Author Archives: Lacey

Review: An Unexpected Distraction by Catherine Bybee

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An Unexpected Distraction by Catherine Bybee
Series: Richter #3 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: November 30th 2021
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Family secrets and fresh romance collide in this heart-pounding Richter series installment by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bybee.

Jacqueline “Jax” Simon knows how to expose secrets: she’s a skilled operative with MacBain Security and Solutions. When Jax hears her parents are divorcing, she races to London to find out why. She’s determined to learn the truth, especially when her investigation uncovers why her parents sent her to Richter, the German military school that made her a fighter.

Andrew Craig collects Jax at Heathrow Airport as a favor. He’s heard she’s a handful, but he didn’t know she’s dangerously gorgeous too. His instant attraction could change his life…or end it.

Jax doesn’t want to fall for Andrew, but soon he’s worming his way into her life. Together, they infiltrate Richter to discover if it has returned to its covert purpose: training children to be spies and assassins and blackmailing parents to look the other way. As the attraction between the two intensifies, so do the secrets exploding all around them. How deadly are those secrets—and who will survive?

If you love reading romantic suspense and haven’t tried Catherine Bybee’s Richter series, you’re missing out! The third book has just released and we have Jax and Andrew’s romance. It’s another thrilling installment in a series that I’m enjoying more and more with every new book. And although each book has its own couple, I highly recommend reading the series in order just so you can get a better understanding of the series characters and plots.

Jax is yet another badass, highly-trained heroine who hails from Richter Academy and now works for McBain Security. During her best friend’s wedding festivities, she gets a mysterious phone call from her brother asking her to return to London. She’s picked up by her brother’s friend Andrew, who knows nothing about Jax’s exciting, dangerous life. But he feels a connection between them that he thinks is worth exploring and worth making Jax want to stay in England.

The romance here is solid, if not that steamy. I still enjoyed it though and I liked the way Andrew handled learning about Jax’s life. They made a fantastic couple and I loved how genuinely the romance built between them. Jax went deep into investigations about her family’s past, learning all these secrets, which kept me on the edge of my seat. Overall, I had a great time reading An Unexpected Distraction!


lacey

Reading Order: Richter series

#1 ~ Changing the Rules: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ A Thin Disguise: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ An Unexpected Distraction: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

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Review: The Lady Gets Lucky by Joanna Shupe

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The Lady Gets Lucky by Joanna Shupe
Series: Fifth Avenue Rebels #2 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: October 26th 2021
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Source: I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

USA Today Bestselling Author Joanna Shupe continues her new Fifth Avenue Rebels series with a scandalous romance about a good girl desperate to rebel and the rebel desperate to corrupt her.

A first-rate scoundrel.
A desperate wallflower.
Lessons in seduction.

The woman no one notices . . .

Shy heiress Alice Lusk is tired of being overlooked by every bachelor. Something has to change, else she’ll be forced to marry a man whose only desire is her fortune. She needs to become a siren, a woman who causes a man’s blood to run hot . . .and she’s just met the perfect rogue to help teach her.

He’s the life of every party . . .

Christopher “Kit” Ward plans to open a not-so-reputable supper club in New York City, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to hire the best chef in the city to guarantee its success. Even if it requires giving carnal lessons to a serious-minded spinster who has an in with the chef.

Their bedroom instruction grows passionate, and Alice is a much better pupil than Kit had ever anticipated. When the Society gentlemen start to take notice, Kit has to try to win Alice in other ways . . . but is he too late to win her heart?

Joanna Shupe is my go-to historical romance author when I want steam and something different than the typical regency romance. I love her Gilded Age romances, and The Lady Gets Lucky is another fantastic read! I enjoyed Kit and Alice so much. It’s book two in her new Fifth Avenue Rebels series but reads perfectly fine as a standalone.

The most amazing thing for me about this book is that it’s a foodie historical romance with a chef heroine! I rarely ever come across chefs in historical romances so this was a treat to read. In addition to being an American heiress and wallflower, Alice is secretly learning how to be a chef through her family’s hotel chef. But because she’s an heiress, she has to find someone to marry, and she enlists the help of Kit to teach her the ways of seduction to land herself a husband.

