GRR Reviews The Mixtape by Brittainy Cherry

Emery is a single mom by choice, keeping a secret even from her own daughter, and she's barely making things meet. Struggling to hold onto a bartender job, she cannot afford to have any disruptions, or she may be unable to keep a roof over their heads... esp. a disruption caused by a teenage idol like megastar Oliver // Oliver felt adrift with no direction since the loss of his twin brother and bandmate. He self-medicates with alcohol and let himself be used by a woman he used to love. When he caused an incident at Emery's bar, causing her to lose her job, he seems to have found his purpose in life: to make both of their lives better. He hired her as his personal chef, and she became his confidant. But his evil ex is not ready to let him go, and Emery found that the secret she kept was returned with betrayal... Can they heal each other? 

While good, it's not like extraordinarily good. While I like the secret twist, and the "bad family" angle, and still have it making sense at the end, was pretty good plotting, having MMC go with FMC to home to discover the secrets feels just... off. The paparazzi angle lede was buried very nicely. 

4/5

GRR Reveiws You Can't Ruin Christmas by Olivia Noble

NOTE: 100 page novella

Mary was dumped by hockey star Sebastian just before Christmas... but her best friend, Sven (and incidentally, Sebastian's brother), is there to help her pick up the pieces. When Sven professed feelings for Mary, will Mary accept? When her family want her to visit, and bring Sebastian, will Mary try to pass off Sven as Sebastian?

Good holiday rom-com that started with a likable heroine and took off from there, with lots of escalation. Best followed with the next volume, as the events overlap. 5/5

GRR Reviews Something So Perfect by Natasha Madison

Matthew made too many mistakes as a hockey bad boy and was cut from the team at 23. When a different team wanted to give him another chance, he'll accept any terms, because he wanted to be back on the ice... Even accept a chaperone that will keep him out of trouble. He didn't expect the chaperone to be team owner's daughter, Karrie... //  Karrie was glad her father finally gave her a job... just not babysitting a washed-up hockey jock. And while Matthew is insanely hot and knew it too, he also drove her up the wall with his sweet-craziness. But as long as he's playing great and not ruining his image... it's okay, even if she ended up in his bed, right? But do they have a future together?

While dialog is good, somehow Matthew just feels a bit too... crazy? But the description is apt... it's sweet-kinda-crazy. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews Driving Home for Christmas by Lexy Timms

Abigail is just trying to go home after losing EVERYTHING. When her plane landed in Kansas, well short of her destination of Minnesota, and there is no car to rent anywhere, her trip home is in the hands of Colin, a workaholic Grinch on his way to attend his company party and business meeting. // Colin hates being forced into anything, but leaving a sobbing female at the rental car counter while he's heading the same way is not really an option. So he reluctantly offered her a ride for the next ten hours... Then they got stranded by the snowstorm and had to spend a night in a cheap motel... They couldn't be more different, and she's trying to draw him out of his shell. Yet they say opposites attract...

The opposites attract theme was handled really well. Abby lost everything, but she's more of an optimist, while Colin has everything, but is a Grinch and a pessimist. They seem to be a perfect balance together, and being forced together made them see each other past the initial impressions. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews Say You'll Stay by Corinne Michaels

Presley thought her life was going fine, until it was turned not just upside down, but went through a tornado... She found her husband not only hung himself but also left her a pile of debt and to raise 3 boys alone. She had no choice but to return to Tennessee and her family while maintaining the fiction (for sake of her boys) that their father died from a heart attack. But returning home also means meeting the one that betrayed her... Zach... His career didn't work out.  Is there a chance for them to reconcile? Is she ready to move on from the two devastating betrayals she had suffered?

I am a bit conflicted about this story. The setup about her dead husband's betrayal took up quite a bit of space, that just feels long and drawn-out, and instead of coming all at once, they hit one at a time. I felt the intro could have been handled better, like when she's hounded by bill collectors or something. I have a little problem with the original reason they broke up, which she counts as a betrayal. It makes her sound like a whiny b****. The reunion is okay. 3.5/5

GRR Reviews His Beautiful Billionaire Distraction by Erica Penrod

Tayla Mills is a billionaire with a purpose... She's opening a new addiction treatment center in Seattle, to help people avoid hurting other people through their additions like how she suffered. // Waylon is a former-addict, at least he hoped so. But having been through a program, he got it under control and went to live with his brother Jamon in Seattle's "Billionaire Cove". Meeting Tayla and her puppy was happenstance. Being mistaken for his brother (who also donated to her treatment center) by Tayla was a shock... But now Waylon's angry... he wants to do it on his own, not "helped" by his younger billionaire brother... Or want Tayla's pity. But is he just angry at himself? Or can he let her love him?

