Amalie Warner wants another shot to prove that she can be a successful writer. After hitting the bestseller’s list nine years ago, she’s lost her spark. Feeling pressure from her father to leave her writing behind and to work for her family’s lucrative hotel business, she’s desperate to find inspiration for her next big idea, something that challenges and excites her, something real.

Enter Julian Smoke, a failed tennis player making a dream run for the US Open. After a chance meeting at a bar, Amalie hates him instantly. He’s cocky and arrogant, but Amalie knows his story could be her big break. Could he be more?

Everyone knows that in tennis, love means zero, but these two are about to change that.

Title: Painting the Lines
Author: Ashley R. King
Series: Ace of Hearts (Book 1)
Pages: 272
Genre(s): Contemporary, Romcom, Sports Romance, Enemies to Lovers
Hot Buttons: n/a

Release Date: 17th August, 2020

Ohmigosh - so good

5 stars

What a treat this book was! It’s the first book from Ashley R. King that I’ve read but I loved her style, humour and storytelling, so it definitely won’t be the last.

I can’t say I’ve ever seen another sports romance book with tennis as the sport in question - although I’m not sure why not. I personally love tennis, but if you’re not a fan, you’ll be in good company because neither is our heroine, Amalie. We also never get bogged down in tennis detail and only the Big 4 are mentioned by name and very infrequently at that.

I LOVE an enemies to lovers story and this is what we get here as Amalie and Julian dislike each other almost from first sight. But it’s the best kind of enemies - bickering and snipping at each other while trying to ignore their growing attraction.

To say this is a slow burn is doing a massive disservice to the author’s ability to grow and build the sexual chemistry and tension between our couple until it’s almost a living, breathing character in itself. Believe me, everyone was frustrated but in the best possible way. It was so wonderful - they way their bickering turned playful and how they both dealt with their feelings. Oh, and how Paul cockblocked the couple at every turn!

When we finally get there, it’s deliciously sexy with equally delicious feels. Happy sighs.

The book really put me in mind of the film, The Cutting Edge. It had that same relationship dynamic, the same humour and the same excitement of the underdog. I laughed out loud on occasion during the story and was just as nervous for Julian as he returned to the tennis circuit. I was along for the ride and completely committed to our couple and their lives.

This is the kind of book I expect to stay with me for a long time. Once finished, I had that same excitement as if I’d just finished watching a wonderful tennis tournament or seeing a happy film. It’s very much a fairytale ending and I was here for it completely. And there was an epilogue which made me an even happier bunny.

If you’re looking for a well-written romance with characters you’ll fall for and feel for, laughs and love, leaving you within all round happy feeling - then this is the book for you. I loved it and the tennis was just the cherry on top. 5 stars.

 

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We start off with a lie on Valentine’s Day.

My blind date isn’t the studious guy I expected: he’s a drop-dead gorgeous player with sinful amber eyes. Somehow we end up at his penthouse. I blame the gin and tonic.

The next day I learn he’s Jack Hawke—bad-boy professional quarterback with a murky past. The NDA he has me sign should be a warning that he isn’t a regular person. Please. I sign it Juliet Capulet, so goodbye, famous football player with abs of steel, and good luck tracking down this small-town librarian.

But Jack keeps showing up in places I least expect him. Just when I’m sure he’s gone, he waltzes into my community theater and wins the part of Romeo to my Juliet. How’s a plain, mostly innocent girl like me supposed to resist a man like him?

Is Jack my real Romeo…or will this gorgeous football player only break my heart?

Title: Not My Romeo
Author: Ilsa Madden-Mills
Series: Standalone
Pages: 348
Genre(s): Contemporary, US, Sports Romance, Opposites Attract
Hot Buttons: Trauma due to childhood domestic abuse, childhood trauma (mother murdered and stepfather killed) <-- highlight to reveal (may contain spoilers)

Release Date: 18th August, 2020

The perfect romance

5 stars

I love Ilsa Madden-Mills - her writing, her storytelling and the characters I am guaranteed to fall in love with. I’ve mostly read her new adult romances but this story is adult contemporary with 20-something hero and heroine. But fear not, it’s every bit as good as - if not better than - her NA books.

