Review: Real Fake Love

Real Fake Love by Pippa Grant
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I feel like this book is almost a love story for the stereotypical romance reader everywhere. No, wait, before you go running away... IT'S NOT A CLICHÉ! This isn't just your average very sad, lonely girl meets boy and falls in love story. I mean, it borrows things from that concept but doesn't every romance do that in a way?



Real Fake Love brings us back to the Copper Valley Fireballs (hellllllloooooo baseball!!!), namely one Luca Rossi who's sworn off love, marriage and commitments altogether - and how one very determined (if a touch lonely) romance writer named Henrietta Bacon becomes the reason he learns how to love when he's supposed to be teaching her how to deny love.



Luca's not the best player, he's not horrible obviously because he's in the major leagues, but he's not swinging his bat in the all star game every year. He's also been traded a whole bunch of times and now to the worst team in the league. The man has a chip on his shoulder a mile wide, and really, his well meaning Nonna is totally right. He just needs to be loved and supported. But first he wants to help the Fireballs make a huge comeback and how can he do that when he's under threat of a curse that the consequences of would shake any commitment-phobe to their core? That's where Henri and the most ridiculously lazy cat, Dogzilla, come into play.



And Henri! I feel like Henri is this conglomeration of Pippa's hilarity and wackiness and all of the romance readers out there who fall in love with love at every turn. Hey, who hasn't fallen for the wrong person? Or had a broken engagement or two? There's something so very hopeful about Henri, so optimistic in the face of everything that combats Luca's pessimism at every turn. There were so many moments where that sad, lonely part of me resonated with Henri's desire to be loved.

“Love itself isn’t wrong.” I tuck my hands under my head and stare up at the soft darkness. “But you need to quit loving people who don’t love you back.”

“What if no one ever loves me back?” she whispers.

Tears - she broke me! BROKE ME!!!!! Because she's usually so happy! She seems to embrace her quirks - and no matter what she has this never ending belief in the beauty, and necessity, of love but there were moments in this story that I watched all the little doubts I've always had play out on the page and it made me love Henri even more. I thought I loved the incredible Mackenzie who was wacky and weird and just sooooo much fun, but I always love the heroines who are just super smart and super quirky (*ahem*Felicity fits this bill too!)

Their roller coaster of crazy love story is brought to you with special appearances by... the Copper Valley Fireballs players (and the Thrusters!!!!!!!!), the Lady Fireballs, a team fanbase attempting to choose a mascot, a pooch with a fabulous collar, a clothes wearing lazy bones cat, a rainbow haired social media star, an inconvenient mother, a foul mouthed pirate parrot, and enough emotional and mental torture in the form of comparing lives instead of being uniquely yourself to make you want to wrap everyone up in blankets.

Here - you should have some of my...


Favourite Lines -

“You say potato, I say Lamborghini."

“Do you want to live, or do you want the stairs to eat you?”

“Left!” he yells. “Your other left!”

“I’m a writer, not a truck driver!”

Love is my superpower.

It’s my blessing and my curse.

Because every time I fall in love, I’m not good enough.

I’m never good enough.

And it freaking hurts.

“What is that?”

“She’s my cat.”

“I can see that, but what’s she wearing?”

“She felt like a unicorn today.”

“I can hear you thinking, and your language is atrocious today.”

“I make things up for a living, so if I say it’s a thing, it’s a thing!”

Teaching her how to not fall in love feels like teaching a rainbow how to not sparkle.

An unpredictable, chaotic, klutzy rainbow, but still a rainbow.

“Would yours involve a flaming asteroid made of toilets?”

Luca: Who named your cat?

Henri: Confucius.

Luca: Your…made-up character?

Henri: He’s very real in my head. And no, I don’t need to see a therapist. This is normal for writers.

“Do you also use magic truffle salt and water made with the tears of unicorns?”

My run-down castle with the queen who shines so bright that she makes it feel like Buckingham fucking Palace.

Fuckingham Palace.

Yeah. That’s what I’m renaming my home.

I write books.

Words are tools. And if I want to use the fuck word, I will use the fuck word.

Henri falls in love.