The connection just feels a bit thin on this one. 3.5/5

GRR Reviews Her Billionaire Butler by Dobi Daniels

Emily has survived abuse and heartbreak. She's getting by, but barely. When her moment of weakness to help a friend ended up costing her job, then her landlord informed her that she has to vacate ASAP, she literally can't go any lower... Until she met the guy who was the cause of it all... // Geoffrey is the family butler for the billionaire Dexington family and well-to-do himself, and he was getting a special item for the family when a woman slipped and ended up tossing the coffee all over the item and him... as well as accidentally kneed him in the groin. But he didn't know she'd lose her job over this. So when she applied for a position over at his Christmas tree farm, he made sure she got the position (and she is qualified). And it seems despite the initial animosity, they really have a lot in common... but can he learn her secrets in time to save her?

The threat seems to come really late and wasn't integrated well. 3.5/5

GRR Reviews Never Goodbye by Ruth Cardello

Ian is the secret fixer in the family. He has made connections and learned skills to remove any and all obstacles in his family's path. Having failed to locate their lost brother himself (see book 5 and book 6) made him believe he had failed his family and made him doubt everyone he came across... including Claire, his "new" brother's wife's best friend, and life coach. // Claire stepped away from her life coach job in Australia to accompany her best friends to the US and help them settle in. She did not expect to fall under the microscope of a paranoid Ian, now suspecting EVERYBODY. But Claire knew how to handle difficult people, and Ian may have met his match. But can Claire make Ian see that his relentless pursuit of the truth have made him forget his ultimate responsibility, i.e. his family?

Deeper than you first suspect, the initial coupling was basically angry-sex, where each line verbal sparring is flirting. But it's the subsequent developments, and the slow realization by Ian that his pursuit of the truth may actually end up hurting him and his family, that makes it good. I usually have a problem with the "run away to sort my feelings" trope. But here, it pivoted into a hurt/comfort trope, which served as a setup for the darkest hour. Now THAT is a good way to use the "run away to sort my feelings" trope. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews Hope for Christmas by Rochelle J Christensen

Anika is a single-mother that barely gets by. She can't even afford a christmas tree, muchless gifts under it. Her daughter's medical bills had wiped out any savings she may have had, but her health is fine now. Working in Wentworth's department store and getting some overtime may help her catch up on her bills. That puts her next to handsome Carlos, the store handyman, on a project to restore the store's old soda fountain. Carlos wanted to help her, but she's not taking "charity".  When she was the recipient of many gifts (some she even wrapped herself) from the store giving tree, she immediately suspected Carlos...

Uh... this is supposed to be a Christian novel, yet it seems Anika has way too much pride... Which she managed to grow out of by the end. Of course, it's sweet, but it also felt a bit off. And the "heavy" was really shallow. 3.5/5

GRR Reviews About Face by D E Haggerty

Frankie, a high-powered event planner, suffered severe injuries in one leg and a permanent scar on her face. Forced to take a long break from her third-floor city apartment (and wardrobe, and girl-friends) she went to live in the suburb with her grandparents. Unfortunately, her grandma kept trying to set her up with (loser) grandsons of her friends. Fortunately, her extremely handsome physical therapist, Brody, agreed to be her fake boyfriend, to help stop her grandma's horrible matchmaking. But she didn't know that her assistant, Jackson, has the hots for her, and Brody wants to take their fake relationship into the real category...

Can be subtitled as "How Frankie got her groove back", Frankie basically had to decide whether her city life is actually worth living, after being forced to take a break. But the story also took a couple meandering turns, like Frankie decides whether to slap down the evil ***** substitute who wanted her job permanently, and how her new bestie secretly has the hots for Jackson, but that's actually a setup for the next novel in the series. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews Her Billionaire Cowboy's Fake Marriage by Hope Moore

Wade found that his grandpa's will requires him to marry someone within 90 days, for at least 90 days, to keep the family ranch, else he and his brothers can kiss their inheritance goodbye.  And with only a few days left, he did not expect to find any one good enough... Until he ran into a waitress named Allie... // Allie is down and out, working multiple jobs to keep her mother's care funded, but she can't abandon her mom after death of her dad. Accepting his outrageous proposal may solve all her problems... but is this a con? or just the miracle she had been hoping for?

