GRR Reviews Marrying Mister Perfect by Lizzie Shane

Jack is a single father and heart surgeon, handsome as sin, loving as a father can be. It's no wonder he got picked as the star in the new season of "Marrying Mister Perfect", a "The Bachelor" style "reality show" where a dozen women will vie for his ring(s). So why did Jack agree? He agreed that he's way too comfortable with Louisa, Jack's wife's friend, who fell into the nanny role after his wife tragically died... and she just never left. It's clear that she felt obligated to him and his family, and perhaps, finding a wife for himself would finally free Lou to chase her own dreams... But what does Lou want? Will Jack realize what he wanted was there all along? Can Jack let Lou know esp. when the camera is always rolling? 

Nice twists and turns, even though the angst is seriously high about how they claim to be sacrificing their own happiness for the other, but it ended up more like "the gift of the magi". 

4/5

GRR Reviews Grill Me, Baby by Sophia Knightly

Chef Paolo wants to win a spot on Miami Spice cooking show to help his family.  So does chef Michaela. Paolo cooks with a passion, while Michaela... cooks healthy low-calorie fares that are just as enticing. The two can't be more different, and the competition for the spot can't be more fierce. So neither can foresee the passion that develope between them, even as both have to deal with family problems and expectations left them conflicted...

Very good, never a dull moment, even as both started with the wrong idea about each other. Very well done "enemies to lovers" novel. 5/5

GRR Reviews Love You, Truly by Susan L Tuttle

Blake has a Hollywood mother, but he is camera-shy and avoids the limelight... until his mother begged him to take on a reality dating show to boost her image. He never expected to fall in love... with someone who didn't even plan to be on the show... // Harlow is an aspiring photographer who's grieving after her BF dumped her for her best friend. She's trying to raise money for her disabled sister's nonprofit, and when her sister submitted her profile to be on the dating show, she can't say no. But she really didn't want to be there... So why does she feel a connection to Blake, who's determined to woo her, even though they are of different worlds?

Not the first book I've read on the same premise, it's also a bit wordy and the conflict not that well handled. Blake could have been less of a pushover. He's the star. Without him there is no show. Yet he lets the producer push him around. 3.5/5

GRR Reviews The Christmas Fix by Lucy Score

Catalina runs a construction business, and enjoys helping people. A reality show where she helps deserving people get a new house is perfect for her. When Merry, CT was hit by a hurricane, and the town has a family she helped two years ago, she convinced the network to fund a super Christmas special, where her crew and other volunteers will rebuild the whole town, albeit, with a camera crew. And she ran into an obstacle... Noah, the city manager for Merry, who wanted none of her drama in town. Last time Cat was in town, she instigated the only bar fight in town history. Noah sees Cat as a TV diva capitalizing on his town's misfortunes and tempting his daughter with glitz and glam. Cat sees Noah as a neanderthal who prefers to see his town drown in mud and rain instead of letting other people help. The fight will be epic... and so will the kiss... if they ever let down their guard...

Oh, definitely rom-com, where the MMC and MFC trade verbal barbs like cats and dogs, until one side gives in and surprises the other with a kiss. 5/5

GRR Reviews The Wedding Gift by Lucy Kevin

NOTE: Lucy Kevin is Bella Andre's "sweet" pen name.

Julie's restaurant didn't make it, esp. after a 2/5 review from a celebrity chef / reviewer was made public. Julie ended up working as the chef for Rose Chalet, a full wedding venue, taking over from her aunt who had to retire for health reasons. And guess who's the first client for her first tasting? None other than hot celebrity TV chef Andrew Kyle, the person who gave her that 2/5 review, as the groom's brother. Andrew told Julie that while her technique is good, her creations have no spark. Incensed, Julie wanted to give Andrew a piece of her mind, but was instead invited onto his cooking show in a live cook-off. And it's clear they have chemistry together... On and offscreen. But getting involved with a client is a definite no-no at the Rose Chalet... While Andrew wanted Julie, Julie can't decide whether her career or her food is worth risking for a chance for love with Andrew...

