Tag Archives: romance

Quick Review: All the Feels by Olivia Dade

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This book absolutely is full of feels. This is a sequel to Spoiler Alert and, in the tradition of romance novels, it follows two characters introduced and/or mentioned in the previous book.

Alex Woodroe is a star of the hit TV show Gods of the Gates and Lauren Clegg is the unfortunate person hired to be his minder by the show’s production company after he gets in a bar fight as the filming of the final season wraps up. Alex is full of energy and a troublemaker, but Lauren gets the sense almost immediately that her cousin (A producer/director on the show) has overblown the situation and not gotten to the bottom of what really happened. But, who is she to look an easy paycheck in the mouth? She’s recently quit her job as an ER therapist and a little break from that world will help her plan her next move.

The two of them develop a friendship over the course of time spanning between when filming ends and the big con for the franchise begins. And, as we know from Spoiler Alert, Alex sets his life, and Lauren’s, on fire.

Y’all, this was so good. I was bereft when I finished it. I jumped from show to book to podcast to show trying to find anything that could fill the void after I was finished. Alex and Lauren have a fun dynamic. They both have really satisfying arcs, dealing with trauma and growing. I cried. I laughed. I fanned myself when the romance finally got spicy. Olivia Dade does some really fun things playing with fan fiction/romance tropes and tags and it had me giggling. Or saying, “Aww!” Or just plain screaming. (I’d apologize to my neighbors, but they watch a lot of sports so I feel like we’re even.)

10/10, this. It is narrated by Kelsey Navarro and I loved the choices she made with the characters.

What I’m Listening to now: All the Feels by Olivia Dade

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I try not to have more than one audiobook going at a time so I don’t have to deal with decision paralysis about what to pick up. However, this became available at the library while I was still reading Renegades and I need to know about the characters in the B plot of Spoiler Alert and I’m told we find out what happened to them. I am so excited.

Quick Review: Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade (Read by Isabelle Ruther

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Y’all, this story was adorable. April Whittier is a geologist who writes fan fic in her spare time. Her favorite OTP are Aeneas and Lavinia from a series turned television show called Gods of the Gates. Marcus Caster-Rupp plays Aeneas on the television show. He has the reputation of being hard-working, very pretty, but very dumb. So, no one would know he has a secret. He also writes Lavinia-Aeneas fan fiction. April and Marcus meet online and have a wonderful friendship, never knowing who the other person is behind the screen.

Then April posts a picture of herself and Marcus gets tagged by a bunch of asshole fanboys who are making fun of a fat cosplayer. Marcus wants to make it clear that he’s not on their side, so he follows April and then asks her out. Their first date is bland and Marcus is able to get a second date. Then he realizes the woman in front of him is his friend from the fan fiction community. Can he keep that a secret while also trying to woo April? What if she finds out and they break up and she tells the press? That could ruin his career.

This book was fun. It was very touching. It had spicy sex scenes. It had me texting non-sensical things to Beth while I was listening. I really annoyed the character arcs of both April and Marcus. They struggle and grow, both as individuals and together. I really enjoyed this! I can’t wait to dive into the sequel.

Quick Review: Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

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Y’all, this book is so cute. I absolutely loved it. Chloe Brown decides she needs to get a life and become the badass adventurous woman she was meant to be. So, she makes a list of things she needs to do in order to achieve this goal. The first thing on the list is move out of the family home and into her own place. Which of course she does and that’s where she meets Redford Morgan, the building manager/artist/beauty/lovely guy. But, Chloe has fibromyalgia and on high pain days, she has a short fuse and, of course, that is always when she runs face first into Red.

Red is an artist and used to be out there, showing his work, and making waves. But he’s been hiding for a bit after a bad breakup back in his hometown working for a friend. He paints at night and he wonders if he’ll ever feel ready to get his work back out into the world.

