Book Review: Just This Once by Mira Lyn Kelly

Just This Once

Author: Mira Lyn Kelly
Series: The Wedding Date, book 3
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (October 2, 2018)
Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages
Goodreads     |     Amazon

Summary
He can’t have her.
So he moves in with her…
What could possibly go wrong?

As heir to a chain of luxury hotels, Sean Wyse III always gets what he wants. So when he sees a freeloading roommate taking advantage of his spunky best friend, Molly Brandt, he doesn’t hesitate to step in. He kicks out the roommate…and moves himself in. 

Molly loves quality time with Sean, but spending nights with him one wall away threatens to wake the crush she thought she’d gotten over. A crush Sean knows nothing about, which might be a problem…considering how hard Sean’s been working never to think of Molly that way.

Book Review: My Favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren

My Favorite Half-Night Stand

Author: Christina Lauren
Publisher: Gallery Books (December 4, 2018)
Paperback, 384 pages
Goodreads     |     Amazon

Summary
Millie Morris has always been one of the guys. A UC Santa Barbara professor, she’s a female-serial-killer expert who’s quick with a deflection joke and terrible at getting personal. And she, just like her four best guy friends and fellow professors, is perma-single.

So when a routine university function turns into a black tie gala, Mille and her circle make a pact that they’ll join an online dating service to find plus-ones for the event. There’s only one hitch: after making the pact, Millie and one of the guys, Reid Campbell, secretly spend the sexiest half-night of their lives together, but mutually decide the friendship would be better off strictly platonic.

But online dating isn’t for the faint of heart. While the guys are inundated with quality matches and potential dates, Millie’s first profile attempt garners nothing but dick pics and creepers. Enter “Catherine”—Millie’s fictional profile persona, in whose make-believe shoes she can be more vulnerable than she’s ever been in person. Soon “Catherine” and Reid strike up a digital pen-pal-ship...but Millie can’t resist temptation in real life, either. Soon, Millie will have to face her worst fear—intimacy—or risk losing her best friend, forever.

Book Review: Consumed by J.R. Ward

Consumed

Author: J.R. Ward
Series: Firefighters, Book 1
Publisher: Gallery Books (October 2, 2018)
Hardcover, 416 pages
Goodreads     |     Amazon

Summary
Anne Ashburn is a woman consumed...

By her bitter family legacy, by her scorched career as a firefighter, by her obsession with department bad-boy Danny McGuire, and by a new case that pits her against a fiery killer.

Strong-willed Anne was fearless and loved the thrill of fighting fires, pushing herself to be the best. But when one risky decision at a warehouse fire changes her life forever, Anne must reinvent not only her job, but her whole self.

Shattered and demoralized, Anne finds her new career as an arson investigator a pale substitute for the adrenaline-fueled life she left behind. She doesn't believe she will ever feel that same all-consuming passion for her job again--until she encounters a string of suspicious fires setting her beloved city ablaze.

Danny McGuire is a premiere fireman, best in the county, but in the midst of a personal meltdown. Danny is taking risks like never before and seems to have a death wish until he teams up with Anne to find the fire starter. But Danny may be more than a distraction, and as Anne narrows in on her target, the arsonist begins to target her.

From the creator of the bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood, get ready for a new band of brothers. And a firestorm.

Blog Tour: Until We're More by Cindi Madsen (Review, Giveaway, Excerpt)

Chelsea is smart, funny, gorgeous, and the best friend I’ve ever had. Ever since she left, I’ve been a wreck. I’ve been focused on keeping my family’s MMA gym afloat while I train and coach fighters, anything to not miss her more. But now she’s finally back, along with her grumpy, possessive cat, and things are weird between us.

By weird, I mean I can’t stop thinking about her in that way. She’s in the room next door, and it takes all my control not to storm in there, sweep her up, and bring her back to my bed. Even stranger, I’m pretty sure she’d be into it.

And this time, I’m not going to stop fighting until we’re more.

