Tag: Friends to Lovers

Book Reviews/

Protege King by Lisa Renee Jones Book Review

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Protege King by Lisa Renee Jones

Blurb

Damion West was the boy who stole my young heart and then broke it. That was a long time ago though and I’m not a girl susceptible to hot boys with big egos who just happen to kiss well anymore. Nor have I kept up with Damion West. Okay, I have. Everyone has. He’s the heir to West Enterprises.

Everyone knows Damion West.
Just not like I do.
But that’s another story better left untold.

It’s hard sometimes to remember that I’m no slouch myself. Confidence isn’t exactly my forte but I fake it well. I’ve worked with my parents’ real estate firm catering to the rich and famous for years and I’m now one of the top agents in the country. Blue Enterprises is the name of our firm, which is also my name. Blue. Alana Blue. And now I’m on TV, the star of Selling in New York.

But every family has secrets. Damion’s does and mine does as well.
That’s why I have the TV show I didn’t really want.
Nothing is real.
Except him. Damion. He’s real. So is my past with him. But it’s the past.

Then one day I get called to a meeting by the studio head, it’s all very secretive.
Because it’s not the studio at all, or actually, it is. Because his family owns everything.

That’s right.
The meeting is with him. It’s with Damion West.
And Lord help me, he’s now sexier, and more arrogant than ever.

Also it turns out that what Damion wants from me isn’t as simple as a real estate contract.
But it’s a contract all right.

Sensitive Content

Here is the potentially sensitive content I observed while reading:

  • Alcohol
  • Blackmail
  • Cheating
  • Sexually Explicit Scenes
  • Sexual Harassment

Ratings

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Book Reviews/

Happy Place by Emily Henry Book Review

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Happy Place by Emily Henry

Blurb

Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college—they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now—for reasons they’re still not discussing—they don’t.

They broke up five months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.

Which is how they find themselves sharing a bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blissful week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine, and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most.

Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They can’t stand to break their friends’ hearts, and so they’ll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show. It’s a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week…in front of those who know you best?

Sensitive Content

Here is the potentially sensitive content I observed while reading:

  • Alcohol
  • Death of a parent
  • Depression
  • Profanity
  • Pregnancy
  • Sexual content

Ratings

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Book Reviews/

Never Too Soon by Chelle Bliss Book Review

Never Too Soon by Chelle Bliss

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Never Too Soon by Chelle Bliss

Blurb

Grace Bianchi has always been drawn to men who are allergic to relationships. But when a mysterious man walks into her shop, saving her from a disaster, she finds herself wondering… is he different than the others?

Ryder Cooper is fumbling his way through life. He’s been lost since his wife passed away, leaving him to raise two young children alone. But when he meets a beautiful tattoo artist with a zest for life, she makes him wonder…could he love again?

Never Too Soon is a journey of two broken hearts who believe in love as they mend their broken hearts, finding their happily ever after.

Sensitive Content

Here is the sensitive content I observed while reading:

  • Cheating (not main characters)
  • Grief
  • Loss of a loved one
  • Miscarriage/Infertility
  • Sexual Content

Ratings

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Book Reviews/

In The Case of Heartbreak by Courtney Kae Book Review

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In The Case of Heartbreak by Courtney Kae

Blurb

With a gorgeous beachfront mansion, salty ocean breeze, steamy nights, and ALL the summertime feels, this funny, sexy queer rom-com is a celebration of summer love, as a cinnamon roll of a pastry chef finds his indie rocker crush suddenly within reach. Perfect for fans of Casey McQuiston, Roan Parrish, Alexandria Bellefleur, Ruby Barrett, and Alexis Hall!

Ben has been baking his mother’s cinnamon rolls at the family café for years. He’s been quietly in love with Adam Reed, his musician-slash-mechanic neighbor, for just as long. But Ben’s done waiting behind the pastry case. Despite his fear of failure, he’s entered a make-or-break competition to build his recipes into a national brand. He’s going to take charge of his business instead of nearly tanking the café—again. And he’s going to finally confess his feelings for Adam. ON LIVE TV.

Except his big plans get punched down before they even half-rise. Soon Ben is dashing down the coast to his grandma’s 80th birthday party on the beach, hiding his broken heart in Maywell Bay, California. Sun, sea, and fresh breezes should blow in something new—except they don’t. They blow in Adam Reed, grinning like a pirate and stealing the show as the musical entertainment hired by Grandma for her big bash. Grandma’s signature Heartbreak Tea is the only remedy, and Grandma’s tea could take the paint off a fence.

But there’s a burn of truth along with the booze in his bottle, and Ben has a decision to make. Can he take the sweetness in front of him, and brave the bitterness that comes after? Or is a little sea salt just what this cinnamon roll needs?