We start off with a hilariously adorable meet cute - and it’s clear from that first chapter that both our hero and heroine have, inadvertently changed each other’s lives in their short meeting. Oh, and things get heated very, very fast! It’s hilarious, hot and I was almost giddy with excitement with what was to come.

Elena was truly my kind of heroine. She was sassy, spunky and while she might see herself as slightly average, she has a wild streak that makes her a character I could both see myself in, but also really aspire to be more like. She was unapologetically quirky and in just being herself she managed to capture the interest of Jack.

Now let’s take a moment of silence to adore and worship the character that is Jack. He is my catnip. The absolutely best kind of hero ever to live. Normally I want a character for my very own…but Jack is made for Elena (and vice versa, obviously) so I wouldn’t even dream of desiring him. What I want is my own Jack. He’s hot, alpha, grumpy and has a cold, closed off demeanour. But that’s simply a smoke screen to hide a man who still has scars from a traumatic childhood, as well as someone who suffers from severe social anxiety. Oh, and of course his trust issues. I just wanted to hug the poor (gorgeous) man. I also feel there should be some kudos to Ms Madden-Mills for making Jack just as smart as Elena. No dumb jock here, thank goodness.

Whenever I read an Ilsa Madden Mills book, and I see how she writes the relationship between the hero and heroine, all I can think is “I want that”. Oh, I don’t mean the sex (although, uh - yes, please!) but the connection of the pairing. How perfect they are for each other. How much they want each other. How they see the other - all their quirks and imperfections - and just *get* them. I read a lot of romance, but it’s very rarely I love a couple while also thinking “this author really knows what true love is and how it feels”. It really gives you a wistful, yearning feeling while reading. And it’s everything.

Okay, I admit it - sometimes I flick through sex scenes in books. I love them, but at times I just want to read the story and skip the sexy shenanigans. Not so with this book. I read Every. Single. Word. Twice. And damn was it good. For them, for me, for everyone. So, so hot. Even as time - and their relationship - progressed, we never lose the heat but with each encounter comes more emotional connection and holy shit was I there for that.

The book is written from the perspective of both Jack and Elena, so we see both of their points-of-view, how they’re feeling and what they’re thinking. You can really see the emotions between our couple and although at times I wanted to hit Jack upside the head, I still totally understood his motivations for acting the way he did.

As I moved to the end of the book, I was surprised to realise I had tears rolling down my cheeks. It wasn’t just the resolution of Jack and Elena’s story, but the resolution of different aspects of our story. It made me happy, it made me sad (but not in a bad way) and it inspired me to be a bit more like Elena. And when Jack says Elena’s name during the play - I still go over that scene in my head and get butterflies. Perfection.

While the book focuses on our couple and their journey, the rest of the town of Daisy also stole my heart. I really hope we hear more about the Daisy Lady Gang and I am almost salivating at the thought of Devon getting his own story. He was just as swoon worthy as Jack and he definitely deserves to be given a run for his money by the woman of his dreams.

As always, Ilsa Madden-Mills pens a romance that is everything you could ever want. It’s got engaging characters, hot sex, laughs, crazy situations, deep emotions and - of course - true love. Ms Madden Mills is an absolute genius story-teller and I love the worlds and characters that she builds. This book is absolutely perfection and I love, love, loved every second of it. 5 stars.

 

 

 

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AUTHOR BIO!

Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and USA Today best-selling author Ilsa Madden-Mills is best known for her contemporary romances ranging from new adult angst to romantic sports comedy.

Seven of her ten novels have placed in the Amazon US Store Top Six Best-seller List: Dirty English hit #1; Fake Fiancée and I Dare You hit #2; I Bet You, Filthy English, and Very Bad Things all placed #6 in the Amazon US Store. The Last Guy, her collaboration with Tia Louise, hit #4.

A former high school English teacher, she adores all things Pride and Prejudice, and of course, Mr. Darcy is her ultimate hero.

She's addicted to frothy coffee beverages, cheesy magnets, and any book featuring unicorns and sword-wielding females. Feel free to stalk her online.

