GRR Reviews Hello Dr. Christmas by Olivia Noble

Clara, the ballerina, may have just suffered a career-ending injury, leaving her understudy to take over. Dr. Klause Anderson is a world-renowned orthopedic surgeon that is visiting his brothers in the US, and still running from the grief of losing his wife. The two met in a bar, recognized each other's sadness, and agreed to a no-name one-night encounter... that left both satisfied... Until they met the next day... as doctor/patient. It's clear that they share some tremendous chemistry, but is Klaus, aka Dr. Christmas, ready to move on from his tragedy? Or will Clara always be second place to a ghost?

Short, but quite emotional. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews Roping the Cowboy by Kennedy Fox

Katarina and Braxton had a hot and steamy one-night stand. But next morning Kat threw him out and then pretend he never existed. So when Kat later showed up at Braxton's Circle B Ranch B&B to serve her gluten-free sugar-free organic pastries, it's time for Braxton's revenge... Practical jokes soon turned into all-out prank war... Katarina will deny her attraction to Braxton, but Braxton is determined to show her that he wants her... long-term...

Pretty funny short, good chemistry. 4/5

GRR Reviews Lessons from a One-Night Stand by Piper Rayne

Austin is the teacher and baseball coach at the Alaskan high school for the town of Lake Starlight, for the past nine years, having given up on his dreams and moved back home for his family. Holly is the interim principal taking on a job for just a few months. Unfortunately for Austin, Holly was also his one-night stand, steaming up his jeep windows two nights ago. Austin can't believe he liked his boss, but she's not staying around. Then he finally got the news he dreamed of: being a professional baseball assistant coach for a college. But can he leave his family behind, when Holly may be staying?

Both Austin and Holly are on a quest to find themselves and what they wanted in life. Both are surprised to realize what they really wanted... is there all along! Nice character arcs. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews The Billionaire's Christmas Bundle of Joy by Holly Rayner

Mia, second anchor at SNO News, loved her job, despite being relegated to "fluff" news items. She was covering a story about a man who refused to pull down his Christmas decorations even though it's April, when her boss, James, the media mogul (who owns her station and many more across the country), arrived in town. He's a man's man, gorgeous, but hates Christmas. But when a freak snow storm stranded him in town with her (let's just say a Porsche 911 isn't good in the snow) in the station, they ended up doing the horizontal tango after quite a bit of wine. Then he left the next day, and that's that. Until she learned that she'll be giving him a Christmas present... as apparently they forgot to use a condom...

A bit of meh. Really didn't feel it much that would lead to a one-night-stand, and other than the open mike oops, there really isn't much of a conflict. 3/5

GRR Reviews Mommy's Boyfriend by Victoria Snow

Rylee chose an older guy, Spencer, a regular client at the cafe she works, to get her V-card. It was as wonderful as she'd expected... Except both forgot about a condom. He never appeared again, and she got a present that showed up nine months later and had to move back home. Five years later, she saw Spencer again... On the arm of her mom... as her mom's fake boyfriend because her mom's boss got a bit too hands-on. Yikes, talk about awkward! He left her, so she won't tell him about their son... and nobody would believe she didn't 'steal' the man from her mom... right?

Ah, now that's an interesting twist on secret baby and tropes, with a good combination! I guess the problem is the initial coupling (and the setup) felt a bit too... hurried. And Spencer just accepted the proposition of a random waitress... without a condom? Hmmm... 4/5

GRR Reviews More Than Love by Ruth Cardello

Grant Barrington is a billionaire, but he's feeling the strain of finding the fate of a brother that may or may not be dead for more than a decade, that forced him to go undercover. Meeting Viviana was not in his plans. having a romp with her and leaving her pregnant... even less so. // Viviana was swindled by her ex, and having a one-night-stand with a sumptuous but apparently financially challenged guy was extremely satisfying... physically, until she started to feel the morning sickness. Confronting the daddy, while he's busy doing things for his family is just horrible timing... or the best ever...

