Review: Highland Conquest by Heather McCollum

Highland Conquest by Heather McCollum
Series: Sons of Sinclair, Book 1
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Genre: Historical Romance

ISBN: 9781640637474
Release Date: April 28, 2020
Source: Publisher
Buy it here: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Entangled

Cain Sinclair has a plan. In order to finally bring peace to his clan, he will wed the young female chief of their greatest enemy. Only problem: capturing her and forcing her back to Sinclair castle doesn’t exactly make her want to say yes. Ella Sutherland may be clever, passionate, and shockingly beautiful, but what she isn’t is willing.

Every attempt Cain makes to woo her seems to backfire on him. A gift? The kitten practically claws his eyes out. A competitive game of chess? Even when he wins, he loses. It seems the only time the two ever see eye to eye is when they’re heating up Cain’s bed. Still, the only thing Ella truly wants is the one thing he cannot offer her: freedom.

But when Cain discovers she’s been harboring a secret—one that could threaten both clans’ very existence—he’ll have to decide between peace for the Sinclairs or the woman who’s captured his heart.

Two strong, clever heads of opposing clans are the perfect match on and off the battlefield in Highland Conquest. Heather McCollum has kicked off her Sons of Sinclair with an engaging enemies-to-lovers tale.

Cain Sinclair was raised to be a conqueror. After the death of Cain’s mother, his father raised his sons to be the biblical Four Horseman, determined to see the Sinclairs rule a united Scotland. As the new chief of the Sinclair clan, Cain’s first order of business is to take over the holdings and people of their enemies, the Sutherlands. When he captures Ella Sutherland, the Sutherlands’ chief, Cain decides marrying her and absorbing her clan would be the best and most peaceful solution. Only Ella has no intention of submitting and giving away the birthright she’s held onto. It’s the perfect stage for a battle of wills, mostly because Cain and Ella are perfect for each other. If their clans weren’t warring, their love story would be a simple one. But duty and family are heavy burdens for each to bear.

Cain and Ella are strong, honorable characters who have their work cut out for them. Cain is trying to not only do right by his clan, but to live up to the legend his father wanted him to be. Ella was raised by a monster and has spent her life protecting others. Cain and Ella are easy to like and they have wonderful chemistry. Cain’s wooing and Ella’s escape attempts bring a liveliness and energy to what would could otherwise be a heavy book. There is a core of respect to the romance that I really enjoyed. And though Ella is Cain’s captive, there is expressed consent when things turn carnal. Everything about Cain and Ella’s romance worked and I was rooting for them to find a way to get their happily ever after. Both have hard choices to make throughout the story and sometimes the easiest road isn’t what’s best or what’s right for the one you’re coming to love and the people you hold dear.

Highland Conquest is the first book in the Sons of Sinclair series and I finished it looking forward to more. In particular, I cannot wait to see what Ms. McCollum has in store for the youngest brother, Bàs.


FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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Review: Home with You by Liza Kendall

Home with You by Liza Kendall
Series: Silverlake Ranch, Book 2
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Contemporary Romance

ISBN: 9780593098028
Release Date: March 31, 2020
Source: Publisher
Buy it here: Amazon | B&N | Kobo

Anything is possible in Silverlake, Texas when love takes the reins…

Rhett Braddock swore to himself that he'd never return to Silverlake. But when the opportunity arises to buy a piece of his lost, happier youth, he's drawn to the community--and the family--he once loved. Mending fences might not be as hard as he thought--until he ends up in bed with his best friend's sister.

Julianna Holt is over Rhett Braddock. So what if he's a self-made billionaire? His less than flattering dash the morning after they spent the night together made it clear he wants nothing to do with her. Besides, she has her horses and the Holt stables to save.

So when Rhett buys the Holt property as a favor to her brother, Jules makes him feel as welcome as a skunk at a garden party…but is it possible that Rotten Rhett isn’t so rotten after all? Or is the Texas heat melting her resolve to hate him?