Kit is your classic rake hero and he wants to open up a supper club. He’s trying to hire the same chef Alice is learning from, so they make a deal with each other. Kit will teach Alice all the ways of seduction and in return, she’ll give him her chef’s recipes. Obviously, neither expect to fall in love but they do… and the pining between them is so good. Their chemistry and banter are great – I was hooked onto their every moment, in and out of the bedroom. Even though the whole plot with the hero teaching the heroine about sex is pretty common in historicals, I loved the twist with the food and recipes here. If you enjoy the classic pairing of a rake and wallflower in historical romances, you definitely need to read this. It’s another solid read from Joanna Shupe!


lacey

Reading Order: Fifth Avenue Rebels series

#1 ~ The Heiress Hunt: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ The Lady Gets Lucky: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ The Bride Goes Rogue: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

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Review: It Takes Heart by Tif Marcelo

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It Takes Heart by Tif Marcelo
Series: Heart Resort #1 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: August 10th 2021
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Source: I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

From romance author Tif Marcelo comes a heartwarming story about taking a second chance on love at a family-owned couples resort.

Heart Resort, a private resort in the Outer Banks, is a romantic getaway for couples but a hotbed of family drama for its proprietors, the Puso family. Brandon Puso, the youngest of the four siblings, prefers life on his own as a licensed contractor in DC after a falling-out with his eldest brother.

After a hurricane plows through the Outer Banks, Brandon has a change of heart. He returns to the resort to help with the grand reopening but encounters his big sister’s best friend, designer Geneva Harris, who’s there to do the same thing. But Geneva and Brandon have a secret. Years ago, they had a secret romance that ended in heartbreak.

With the resort’s future at stake, Brandon and Geneva decide to put the past aside and to keep peace with the family. But as their mutual attraction heats up, they have to decide if history will repeat itself—or if this time, love gets a second chance.

I’ve been meaning to read more from Tif Marcelo ever since reading The Key to Happily Ever After and as soon as I saw she had a new second chance romance coming out, I knew I had to read it! This is one of my favorite tropes and Tif Marcelo wrote the one in It Takes Heart so well. I loved the small town feel, the close Filipino-American family dynamics, and of course the romance.

Brandon is the youngest of the Puso siblings and has been living away from his family after a falling out. But he returns home to Outer Banks after a hurricane in order to help rebuild Heart Resort to get it up and running. Geneva is Brandon’s sister’s best friend (another great trope) and she and Brandon secretly fell in love years ago. They reunite when Brandon goes home and try to work together strictly as friends… but the attraction between them is still there. Now they have to decide if what they have now is worth reigniting.

This was such a sweet, heartwarming romance! I love reading about big families and the Pusos are all wonderful. They’re not perfect by any means but you can clearly feel how much they love each other and would do anything for their family. I already can’t wait to read about more of the Pusos.


lacey

Reading Order: Heart Resort series

#1 ~ It Takes Heart: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Know You by Heart: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads (April 5, 2022)

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Review: Bombshell by Sarah MacLean

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Bombshell by Sarah MacLean
Series: Hell’s Belles #1 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: August 24th 2021
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Source: I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

New York Times bestselling author Sarah MacLean returns with a blazingly sexy, unapologetically feminist new series, Hell’s Belles, beginning with a bold, bombshell of a heroine, able to dispose of a scoundrel—or seduce one—in a single night.

After years of living as London’s brightest scandal, Lady Sesily Talbot has embraced the reputation and the freedom that comes with the title. No one looks twice when she lures a gentleman into the dark gardens beyond a Mayfair ballroom…and no one realizes those trysts are not what they seem.

No one, that is, but Caleb Calhoun, who has spent years trying not to notice his best friend’s beautiful, brash, brilliant sister. If you ask him, he’s been a saint about it, considering the way she looks at him…and the way she talks to him…and the way she’d felt in his arms during their one ill-advised kiss.