Each book in the Fighting for Her series is STANDALONE:
* Until You’re Mine
* Until We’re More

About the Book

Until We’re More 
by Cindi Madsen
Series
Fighting For Her Series
Genre
New Adult
Contemporary Romance
Publisher
Entangled Embrace
Publication Date
August 27, 2018
Purchase Your Copy Today!
Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Kobo  |  iBooks

Book Review: Head Over Heels by Serena Bell

Head Over Heels

Author: Serena Bell
Publisher: Loveswept (June 5, 2018)
ebook, 221 pages
Goodreads   Amazon

Summary
They thought they were wrong for each other. That was before she moved in. . . .

Chase: Take it from me, never hire your best friend to be your live-in nanny. Because it’s a lot easier to be friends with a woman who isn’t prancing around your house in yoga pants. As a newly full-time dad, I needed help fast. I knew she was good with kids. And I thought things between us were strictly platonic. Now, with Olivia Stratten crashing in my guest room and steaming up the bathroom with the scent of her shampoo, it’s getting harder and harder—no pun intended—to remember all the reasons we’re supposed to be incompatible.

Liv: When Chase Crayton asked me to watch his five-year-old daughter until he could find someone full-time, I was afraid we’d drive each other nuts. But with Chase’s job on the line, I couldn’t say no. What I didn’t anticipate was how combustible our chemistry would be in close quarters. Neither of us did. After all, we first met on a blind date, and by the end of it, we were laughing about how terrible we’d be as a couple. In the two years since, nothing ever happened between us, not even a kiss—not until last night. . . .

Head Over Heels is a standalone novel with no cheating, no cliffhangers, and a satisfying happily ever after.

Rating: 4 stars

Review
First of all - UGH, first person present tense. WHY? Thankfully, Serena Bell makes it work for her for the most part. This book is very reminiscent of When Harry Met Sally with the whole premise of "Can men and women just be friends?" Head Over Heels is fun and lighthearted, but at the same time it absolutely made me cry towards the end because Bell really made me care about the characters.

Chase and Liv are total opposites - Liv is high maintenance and into interior decor, and Chase is happiest going for an extended camping trip during which he doesn't bother to shower. They meet on a blind date and instantly know that a romantic relationship would never work out for them, but somehow they end up becoming best friends, and that's all they'll ever be... or is it?

Chase and Liv both have dark things in their past that effect the adults they've become, and that hold them back and trap them. This is a really fun friends to lovers, opposites attract romance, but it also is a book about how Chase and Liv deal with their childhood trauma. They both have struggles they need to overcome and I love that there is so much character development for both of them throughout the book. Also, Chase's daughter Katie is the most adorable thing in the world and I want to hug her and squeeze her and play Princesses and Fairies with her and squeeze her little cheeks. While there are plenty of serious issues being dealt with, there is also a LOT of fun to be had, and the back and forth between Liv and Chase is so great.

I'm not usually a big fan of stories with single moms/single dads/kids, but I'm glad I gave Head Over Heels a read. I definitely recommend it for anyone who loves a good friends to lovers romance. 

Book Review: It Takes Two by Jenny Holiday

It Takes Two

Author: Jenny Holiday
Series: Bridesmaids Behaving Badly, book 2
Publisher: Forever
Publishing Date: June 26, 2018
Mass Market Paperback, 384 pages
Amazon  Goodreads

Summary

All's fair in love and war

Wendy Liu should be delighted to be her best friend's maid of honor. But after years spent avoiding the bride's brother - aka the boy who once broke her heart - she's now trapped with him during an endless amount of wedding festivities. Luckily she's had time to perfect her poker face, and engaging Noah Denning in a little friendly competition might just prove that she's over him for good...

Noah Denning is determined to make his little sister's wedding memorable. But it seems Wendy is trying to outdo him at every turn. Challenging each other was always something he and Wendy did right, so when she proposes they compete to see who can throw the best bachelor or bachelorette party in Sin City, Noah takes the bait - and ups the stakes. Because this time around, he wants Wendy for keeps. And when you're fighting for love, all bets are off.

Book Review: Him by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy

Him

Author: Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy
Series: Him, Book 1
Publisher: Rennie Road Books
Publication Date: July 28, 2015
Kindle, 358 pages
Amazon  Goodreads

Summary
They don’t play for the same team. Or do they?

Jamie Canning has never been able to figure out how he lost his closest friend. Four years ago, his tattooed, wise-cracking, rule-breaking roommate cut him off without an explanation. So what if things got a little weird on the last night of hockey camp the summer they were eighteen? It was just a little drunken foolishness. Nobody died.

