lake?

Almost Just Friends

Jill Shalvis

Piper is scraping together the money to fix up her grandparents old home for sale when her troubled siblings return to town. Trying to hold it all together and deal with her attraction to the new neighbour causes things to go off the rails in ways that may prove to be for the best in the long run.

Rating: B

princesses?

Holiday in the Hamptons

Sarah Morgan

This is a re-read of a perfectly enjoyable romance novel. You can read my earlier, still accurate, review here. I picked it up because I’d just finished listening to the audiobook of New York Actually (which is the first of the Knight siblings books) and remembered that I liked this one best of the series and the audiobook wasn’t at a price I was prepared to pay.

Rating: B

valeska?

99% Mine

Sally Thorne

Darcy is a world travelling wild child and photographer except she’s stuck in her Grandmother’s old house helping renovate it for sale. The contractor is her childhood friend and crush Tom and he’s going crazy dealing with Darcy and her twin brother who are co-owners and want different things.
This is not as good as the previous offering by Ms Thorne. The Hating Game, while flawed, was a lot of fun. This one is laboured and I struggled to get through it.
Hopefully it’s just a sophomore slump and we’ll see better work in the future because that first novel held a lot of promise.

Rating: C

hudson?

The Prenup

Lauren Layne

Very solid “fake married” contemporary romance.
Charlotte Spencer and Colin Walsh got married ten years ago. He wanted a green card and she needed to be married to come into an inheritance.
They’ve basically not seen each other since the wedding day. When Colin asks for a divorce it triggers a clause in their prenup that requires them to spend three months living together before they can part.
The result is inevitable but it’s a very entertaining journey. Worth the cost of a cheap ebook if you like a fake relationship tale.

Rating: B

pita?

The Trouble With Mistletoe

Jill Shalvis

Willa runs a pet shop that’s also a sanctuary for waifs and strays – human or animal.
Keane’s just had a cat dumped in his lap and Willa’s shop may be the perfect solution.
Only trouble is she remembers their high school past and he doesn’t…
Solid, enjoyable and fluffy contemporary romance.

Rating: B

franchise?

Just Married?

Natasha West

When an English bookseller is dumped by her fiancee for being too predictable she takes a spontaneous journey to Las Vegas.
She wakes the next morning married to a C-List TV actress with a shot at the lead role in the next big movie franchise.
Things happen and the next thing you know we’re in a fake relationship story.
This is a solid contemporary romance novella with a WLW twist. It’s sweet and fluffy with a little bit of family drama thrown in.

Rating: B

crown?

Chasing Christmas Eve

Jill Shalvis

Colbie runs away from her pressured life in New York for an unplanned break in San Francisco and finds herself rescued from an accidental trip into a fountain by Spence.
Colbie and Spence have an instant connection but they each have secrets they need to overcome to move on.
Decent contemporary romance but the obstacles in the way of true love felt especially contrived in this one.

Rating: B-

fours?

The Lemon Sisters

Jill Shalvis

Brooke Lemon’s life is shaken out of it’s routine by the sudden arrival of her sister Mindy (with her kids in tow) at her home in Los Angeles.
Seeing that Mindy is at the end of her rope she volunteers to take the kids for a couple of days.
Ending up in her childhood home in Northern California she begins to confront her past and think about her future with the sexy guy next door.
Solid, entertaining contemporary romance.

Rating: B

heels?

Accidentally on Purpose

Jill Shalvis

Elle is a the super savvy manager of a building complex in San Francisco.
She survived a traumatic childhood to get where she is now. Except every day she has to deal with Archer the ex-cop who threw his career away to save her as a teenager.
If only they didn’t have this dangerous chemistry.
Solid, entertaining contemporary romance.

Rating: B