Book review: AMBER FALLS, by Corinne Michaels

Amber Falls #4

Killian & Tessa

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This one had all the ingredients for a juicy, angsty romance, but somehow the flavor never fully developed. Killian is a long-term hot mess—never had a girlfriend, never been married, carrying old betrayals like emotional luggage he refuses to unpack. Tessa, meanwhile, is drowning in family drama: a manipulative mother who won’t work, an absent brother, and a lifetime of being told she’s not enough. Her backstory has weight, but the book never digs deep enough to make it hit hard.

Their meet-cute is pure romance chaos: she follows a gorgeous older stranger home for dinner and sex (so unsafe, girl!), only to discover the next morning that he’s her new client. (Cue horror faces!) The chemistry is scorching, the age gap works, and Killian is wonderfully supportive of her career. Tessa’s ideas practically save his horse farm, and he never stops telling her how capable she is.

The plot tries to stir up tension—missing trainer, doping rumors, a PI, organized crime, an undercover FBI agent, and even the shock twist that Killian’s newly discovered daughter is Tessa’s best friend. But despite all that, the story still feels oddly… bland. The emotional stakes never quite land, and the family drama stays surface-level.

There are plenty of sex scenes, and the devotion between Tessa and Killian is clear and sweet. Their love grows steadily, and the ending is satisfying. I just wanted more oomph, more depth, more something to make all that drama feel earned.

A lovely story overall—but for me, it didn’t came as angsty as I expected.

Purchase links

Available in Kindle Unlimited!

E-book ➝ https://geni.us/CWM_Zon

Audio ➝ https://geni.us/CWM_Audio

Duet Narration by Austin Stone & Samantha Brentmoor

Paperback ➝ https://geni.us/CWM-Deluxe

About the author

Corinne Michaels is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of romance novels. Her stories are chock full of emotion, humor, and unrelenting love, and she enjoys putting her characters through intense heartbreak before finding a way to heal them through their struggles.

Corinne is a former Navy wife and happily married to the man of her dreams. She began her writing career after spending months away from her husband while he was deployed--reading and writing were her escapes from the loneliness. Corinne now lives in Virginia with her husband and is the emotional, witty, sarcastic, and fun-loving mom of two beautiful children.

 

Connect with Corinne

Website: http://corinnemichaels.com

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CMBOOKS TO 77948

Book review: A HATEFUL NEGOTIATION, by Tijan

Some love stories start with sparks. Creighton and Blake’s starts with bruises. Both products of the foster system, they carry that bone‑deep sense of being unwanted—the kind that stains every instinct, every reaction, every belief about themselves. And in Creighton’s case, that ache is amplified by his own self‑diagnosed “psychopath tendencies.” By fourteen he’s already a young criminal, numb to right and wrong, convinced he has no soul. And then an eight‑year‑old girl with a bruised face steps out of a car and jump‑starts the dead organ in his chest.

From that moment on, Blake becomes his axis.

His purpose.

His line in the sand.

Creighton protects her with a ferocity that terrifies everyone else. If someone hurts her feelings, he reacts. If someone threatens her, he eliminates the threat. The world calls it obsession. I call it devotion—because Blake is also his conscience. She sets one rule: “No one good and no one innocent.” And he follows it for years, not because he believes in morality, but because she does.

Blake’s dream has always been painfully simple: a normal life. Normal people. No foster‑kid stigma. No shadow of Creighton’s world. So they strike a deal—she can leave, study in New York, live her life, as long as she accepts a disguised bodyguard and the occasional financial help she pretends she doesn’t need. Creighton stays in Cincinnati… until he doesn’t. Because where Blake goes, he follows, even from a distance.

And then come the territorial clashes with the Kings of New York—Tristian West and Ashton Walden—and suddenly Blake’s quiet brownstone life with her four housemates collides with Creighton’s underworld. Parties turn into danger. Coincidences turn into chaos. And the mayhem is delicious.

What unfolds is a roller coaster of mafia politics, kidnappings, torture, threats, and turf wars. Through it all, Blake proves she’s no fragile flower—she can handle herself. But with Creighton? She melts. And that contrast is everything.