Ryan Wesley’s biggest regret is coaxing his very straight friend into a bet that pushed the boundaries of their relationship. Now, with their college teams set to face off at the national championship, he’ll finally get a chance to apologize. But all it takes is one look at his longtime crush, and the ache is stronger than ever.

Jamie has waited a long time for answers, but walks away with only more questions—

can one night of sex ruin a friendship? If not, how about six more weeks of it? When Wesley turns up to coach alongside Jamie for one more hot summer at camp, Jamie has a few things to discover about his old friend...and a big one to learn about himself.

Warning: contains sexual situations, hotties on hockey skates, skinnydipping, shenanigans in an SUV and proof that coming out to your family on social media is a dicey proposition.

Book Review: After the Wedding (The Worth Saga #2) by Courtney Milan

After the Wedding

Author: Courtney Milan
Series: The Worth Saga, Book 2
Publisher: Courtney Milan
Publishing Date: April 24, 2018
eBook, 364 pages
Amazon  Goodreads


Summary: Adrian Hunter has concealed his identity and posed as a servant to assist his powerful uncle. He’s on the verge of obtaining the information he needs when circumstances spiral out of his control. He’s caught alone with a woman he scarcely knows. When they’re discovered in this compromising circumstance, he’s forced to marry her at gunpoint. Luckily, his uncle should be able to obtain an annulment. All Adrian has to do is complete his mission…and not consummate the marriage, no matter how enticing the bride may be.

Lady Camilla Worth has never expected much out of life—not since her father was convicted of treason and she was passed from family to family. A marriage, no matter how unfortunate the circumstances under which it was contracted, should mean stability. It’s unfortunate that her groom doesn’t agree. But Camilla has made the best of worse circumstances. She is determined to make her marriage work. All she has to do is seduce her reluctant husband.

Rating: 5 stars

Review: Could there possibly be two more Hufflepuff main characters? (Answer: no.) I submit into evidence Exhibit A: this quote from Camilla:

"We're all self-serving." Camilla shrugged. "It's just a matter of what we do to others in service of ourselves."
-Camilla, After the Wedding by Courtney Milan

It takes a whole lot of heart and a fierceness of spirit to maintain the kind of trust Adrian has and the kind of hope that Camilla keeps when the world repeatedly grinds you down, when people show you again and again their ugliest selves. I just… I can't… Words escape me. I want to gather Camilla and Adrian close and wrap them up in a big Hufflepuff hug huddle. As I've said in previous reviews, wanting to be friends with the main characters is a major key to a five star rating for me. I love Camilla and Adrian so much, and several of the side characters really won be over too (especially Theresa and Mrs. Beasley!) that I'd give this, oh, six or seven stars, if that were an option. ALL THE STARS!

The way the relationship between Camilla and Adrian plays out is so wonderful to watch grow. For all of the hardship these two go through, this is a relatively low angst story that is beautifully told. For those who love a good slow burn friends to lovers story, this book is for you! Cam and Adrian are two kindred spirits who get thrown together in circumstances that would break many people, and they continue to trust and hope and love with this quiet, golden strength that I truly admire and can only hope to emulate in my own life. Plus, the level of flirt and sass in Camilla cannot be squashed by any number of jerk-faces.

"That would no doubt be engraved on her tombstone: Camilla tried to be good, but not for very long." 

- Camilla, After the Wedding by Courtney Milan

I really appreciated a Regency romance with representation outside of the Heyer-esque white cis characters you often see depicted: notably Adrian and his black family and how his family (with a black American father and a white English mother) is treated by English society; the diverse cast of characters who work on the design team at Adrian's manufactory; and the sexual preferences of Mrs. Martin and others.

This is the second book in the Worth Saga, but it can be read as a stand-alone. However, there are some spoilers for the first book, Once Upon a Marquess (though not much more than you'd get from reading the back cover blurb). There is also a certain amount of lead up to what had dang well better be a future book in the series about Theresa!