Typical fish out of water, different worlds, but with a good polish on the tale. 4/5

GRR Reviews Now and Forever by Mona Ingram

Jenna is homeless, through no fault of her own. Her "fiancee" stole everything from her, every penny from her accounts, all her photography equipment, and left her months behind on the rent and other bills. She had to sleep in her car. And with no job and no equipment, she had no way to make a living... Then she found a cute boy named Danny had stowed away in her car... // Brett is a surgeon that worked hard to create the perfect family, but things fell apart through no fault of his own. His wife died, taking a secret with her. His son Danny was supposed to be with a housekeeper, but when he found the house empty, and a message informing him that the replacement housekeeper fell through, he started to panic... Just then Jenna drove up to their house with Danny. // Jenna can see the concern in Brett's eyes, but he clearly doesn't know how to show it. When Brett, in desperation, and saw how well Jenna connected with Danny, offered her the housekeeper position... She can't turn it down...

Not the first novel with the plot "down and out woman rescues kid, ended up as nanny and won over single father" but this was very well polished with ZERO cursing and ZERO sex, just a lot of unsaid emotional angst. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews Runaway Bride by Cynthia Swan

Alex had it all once. After the death of his parents, he was a billionaire, and he had no care in the world except partying which can't assuage his grief. He just let his uncle manage his finances. Then one day, he rescued a damsel in distress, stopped a killer... but was permanently disfigured when he was thrown through a glass window by the assailant. It was the same day when he found that his uncle stole all his money and left the country, leaving him with nothing. Only a secret deed and some leftover contingency cash left him a place to stay, a cottage in Magnolia Beach, where he, ashamed of being seen, became the town recluse... // Rose was about to marry the man of her dreams when it all turned into a nightmare... Her best friend in the restroom, holding up a positive pregnancy test, being consoled by her fiancee, who is the father. In a daze, she just drove and left the city behind, and when her car died in the small town of Magnolia Beach, it's a sign... right? And it seems the town recluse needs a live-in housekeeper... // The two struck up a friendship, and eventually bared their souls. But is it love? Can either feel any love after what happened to them?

Awwww, it's like a Hallmark movie. :) Main problem is the setup was a bit long. 4/5

GRR Reviews Her Cowboy Billionaire Best Friend by Liz Isaacson

Graham returned to his hometown, Coral Canyon to run his father's energy company, because his father died, and his girlfriend was cheating on him. He found that his neighbor was Laney, once best-friend, but now single mother, whose husband can't hack the country life and left her and daughter Bailey behind. // Laney found herself at crossroads. She's barely keeping the ranch afloat, but with the hard winter and snow, and a failing furnace, she had no choice but to ask for help from Graham. Graham wants out of the friend zone. But will Laney want out of just friend-zone too?

Good complications on what would have been, otherwise, a "neighbor reunion" romance. But not much beyond that. 4/5

GRR Reviews Crushing on the Billionaire by Liwen Ho

NOTE: 52-page short

Devon is vacationing in Maui, contemplating his life. He has more money than he can spend, but his life is lame without love. When he spotted his ex, Kylie, on the beach, he can't believe his luck... // Kylie is actually working... She's the nanny to an young child with an entitled mother. When the child got away from her for a moment and ran into Devon, she was let go. Devon can easily fly her home on his jet, but he wanted to just stay and enjoy the time, but she needs to go home and find another job, because her family has lost their fortune, and her mother needs her to earn a paycheck for medical treatments. But Devon can easily afford all that, if she'll just let him help her...

Ah, another "pride goeth before the fall" story, where the girl was "too proud to beg" and all that. Didn't really feel much here though, but then this is a 52 page short. 3/5

GRR Reviews Tempting Levi by Jules Barnard

Levi is forced to retire from his firefighting career after an injury. He took over the family resort business after his father died, but he hates being in a suit. He needs a PA / Aide / Secretary... whatever name that goes by, but he needs one fast, because resort is bleeding money. He got one in the form of Emily... Except Emily is the little sister of his cheating ex... who slept with his brother, and betrayal still burns deep. But she has perfect qualifications, and he is attracted to her. He didn't know she wanted him for a very long time... but they have to put business first...