I adored Liza Kendall’s first Silverlake Ranch book, Walk Me Home, so I couldn’t wait to see what the authors had in store for the billionaire Braddock brother, Everett. I eagerly dove into Home with You ready to fall in love with Rhett and Jules. The good news is, I did love Rhett. The bad news? I didn’t love his story or the woman he fell in love with.

To start things on a positive note, Rhett was far more endearing than I thought he’d be, given the way his siblings talked about him in the previous book. After the death of his parents, Rhett was forced to leave Silverlake and attend a boarding school in order to capitalize on his brilliant mind and set him up for success. Unfortunately no one ever asked Rhett what he wanted, which was to be at home with his remaining family and become a rodeo cowboy. Still, Rhett became a glowing success, a self-made billionaire who uses his wealth and status as armor. He’s smart, hardworking, and super sexy, but also quite vulnerable. It was easy to fall in love with Rhett. Is he perfect? No. But his mistakes come from an honest place of trying to do right by everyone, even if sometimes misunderstands what the right thing to do is.

One of the things Rhett does is return to Silverlake and buy Holt Stables as a favor to his best friend, Grady, and his family. Only no one told Julianna Holt, Grady’s sister and Rhett’s one night stand that went horribly wrong the morning after. Jules is furious that her dream of one day taking over the family business has been shattered, even though she’s guaranteed a lifetime job as manager. I understood why she was furious at first because her parents and brother treat her like a child and don’t listen to her ideas for the stables. The problem is, the longer the book went on the more I realized that maybe the Holt family treats Jules like a child because she acts like one. She’s selfish, rude, and can’t even be bothered to take care of basic things all other adults do, like buy necessities. I gave Jules a lot of leeway to begin with (1) because of her history with Rhett and (2) I don’t mind deeply flawed characters so long as they grow. To me, Jules never grew as a character. The only time she considered anyone other than herself was when her aunt advised her, but even that was problematic. Her aunt Sue has a terrible and tragic backstory that has made her cynical and though that’s completely understandable, Jules should be aware enough not to follow Sue’s advice. Honestly, Jules’s love of animals was pretty much her only redeeming quality.

The romance between Jules and Rhett is a struggle for me to believe. I don’t understand why he falls for her and there’s a plot twist you can see coming that was aggravating because it forces their hands rather than requiring them to act like adults and come together naturally. There was so much false drama and quite a bit of sexism coming from secondary characters that I grew frustrated. I hate to say it, but I finished Home with You feeling like Rhett would be better off without Jules. Perhaps if they had spent some actual time as a couple their love story would have been more believable. Instead, it felt like their happy ending was shoved in at the end in a rather tone-deaf way given the incredibly emotional, heartbreaking scene that preceded it.

Despite the fact that Home with You made me angry at some points, I’m still looking forward to reading more Silverlake Ranch novels. There were things I enjoyed about this book: Rhett repairing his relationship with his siblings, his love for his old horse that made me cry buckets, and I do like the authors’ writing. But this book simply wasn’t my cup of tea and I wish Rhett had been given a more satisfying love story.


FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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Review: Dictatorship of the Dress by Jessica Topper

Dictatorship of the Dress by Jessica Topper
Series: Much “I Do” About Nothing, Book 1
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Contemporary Romance

ISBN: 9780425276259
Source: Goodreads Giveaway
Buy it here: Amazon | B&N | Kobo

As the dress-bearer for her mother’s wedding, Laney Hudson has a lot more baggage than the bulky garment bag she’s lugging from New York to Hawaii. Laney is determined to prove she’s capable of doing something right, but running chores for her mom’s fairytale nuptials is proving to be a painfully constant reminder of her own lost love.

So when she’s mistaken for the bride and bumped up to first class, Laney figures some stress-free luxury is worth a harmless white lie. Until the flight crew thinks that the man sitting next to her is Laney’s groom, and her little fib turns into a hot mess.

The last thing Noah Ridgewood needs is some dress-obsessed diva landing in his first-class row. En route to his Vegas bachelor party, the straight-laced software designer knows his cold feet have nothing to do with the winter weather.

When a severe storm leaves them grounded in Chicago and they find themselves booked into the last available honeymoon suite, Laney and her in-flight neighbor have little choice but to get better acquainted. Now, as her bridal mission hangs in the balance, perhaps the thing Laney gets right is a second chance at love.

