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Book 953: Stronger Than Passion (Chesapeake Days #2) – Katherine McIntyre

Coming off Stronger Than Hope, I wasn’t 100% sure I was going to read the next one in the series. There were just enough little annoyances in it that I wasn’t convinced. However, when this landed in my inbox I thought why not give McIntyre another chance, see if the same issues showed up again.*

I called Nico being one of the protagonists of this book but had no clue who the second would be. We find ourselves with a classic enemies-to-lovers trope. Nico Shah, the owner and proprietor of the local town bar who is a one-night-stand only kind of guy, is forced to work with Hudson West, the pretty boy with a presumed-trust fund who runs the high-end classy restaurant of the town. They don’t get on because of numerous misunderstandings, but they slowly fall for each other as they work together.

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Book 952: My Love Mix-Up! (Vol. 1) – Wataru Hinekure & Aruko

I ended up with this one from the library after seeing My Love Mix-Up! (Vol. 4) on NetGalley. It wasn’t an immediate OMG I must read these, but more of an awww that looks cute, I haven’t read a good manga in a while I wonder what it’s about. And then when I found out it was a comedy of errors, so I checked to see if my local library had it, they did and I requested it.

Thankfully, it became available in between two books and I could do a slight schedule modification to squeeze it in and not miss any galley deadlines. We’ll see if the next volume does (my library does have through volume 4!).

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Book 951: Playing for Keeps (Sporting Secrets #3) – Jax Calder

It was a no-brainer I would say yes when this one finally arrived in my inbox.* I enjoyed Playing Offside and Playing at Home so much and was getting antsy this one was taking so long (a whole 6 months). It was definitely worth the wait and I’ll gladly wait this long again because Calder does a good job not only in writing the stories but also in making sure they’re reviewer ready. I’m still shuddering after a couple of recent ones I read that needed to start over.

This is the story of Ethan and Luke, childhood best friends who were inseparable until Char, Luke’s twin sister, ended up pregnant with Ethan’s kid, Theo. Needless to say shit hit the fan and they went their separate ways (including Luke fleeing to Japan to play professional rugby), but Luke is back to achieve his dream of playing for the New Zealand national team and he happened to sign with Ethan’s professional team, not because of Ethan but because of the out players on the team.

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Book 948: Patricia Wants to Cuddle – Samantha Allen

What a wonderfully weird novel. When this landed in my inbox from the publisher I first thought WTF is that because the cover art screams pulp fiction and as much as I find those hilarious I’m not usually drawn to them. However, I’d decided I wanted to expand my LGBT novel repertoire, and knowing this featured lesbian/bisexual female protagonists I said sure why not.*

Billed as a satire of The BachelorPatricia Wants to Cuddle takes place in the final two weeks of The Catch‘s season with four female finalists and the catch going to the San Juan islands off the coast of Washington state. While it is that, it’s also a final girl thriller novel with murder and mystery and urban legends aplenty to keep the reader engaged.

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Book 943: Aaron’s Awakening (Maine Men #6) – K.C. Wells

When this ARC landed in my inbox I recognized the series and the author, but if I’m 100% honest about why I decided to read this, it’s that gorgeous colorwork sweater Aaron is wearing on the cover.* Priorities right? I just finished knitting my first colorwork sweater and am in the process of workout the design of another from a TV show so obviously, it was already in mind!

I’m glad I decided to jump back into the series. I remember enjoying Finn’s Fantasy when I read it but hadn’t kept up with the series so of course had to rush through and read books 2-5 to catch up on the friend group! And the overall thought on this book is: I’m not sure how Wells is going to close out the series (aside from who she’s closing it out with), but after these last two she’s got her work cut out for her to make it even better!

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