Book Review: Infamous (Famous #2) by Jenny Holiday

Infamous

Author: Jenny Holiday
Series: Famous, Book 2
Publisher: Jenny Holiday
Publishing date: March 20, 2018
Kindle, 272 pages
Amazon  Goodreads

Summary: Is he brave enough to face the music?

All that up-and-coming musician Jesse Jamison has ever wanted is to be on the cover of Rolling Stone. When a gossip website nearly catches him kissing someone who isn’t his famous girlfriend—and also isn’t a girl—he considers the near miss a wake-up call. There’s a lot riding on his image as the super-straight rocker, and if he wants to realize his dreams, he’ll need to toe the line. Luckily, he’s into women too. Problem solved.

After a decade pretending to be his ex’s roommate, pediatrician Hunter Wyatt is done hiding. He might not know how to date in the Grindr world, how to make friends in a strange city, or whether his new job in Toronto is a mistake. But he does know that no one is worth the closet. Not even the world’s sexiest rock star.

As Jesse’s charity work at Hunter’s hospital brings the two closer together, a bromance develops. Soon, Hunter is all Jesse can think about. But when it comes down to a choice between Hunter and his career, he’s not sure he’s brave enough to follow his heart.

Rating: 5 stars

Review: I grow increasingly convinced that Jenny Holiday is incapable of writing a book I don't fiercely love. Like the first book in the Famous series, this is another slow burn, friends to lovers story, this one a M/M romance where the first book was a M/F romance. Can I just say, I love the inclusion of more than one type of couple in this series? Usually you see a series that's all M/F, or all M/M, but I think this is my first series with a straight couple in one book and a gay couple in another. And apparently slow burn friends-to-lovers stories are my new favorite.

Jenny Holiday writes a mean slow burn romance. Gah. Words, there are none. Jesse Jamison is on his way to stardom with his band, Jesse and the Joyrides. (LOVE the band name!) He's got this formula he follows so he knows who to sit next to on the train to avoid conversation (which is hilarious, smart, and adorable) but makes the choice to sit next to a super hot guy (Baby Silver Fox, he calls him), whom he winds up really enjoying talking to.

Hunter (aka Dr. Baby Silver Fox...) just got out of an 8 year long bad relationship where basically his boyfriend kept him in the closet in regards to his family and friends, so he's moved to Toronto for a fresh start. He's a hospitalist (uh, basically a pediatrician for the hospital instead of at a medical practice?) and oh, my god, could there be a more perfect man alive? (The answer is no, there could not.) Fast forward a few years after Jesse and Hunter's meeting on the train, and one of Hunter's, Avery, is a huge Jesse and the Joyrides fan. I want to keep talking about how they meet up again and become friends etc. etc., but really, just read the book. I'm sitting here trying to write this review and I've got a stupid grin on my face just remembering this book, especially certain Hunter/Jesse scenes that I want to talk about but I don't want to ruin it with spoilers! And not only are the leading characters amazing, the side characters are also a delight, especially Avery and the guys that make up Jesse's band (but especially Billy, LMAO!)

This is the second book in the Famous series, but it can be read as a stand alone. There are some minor spoilers for the first book in the series, Famous , but frankly they're barely passing mentions so you're unlikely to spoil anything for yourself. That being said, Famous is also an amazing read, so if you haven't read it yet, what are you waiting for?!

Book Review: Famous by Jenny Holiday

Famous

Author: Jenny Holiday
Series: Famous, Book 1
Publisher: Jenny Holiday
Publishing date: July 11, 2017
Kindle, 282 pages
Amazon  Goodreads

Summary: Everyone knows her face. He knows her heart.

Emerson Quinn is famous. Girls want to be her. Boys want to date her. Each record outsells the last. All that remains is to continue transitioning her brand from its teenage fan base to a more mature, diverse audience. So she’s under strict orders to play nice with her army of assigned co-songwriters and to knock off the serial dating that keeps landing her in the tabloids. If she follows instructions, she can look forward to an indefinite run at the top of the celebrity ecosystem. There’s only one problem with this plan: Emerson is miserable.

So she runs away, impulsively fleeing her L.A. life and heading for a small Iowa college town where a guy she once knew lives. He’s the only person in the world she can think of who might be enough of a nerd to not know about Emerson Quinn the brand. Who might be willing to provide a haven where she can lay low and write her new album by herself, on her own terms.