Not only with men, but with the world.

Every. Single. Day.

This book has everything that you would expect from a Pippa Grant story. You will laugh, you'll cry (usually while you're laughing but there are a few very emotional moments), and by then of this one you might even believe in love almost as much as Henri does. I can't wait to see more of the Fireballs - I mean, I'm dying for some Thrusters again, but it's summer time so I'm thankful for all the BASEBALL books because 2020 sucks and I've been denied for a while and this tiny season doesn't count.

Run out and one-click this baby today! You won't regret it!



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Review: Fix Me

Fix Me by Mia Monroe
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“What are you wearing under that kilt, my fair Scotsman?”

I laugh. “Not a thing.”

He fans himself, smiling. “I shouldn’t have asked that. We’re only friends.”

My smile fades. I wish I could let myself be so much more to him. “Friends can ask what’s under a kilt.”

Well swoon! Who doesn't love a man in a kilt? And Saint? In a kilt? And that accent??? That right there is a killer combination.



Saint, the guy who's so intensely private gave off huge Daddy vibes for Casper during what we saw of them in Marry Me, the first book of this series, and made him swoon. Casper, I think we have a type and I'm totally not against that at all because there's always something about hurt characters that makes me want to wrap them up in blankets and protect them. I wanted to do that to Saint - but I also wanted to do that to Casper too!



Yes, this is the second book in Mia Monroe's Tattoos and Temptation series but it can be read as a standalone. We see Briar and Jude again as side characters so you get to catch up a little bit with them in the time between the final chapter and the epilogue but you don't have to have read their book to enjoy Fix Me. I highly recommend it, because it was fabulous , but you don't have to have read it - I just know that when you finish Casper and Saint's story you're going to want to! I am LIVING for every single word in this series!



Oh Casper! That image of the lively, charismatic and carefree man from Marry Me is just that - an image. It's what he lets the world see. Casper may have the charisma and will to live the party boy lifestyle, but that's not what he craves nor is it what will sustain him. He's been bouncing through hookups and drinking away what little money he does have while maintaining the façade of being better off than he really is. When Saint drove him "home" and he was too embarrassed to have him take him to where he was really resting his head almost broke me. What he craved was love and guidance, something a good Daddy could do in spades but Saint didn't think he could offer it.



And Saint - oh honey the pain of losing someone you love is so real! I'd wondered what made him so private and isolated when he had the guys in the bakery who were so full of life around him. No one could have guessed it was the death of the person he thought was the love of his life that did it. How he closed himself off and put up so many walls around his heart because he just didn't think he would be able to offer it to anyone ever again. But all that changed when he met Casper - because then he started to want. He hadn't wanted for a long time, hadn't dated, hadn't bothered looking for more outside of the bakery. I think the plan to acclimatize Jude to the scene from Marry Me was probably the best thing that could have happened to him because it got him out of his shell - and it led him to Casper.



Yes, there is a Daddy/boy dynamic in this relationship, but it isn't like a lot of the books you've probably read. We're not looking at a bratty boy in Casper, nor are we looking at a Daddy who offers pain filled punishments. Both of them are caring of each other and the spankings are not punishment but rather a reward heartily enjoyed by both men. It's a very balanced relationship where both of them heal each other and find love where both of them thought they weren't deserving of it.

“I don't care if you don't love me back. It's okay. I will love you forever, and if it takes you that long to reopen your heart, it's fine. I'm patient. Sometimes."

I don't think there was anything Casper could have said in that moment that broke me more. He didn't care if Saint thought that giving his heart wasn't possible, he was going to love him anyway - whether he believed he deserved it or not.




Favourite Lines -

Today he’s wearing black jeans so tight I can actually make out the outline of his dick. Not that I’m looking. Okay, fuck it, I’m looking.

“If you ever decide you want a boy, I might know someone who would be interested.” He points at himself with a grin on his gorgeous mouth.

I smile, shaking my head. “You are incorrigible, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know what that means, Scottish.”

I chuckle. “Is that what you’re calling me now?”

I’m left with a feeling so warm I could melt. Being friends with Saint is nice. It’s different, and I like it. But I have to make him mine.

