Book review: OVER THE MOON, by Laura Pavlov

Chadwick Brothers #3

Clark & Eloise

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Lighthearted and wonderful, this story warmed my heart!  The third in the Chadwick Brothers series, this one has been the most charming yet.

Clark is a hockey player, his team just won the Stanley Cup where he shot the winning goal, and he ended up with an MCL injury.  So he goes back home to Rosewood River to rest and rehab his injury, with plans to come back to his team, ready for another winning season.  

Eloise has just graduated with dual degrees in physical therapy and athlete training, she’s joined the San Francisco Lions hockey team where her father is the coach.  Her father sent her to Rosewood River to work on his prized player, to ensure he comes back stronger than ever.  She’s not happy but she’s obedient, moves grumblingly for three months, expecting to be bored out of her mind.  She thinks Clark is a cocky player and she’s in for a surprise!

What follows is a fun romance, where Clark charms Eloise, gives her a new nickname Weeze, and makes her fall in love with him, his family, and his town.  She’s immediately swarmed in the small town vibes, acquires new besties, and gets closer to Clark, recognizing he’s actually a very nice and decent guy beneath all that cockiness.  I loved Clark and his enjoyment of life, he works out with his music playlist at full blast, he pelts out the lyrics and dances to the rhythm.  Pretty soon he has Weeze singing and dancing to the tune too!

The only negative vibe in Eloise’s life is her new boss, Randall Tallon, who makes snarky comments about nepotism, misogynistic phrases, general grumbles which show he’s jealous and feels threatened by her.

The romance and sexy times are everything, the Chadwick family is charming and loud as always, the Chadwick brother’s group chat is hilarious, the Taylor Tea is still causing Bridger his usual tantrums, Emilia is a wonderful friend and landlord to Weeze, and Rafe Chadwick is still obsessed with his pickleball tournaments. Everything I love about small town and sports romance is present and strong in this wonderful story, and I loved it thoroughly!

Purchase links

FREE with Kindle Unlimited 

https://geni.us/overthemoon1

Paperback: https://geni.us/OvertheMoonPB

Audible: https://bit.ly/4lFEjTc

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/4hK7dyX

About the author

Laura Pavlov writes sweet and sexy contemporary romance that will make you both laugh and cry. She is happily married to her college sweetheart, mom to two awesome almost-grown kids, and dog-whisperer to one temperamental yorkie and one wild bernedoodle. Laura resides in Las Vegas where she is living her own happily ever after. Be sure to sign up for updates on new releases. Laura loves to hear from readers!

 

Connect with Laura

Website: https://www.laurapavlov.com/

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Book review: MIDNIGHT BETWEEN US, by Claudia Burgoa

Timberbridge Brothers #4

Kier & Simone

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Intense, emotional, and angsty, just how I like my books!  I devoured this book, then re-read slowly to enjoy and savor the angst.  This author enjoys wrenching my heart and putting it together again, and I love it!

I never thought Simone and Keir would ever get their HEA because they were so broken.  They both used the same strategy to deal with their issues: keep people apart, live alone, bury the pain deep inside so it doesn’t come out and unravel.  Except the love they had for each other, which they had buried deep and wanted to ignore, still existed and was too strong to resist.

I loved how the author structured this story.  It has reminiscences from a stormy past, for both Simone and Keir.  Keir comes from the Timberbridge brothers, who had such a crappy home life, full of violence, hatred, and abuse.  Since Keir was one of the oldest brothers, he took a lot of the abuse to protect his little brothers, so he has a lot of issues and dysfunctions to deal with.  Instead of giving us instant redemption and reconciliation, the author took the characters through tribulations and more heartache.   There is a part that was so emotional that I felt like my chest was going to crack open.  

Simone is the product of a teenage pregnancy, and what is worse, her grandfather is the town’s preacher.  She had to live with her mother’s bad reputation and her grandparents abuse of her mother, who finally left, and the strict, loveless household she was forced to live in.  They were each other’s comfort until Keir up and left without a goodbye, until he appears almost dead and tied up, in the trunk of a car.