Her resistance to him finally makes sense: she wanted him to change. To be better. To be normal. But Creighton only has a heart where she’s concerned, and once she accepts that, she adapts. She grows. She realizes the power she holds over him and uses it—not manipulatively, but lovingly—to shape the life they can actually have.

Creighton’s devotion is absolute. He would burn the world for her.

Blake’s love is quieter, slower to bloom, but just as fierce.

And for a man who claims he has no soul, he shows more integrity than half the “good” people in his world. No sex trafficking. Children protected. Employees’ families cared for even after death. He says it’s about loyalty. I say it’s the soul he swears he doesn’t have.

The action never stops.

The romance is slow burn but emotionally loaded.

And watching Blake come into her own—accepting what she can’t change him and bending the rest to her terms—was incredibly satisfying. Watching Creighton be tamed by a girl who is beautiful inside and out? Even better.

My only gripe: seeing West and Walden at war with Creighton hurt my heart, because I loved them in their own books. Walden especially got a little too intense at times. But peace eventually comes, so I forgave it.

Tijan always delivers: riveting characters, twisty plots, humor, emotion, and flawed people trying to be good enough for the one person who matters. Creighton embodies that perfectly. He knows he’s not good—but he loves Blake too much to ever let her go.

Sigh.

Purchase links

FREE with #kindleunlimited! 

Amazon: https://bit.ly/4forSch

Amazon Worldwide: https://mybook.to/B2HZ

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/46K8Z1w 

Listen to the audiobook!

Narrated by: Benjamin Sands & Mia Madison

Audible: https://bit.ly/3MUJSkB

About the author

Tijan is a New York Times Bestselling author that writes suspenseful and unpredictable

novels. Her characters are strong, intense, and gut-wrenchingly real with a little bit of

sass on the side. Tijan began writing after college and once she started, she was hooked.

She's written multi-bestsellers including the Fallen Crest series, Ryan's Bed, Enemies

and others.

She is currently writing many new books and series with an English Cocker she

adores.

Connect with Tijan

Website: http://www.tijansbooks.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4851199.Tijan

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tijan/e/B00DJG52QE

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Book review: ATLAS, by Sawyer Bennett

Pittsburg Titans # 19

Atlas & Maddie

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This author is usually my go‑to for comfort reads—the kind of stories that wrap around you like a soft blanket and leave you smiling. But this time? She shattered me. I cried more than once, and not the cute, misty‑eyed kind of crying. Full‑body, heart‑in‑my-throat crying. And somehow, I loved every second of it.

At the center of this story is Gray—Atlas’s best friend, a devoted single father, and the kind of man who deserved a lifetime he didn’t get. Stage‑four lung cancer, despite never smoking a day in his life. Aggressive. Unfair. Cruel. And from the moment the diagnosis hits, you feel the countdown ticking. Gray’s love for his baby girl, Grayce, is so pure it hurts. He stepped into fatherhood without hesitation, rearranged his entire life, and became the kind of dad who changes diapers like a champ and sings lullabies at 3 a.m. Atlas admires him deeply, and honestly, so did I.

Atlas visits whenever he can, but as a Titans player, his time isn’t his own. Maddie—Gray’s other best friend—drops everything to care for Gray and Grayce. She’s prickly, defensive, and armored in ways that make perfect sense once you learn her history. She and Atlas clash instantly. Oil and vinegar. Sparks, but the sharp kind.

And then Gray dies.

Even though you know it’s coming, it still guts you. The simplicity of his arrangements, the quiet dignity of it, the letter he leaves behind… it all lands like a punch. Maddie thinks she’ll be Grayce’s sole parent, but Gray had other plans: he wants Atlas to be Grayce’s dad, with Maddie as her mom. Legal papers already drawn. His last wish.

Atlas takes a day to think, but let’s be honest—there was never really a choice. His heart already knew.

What follows is messy, uncomfortable, and so painfully human. Maddie and Grayce move to Pittsburgh. Maddie hates it. Atlas tries so hard to make her feel at home—emptying rooms, hiring movers, coordinating everything so she and Grayce walk into a fully set‑up space. And still, Maddie bristles. Snaps. Retreats behind her titanium walls.

But slowly—slowly—she softens. She sees Atlas’s sincerity, his respect for her role as Grayce’s mom, his desire to be included rather than take over. She watches him fall in love with fatherhood, with Grayce, with the life they’re building. And she lets herself laugh. Accept help. Trust. It’s a transformation that feels earned, tender, and so deeply moving.