I think I might die if I don’t kiss his lips.

I took a lot of customers today, which is good. I can pay my rent next month. Unless I do something stupid like go out and buy a round of shots for everyone. I’ve spent years trying to be the life of the party. I just wanted people to like me. I wanted men and women to want me. But after spending time with Saint, I think I want something different now. I think I want someone to love me.

He told me the rules. Friends only. It’s not his fault if I’m a dumbass pushing for things I can never have. All I can do now is hope he still wants to hang out with me. At this point, I’ll take anything he’ll let me have.

And if that isn’t pathetic, I don’t know what is.

I want to praise him, tell him about how perfect and beautiful and fucking off the charts it is, but there is a dick to be sucked and it ain’t gonna suck itself.

Sweet baby drag queen in a cradle.

“It was absolutely worth the wait.” I stroke his hair. “And not just the time since meeting you. It was worth the entire wait.”

Casper gazes up at me with tears in his eyes. “For me too.”

“You don’t seem like a good bottom.”

He laughs, pulling me into the tub with him. “I’m not, but I’m not against it.”

“Good to know.”

“Now, let’s soak your pretty bottom so Daddy can have a bit more later.”

“Jesus, Saint. You are fucking fire.”

I open my mouth to speak but stop myself as new, foreign words taunt me.

I love you.

How hard would it be to say it? To tell him. I tear my eyes away. It would be as hard as catching stars with your bare hands, counting every grain of sand, or drinking the ocean.

He lifts my hand to his lips and presses a kiss there. Someday I’ll be brave enough to tell him I love him.

Even if it’s the last thing I ever do.

So, what lessons have we learned people?

1) Mia Monroe writes damn good stories with compelling characters? CHECK!
2) That everyone - EVERYONE - deserves love? CHECK!
3) That we're dying for more from this world? DOUBLE CHECK!

Run and grab this one today!



You won't regret - and while you're at it, grab Marry Me and preorder Free Me: Tattoos and Temptation Book 3 (or at least add it to your TBR) because the more I get from this world, the more I want to live there with them. I can't wait for more!




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Review: Marry Me

Marry Me by Mia Monroe
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



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Review: My Fate Is Sealed

My Fate Is Sealed by Carmen Richter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



What's that you say? My Fate Is Sealed is book four in a series but you don't see books one through three on my READ list?



YES, you are correct. I have not as yet read the first three books in the Sealed With a Kiss series, but you don't have to have read them to enjoy books four through six!



Seriously! The first three is the complete Zoe & Elijah love story told from Zoe's perspective, while this beautiful book is the start of Elijah's version of events. I jumped in out of order with My Fate Is Sealed and what better place to dive in than by seeing the original storyline (and moment's you couldn't see from Zoe's point of view in My Lips Are Sealed) than right here and right now!



I'm normally skeptical of the teacher/student romance trope, especially when we're looking at a heroine in high school. This is not a dirty, taboo story!!! If that's the kind of tale you're looking for, then this book is not for you! However, if you want a story about a young, brand new teacher fresh out of school falls in love with a girl who he comes to find is his student on the first day of his teaching assignment and all the awkwardness that ensues, then this is the book for you!

Elijah and Zoe are very real - Carmen Richter wrote characters that you can feel no matter how short an interaction you have with them on the page. I’m already chomping at the bit to read about side characters and begging right here for every single one of Zoe’s friends (especially Grant!!!) to get a book of their own - and DEFINITELY Beth!!! For all the sneaking around and drama, all the nay sayers in their life standing against them, Elijah’s sister steals the show several times keeping his head on straight! Team #GiveBethABook right here!!!! <3



Elijah Larson is probably the most adorkable hero I have ever read! He's so many parts sexy and sweet, combined with a geekiness that speaks to my soul. He has a love for [Tolkien], is a true musical theater buff, and shares my hearty appreciation for one of the best shows to ever be seen on TV.