Air travel is unpleasant on a good day, so having travel plans go awry isn’t the scenario you’d think of for a classic “meet-cute.” Yet that’s exactly what happens in the utterly charming Dictatorship of the Dress. Jessica Topper’s first Much “I Do” About Nothing is a fast-paced, engaging read featuring two loveable characters brought together by chance.

Laney and Noah were so easy to adore. Laney is a former comic book artist and she’s so creative and fun that I wish she were real just so we could be friends. She’s had a hard time lately after losing a loved one, not to mention the pain and hardship that lead up to that loss (if I’m being vague, it’s to avoid spoilers). She also has a tumultuous relationship with her mother and being the dress bearer for her mother’s wedding (not to mention having her travel plans go awry) is bringing those family problems to the forefront. Laney is a wonderful mix of vibrancy and vulnerability and I so wanted her to get a happily ever after of her own. And Noah… Oh, Tech-Boy. He’s in over his head with a fiancée he doesn’t love who is constantly changing wedding plans without his consent, stomping over his feelings, and having her dear daddy try and bully him. Noah comes across as straight-laced, but meeting Laney opens him up, helps him find the person he was that has been lost over time. The two of them seem like opposites, but they fit so incredibly well. Their romance was so fun to watch unfold and I practically devoured Dictatorship of the Dress because I couldn’t wait to see how things would work out for them.

One thing I was concerned about going into Dictatorship of the Dress was the possible cheating element and I’m sure that’s a concern for others. Noah is engaged and his fiancée being a total nightmare (which she is) isn’t an excuse to cheat in my book. Fortunately it isn’t in Noah’s either. I can’t say how things play out or I’ll spoil the whole story, but suffice it to say Ms. Topper makes it work perfectly.

Dictatorship of the Dress is both tons of fun and deeply emotional. What other story would give you moving past grief, finding love, and encounters with a pack of Elvii? I adored this book from beginning to end.


FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free in a Goodreads giveaway. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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Review: Girl Gone Viral by Alisha Rai

Girl Gone Viral by Alisha Rai
Series: Modern Love, Book 2
Publisher: Avon
Genre: Contemporary Romance

ISBN: 9780062878137
Release Date: April 21, 2020
Source: Publisher
Buy it here: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Audible

OMG! Wouldn’t it be adorable if he’s her soulmate???

I don’t see any wedding rings < eyes emoji >

Breaking: #CafeBae and #CuteCafeGirl went to the bathroom AT THE SAME TIME!!!

One minute, Katrina King’s enjoying an innocent conversation with a random guy at a coffee shop; the next, a stranger has live-tweeted the entire encounter with a romantic meet-cute spin and #CafeBae has the world swooning. Going viral isn't easy for anyone, but Katrina has painstakingly built a private world for herself, far from her traumatic past. Besides, everyone has it all wrong...that #CafeBae bro? He isn't the man she's hungry for.

He's got a < peach emoji > to die for.

With the internet on the hunt for the identity of #CuteCafeGirl, Jas Singh, bodyguard and possessor of the most beautiful eyebrows Katrina's ever seen, offers his family's farm as a refuge. Alone with her unrequited crush feels like a recipe for hopeless longing, but Katrina craves the escape. She's resigned to being just friends with Jas--until they share a single electrifying kiss. Now she can't help but wonder if her crush may not be so unrequited after all…

Girl Gone Viral is a genuinely sweet romance with two protagonists so kind and giving that you can’t help but be swept into their love story. The beginning of this book is familiar if you remember the “Plane Bae” viral phenomenon in 2018, where someone grossly violated the privacy of her neighbors on a plane by tweeting out their interactions, reporting on what they said, speculating on their actions, and generally weaving a story without their knowledge or consent and feeding it to Twitter. In Girl Gone Viral a similar situations happens to former model Katrina King and it’s horrible. Katrina has anxiety and a panic disorder and she’s worked hard to build a life where she feels safe going to even a few places without worry. She guards her privacy and with good reason, so it was even more heartbreaking to watch that privacy be violated when she speaks to a handsome stranger in a café. After someone live tweets the interaction (and makes up some things to go along with it) and it goes viral, Katrina feels the need to get away. Her bodyguard (and longtime crush with amazing eyebrows), Jas Singh, sweeps Katrina off to his family farm in Northern California… And that’s where things get really interesting.