Eh... not feeling too much with this one. Firing Julie from Rose Chalet seems really dumb, and the first "experimental meal" was created without ANY input from the couple, which is just stupid. Seems Julie only works in extremes... Either super conservative, or super-creative. Took her until end of the book to balance the two, which actually is character growth, but still, it's just stupid to create a menu WITHOUT looking at the client. Chemistry between Andrew and Julie also was unexplained. 3.5/5

GRR Reviews Million Dollar Marriage by Katy Evans

Penelope (call me "Nell") and Luke both need half a mil. She needed to repay her student loans. He needed it to pay debt owed on his grandpa's bar (now his). They joined the new reality show "Million Dollar Marriage" where the couples, legally wed (but can be annulled at end of show), will join various challenge activities around the US (including Alaska). They are total opposites. She's a multi-PhD squeaky-clean nerd. He's a bar-owner who used to be an addict but cleaned himself up. Both are too busy to date. Both needed the money. The challenges will bring them together like nothing else... and it was just supposed to be a business transaction... Right?

While the "fake reality show love turned very real" plot had been done before, this is a very nice polished version of it. I am NOT too sure about the darkest hour though. I felt that was not explained well. 4/5

GRR Reviews Royal Catch by Kylie Gilmore

Gabe, the crown prince of Villroy, knew his father's ill and he may be expected to take the throne soon. He understood he needs to take a wife. He didn't expect his parents to arrange for a Survivor meets The Bachelor challenge, with multiple princesses... Nor did he expect for one of the contestants to steal his heart so early... yet so unsuitable for him... // Anna is not a princess, but she's impersonating one. The real princess Polly is in jail for identity theft... because Polly wanted to hide from her family and used a dead person's name to buy a house for her VERY VERY distant cousin Anna (they share a common ancestor six generations ago). Polly can't hire a lawyer to sort out her mess without alerting her family as her money's tied up in the house. Cousin Anna, who really does look like Polly, hopes to get the inheritance money for Polly to sort out her mess, only to land in one of her own... it seems she was lured to the island with false promises, yet there may be a prize at the end. But Anna knew she's not a princess. As soon as she gets enough prizes, she'll go. She didn't expect she and Gabe fell for each other, but she will let Gabe go, even if she has to leave broken-hearted, so he can do his duty. But will he let her?

Well, it's... entertaining. Kylie Gilmore has a knack for setting up comedic yet serious situations in her previous novels, and this is no exception. While the overall plot's been done, this is a fine rendition of it. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews On the Market by Rachael Herron

Liam and his brothers are contractors and house-flippers. Their life is perfect, at least, as perfect as having a foster son driving him nuts can be. Then a TV producer called. They want to do a reality show based on them... with an angle about romance. A woman will buy a house, the brothers will renovate it, and date her. And they'll earn a lot more than just flipping houses. Then the producer, Felicia, arrived. And she fell in love with one of the houses... It's as if it was her dream manifested in reality. Suddenly, she's the contestant, and Liam had to date her. Country boy meets city girl. The Bachelor meets Property Brothers. And their lives will never be the same.

Now that's an interesting setup. Lots of double entendre and hidden meanings. Is it real or is it for the cameras? While reality TV romance had been done many times before, mixing it up with handyman trope is pretty ingenious. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews Mending the Billionaire Movie Star by Bree Livingston

Penelope has a twin sister Paige who keeps embroiling her in trouble by impersonating her. It was embarrassing before... But this time, she really had gone too far... Paige signed Penelope up for a reality dating show called Celebrity Proposal, where she'll try to win the affection of billionaire movie star Angus Maclachlan. But if she reveals the deception, Paige would get in trouble. So Penelope reluctantly went to the audition... But she can't fall for anyone, having her heart broken before.// Angus is a leading man but his previous liaison with his agent Clara turned bitter, except his contact with her was apparently iron-clad and he has two more years to go. In despair, his bad behavior had tanked his image and career, and this dating show was supposed to revive that. It was supposed to be an act, but after meeting Penelope, Angus found that it wasn't an act after all. But Clara, being a vindictive ***** is ready to ruin everything... But Penelope has a plan to save Angus from Clara...

I want to like this, as it did deliver a knockout ending, but in a way, it's also quite implausible. Angus, being rich even out of Hollywood, should have hired a lawyer to look through the supposed iron-clad contract with his money, and didn't leave it up to Penelope later. The grand reveal at the end felt way too much as a deus ex machina... through a lot of hand-waving. And what's wrong with a hiatus for two years, just to spite Clara? Why wasn't that in the cards? Should have done that long ago. For a rich guy, he's pretty much a weakling, easily bent. And Clara? Just "pure evil" with zero dimension. 3/5

GRR Reviews The Catch by Avery Scott

Kelsey was a failed actress working as the production assistant on the dating reality show "The Catch" (basically a "The Bachelor/Bachelorette" clone), when she was suddenly thrust into the spotlight (when the original star, Mallory, was unable to continue). She was surprised to find that Tucker, the man she left behind, is on the show as one of the contestants. Tucker was just there to make some money for his struggling farm (and soon-to-be vineyard) and grudgingly went along when the producer wanted to turn the whole thing into a cheesy "come to win back his long lost love". But the longer they stay on the show, the less it feels like pretense... Will Kelsey have to choose between her love and her career?