Salty cinnamon rolls? Ew. Ben would never.

Sensitive Content

This book does have a content warning printed in the book. Here is the sensitive content I observed while reading:

  • Alcohol
  • Anxiety
  • Childhood trauma (neglect)
  • Depression
  • Divorce (parents)
  • Gaslighting
  • Emotional abuse
  • Profanity
  • Sexual content

Ratings

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Book Reviews/

Someday by Willow Aster Book Review

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Someday by Willow Aster

Blurb

From childhood best friends to high school sweethearts…to a relationship so broken it seems impossible to fix…

I’ve loved Sofie Copewell for as long as I can remember.
She was all I ever wanted.
We said someday we’d have a family together and raise them on our ranch in Landmark Mountain.
She was my home. My forever.
I spent my whole life chasing her, hanging on her every word, and lighting up when she smiled at me.
And I never had a single doubt that she felt the same way.
Until she left and didn’t come back…
For eight years.
Now she’s returned, and I’m resentful and want answers.
Answers to why she left without a goodbye, taking all our dreams with her.
But as angry as I am and as much as I fight it, the electricity between us is still as strong as it was before.
And when I get the answers I’m looking for, I realize that she never stopped loving me either.
I want to believe our someday is now, but can I trust her not to leave again?

Someday is book two in the Landmark Mountain series, but each book can be read as a standalone.
The content warnings for Someday are the discussion of child and domestic abuse, and the death of a parent.

Sensitive Content

Here is the sensitive content I experienced while reading:

  • Alcohol
  • Child Abuse
  • Death of a parent
  • Domestic Abuse
  • Grief
  • Profanity
  • Sexually Explicit Scenes

Ratings

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Book Reviews/

Whispers of You by Catherine Cowles Book Review

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Read the Disclosure here.

Blurb

One night—a single moment—cost me everything.

My body, broken beyond repair. The boy I’d thought was my forever. The life I’d always dreamt of.

Now, Holt’s back. And he’s no longer a boy, but a man with shadows in his eyes and demons haunting him.

He says he’s here to make things right. To get back a little bit of all we’ve lost. And he doesn’t show any signs of leaving the small town that has been my refuge.

As stolen moments turn to days, Holt’s around every corner. With his burning stare and lingering touches. Before long, my walls come crashing down and I’m just hoping that taking this second chance isn’t as reckless as it feels.

But not everyone is happy that Holt has returned. As tragedy strikes again, I’m the one left in the crosshairs. And Holt might not be able to save me this time…

Sensitive Content

This book does not have any sensitive content warnings. Here is the potentially sensitive content that I observed:

  • Blood
  • Death
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping
  • Mass shootings
  • Murder
  • PTSD/Panic Attacks/Anxiety
  • Sexual content
  • Violence

Ratings

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Book Reviews/

Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn Book Review

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Read the Disclosure here.

Bloodmarked The Legendborn cycle tracy deonn

Blurb

The shadows have risen, and the line is law.

All Bree wanted was to uncover the truth behind her mother’s death. So she infiltrated the Legendborn Order, a secret society descended from King Arthur’s knights—only to discover her own ancestral power. Now, Bree has become someone new:

A Medium. A Bloodcrafter. A Scion.

But the ancient war between demons and the Order is rising to a deadly peak. And Nick, the Legendborn boy Bree fell in love with, has been kidnapped.

Bree wants to fight, but the Regents who rule the Order won’t let her. To them, she is an unknown girl with unheard-of power, and as the living anchor for the spell that preserves the Legendborn cycle, she must be protected.

When the Regents reveal they will do whatever it takes to hide the war, Bree and her friends must go on the run to rescue Nick themselves. But enemies are everywhere, Bree’s powers are unpredictable and dangerous, and she can’t escape her growing attraction to Selwyn, the mage sworn to protect Nick until death.

If Bree has any hope of saving herself and the people she loves, she must learn to control her powers from the ancestors who wielded them first—without losing herself in the process.

Sensitive Content

There are no content warnings given for this book. Here is the potentially sensitive content I observed while reading this book:

  • Blood
  • Car Accident
  • Death
  • Grief
  • Gore
  • Kidnapping
  • Profanity
  • Racism
  • Rape
  • Slavery
  • Torture
  • Violence

Ratings

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Book Reviews/

The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory Book Review

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The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory

Blurb

The New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Date serves up a novel about what happens when a public proposal doesn’t turn into a happy ending, thanks to a woman who knows exactly how to make one on her own…

When someone asks you to spend your life with him, it shouldn’t come as a surprise—or happen in front of 45,000 people.