Katrina and Jas are so kind and self-sacrificing that they trip over themselves trying to give the other what they want. It’s incredibly sweet, but their wariness and caution have also kept each from revealing their true feelings to the other. Getting out of their normal routine may just be the push these two cinnamon rolls need to take a risk and let their feelings show. Author Alisha Rai takes what would otherwise be a fairly straightforward romance and gives it depth and breadth by introducing real-world issues into the story. As previously mentioned, Katrina has a panic disorder. I love that she’s so matter-of-fact in how she copes and how Jas interacts with her in the midst of an attack. Mental health problems can’t be cured, only managed and I appreciated that it wasn’t sensationalized but that we see how Katrina builds her world around her to accommodate her needs without shame. Jas also has very real-world issues to face in this story. The military veteran suffers from PTSD and he struggles with communicating and asking for what he needs, even when he’s among those who love and care for him. Add in family drama for both heroes and you have a very full story, but Ms. Rai weaves everything together effortlessly.

From the start of Girl Gone Viral it’s clear that Jas and Katrina are in love with each other, but their actual romance is slow to burn. I do wish I had seen more of them together once they were romantically linked, but it wasn’t too big an issue for me because they operated as a team so well from the start of the book. I really enjoyed Jas and Katrina’s romance and I know I keep using the word “sweet” but it fits them perfectly (even when things get spicy). Girl Gone Viral feels modern in every way, but there’s a timeless quality to the gentleness and quiet strength of Jas and Katrina’s characters that means this book will be enjoyable for years to come.


FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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Review: Badger to the Bone by Shelly Laurenston

Badger to the Bone by Shelly Laurenston
Series: The Honey Badger Chronicles, Book 3
Publisher: Kensington
Genre: Paranormal Romance

ISBN: 9781496714404
Release Date: March 31, 2020
Source: Publisher
Buy it here: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Audible

She’s the woman he’s been hired to kidnap. But ZeZé Vargas has other ideas… like getting them both out of this nightmare alive. Just one problem. She’s crazy. Certifiably. Because while he’s plotting their escape, the petite Asian beauty is plotting something much more deadly…

Max “Kill It Again” MacKilligan has no idea what one of her own is doing with all these criminal humans until she realizes that Zé has no idea who or what he is. Or exactly how much power he truly has.

But Max is more than happy to bring this handsome jaguar shifter into her world and show him everything he’s been missing out on. A move that might be the dumbest thing she’s ever done once she realizes how far her enemies will go to wipe her out. Too bad for them Zé is willing to do whatever it takes to keep her alive . . . and honey badgers are just so damn hard to kill!

Return to the weird and wonderful world of Shelly Laurenston’s Honey Badgers Chronicles with Badger to the Bone. Max’s book is a rip-roarin’ ride that’s a whole lot of fun, even though there are a lot of missed opportunities.

Badger to the Bone is Max’s story and for those who have read Hot and Badgered and In a Badger Way (which I recommend doing before reading this book) Max was the borderline sociopath MacKilligan sister. I was curious how Ms. Laurenston would turn her into a heroine without doing a character lobotomy. The answer is a bit of a mixed bag. Max is still deadly and full of attitude, but she’s no sociopath. She has previously unknown deep and longstanding friendships beyond her sisters and her best friend Dutch. She’s also far more stable and if not well-adjusted, then the closest approximation you’d find in this world. Because I’ve read the previous two Honey Badger books I found the lack of consistency in her character jarring, as Max didn’t so much grow as a character or reveal hidden layers as suddenly have those layers appear because it suited the story. In terms of storytelling, it felt like some shortcuts were taken. But that doesn’t mean I disliked Max – far from it. She’s violent and crazy, but also fun and caring.