Not QUITE up to Ruth Cardello's standards, at least for this series. It seems to contain more sex than usual, but at least we got a resolution about the "dead baby (or not)" plot that's dragging on for multiple novels. Obviously, there are further developments...  3.5/5

GRR Reviews Rising Star by Terri Osburn

Nashville DJ Charley is living her dream as a radio host in the heart of country music... but she is concentrating on her career. She had a one-night-stand with a hot cowboy Dylan, but decided that's it and snuck out next morning. Unfortunately, he's not done with her... He's actually a country star who's launching his new single, and when he appeared in her studio for a live performance, it's not exactly a happy reunion... But he wanted to woo her, and she gave in... as he is sweet and caring... But when his career took off, and he stopped returning calls, Charley found that a surprise "gift" will show up in nine months...

Nice mix between angst and comedy. The development later was almost a trope, and somewhat expected. It's still good though. 4/5

GRR Reviews Stealing the Bride by Nadia Lee

Court (short for "Harcourt") is a billionaire who tries to stay away from all the family drama. One night at his brother's nightclub, he met the woman of his dreams... She won't give her name, so he called her Skittles (like the candy), and she called him Whiskey. It was a great night... Next morning, he found no woman, just 50 bucks on the nightstand. WTF?!  He somehow tracked her down, and interrupted her wedding... Except it wasn't her wedding... But her twin sister's wedding. Yikes. And her name is Pascal. She's fiercely independent, but she can't get a promotion at her father's firm as a financial analyst. Cort wanted to help her, but wasn't sure how without "interfering"... Was it betrayal? And who can she turn to?

The momentum was very uneven. It's as if this was two books stitched together. The first part, about a one-night-stand leading to a wedding interruption, was a great story in itself. The rest of the book, while intriguing, just somehow never quite measured up, and Pascal's father needs some serious karmic payback for stringing her along for YEARS. 3.5/5

GRR Reviews Wingwoman by Bella Jewel

Tiani has a very odd job. She is "wingwoman" for hot CEO Reign Braxton, a guy she will NEVER fall for. Reign is in love with Selena, but she cheated then left him. He wants to get her back, and he figured the best way to do it is to make her jealous, but he can't deal with the crazies, so he hired Tiani to "vet" his one-night-stands. Yes, it's a real job. EVERY woman would fall for Reign, but Reign just wants Slutlena... I mean Selena. Tiani knew Reign is charming, but Reign doesn't have eyes for anyone else... Or does he?

Interesting twist on the Cyrano / Everyone but you tropes. Even though when the women turned bitch-y it gets a little stale, and Reign really is a jerk, but the emotions of possessiveness and envy were actually handled very well. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews Not Quite Perfect by Rebecca Norinne

Victoria met her dream man on the ferry while heading to her mother's (sixth) wedding. Really. Professor David Carstairs is the perfect guy. Smart, suave, smooth, sensual. They even had a night of perfect bliss and vowed to see each other after their respective weddings. Yes, he's there to attend his father's wedding. Then they got the shock of their lives... His father is marrying her mother... They just became step-siblings... But true love can't be denied, despite awkward family dynamics... right?

While the plot *had* been done before, this is VERY good polish on the awkward situation. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews Worth the Risk by JB Heller

Abe has been assigned to protect Kallista, only to realize he had a one-night-stand with her at her friend's wedding months ago. Kallista is a good person and has no idea why she's getting these vague threats or why her father would pay for a 24-7 bodyguard. Nor is she some damsel in distress that's going to swoon over an alpha macho protective guy, even if that guy had known her very well indeed... So who's really after her, why, how can they solve the problem once and for all?

I find the book good at some parts, bad at others. Abe seems to flip between alpha lovable jerk and cold-protective bodyguard, as if he can't be both at the same time. There's a twist when one of the attackers was unveiled, and it's pretty good. But let's just say what followed really made no sense. The big battle was chaos, the multiple viewpoints and time-jumping didn't help. 3.5/5

GRR Reviews Blue Angel by Kristen Kelly

Lucas met Maura at an airport... Where both are flying to meet the Blue Angels. He wanted to join the team, while she's trying to decide what to do with her life when her dreams of seeing her (married) man leave his wife and be with her came crashing down. Maura turned out to have a fear of flying and in after a few too many drinks, decided to invite Lucas to join the "mile high club". It's a one-time thing, of course... Until she was tasked to write a briefing report about the Blue Angels for her organization... and had to see Lucas again. And this time, Lucas is determined to make her his forever... if she will let him.

