GRR Reviews The Boyfriend Sessions by Belinda WIlliams

Christa has such a big commitment issue her best friends decided to mount an intervention. After all, one usually does not flee from a super-sweet and rich French guy's wedding proposal. Her friends decided on a weekly event: let Christa recount each of her boyfriends, and list the good and bad, and what she took away from each relationship. And along for the ride is Max, one of her best friends' brother, as "the token guy", and the one she was never supposed to fall for... Has Christa learned her lessons? Would Max be worth the risk? Or will her romantic failures doom everything?

Good mix of chick-lit and my best friend's brother trope, with a little bit of "everyone but you". 4.5/5

GRR Reviews Irresistible: What He Wants by Elizabeth Nelson

NOTE: Cliffhanger, you may want to read "Irresistible Complete Set" via KU instead.

Hillary needs a job when she was recruited by Brad for a very special club... No sex, just flirt and tease, and MAYBE touch... But behind Brad is Adrian, a mysterious boss with his own intentions toward Hillary. And Maxwell, a hunky TV star, seems to be monopolizing Hillary's time...

This is 1/3rd of a book, and it shows. Hillary started as an innocent ingenue, and even on her first night out, turned into a master cocktease, but she can't decide who she wanted to f***... Brad the charmer, Maxwell the TV hunk, or Adrian, the mysterious alpha? Frankly, reading a cliffhanger doesn't make me want to buy the next 2 books, as not much here really happened. In fact, there is no sex, just a lot of heavy petting and making out. (Technically, there is ONE sex scene, but it's NOT with Hillary, our FMC). 1.5/5 (includes -1 cliffhanger penalty)

GRR Reviews Heartstruck and Heavensent by Kari Trumbo

Madison is a very private librarian. Nobody knows her well, and that's her choice. She based her life on her parents, who are Christians with zero public affections, that love is something to be shamed. So much so, she left Kansas behind and went to New York City. She's even more ashamed because she has a secret side job: romance writer. And she's actually quite decent at it... Until she hit a writer's block. When three of her best online friends roped her into a week at the Broken J Ranch in Wyoming as sort of a writing retreat, she accepted, as anything would be better than writing nothing. Which is where she also met a quiet wrangler by the name of Randall... // Randall has land in Kansas, and he's just working in Wyoming to save up some money to outfit his own ranch. Randall was drawn to Madison, but Randall's leaving soon, and Madison, even sooner. Madison knew that Randall is a Christian, and is strong and good-hearted. But she can't do long-distance, and she didn't like being Christian... or did she misunderstood what being a Christian meant all along? And is there really a chance with Randall, if they can both go back to Kansas?

Okay, this is Christian / Spiritual, but not too obviously so. It doesn't beat you over the head with Bible quotes and such. You can even say it kinda broke the 4th Wall, albeit circumspect, by having characters that are romance novel writers discussing what constitutes a spiritual romance, and even made threw some shade at traditional publishing vs. indie publishing. 4/5