There’s a feeling of menace, as Keir stays hidden from the Hollow Syndicate, the ones who beat him up and left for dead.  Simone was assigned to patch him up and keep him alive.  Then to keep him at her house which is like a fortress.  Imagine all the feelings and chemistry and guilt floating around for Keir, who abandoned Simone twenty years ago.  There’s resentment and pain on her part, guilt and repentance on his.  It’s all yummy angst!

Another thing I loved was seeing Atlas, oozing marital happiness and even giving out advice!  And then I understood that the older Timberbridge brothers, Malerick and Keir, are the most broken because they got the brunt of the abuse, and luckily their books were left for last, so the best was left for last, yay.  I have my suspicions about Malerick, let’s see if they turn out to be true.  Now I can’t wait for the final book, Malerick’s, and see how it’s all resolved.

Purchase links

https://geni.us/MidnightBetweenUs

About the author

Claudia is an award-winning, USA Today bestselling author. 

She writes alluring, thrilling stories about complicated women and the men who take their breaths away. Her books are the perfect blend of steamy and heartfelt, filled with emotional characters and explosive chemistry. Her writing takes readers to new heights, providing a variety of tears, laughs, and shocking moments that leave fans on the edge of their seats.

She lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband, her youngest two children, and three fluffy dogs.

When Claudia is not writing, you can find her reading, knitting, or just hanging out with her family. At nights, she likes to binge watches shows or movies with her equally geeky husband.

Connect with Claudia Burgoa:

https://claudiayburgoa.com/wp/links/ 

Book review: THE WAY WE WIN, by Tia Louise

The Bradford Boys #5

Jack & Allie

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Very entertaining, with a low level thrum of suspense.  Allie fled from her husband, after getting him drunk in order to sign divorce papers, testifying against him on drug charges, and fleeing New Orleans with her young son.  She arrived in Newhope and was embraced by the Bradford family.

She’s made a living as the public school’s librarian, waitress at the Branford’s restaurant as a second job.  She loved her life in this charming small town, and she has loved Jack Bradford, from a distance, for years.  Jack took her son Austin under his charge, coached him in football, and now Austin is starting his senior year in high school as the starting QB.  It all seems perfect until two things happened to burst Allie’s bubble.  Her ex was released from jail and she remembers his threat: he will be back.  And a new boy arrived to challenge Austin’s QB position, with a very pushy and loud spoken father who wants his son to be the star QB of the high school. 

I admired Jack’s patience and integrity as he dealt with two talented boys, gave both a chance, and dealt with such a disagreeable parent.  Also, his fortitude as he held himself back from pursuing Allie, to whom he was very much attracted.  The reason? He has specific tastes in bed and feared rejection.  And this is where this wonderful story derailed for me.  The author presents him as kinky in the bedroom and I didn’t see anything of that, it was lame compared to other books I’ve read.  I cringed when Allie would call him “Sir”. At most, he was a tad dominant, the rest vanilla.

Another point I didn’t like is when Allie let Dylan, Jack’s youngest sister, convince her to adopt a glasses and messy top knot look, as in “sexy librarian” style.  I found this to be ridiculous and contrived.  Jack was already into her, he just held back for other reasons. 

Apart from this, I liked the book, loved that it had so much of family, friends, and football, loved the hot pepper dare nights, loved Austin and little Kimmie who felt like siblings.  

Purchase links

Amazon: https://bit.ly/44105K2 

Amazon Worldwide:https://bit.ly/4l3cELL  

Audio: https://geni.us/WINaud

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/4kDFXnD 

About the author

Tia Louise is the USA TODAY best-selling, award-winning author of super-hot and sexy romances. All her heroes are alphas with hearts of gold, and all her heroines are the smart, sassy ladies who love them.
 
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Keep up with her at TiaLouise.com or Instagram (@AuthorTLouise) or Facebook (@AuthorTiaLouise).