Art history professor Evan Winslow knows a thing or two about leaving your past behind. He’s worked hard to establish himself far from the spotlight of his infamous father. He’s up for tenure soon, which will mean job security for life. All he has to do to lock down his hard-won, blessedly quiet existence is keep his head down.

Too bad the most famous pop star in the world—who also happens to be his long-lost muse—has just shown up on his doorstep.

Rating: 5 stars

Review: I fell in love with this book so hard. Famous is sweet yet sexy, with just enough angst to make your heart flail a bit but still remain fluffy. I want to snuggle with this book while listening to Emerson Quinn's music on repeat.

The set up is so sweet - Emmy and Evan meet at a wedding and have a moment, but as he's 26 and she's only 19 they have their one night of PG-13 rated connection, and then go their separate ways. Emmy is just starting on the path toward her future, and Evan's life has basically crumbled around him and he's off to the opposite side of the country to start over himself. Fast forward 7 years and our story truly begins...

Emmy is so great, though I kept having visions of Taylor Swift appear in my head... I have to say that I LOVE that she's from Minneapolis and played her first show at First Ave. Being a Minnesota girl myself, I feel like Emmy and I could totally have been buds. ;) She's so sweet and earnest, and I adore her relationship with her manager, Tony. Her "incognito" look made me laugh, and I love the personal growth the goes through in this book. It's like she started hitting it hard to reach her dreams so early, she didn't really learn to be a "real girl," so I love that she gets to embrace doing "real girl" things.

Evan is a hot nerd and totally swoon-worthy. He's got some shadows in his past with his criminal father, and needs to learn to come to terms with his past in order to embrace his future. I love a tortured artist and this book has TWO OF THEM! Emmy is struggling to find her voice in her music, and Evan is a painter who doesn't paint. Gah! I can't even with these two.

Besides the main characters being adorable and making me want to have a summer BBQ with them, the side characters in this book are also phenomenal, especially Emmy's manager Tony and Evan's next door neighbor Mrs. Johansen. OH MY GOSH, Mrs. Johansen. I just love feisty old ladies, and her online dating exploits are hilarious.

What are you still reading this review for? GO READ FAMOUS RIGHT NOW.

Book Review: Hurts to Love You (Forbidden Hearts #3) by Alisha Rai

Hurts to Love You

Author: Alisha Rai
Series: Forbidden Hearts, Book 3
Publisher: Avon
Published: March 27, 2018
Mass Market Paperback, 384 pages
Rating: 5 stars
★★★★★
Goodreads  Amazon

Summary: Well-behaved women don’t lust after men who love to misbehave.Heiress Evangeline Chandler knows how to keep a secret . . . like her life-long crush on the tattooed hottie who just happens to be her big brother’s friend. She’s a Chandler, after all, and Chandlers don’t hook up with the help. Then again, they also don’t disobey their fathers and quit their respectable jobs, so good-girl rules may no longer apply.

Gabriel Hunter hides the pain of his past behind a smile, but he can’t hide his sudden attraction to his friend’s sheltered little sister. Eve is far too sweet to accept anything less than forever and there’s no chance of a future between the son of a housekeeper and the town’s resident princess.

When a wedding party forces Eve and Gabe into tight quarters, keeping their hands off each other will be as hard as keeping their clothes on. The need that draws them together is stronger than the forces that should shove them apart . . . but their sparks may not survive the explosion when long-buried secrets are finally unearthed.

Review:
I love Eve and I want to give her a big, huge hug and tell her that everything is going to be OK. Come to think of it, I also want to do the same with Gabe… They're both so amazingly strong and spectacular, while at the same time so very damaged and flawed. I love deep, multi-dimensional characters, and Alisha Rai sure delivers! Bits of their stories and how they came to be the people they are at the start of the story are revealed throughout the book in a way that helps the reader to understand them (and relate to them) on a deeper level, without being slammed with all these facts and details all at once so that it's overwhelming. There is real artistry in Alisha Rai's storytelling and character development, and I love how these leads (as well as their crazy families) grow and change throughout this book.