And then there’s the romance. Yes, it’s sexy and sweet and full of chemistry, but for me, the heart of the book is the grief and the healing. Two people broken open by loss, choosing to build something beautiful for a little girl who deserved the world. Gray’s presence lingers through the videos he left—birthday messages, songs, advice, love poured into every pixel. Those scenes destroyed me in the best way.

And Maddie’s journey? From isolated, feral, and fiercely self‑reliant to someone who lets herself be loved—not just by Atlas, but by the Titans family, the WAGS, the girlfriends who drag her to brunch and refuse to let her hide? I loved it! She becomes brighter, softer, still herself but finally supported.

This book is heartbreaking and uplifting all at once. It made me laugh, cry, ache, and swoon. It’s about grief, found family, unexpected parenthood, and the kind of love that grows in the cracks left behind by loss. And yes, the sexy times were delicious, but it was Grayce—their precious little girl—and the legacy Gray left behind that made this story unforgettable for me.

A comfort read? Not this time. But a beautiful one? Absolutely.

Purchase links

https://geni.us/SB_Atlas

About the author

New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author Sawyer Bennett uses real life experience to create relatable stories that appeal to a wide array of readers. From contemporary romance, fantasy romance, and both women’s and general fiction, Sawyer writes something for just about everyone.

A former trial lawyer from North Carolina, when she is not bringing fiction to life, Sawyer is a chauffeur, stylist, chef, maid, and personal assistant to her very adorable daughter, as well as full-time servant to her wonderfully naughty dogs.

If you’d like to receive a notification when Sawyer releases a new book, sign up for her newsletter (sawyerbennett.com/signup).

Connect with Sawyer Bennett:

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Book review: LOVE HARD, by Louise Bay

Colorado Club Billionaires #3

Jack & Iris

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book is basically a love letter to fated meetings—the ones we don’t expect, the ones we don’t think we deserve, and the ones that show up in the opening of the New York City ballet, wearing a tux, and taking your for a stroll through Central Park.

Iris is the kind of heroine who quietly breaks your heart and then stitches it back together with sheer determination. She’s spent years shelving her own dreams to keep her family afloat, sneaking off once a year to New York to breathe the air of the life she almost had. And then one night at the ballet, fate plops a ridiculously charming man right next to her.

Enter Jack Alden: handsome, wealthy, raised in a world of legacy and expectations he never asked for. He’s supposed to be the perfect society son, but instead he falls headfirst for a woman from a Colorado fruit farm who tips restroom attendants and has more heart than his entire social circle combined.

Their chemistry is instant, sweet, and a little bit magical—the kind that makes you believe in destiny even if you’re usually more of a “let’s be realistic” person. What follows is a story about two people trying to carve out a life that feels like theirs, not the one they were handed. There’s longing, heartbreak, found family, a very satisfying reunion, and a hero who is absolutely gone for the heroine in the best way.

“We were both lost before we found each other. Together we’re the best versions of ourselves. We’re stronger. Happier. Better in every way.”

It’s tender, hopeful, and full of that warm “we make each other better” energy that makes romance so addictive. And yes, the love scenes feel like connection, not choreography.

A charming, heartfelt read about choosing love, choosing yourself, and rewriting the script you thought you had to follow.

Purchase links

𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱

https://geni.us/LoveHard

Amazon US: https://geni.us/LoveHardAmzUS

Amazon UK: https://geni.us/loveharduk

Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0F8RCGCQ4

Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0F8RCGCQ4

Audible US: https://geni.us/lovehardaudio

Audible UK: https://geni.us/lovehardaudiouk

Add to 𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒔: https://geni.us/LoveHardGR

About the author

International, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author, Louise Bay writes contemporary romance novels that make you laugh - the kind she likes to read.

Ruined by the bonk-busters of the eighties, Louise was inspired by Judith Krantz and Jackie Collins, but wants to be Emily Henry when she grows up.

Louise loves the rain, RHOBH, London, days when she doesn't have to wear make-up, hanging out with her kid, elephants and champagne (not necessarily in that order).

She loves to hear from readers so get in touch!

 

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To learn more about Louise Bay& her books, visit here!

 

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