While characters have a lot of depth, it seems reality had been left aside. Blue Angel pilots have to be active duty, yet Lucas seems to have left the Marines for several years already before attempting to join. And Lucas has already been medically discharged. This really made ZERO sense. Also, one can also question whether Maura prefers the "excitement" of seducing married men and dream of him leaving his wife (when he wouldn't) to settling down with someone who likes her as is (like Lucas). Also, the idea of making Maura write a report on Blue Angels like a reporter makes no sense. Having her "boss" nagging her like and editor, even less so. She's a LAWYER doing work for lobbyists as a researcher... Really? Isn't that a junior aide's job? That's confusing as heck. This book has some good moments, but just as many non-sensical background elements and plotting. 2.5/5

GRR Reviews Another by FIona Cole

NOTE: This is technically a sequel to "Lovers", but can be read separately.

Carina was a pretty wild and adventurous young woman... Enough so that she invited her boyfriend, Jake's best male friend Jackson into bed to have a threesome. It was memorable. But that's also when Jake realized he's really gay and wanted to marry Jackson and regrettably, dump Carina. Carina met a mystery man in a bar, who reassured her she's lovable. Months later, on a blind date, Carina met the mystery man again, at a "blind date boudoir photo session". His name is Ian. It was clear they have a real passion for another, and when the photographer had to leave temporarily, they had a quickie, but then she felt ashamed and did not leave a surname or contact info. Only two months later did she realize she got pregnant... A few months later, Carina found that Ian was actually quite close by, which is also when he found she's pregnant. He obviously wanted to take care of his baby mama, but Carina isn't the kind of woman that lets an alpha guy do what he wanted... Can they make peace for the sake of the baby?

Nice, complex personalities, an alpha guy making mistakes but is so lovingly making them you'd want to forgive him. Carina covers her vulnerability with sass and bitchiness that occasionally goes a bit overboard, but it's perfectly understandable. 4.5/5

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 This Christmas by Sarah Spade

Max and Sarah met one Christmas under the mistletoe. It was a VERY memorable night. But they gave each other fake names and fake phone numbers. So they lost touch with each other, and Sarah felt betrayed. A year later, it's almost Christmas... They met again... which is when Sarah found out, to her horror, that Max is her best friend's brother... and her boss's boss.  // Max didn't want to go that morning, but a family emergency called him away. He thought he could call, but she didn't leave him a real number. A year later, they met again. She wants nothing from him, which is perfectly understandable. But he'll do anything to get another chance... Even if it's to pretend to be her boyfriend for her parents...

While a little on the short side (barely over 100 pages), it's actually quite tightly plotted. It managed to mix rom-com with sweetness and angst. Good job. Even the pivot later into 'fake to real' was nicely done. 5/5

GRR Reviews Not Just Another Billionaire by Emma Kingsley

Logan didn't want any part of his dysfunctional Marshall family and gladly let his brother took the reins of the family "Marshall Resorts" empire. But now, when someone had leaked the plans of their latest development to their competitor, and their competitor managed to launch practically the same project (even in the same zipcode!) ahead of Marshall project breaking ground, Logan is forced to go back and save his family legacy. Imagine his surprise that he saw a familiar face there... // Emily was betrayed by her high school sweetheart who had promised to marry, but then reneged. She dedicated herself to work, and was just promoted to vice president of marketing of the new project. She celebrated by a girl's night out with her bestie, and met a gorgeous man under somewhat awkward circumstances. Then she went to work... only to discover that the project was leaked... and may not need a new VP anymore. Furthermore, she discovered that the hottest guy she'd ever seen was her new CEO. //   The atmosphere is tense, and mood sour. Logan needs a plan, and Emily has an idea. It sounds doable... Until sudden Emily was accused of being the leaker...