Hurts to Love You has so many great themes/tropes. I'm not normally a fan of May/December romances, but it really works for Gabe and Eve. There's also some best friend's sibling vibes, as well as childhood crush ones. Then there's the crazy Montague/Capulet thing between the Kanes and Chandlers. Eve's relationship with her father, Gabe's big secret… There are just so many great elements in this story that are masterfully woven together. At times I felt REALLY lost at all the interconnecting histories and relationships of the Kane/Chandler family drama, which I think reading the first two books in the series first might have helped me keep tabs of who is who better.

The heat level of this book is intense. Gabe has a tendency to make Eve say what she wants, as well as giving a verbal play by play of his fantasies, what he's about to do, what he'd like to do, etc. etc. etc. It's well written, a little rough, and HOT. Eve puts it best:

"You're a dirty talker. Like sex closed-captioning."

This is the third book in the series, and while it can be read as a stand alone there are definitely spoilers for the first two books in this one. There are also a LOT of characters with a very tangled family history, so while this can be read as a stand alone, you're probably better off reading the first two books in the series, Hate to Want You and Wrong to Need You, before reading Hurts to Love You (because, let's be honest, you know you're going to end up reading them all anyway.)

Book Review: Game of Hearts (Fandom Hearts #3) by Cathy Yardley

 

Rating: 5 Stars

 
Published January 30th 2018 by RYW Publishing
Summary: Kyla Summers has been offered the opportunity of a lifetime to get her cosplay business off the ground, and only one thing stands in her way. She needs someone to take over the auto shop, and there’s only one person she can think of to call…

Jericho Salomon hasn’t been back in his home town since he joined a biker gang and rode off nine years ago. When his best friend’s kid sister calls begging for help, he knows that he owes the family a debt and he intends to pay. This is easier said than done once he finds that the kid is all grown up…

She needs a pair of skillful hands. He needs to keep his hands off. When sparks begin to fly, can they keep things strictly business, or will their hearts get hopelessly tangled? No more games, it’s time to play for keeps.
(from Goodreads)

Review: Gah. I love the Fandom Hearts series so much, and this latest installment is my favorite yet.

Kyla is so badass, and I love that she's amazing with fixing cars and with making costumes. She's strong, feisty, a total geek, and would do anything for her friends and family. I want to be friends with Kyla so badly, haha. I also love a good book about a body positive plus sized character, so it's great to see Kyla embrace her curves and not be trying to change herself to fit some image of whay society or the media or whatever tells us we need to be.

Jericho is also amazing, and I love his story. Plus, who doesn't love a hot biker guy who gets into Game of Thrones thinking Ned Stark is the main character and going to win in the end? Mwahaha!! Oh, my sweet summer child...

This is the 3rd book in the Fandom Hearts series but cam definitely be read as a stand alone with minimal spoilers for the first 2 books. That being said, definitely read the other books in the series too because they're awesome!

Book Review: Leo Loves Aries (Signs of Love #1) by Anyta Sunday

Rating: 4 Stars

Published December 4th 2016
Summary: A new person will enter your life in the early year, Leo. Look past any moments of frustration they might bring and laugh—this could be the start of a thriving friendship.

Theo Wallace usually laughs at the horoscopes his mom sends. Still hung up on his ex-girlfriend and practically friendless, this one begs him to reconsider. Because a friendship that stuck, that thrived…

Well, that would be a reason to leave past pains behind and look to the Bright Future.

When his sister Leone challenges him to find her the perfect date for a spring wedding, Theo uses it as a chance to make new friends. Theo’s ex economics tutor and newest roommate Mr Jamie Cooper seems to be a possible and convenient match. Real convenient. Like written in the stars, convenient.

All he has to do is make sure this Jamie is good enough. Could really be the one for her, and the friend for him.

But watch out, Leo, the stars have a surprise in store...
(from Goodreads)

Review: This is one of those instances where I read a later book in the series first, then came back to read the first book. Sadly, Leo Loves Aries did not tickle my fancy as much as book #2 in the Signs of Love series, Scorpio Hates Virgo. (Maybe because I'm a Scorpio so I connected with that book more? Who knows!)