Good slow burn, lots of pretense and double entendre, lots of cynicism at the "reality" show (where everything is really scripted behind the scenes, or through magic of editing). It's a fun read, even though the ending was a bit of meh, IMHO. 4/5

GRR Reviews No Time for Temptations by Monique McDonell

Georgie was once America's sweetheart, and her best platonic friend, Liam, had always been by her side, lending her strength, even at her first audition ever. A decade later, Georgie is the host of a popular cooking show, and Liam is a top analyst at an investment firm... in different cities.  When a sink mishap (by a neighbor) forced Georgie out of her just-remodeled apartment where she also films her cooking show, Liam decided he needs to make a change. He accepted the offer to move cities (to head up a new branch) and moved to Georgie's city, then bought a Brownstone perfect for filming, and invited Georgie to move in. What he didn't tell Georgie was he always felt inadequate and now that he's successful, and with Georgie moving in, he's ready to show Georgie that he is now someone she deserves... But can she ever see him as more than just the best friend ever?

Awww, sweet unrequited love, a very nice way to do friends to lovers. The way additional tension was added by Liam dumping his existing girlfriend, and Georgie's handsome airline pilot neighbor (whose apartment flooded) tried to parlay an apology into a date. Darkest hour wasn't that dark, but then, this isn't that kind of novel. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews Lights, Camera, Reality by S E Hall and Angela Graham

The latest reality show "Date, Mate, Fate: Celebrity Edition" has eight men and eight women, in one mansion in paradise. Computerized compatibility testing says everybody's soulmate is there. The objective is to eliminate other couples (by figuring out who's their soulmate) and send them packing, and be the last couple left. Among the guests are a former porn star, a bull rider, a football star, a cowboy, an actor, a model, a motocross racer, and more. You have the innocent, the gamer, the sexpot, the backstabber... // Harlow came with her footballer fiancee Oakley. They were high school sweethearts. He "came back" for her after making it big. But why join this show? And is Oakley really her one and only? In a show where everyone has secrets and secret agendas, how will one recognize a soulmate?

Nice. With 16 people it is a little crowded as you have to add the producer, but the characters are different enough that you can easily keep them straight, and the revelations just keep coming. There isn't a dull moment. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews A Sincere Billionaire's Forever Love by Kristen Iten

Billionaire racer Raul has the perfect girlfriend, school principal Marie. They are deliriously happy together. He even won when he hadn't placed in top ten. She's his lucky charm. He was able to anticipate her needs... All except one: her need to be a mother. When she took in a foster child, Raul recoiled in horror. He had secret guilt for a decade for the death of his father... He thought his father died because he gave him money to buy the plane that crashed. He tried to avoid it by inviting a reality TV show into his life, which made the very private Marie incensed. Now he's not sure how to reconcile the two very different visions of the future... and he must choose...

Hmmm...  His inability to talk about his problem makes him a bit TSTL.  3/5

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 Hiding a Secret on Seattle's Billionaire Bachelor by Christene Houston

Milla and Willow are identical twins, but with opposite personalities. Milla is an outgoing actress, Willow is an introvert nurse. Willow was happy when Milla landed a spot on Seattle's Billionaire Bachelor dating reality show. But when a serious case of pinkeye sidelined Milla, Milla insisted that Willow must go in her place. It'd only be a week, perhaps less if she got sent home early. Falling for a billionaire is not a part of the plan, even one as handsome as Sawyer... // Sawyer is a kind and good-hearted man, just unlucky in love, where every women he met seems to care more about his checkbook than him. A dating show sounds like hell, but his sister insisted it would be fun. Meeting Milla (ahem!) was surprisingly good, esp. when they have met before, when she caught his runaway dog Bandit while she's out jogging. But when a surprise twist wrenched that connection away from him, what will he do?

Ah, the twin-switch-a-roo trope. It's a trope, but used pretty effectiveness. I guess I don't understand is how did the news leak? 4/5

GRR Reviews Fake Marriage to her TV Husband by Kacy Cross

Lilith needs publicity to save her business when her half-sister chose to ruin her business via online review bombing. Joining a reality show seems to be a dream come true, and getting married to her TV husband Dane sounds great, as Dane's handsome and suave. But Dane's hiding a huge secret... Dane's actually the high school nerd that got rejected by Lilith. He underwent a total transformation, and the whole show is actually a revenge plot: he'll make Lilith fall for him, then reject her on national TV in the final episode with a full reveal. Except, the more Dane got to know Lilith, the more he realized he got it all wrong. But the producer is determined to see the revenge show through...