 

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Website | www.TiaLouise.com   

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Book review: LEAD ME KNOT, by S.L. Scott

Peachtree Pass #2

Baylor & Lauralee

Slow, meandering, tender, passionate, nostalgic, are the adjectives that I kept thinking about as I was reading this book.  Lauralee is an enchanting character who loves as hard as she works. She’s Christine’s best friend and it feels like they’re sisters.  When Christine’s brother Baylor comes to visit, in this one instance, it hits home, how much she’s crushed on him, how handsome he is, but he’s a player and he won’t stay. And Lauralee won’t move away!

Again, this is a story of a guy who hasn’t come home in years, who swore he wouldn’t come back, and now is feeling the pull of the town where he grew up, his magical childhood, and the love for a woman. He wonders if all that will supersede the pain and sad memories of losing his beloved mother. Dissatisfaction with work and a lifestyle that lost its lustre also works in Baylor’s mind.

Lauralee has abandonment issues which make it hard to trust and commit fully to love. It’s an interesting story, a lovely depiction of small town life, ranch life, the gossip train and the sexy times. She has financial issues and Baylor’s attempts to help are clumsy and even I wanted to slap him silly. Entertaining and tenderly romantic!

Purchase links

Free in KU

https://geni.us/LMKAm

About the author

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author, S.L. Scott, writes character driven, heart-racing suspense, and swoony romances that will leave you glued to the page. With stories ranging from witty beach reads to heart wrenching and heart healing, her stories are highly regarded as emotional, relatable, and captivating.

Her books are more than escapes for the voracious readers of today. They are journeys of the heart that always come with a happily ever after reward at the end.

 

Connect with S.L.

Website | www.slscottauthor.com  

Goodreads | https://geni.us/SLGR  

Amazon | https://geni.us/SLSAm 

Facebook | https://geni.us/SLSPage    

Facebook Group |  https://geni.us/SLScottBooks     

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Book review: CRAZY LOVE, by Willow Aster

The Single Dad Playbook #5

Penn & Addy

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This story was so lovely, like the previous ones from this series.  A group of guys call themselves the Single Dad Players and keep a notebook where they record all their thoughts, feelings, and counsel for the other dads.  However, in this last book, all the dads are married or living with their loved ones, except for Penn Hudson, playboy extraordinaire, and the running back of the Colorado Mustangs.  

Penn fits into the Single Dads group because he’s mentoring a young boy in the foster system, called Sam and aged eleven.  He has been mentoring Sam for a couple of years, and is now trying to adopt him because Sam is going through a rough time in his foster home.  As I read the story, I was enchanted by their closeness.  Especially cute is their dance routine when they go to the Luminary coffee shop and do the required “dance and you get coffee” routine.

In order to help Penn adopt Sam, Addy offers a marriage of convenience to improve his chances, because since he’s single and travels a lot, it’s not very likely.  And then our story takes off, with lots of love, laughter, some angst, funny friends who constantly chat through messages and love to roast whoever is in the hot seat.  Also Sam, who is lovable, adorable, funny and more mature than a child should be.  He’s gone through some hard times but has a lot of hope and resilience.  

I loved Penn and Addy together, they were perfect.  Initially rejected by Addy’s father because of his playboy fame, he soon wins the heart of the in-laws as they see his devotion to Sam and to Addy. We read them as they go through legal battles, emotional moments, plenty of tears on both sides.  

Apart from the emotional moments, the tenderness between Addy, Penn, and Sam, there’s a delight in their funny times, like when they start a dance party, or prank each other.  The addition of a pet is hysterical, as Penn cringes and jumps at the new family member.  Later on in the book is another surprise addition to the family, a very welcome one.  I loved how Addy and Penn’s parents add to the joy, offering support, embracing their grandparents role.

The story is full of heart, steam, and fun, a lovely read, very uplifting.

Purchase links

FREE with #kindleunlimited 

Amazon: https://geni.us/Crazylove

Goodreads: https://geni.us/CrazyLoveGR

About the author 

Willow Aster is a USA Today bestselling author and lover of everything book-related.

Although an introvert, this lifelong writer and artist is convinced that the best part of this career is meeting and connecting with readers, authors, and all of those in this community of book lovers. 

For signed books and Willow's website, go to: www.willowaster.com

You can also follow Willow on Instagram (willowaster) and her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/willowasterauthor