When freelance writer Nikole Paterson goes to a Dodgers game with her actor boyfriend, his man bun, and his bros, the last thing she expects is a scoreboard proposal. Saying no isn’t the hard part—they’ve only been dating for five months, and he can’t even spell her name correctly. The hard part is having to face a stadium full of disappointed fans…

At the game with his sister, Carlos Ibarra comes to Nik’s rescue and rushes her away from a camera crew. He’s even there for her when the video goes viral and Nik’s social media blows up—in a bad way. Nik knows that in the wilds of LA, a handsome doctor like Carlos can’t be looking for anything serious, so she embarks on an epic rebound with him, filled with food, fun, and fantastic sex. But when their glorified hookups start breaking the rules, one of them has to be smart enough to put on the brakes…

Sensitive Content

There are no content warnings for this book. Here is the sensitive content I observed while reading:

  • Alcohol
  • Bullying
  • Child birth
  • Death of a parent
  • Domestic Abuse
  • Emotional Abuse
  • Gaslighting
  • Grief
  • Misogyny
  • Pregnancy
  • Profanity
  • Sexism
  • Sexually Explicit Scenes
  • Stalking
  • Toxic relationship

Ratings

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Book Reviews/

The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren Book Review

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Read the Disclosure here.

Blurb

Sparks fly when a romance novelist and a documentary filmmaker join forces to craft the perfect Hollywood love story and take both of their careers to the next level—but only if they can keep the chemistry between them from taking the whole thing off script—from the New York Times bestselling authors of The Soulmate Equation and The Unhoneymooners.

Felicity “Fizzy” Chen is lost. Sure, she’s got an incredible career as a beloved romance novelist with a slew of bestsellers under her belt, but when she’s asked to give a commencement address, it hits her: she hasn’t been practicing what she’s preached.

Fizzy hasn’t ever really been in love. Lust? Definitely. But that swoon-worthy, can’t-stop-thinking-about-him, all-encompassing feeling? Nope. Nothing. What happens when the optimism she’s spent her career encouraging in readers starts to feel like a lie?

Connor Prince, documentary filmmaker and single father, loves his work in large part because it allows him to live near his daughter. But when his profit-minded boss orders him to create a reality TV show, putting his job on the line, Connor is out of his element. Desperate to find his romantic lead, a chance run-in with an exasperated Fizzy offers Connor the perfect solution. What if he could show the queen of romance herself falling head-over-heels for all the world to see? Fizzy gives him a hard pass—unless he agrees to her list of demands. When he says yes, and production on The True Love Experiment begins, Connor wonders if that perfect match will ever be in the cue cards for him, too.

The True Love Experiment is the book fans have been waiting for ever since Fizzy’s debut in the New York Times bestselling The Soulmate Equation. But when the lights come on and all eyes are on her, it turns out the happily ever after Fizzy had all but given up on might lie just behind the camera.

Triggers

Here is some of the sensitive content that I observed while reading this book:

  • Alcohol
  • Cheating (not between MCs)
  • Divorce (not MCs)
  • Pregnancy/Childbirth (Not MCs)
  • Profanity
  • Sexually Explicit Scenes

Ratings

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Book Reviews/

Promise Me Always by A.L. Jackson Book Review

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Read the Disclosure here.

Blurb

I should know better than to let Tessa McDaniels pretend to be my fiancée.

I’m a dark, dangerous disaster who leaves destruction in his wake.

But when she offers to pretend to marry me to help me get my kids back, I can’t refuse. They are the one thing I have left to fight for.

Milo Hendricks found me at my lowest.

Battered and broken by my ex with no place to call home. When he insists I stay at his cabin with him, he sparks the feelings I’ve tried to suppress.

He’s only supposed to be my friend, but every time he comes in the room, he makes my knees weak.

This gorgeous, tatted, mountain-of-a-man who’s riddled with secrets.

Tessa is everything I crave but can’t have.

I shouldn’t touch her.

Shouldn’t make it real.

But she’s a red-headed flame I can’t resist, and I can’t help but take her to my bed.

Now we’re falling into an abyss of passion and need.

Loving her is easy.

Only we’re tied in ways we don’t know.

I’ll do anything to protect her, but it’s my past that might destroy her in the end…

Triggers

This is a dark romance as it is romantic suspense. Here is some of the potentially sensitive content:

  • Abusive relationship (not MCs)
  • Alcohol
  • Blood
  • Child custody battle
  • Death of a loved one
  • Financial Anxiety
  • Grief
  • Hostages
  • Kidnapping
  • Murder
  • Profanity
  • Sexually Explicit Scenes
  • Violence

Ratings

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There are possible **SPOILERS** beyond this point!

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