Eh... Not feeling much here. How can you make a whole SERIES out of a single revenge idea doesn't really make any sense to me. And online review bombing isn't that hard to fix. Was Lilith really that bad of a person? 

3/5

GRR Reviews Her Too Perfect Boss by Cami Checketts

Billionaire Holden Jennings sponsors lots of things, including a fitness reality TV show, and the finale is filming on a tropical island. Best of all, Navy Quinn is one of the trainers. However, technically Holden is Navy's boss, so he should keep his hands off, despite they have been wanting each other for a very long time. When a hurricane struck the island, driving everyone into the storm shelter, it will be down to Holden and Navy to keep everyone alive... But can they finally be honest with each other about their intentions?

Most of it is actually hurricane survival adventure, at least a good portion of it.

3.5/5

GRR Reviews Only A Night With A Billionaire by Ellie Hall

Penny got an apprenticeship position with the head royal baker in London. But getting lost in the palace and having a Cinderella moment admiring all the beautiful ball gowns lead to a case of mistaken identity: she's NOT princess Penelope... but when the queen greeted you as a niece, how do you say no? And when it turns out she's to meet no less than Prince Oliver and participate in a royal version of "The Bachelor" with 3 other princesses, Penny fainted on the spot. She had a crush on Oliver for years. Being picked as the future queen of Concordia alongside Oliver is a dream... or a nightmare, as she's sure her deception will be revealed any moment...

Okay, I like the tension, but the rescue scenario does NOT work at all. How can a train, having outrun an avalanche, FAILED TO NOTICE that it is SEVERAL CARS short, one of which contains the king and queen to be? And who uses ladders for rescues nowadays? It's rescue baskets and winches! And finally, what a deus ex machina. I knew there is going to be a twist, but it felt... forced.

Category: Contemporary / Royalty

Overall Rating: 3/5

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

GRR Reviews Marry Your Billionaire by C J Anaya

Madelyn (who prefers "Midge") walked away from her trust fund and her Hollywood father when he forced her to choose between joining him vs. her own destiny as a writer. Six years later, she's within a few credits to graduate when her scholarship got canceled and she was forced to talk to him... He needed her as a temporary contestant on his latest reality TV creation: Date a Billionaire.  Strange thing... she had just advised a billionaire, Brody, to NOT get on national TV, as choosing among 20 women is NOT really going to repair his damaged reputation (spread by one bitter Felicia). // Brody found Midge to be absolutely fascinating. He doesn't date (too busy), but he had to date for publicity, so they are arranged by his assistant... except one of them, Felicia, after failing to entice him, decided to spread rumors about him instead. After realizing Midge is the director's daughter and will be one of the contestants, Brody decided that he will participate after all to woo Midge. But his nemesis, Felicia, will also be on the show. And Felicia does NOT play fair... and she has an accomplice as a fellow contestant, who has her own agenda...

Part of the book was great, but some of the twists seem way too convenient. And the darkest hour really doesn't make any sense and can be attributed to the "sensitive ears" trope (i.e. taking things out of context and chose to interpret it as betrayal). Brody doesn't really have that sort of problem, does he? Have him suddenly flip about betrayal was out of character, or perhaps, not foreshadowed enough.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 3/5

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

GRR Reviews Hold Me Today by Maria Luis

Mina felt she was never loved by her family due to her dyslexia. All her mama wanted was for her to marry a "nice Greek boy". She wanted to achieve something for herself, but her family's reaction is "Stop wasting time!"  She was about to complete her hair salon, but to finish it, Mina had to go to the one guy she shouldn't want... Her best friend's older brother, one of the bachelor contestants on the bachelorette show... And owner of his own construction/restoration company. Nick, who happens to be Greek too. Mina had a thing for Nick for a long time, but it's just to admire from afar. But when the fans of the TV show gets a bit crazy, Nick decided to ask Mina for a favor... be his fake girlfriend to fend off the rabid fans. But fake things tend to turn real...

It started out as "unrequited love on bestie's brother", but it became a lot more... Greek culture and stereotypes, dyslexia, "dating camp", reality show, fake vs real, fake girlfriend... there are a LOT of issues and layers to track, yet everything makes sense.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 4.5/5 (rounded up)

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