Except someone has to keep Sesily from tumbling into trouble during her dangerous late-night escapades, and maybe close proximity is exactly what Caleb needs to get this infuriating, outrageous woman out of his system. But now Caleb is the one in trouble, because he’s fast realizing that Sesily isn’t for forgetting…she’s forever. And forever isn’t something he can risk.

I have been waiting for this book – for Sesily and Caleb – for SO long! I fell in love with them years ago when The Day of the Duchess released and now their book is finally here. Bombshell is the first in a brand new series all about Hell’s Belles: four badass women who’ve taken it upon themselves to save the ladies of London. Sesily is the first Belle to get her story, and I enjoyed it for the most part. I will say I expected a bit more because of how much I loved the book these main characters first showed up in, but I still had fun reading Bombshell.

If you’re looking for a classic regency historical romance, this isn’t it. It’s got a very modern feel to it and it reminded me a lot of Daring and the Duke. If you loved that book from Sarah MacLean, you’ll most likely enjoy Bombshell too. But we don’t have a shy wallflower here – Sesily is the complete opposite. She’s embraced her ruined reputation and is doing things that would make the people of the ton faint.

Sesily and her group of friends were the highlight of this story for me. I enjoyed them all and am so looking forward to the rest of their books. The romance though, was a bit of a letdown. I was so excited to read about a best friend’s sister romance but all of their history wasn’t fleshed out enough for me. I wanted more of them and their romance.

Overall, Bombshell is a good start to this new Sarah MacLean series. It’s not a new favorite of mine, but I’m still looking forward to reading more.


lacey

Reading Order: Hell’s Belles series

#1 ~ Bombshell: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Heartbreaker: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

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Review: The Highland Fling by Meghan Quinn

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The Highland Fling by Meghan Quinn
Series: Standalone
Publication Date: August 24th 2021
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Source: I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

In this steamy tale by USA Today bestselling author Meghan Quinn, an American searching for her purpose escapes to a Scottish town but finds more questions than answers when she meets a brooding yet handsome handyman.

Freshly fired from her third job in a row, Bonnie St. James has lost her way. So when she and her best friend stumble upon a “help wanted” post to run a coffee shop in the Scottish Highlands, they apply on a whim. Who knows? Maybe traveling to a new place is just what she needs to figure out her next move.

When the friends arrive in the tiny idyllic town of Corsekelly, they instantly fall for the gorgeous Highland landscape and friendly townspeople. But Bonnie finds a less-than-warm welcome in Rowan MacGregor, the rugged local handyman. Busy wrestling his own demons, Rowan’s in no mood to deal with the quirky American—even if she is a bonny lass.

As Bonnie and Rowan’s paths inevitably cross, insults—and sparks—fly. Can the pair build on their similarities to help each other find purpose and direction…and maybe romance too? Or will their passionate tempers fling them apart?

I enjoyed Meghan Quinn’s The Wedding Game so much earlier this year so when I saw she had a new release coming out, I knew I had to read it! I always have fun with her rom-coms – they’re quirky, cute, and sweet. I had a lot of expectations for The Highland Fling, mainly because of the setting of Scotland and the hero being a Scottish grump, and while I enjoyed it, I sadly can’t say it’s my new favorite Meghan Quinn book.

I love Highlander historical romances so I had no doubt I would enjoy a modern day Highlander romance. Bonnie and her best friend are traveling in Scotland when they stumble upon the Highlands an a coffee shop that’s in dire need of help – and an owner. Bonnie, with no plans for her future, decides to take this coffee shop on. She loves the town and its people except for one person: Rowan, the grumpy local handyman. They don’t get along, mainly because he’s too grumpy and she’s too sunshine-y but there are definitely some sparks flying between them.

I really liked the setup of this book. I love Scotland and always enjoy when a book is set there. Bonnie and Rowan were interesting characters and I thought their romance was fun. The only thing that’s holding me back from a full 4 stars read though is the ending of the book, which I wasn’t the biggest fan of. I got mad at Rowan and the way her acted just took me out of the story, unfortunately.

Still, if you’re normally a fan of Meghan Quinn, this is another book with her signature ridiculousness and humor. I still say give it a try, especially if you love Scottish heroes!


lacey

Other Books by Meghan Quinn

The Wedding Game: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

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