for his child but he didn't expect this learned lady who arrived with almost no attitude and minimal domestic skills, but very willing to learn. Opposites do attract, and this is one of the better (best?) mail order bride stories out there, where it also included self-discovery in addition to just love.

Category: historical western

Primary Plot: High Society Girl Stifled by Convention Chose to Marry Herself Off Mail Order Bride to a Rancher in Montana...

Tropes: mail order bride, family pressure, widower, opposites attract, coming of age, single parent

Overall Rating: 5/5

GRR Reviews HERO OF HER HEART by Lindsey Brookes

Hero of Her Heart is a second chance romance, about the awkward ugly duckling finally grew up to be a beautiful woman and wants the man. It's a romantic comedy, if a bit childish at times.

Tanner Montgomery was running from Bethany Warner as soon as she came into town. She was the hangers-on when young, and even at 10 she was telling everyone about one day she'll marry him. Tanner was busy chasing his own dream... Be the town sheriff like his father. He can't afford to get involved with anyone... He saw first hand what his father's death did to his mother. He can't imagine putting anyone else through that. And when Bethany and her family moved away, he concentrated on achieving those goals. Over a decade later, Tanner is the sheriff, and Bethany is coming back to town, having donated heavily to the town library, and Tanner's mother saw it as the perfect time to try to matchmake them... AGAIN. But this time, Tanner is a handsome uniformed man, and the lanky awkward ugly duckling is now a successful confident and striking businesswoman, and young Bethany never stopped dreaming about Tanner... But will Tanner get the hint?

The push-pull was sweet and definitely rom-com worthy, but people who don't appreciate the humor would consider it childish. I rather enjoyed the light mood.

Category: romantic comedy

Primary Plot: Woman that wanted the man (that is now sheriff) is back in town, and this time, she's not taking no for an answer!

Tropes: unrequited, reunion, coming of age

Overall Rating: 4/5

GRR Reviews The Almost Wives Club: Kate by Nancy Warren

Almost Wives Club: Kate is a girl finding her place in life, and away from other's expectations, even if she had to become a "bad girl" to do it. There were a ton of emotional growth, but other than the few main characters, the "evil" (i.e. the family that keep arranging things for her) are just flat as heck.

To recap... Kate Winton-Jones was content in letting everybody else setting her course... into marrying Edward Carnarvon III, who's rich, handsome, and a proper match to her beauty and social standing. That was, until she discovered, by accident, that her fiancee had set up a honeytrap test for her by sending a private investigator to attempt to seduce her, right after she had signed a pre-up. Thoroughly humiliated and betrayed, she threw the engagement ring at Edward (drawing blood), left the estates on a bicycle, took Uber into town, swapped cars with her best friend, sent her phone to Miami, booked a vacation to Phoenix, bought a train ticket to New York, and drove her friend's horrible VW bug and ended up in Carlsbad, not too far from LA, where she lived an unexpected life... as a surfing instructor, for she was at one time, a top surfer, until the "proper" life claimed her. She was surprised when the PI showed up as one of her students... He had tracked her down, but he claimed he was just there looking for her on his own behalf and he was absolutely honest when he said "Don't marry him, Kate" back at the sting. She decided that she's tired of being the good girl... and sleeping with the PI, who was his fiancee's best friend, may be indeed the right thing to do...

Kate basically tired of being "the good girl" but just screwing around wasn't helping the situation. If one guy tracked her down, other people can too. My problem with the book is not with the morals of sleeping around, but rather, how Kate finally learned to be manipulative... By finding out her intended's secret, and basically used that to force HIM to agree to break off the engagement that neither really wanted. For a girl that got tired of the gilded cage, to see her using a gilded stick just somehow felt... "wrong" on some level.

And I must say the chemistry between her and the PI just didn't feel that warm and fuzzy. Still, it's an emotional journey.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Woman, after finding out she was "tested" for her fidelity by her fiancee with help of PI, ran away humiliated and chose to live her dream. PI tracked her down to make sure she's safe...

Tropes: runaway bride, Private Investigator, coming of age, triangle

Overall Rating:  3/5