Good job adding some soap-opera worthy melodrama / family dynamics into a pretty stale "hot for boss" genre. 4/5

GRR Reviews Mud Pies & Family Ties by Dylann Crush

Motorcycle stuntman Dustin just became a national embarrassment when his stunt on a late-night talk show went wrong and sent the host to the ER. His agent told him to go stealth, so he went home... where he hadn't been back for 15 years. He met Harmony in town at the Lovebird Cafe, where she worked as a (very inept) waitress. The two had one awkward encounter after another, but he helped her out, and she temporarily adopts three baby raccoons (found inside her truck), and agrees to help him with his injured shoulder as she's much better as a licensed massage therapist. Dustin will even help her build her wellness studio, even as they rescue even more menagerie of animals (a de-scented pet skunk, and later, an injured emu). But when Dustin got a chance to be a star again, will he go... or stay?

Somehow, the final resolution didn't quite grab me. I understand WHY Dustin felt he had to go, but the reason he gave to abandon his career to be just a small town... what? Construction worker? Handy-man? It seems a bit vague. Rom-com is fine though. Emotional beats work great, with a proper darkest hour and grand gesture. But motivation felt a little lacking. 4/5

GRR Reviews The Honeymooner by Melanie Summers

Work-a-holic Libby was about to marry her fiancee, the steady-as-a-rock Richard, and become the perfect power couple. They even agreed to use the honeymoon trip as a part of her work in evaluating a resort for mergers and acquisitions for her job. So she was utterly shocked when Richard did a runaway groom and canceled the wedding via text... that coward! But with no choice but to go on a honeymoon trip as a single, she traveled to Paradise Bay with two goals 1) get Richard back, and 2) get the resort owner Harrison to sell. And Harrison... well, wanted to change her mind by inviting her out on various adventures. Libby now is conflicted. She can see why Harrison is failing and can find plenty of room for improvement, not necessarily be acquired. But she's also discovering a version of herself that she hadn't seen for many many years. Which version is the real she... and which one does she wanted to be?

As you may guess, Richard comes back at the worst possible time to basically force a confrontation (albeit, im a more rom-com way). But the combined self-discovery and falling in love combined with conflicted loyalties never really gets old. 4/5

GRR Reviews The Last Chapter by Michelle Alstead

Emma is a single mom with an ASD child that has been kicked out of every pre-school. Only very expensive out-of-pocket therapy sessions helped her son learn ANY coping skills at all, and even that, he doesn't seem to use very often. Her husband just didn't want her anymore. Even her novels are bombing badly. When she's fired for taking time to get her suspended son from school, she wonders if she'll ever get a break... // Ethan is a Hollywood heartthrob, but he doesn't want to dress up in superhero tights or be a rom-com lead anymore. When he found Emma's novel by accident, he realized this could be his chance to be taken seriously... but first he needs to meet Emma and secure film rights... This also brought him into contact with her ASD son, and he's surprisingly good with him (for he had studied ASD parenting for a role he planned to take on). But Emma can't possibly let Ethan marry her...

Eh, love it right up to "I love you, and because I do, I'll have to hurt you to leave me so you can find someone better because I'm not worthy" moment. ARGH. And that wasn't the darkest hour. There's one even darker later. The pacing just feels off. The details about life with ASD was very good, 4/5

GRR Reviews Small Town Rumors by Carolyn Brown

Jennie Sue is back in town... by bus. And the small town of Bloom TX is buzzing. She, the high school queen bee, was supposed to be in New York, enjoying a nice alimony settlement in a penthouse after divorcing a tycoon. In reality, her assets are all frozen when the tycoon was suspected of financial malfeasance and she had no choice but to come home, and those she alienated back then are talking behind her back and enjoying her reversal of fortune, now working as a house cleaner, living in a garage apartment, and dating a simple farmer, Rick. // But Jennie Sue is enjoying her new friendship with what could have been her enemy Cricket, Rick's sister, regardless of the town chatter. But rumor also has it that Jennie Sue may be leaving... and she has to convince Rick that love can keep her in Bloom...

Nice set of quirky but not weird characters, a down-and-out heroine, and a bit of unrequited love with a reunion that is not quite bitter, but definitely sweet. 4.5/5