Anyway! I did really enjoy Leo Loves Aries, even if there were several parts that had me shaking my head at one of our male leads, Theo, and saying "Oh, you sweet Summer child..." Theo spends the whole book making friends with Jamie, and throwing his at his sister. I love that Jamie says things sometimes that Leo takes as joking, or completely misunderstands, but that we the readers (who know this is a M/M Romance and thus that Jamie is gay - and if that's a spoiler for you, I'm sorry, but really?) understand in a different way, and it is HILARIOUS. Like Theo telling Jaime he should take a risk and go for a relationship with his roommate, with Theo meaning his sister (and his and Jaime's roommate) Leone, but Jaime CLEARLY thinking Theo means himself. Or this little gem:

Jamie stopped a few feet from the car and threw his head back, muttering to the sky. Theo opened his door. “You coming or what?”
With a clouding expression that made Theo nervous, Jamie kicked his way to the driver’s side. “I’m gonna come all right.”

 Oy vey, poor dumb Theo. I liked Theo and Jaime, but both of them fell just a little bit flat to me, which is why I knocked off a star. I also really love Leone, and Sean, and Jaime's mom! Supporting characters for the win!

This is the first book in a series, but each book serves as a stand alone. And yes, Theo and Jaime make an appearance in book #2, Scorpio Hates Virgo! I read this via Kindle Unlimited, where the whole series is available, so that's always fun!

Book Review: A Devil in Scotland (No Ordinary Hero #3) by Suzanne Enoch

Rating: 5 Stars

Expected publication: January 30th 2018 by St. Martin's Press
Summary: The dawning of desire...

1806, Scotland: Wild, reckless Callum MacCreath is in no hurry to become someone’s husband. But when his responsible, steady older brother Ian announces his engagement to their childhood friend Rebecca, Callum makes a startling discovery: he wants the lovely young lass for himself. But it’s too late, and when Ian banishes him for his duplicity, he’s only too happy to leave Scotland forever…

...is delicious and dangerous.

1816: Marrying Ian was the practical, logical thing for Becca to do. But once Callum sailed away to America, she missed his rakish charm and lust for life. Now, ten years later, Becca is a widow when a much-changed Callum returns to his Scottish homeland. Will he remember their spirited, fiery connection, or does he blame her for his brother’s unexpected death? This time neither of them can deny their scorching attraction, but will their hearts be burned in the blazing heat of scandal?
(from Goodreads)

Review: This was my first Suzanne Enoch, and only my second or third historical romance about highlanders. You know you found a great book when you immediately go on Goodreads and start marking all of their previously published books as "To Read," haha.

I love Suzanne Enoch's writing style. Her characters are so multi-faceted and full of depth, flaws, and redeeming qualities. The dialogue is wonderful and often witty. Both our hero (Callum) and our heroine (Rebecca) go through quite a journey of personal growth, after suffering a significant amount of pain and heartache. I love that Callum and Rebecca were childhood besties, and that Callum doesn't even realize his feelings for her until he finds out she's engaged to his brother. I also really appreciate that while young Becca is drawn to Callum, she also knows she needs to make a wise decision for her future and the drunken, volatile brother is not that choice. This is a friends to lovers story while also being a second chance romance and, because of the situation that brings them back together, also sort of an enemies to lovers story as well. It's so multi-layered and multi-faceted, and Enoch weaves it all together with great skill. I had a really hard time putting this book down!

I thought I was nae going to like all the Scottish accents, ye ken, but it wasnae too annoying for me. I think that consistency and moderation are key when writing dialects authentically, and if the whole book had been full of spellings like "oot" for "out" and whatnot, I'd have DNF'd this in a hot minute. Mostly it was use of aye, nae, and ken to give the Highlanders an authentic feel to their dialogue, which kept me remembering where we were set (like you could forget with all the men in kilts!!) without alienating me as a reader. Enoch manages to strike a really great balance, which I think can be difficult to do.

This is the third book in a series. It does touch on the plotlines for the first two books, including what is likely plot twists and outcomes of plotlines. The characters/plotlines from the previous two books have some bearing on what happens in this book, but what you need to know to understand is covered/recapped in this book so it doesn't affect the readability at all. While this book can definitely be read as a stand alone, beware spoilers for the previous two books. If you really care about that sort of thing, read Hero in the Highlands (No Ordinary Hero #1) and My One True Highlander (No Ordinary Hero #2) first.

*I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.