A mad MacKilligan needs an unflappable hero, and ZeZé Vargas was a delicious one. Zé has no idea he’s a shifter at the beginning of the book so watching him discover this part of himself he never knew was a delight. Zé is so catlike it was hilarious and I can’t count the number of times he made me laugh. I really liked Zé and Max together, but their romance did feel at first underplayed and then rushed. I wish it had developed more organically. I also wish Zé had played a bigger role in the events of the story, but he was mostly an observer which was a pity.

There are a number of plots to be tied up in Badger to the Bone and a host of familiar faces from both this series and the Pride series show up to play a part. I can’t say much without spoiling things, but I did enjoy watching everything come together. If I had one issue it was that Max and Zé were distanced from many resolutions, which was a bit frustrating. I wanted them to be more important to their own story than they were.

Badger to the Bone is a difficult book to put a star rating on. There were so many missed opportunities that I am saddened by. However, I had a genuinely wonderful time reading this book. It was fast-paced, funny, and totally bonkers – I loved reading it. Ultimately this book is like cotton candy: thoroughly enjoyable but missing substance. But hey, who doesn’t like cotton candy once in a while?


FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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Review: Matzah Ball Surprise by Laura Brown

Matzah Ball Surprise by Laura Brown
Publisher: Entangled: Lovestruck
Genre: Contemporary Romance

ISBN: 9781682815427
Release Date: March 16, 2020
Source: Publisher
Buy it here: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Entangled

This Passover is starting to feel like the ten plagues might be coming back to haunt them before the weekend is over…one hilarious misstep after the next.

Gaby Fineberg just wants to get through Passover Seder without her “well meaning” family playing matchmaker. She needs a date, just for one simple meal—that includes singing, the history of her forefathers, and not one bit of yeast. The hot guy at her gym would be perfect. He probably hates bread, anyway, with a body like that. But when she finally works up the nerve to ask him...he doesn’t hear a word she said.

Levi Miller is deaf and happily single. Initially, he doesn’t know why this beautiful woman is talking to him, but it’s clear she needs help—and suddenly so does he. In a very complicated situation, Levi finds a simple solution. Gaby will pretend to be his new girlfriend to bail him out, and he’ll return the favor. But he didn’t bargain for a family dinner quite like this one…

Matzah Ball Surprise is a bright and fun romance that will make you smile. I admit I picked up this book simply because I’ve never read a romance set during Passover and I was thrilled to see one out there. I’m so glad I did, because Gaby and Levi are endearing characters and their love story is delightful.

I have been in Gaby’s place at Passover, so I totally sympathize with her wanting a fake boyfriend to play buffer against a well-meaning family. Gaby is a vibrant, colorful character who absolutely hates change (something I also sympathize with). She isn’t perfect, but she’s got a genuinely good heart and is on guard against being lied to because she’s been hurt before. Asking the hunky guy at her gym to be her fake date may have been a spontaneous act, but it was the best thing she could have done for herself. Levi is a sensitive, caring hero who will make you swoon. He’s a Deaf Studies teacher and is deaf himself, so he is patient and understanding while teaching Gaby how to communicate. Levi has his own family issues and an ex-fiancé who is making things complicated for him. Because he tries so hard to take care of everybody, Levi makes mistakes. But they’re mistakes that come from being too nice and giving a person, so you really can’t hold that against him. Gaby and Levi’s whirlwind romance is sweet and enjoyable, though there is some unwanted drama I could see coming due to the aforementioned ex-fiancé that I didn’t quite love. Still, they made Levi and Gaby made a wonderful couple and I liked their romance overall.