I loved both the main characters in this. They both had really great individual arcs and their romance was heart warming and also hot. This is a 2 chili pepper book. I bombed my way through this while it snowed outside. The audio book is read by Adjoa Andoh, who really brought the text to life.

So, if you like novels that involve personal growth and heartwarming and a little spicy romance, give this a try.

Review: The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

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I am glad that I didn’t know that this started out as a Reylo fanfic because I think that would have ruined it for me. And that would have been a shame because I really enjoyed this book. It was very cute. I wasn’t sure about the whole Professor/PHD student romance at first because that could be fraught with red flags but I thought it was handled well.

Olive is a Phd student who out of nowhere kisses Professor Adam Carlsen to convince her best friend Anh that she is over her ex. She plans a fake relationship with Adam in hopes that Anh will feel okay dating her ex. Adam goes along with it because well Stanford is withholding some of his financing because they believe he’s about to leave. So they make plans to date for a period of time but of course they fall in love. In between their witty banter and back and fourth’s Olive is also looking for funding. Her mentor is retiring and is already kinda checked out. So she is seeking new labs to keep working on her research. Of course this comes with a whole bunch of complications, mostly stemming from she is a woman in the STEM field.

It’s pretty clear from the get go that Olive and Adam have chemistry. That it’s not just a work proposition that is keeping them together. They help each other help and help each other grow. I really liked reading them as a couple. If I had one qualm about was how it ended. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that the slimy guy gets it but it also felt rushed to me. Other than that I found it to be delightful and I look forward to reading more Ali’s books.

Review: Spoiler Alert and All the Feels by Olivia Dade

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Spoiler Alert and All the Feels are delightful. Spoiler Alert we meet Marcus Caster-Rupp is an actor on the most popular show on TV. A Game of Thrones type show based on the Illiad. He sees a fan being bullied online for her weight so he asks her out on a date. He doesn’t realize that April Whittier just happens to be beta reader for his secret double life as fan fic writer. Of course he’s immediately falls in love with her but can’t say anything because if word got out about his fics criticizing his show it could ruin his career. So he keeps it a secret from her but as you know it’s going to come out. April is an intelligent woman but is a little shy when it comes to love because a big girl she hasn’t had the best experiences. Dating as someone as famous as Marcus is a challenge in own right because it won’t stay private for long and people are not kind to fat women. This was such a wonderful story and I loved every second of it. I do love reading about two grown people falling in love. More of this please.

Which brings me to All the Feels. This one follow’s Marcus’ co-star Alex Woodroe who is the life of the party but also a little bit of a wildcard. When he gets in a bar fight the last week of filming, the producers hire a baby sitter to keep in check until the show airs. Lauren Clegg was supposed to be on vacation when her cousin and producer hires her to watch Alex. She moves into his guests house and of course they fall in love but things don’t go smoothly. They both have secrets and insecurities they have to work through until they can move on. Alex is that guy that everyone is friends with and Lauren is okay just staying at home. Opposites attract and boy do they. I think I liked this book better than the Spoiler Alert but they are both incredible. I can’t wait to read the third book.

Quick Review: A Caribbean Heiress in Paris by Adriana Herrera

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This was lovely. I really enjoyed reading about Luz Alana and Evan’s romance. It just was the fluffy romance I was looking for. Luz Alana is an heiress to a Rum fortune from the Dominican Republic. She and her 2 best friends and younger sister have come to Paris to expand her Rum into the European markets during the World’s fair. However, not many men are willing to do business with a women. Meet Evan, a Scottish Earl, who has his own Whiskey distillery. They both need to get married and quickly. She needs a husband to get back her inheritance. He needs to be married to gain full control of this distillery. So they agree to temporary get married until they both get what they want and part ways. Of course, they fall in love and well you know how it goes. Marriage of convenience is not my favorite trope but it works for this novel. Luz and Evan compliment each other very well. Her spirit and stubbornness challenges Evan and Evan’s support is what Luz needs. Despite coming from different places they really understand each other compliment each other and I could not be happier they found each other.