I love a character that you want to wrap in blankets and cuddle them until their true love comes along. That's exactly what Elijah is. He has so many scars from his past, losing his best friend to suicide, the first girlfriend he managed to open up to after that cheating on him, the poor boy needs sooooo many blankets!!! But despite all that, he's still sweet and honourable. If he wasn't so perfect for Zoe, I'd swear he was my soulmate. I'll settle for him being my Book Boyfriend FOREVER!

Just so you understand, I've licked him, I claimed him, Elijah is MINE!!!!.



I loved going on this journey with him, seeing how he opens himself up and falls in love with Zoe even though many might see their relationship as wrong. This wasn't an abuse of power by holding grades over his student's head in exchange for sexual favours, Elijah's not like that. Frankly, if you're looking for steamy sex scenes, you're going to be waiting through most of the book because Zoe and Elijah do not take their relationship to a more intimate level until closer to the end of the story when they're no longer trying to navigate the precarious teacher/student roles. By the time they do tumble into bed, the connection between them is deep and strong. That's not to say they're unshakeable, nor is it to say there is no angst from that moment on! There's plenty of angst, plenty of heartache, but this isn't the end of their story - this is only the beginning! Hold on to that when you reach the last page and be thankful that you're able to snatch up the next book right away!



I can hear you whispering from all the way over here. Before we get into some of my favourite lines, you might as well ask the questions I can hear you grumbling about!


FAQ

1) You’re sure that I can start here? This is BOOK FOUR after all!

YES, you can absolutely start here!



2) Seriously, I feel like I'm going to be missing something if I don't read them in order. You’re sure there's nothing in Zoe's story that isn't covered here?

I know I'm a little wordy sometimes, but I really thought I covered this? I'll even quote myself if it makes you feel better about it:

The first three is the complete Zoe & Elijah love story told from Zoe's perspective, while this beautiful book is the start of Elijah's version of events. I jumped in out of order with [book] and what better place to dive in than by seeing the original storyline (and moment's you couldn't see from Zoe's point of view in My Lips Are Sealed) than right here and right now!

3) Don't you feel like you missed something starting there? Don't you want to hear Zoe's side too?



Of course I want to hear Zoe's side too!!!! I will be reading them - I just got to Elijah first ;)

4) But Kate, I have to read series in order - how dare you suggest I read these out of order!?!?!

Like I said, you're just getting one POV for the story here so you don't have to read the first three to appreciate Elijah's books because he doesn't help tell the story AT ALL in the first three.



Annnnnnd that's enough, question time is over - on to a few of my…


Favourite Lines -

Yep, I was going to the special hell. In the express lane.

"But as much as I want to listen to the voice of reason in my head, I can’t do it. Because I’ve never met anyone who makes me feel the way you make me feel. I’ve never felt this kind of connection to another human being before. And I can’t turn away from it. As stupid and reckless and dangerous as this is, I can’t not be with you. If that’s what you want.”

“And now I know you love this girl. Telling me it’s up to her when you start doing the horizontal happy.”

“Mattress mambo. Bedroom rodeo. Hide the cannoli. Opening the gates of Mordor.”

Opening the gates of Mordor? Well, that was a new one.

“What in the hell are they teaching you at that school?” I teased, chuckling.

“A ton of euphemisms for the word ‘sex,’” she shot back.

Umbridge? She was using Harry Potter characters for code names? Sweet. I’d found another way to distract her. And I was genuinely curious what she was calling me if Megan was Umbridge.
Me: Umbridge? Really? Do I want to know what name you use for me?

She chuckled.

Mimi: No, you really don’t.

Mimi: No, THIS must be what going mad feels like. My mom can’t stop talking about how cute she thinks you are.

I made the mistake of taking a drink of coffee while I was reading the text, and I promptly sprayed it out of my nose and mouth laughing.

"When I first found out she was one of my students, everything in me was telling me that I should tell her to find a different elective to take and get out of my class. But I didn’t have the willpower. Because I fell in love with her the night I met her.”

I'd give you more, but…




Come along on this ride - I dare you not to fall in love with Elijah and Zoe’s story! I also dare you not to jump straight into the next book in Elijah’s version of the trilogy because I totally failed and devoured the next book as soon as I could!

One click this baby today - you need a little Elijah in your life!



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