What makes Matzah Ball Surprise stand out are two things author Laura Brown weaves into the story incredibly well: (1) Passover and (2) two strangers – one hearing and one deaf – learning to communicate. It’s clear on both topics Ms. Brown knows what she’s talking about and the story is the richer for it. Both protagonists are Jewish, which I loved (it’s surprisingly rare to find this) and Ms. Brown does a fantastic job of showing Passover traditions, adding layers by portraying not only characters who keep Passover but those who are more lax. There are a number of things that felt incredibly real to me, but you absolutely do not have to be Jewish to enjoy this story. As for Levi and Gaby learning to communicate, this was incredibly well done. Gaby doesn’t pick up ASL overnight and it’s eye-opening for her how many things hearing people take for granted or do and are unaware that it excludes deaf people. Levi has grown up with a family who easily communicates with him and he has plenty of deaf friends. I appreciated his patience and instructiveness and found it added a lot to the story. There is a richness and a depth to this otherwise fluffy story that comes from injecting realness into the fantasy. All in all, Matzah Ball Surprise is a fun contemporary romance that – unlike matzah itself – is thoroughly enjoyable.


FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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Review: Love Around the Corner by Amanda Weaver

Love Around the Corner by Amanda Weaver
Series: The Romano Sisters, Book 3
Publisher: Carina Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance

ISBN: 9781488054013
Release Date: March 9, 2020
Source: Publisher
Buy it here: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Carina Press

The last thing Gemma Romano needs right now is her first love coming back home. She’s trying to keep her family’s bar from being bought up and developed into some glass eyesore, just like all the other family businesses in her beloved Brooklyn neighborhood.

Like it or not, she’s in charge of the Romano legacy, and she can’t afford to risk it—or her heart—on Brendan Flaherty. Not now and not ever again.

Brendan’s old neighborhood is changing fast, but some things are still the same. Gemma’s as devoted to her family, her neighbors, and the bar as she’s always been. And she’s still the one woman he can’t seem to forget.

Gemma’s determined to steer clear of Brendan at first. Not only did he break her teenage heart, but now he’s grown up to be a property developer—he’s the enemy. Staying away from him would be a lot easier if she didn’t find him so infuriatingly attractive. Their chemistry still burns as bright as it ever did. But their painful past is still there, too, and Gemma’s not sure she’s ready to risk her dreams, her business, or her heart on Brendan a second time.

I adore a good second chance romance and Love Around the Corner hits all the right notes. Gemma and Brendan’s story is chock full of emotion; love, fear, hope, distrust, and the terrifying sensation of taking a risk for a chance at something more all blend together wonderfully to create a satisfying romance.

Since the death of her mother, Gemma Romano’s focus has been on her family. She’s never truly allowed herself to dream, instead putting all her time and effort into making sure her sisters succeed and that she keeps the family bar running. The only moments she stole for herself were fourteen years ago when she lost her heart to – and then had it broken by – Brendan Flaherty. Gemma is sometimes a prickly heroine, but she’s easy to like and respect. She works so hard to keep her beloved family bar up and running, but times and her section of Brooklyn are changing and old fashioned bars simply aren’t drawing in new customers. I hated watching her struggle, especially when it’s clear she’s doing it out of a combination of love, fear of letting go, and a sense of responsibly, rather than true passion. I wanted to see her spread her wings, to take a chance on herself and her incredible talent in the kitchen.

Gemma is forced the face the music when Brendan comes back into town. Her first love is all grown up and hotter than ever, but he’s also a property developer – aka the enemy. Of course, Brendan isn’t the bad guy she wants to paint him as. Like Gemma, he’s done what he’s had to do to support his family from far too young an age. It was easy to adore Brendan, especially when he was so clearly head-over-heels for Gemma. They may not have been equipped to handle the curveballs thrown at them as teens, but those times serve as a solid foundation for their second chance at love. Ms. Weaver does an excellent job at conveying the depth of emotion that time, distance, and hurt feelings couldn’t break down. It’s clear Gemma and Brendan are one of those couple that are simply meant to be, even if Gemma is resistant and afraid to risk her heart.

Love Around the Corner is the third book in the Romano Sisters trilogy, but as I haven’t yet read The One I Love to Hate or Love and the Laws of Motion I can safely say this book stands on its own. That being said, after enjoying the family dynamic so much in this story I will definitely be picking up Jess and Livie’s books. Familial love is just as important to Love Around the Corner as the romance and it makes Gemma and Brendan’s world all the warmer for it. I truly enjoyed Gemma and Brendan’s book. It’s heartwarming, sexy, vibrant, and hopeful.


FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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