It's NOT one-night-stand meets again, so at least that's trope-breaking. I like the twist, and it does make sense. That's pretty good for a short novel. 4/5

GRR Reviews Too Proud to Beg by Jasmine Garner

Charli had a girl's night out to celebrate her business taking off, and her friends encouraged her to have a one night stand with a hunk, and they even share names. It was epic, and memorable. Until a few days later when she realized the guy, Nate, was the head of an investment group that was going to fund her business expansion. Now she can't take his money, because photos from that night at the club had leaked. While no one had made the connection yet, it was only a matter of time before someone accused her to sleeping her way to funding. // Nate was almost killed by a jilted lover (who threw him in front of a bus, really). He survived, and he's not looking to get involved with a woman, even one as enchanting as Charli. And now that he had accidentally ruined her life, he wanted to make amends... But Charli is not accepting his help. Now... How to convince her...

The plot feels somewhat clumsy, and the guy comes across as almost stalker-ish. Instead of giving up, he basically sends his assistant, or use the business association (which he heads) to invite her for a chat (because she won't talk to him directly). I also find it a bit... implausible why the guy turned off by love would go to a club alone and accept a one-night-stand. I also failed to notice the race. This was meant to be BWWM (black woman, white man) romance, but I guess I just didn't notice at all except for Charli living in a bad part of town. 3/5

GRR Reviews Playboy in a Suit by Alex Wolf

Brody is a playboy, and when his brother's getting married, he threw a bachelor party. Brody took a liking to one of the exotic dancers, April, and they had sex... without protection, even though she's on the pill. Both apparently drank spiked wine and both kinda forgot about that night. A few weeks later, April found out she's pregnant... and Brody kinda figured out it was his... and he will claim her...

Eh... not much here. There really wasn't much conflict, or darkest hour, or grand gesture. 2/5

GRR Reviews Doctor Daddy by K C Crowne

Hope is a travel writer who just arrived in Paris. Meeting a tall, dark, and handsome stranger doctor Colin was a delight. Having her every needs met, esp. sex was... wonderful. Too bad they only have three nights. Unfortunately, he was called back to the US for an emergency consultation (who turned out to be his evil ex). And in their farewell sex, condom broke. She promised to get Plan B (aka morning after pill), but after travel and writing assignment, she completely forgot. Thus she found herself pregnant with TWINS, and due to her pre-existing condition of diabetes, she's in need of a specialist...  who turned out to be Colin himself...

The FMC needs some serious work. The author tried to make her "feisty and independent", but in reality she came across as rude and crass. And the MMC is just TOO perfect, which only made the contrast worse. This plot has also been done before. 2/5

GRR Reviews Absolving Amy by RJ Gray

NOTE: BDSM "Daddy dom", "Domestic Discipline" aka spanking

Amy managed to survive foster homes, and she's taking classes. But she's currently homeless, working 3 jobs and summer classes, just living out of her car. She had a one-night stand with a wonderful police detective Ben as a bridesmaid for her best friend, but she can never be with anyone, because nobody would want her long-term after they learned what she had done... // Ben was smitten with Amy after that one-night stand, but she disappeared before he woke up, but he can't stalk her... He's a detective, after all. But having her car skid to a stop in front of police station, car riddled with multiple bullet holes, brought out all his protective daddy instincts. She just witnessed a murder by a high-ranker in the Los Diablos gang, and there's a price on her head. He can protect her, and even love her, but he plays by daddy dom rules. And Amy... wasn't quite sure if she wants to play... esp. when she's caught between shame (I don't deserve him) and defiance (how dare he dictate to me).

Hmmm... I like the twist at the end, which I won't spoil. And this "domestic discipline" thing, is a subset of BDSM, a power exchange where the dominant assumes a "daddy" role, that's NOT sugardaddy nor full-time dom. It's pretty hot, if you're into that sort of thing. OTOH, doing that to a witness he's protecting? Hmmm... Bit of a morally gray area, odd for a cop. :)  4/5