 

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The first in the Campus Nights’ series, Secret Puck is a friends-to-lovers, brother's teammate romance!


Secretly hooking up with the team captain's sister was a bad idea.

Would I do it all over again?

In a heartbeat.

Title: Secret Puck
Author: Rebecca Jenshak
Series: Campus Nights (Book 4) 
Pages: tbc
Genre(s): Contemporary, US, College Romance, Hockey Romance, New Adult, Sports Romance, Secret Romance, Brother's friend romance 
Hot Buttons: tbc

Release Date: 19th October, 2020

 

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AUTHOR BIO!

 

Rebecca Jenshak is a self-proclaimed margarita addict, college basketball fanatic, and lover of the Hallmark channel. A Midwest native transplanted to the desert, she likes being outdoors (drinking on patios) and singing (in the shower) when she isn’t writing books about hot guys and the girls who love them.

 

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Jackson Wynn
I don’t want anything to do with my crazy family’s drama, which I’ve been watching unfold from a distance over the last year, but now my grandfather has Alzheimer’s and I feel I need to at least make a quick visit to see him. My hockey season’s over, all I have to do is get through my teammate Steve’s wedding, and then I’m on a plane to Los Angeles to do my family duty. After that, I’ll head home to Manitoba for some summer R&R at the family lake cottage.

Molly Flynn
Nobody’s expecting what happens at my wedding, which becomes pandemonium. I need to get out of there. Fast. Who do I turn to? Jackson Wynn, one my fiancé’s teammates. He’s been a friend to me since I met Steve. For one night, we hide out in his condo, but he’s leaving in the morning for California. I want to go with him.

Jackson
I can’t take Steve’s fiancée with me to California. He’s going to flip shit over this. But the lying cheating bastard kind of deserves it, and I’ve always had a soft spot for Molly. Or maybe not so soft…because she’s not only sweet and kind, she’s hot as hell. This is a bad idea for so many reasons, and I sure as hell don’t need more drama in my life, but I can’t say no to her.

On this nutso trip, neither of us expect Molly to bond with my bonkers family…especially my poor, confused grandpa. And neither of us expect to bond with each other.

Title: Game Changer
Author: Kelly Jamieson
Series: Wynn Hockey (Book 5)
Pages: 291
Genre(s): Contemporary, US, Hockey Romance, Sports Romance, Friends to Lovers
Hot Buttons: difficult family relationships, grandfather with Alzheimer's, cheating (not by main characters) <-- highlight to reveal (may contain spoilers)

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Didn’t really catch my interest

3 stars

I do enjoy a hockey romance although, to be honest, the fact that Jax is a hockey player isn’t that important to this story - other than the side-story of him waiting to find out if he’s being re-signed to his team or not. It’s really more of a tale of two friends becoming more…after she dumps her cheating fiancé at the altar!

It wasn’t until I started writing this review that I realised that I don’t feel I really got to know either main character all that well. In the beginning we hear that Jax likes women and plays the field as he’s not all that interested in marriage due to some family drama. He does change as the book - and his relationship with Molly - moves on, but did I feel emotionally invested in these characters? Not really. And did I really feel I knew them by the end of the book? Not at all.

Which kind of surprised me as there was a lot of content in this 291 page book - and a lot of dialogue. Sometimes it was just back and forth and back and forth, with no interruption, which did make reading go in a flash, but didn’t do much for me building up knowledge or feeling in our characters. And some of the writing really came across as if it would have been better had this been a film where I could see nuances and facial expressions rather than having to assume their reactions to the rapid fire dialogue. And words like “whelp” can’t really compete with being shown how someone feels.

There’s a lot of side stories also going on in this book - and for the first half of the story at least, a lot of it is to do with Jax’s family. I haven’t read any of the other books in this series - and while I definitely think this book stands alone, I also think I would have enjoyed the family scenes a little bit more had I known who on earth some of these other people were. Because there were a lot of them.

There is also the fact that Jax’s grandfather has Alzheimer’s, there are several major family rifts and his parents are still working through their feelings regarding their break-up/divorce from when Jax was a teen. So it’s definitely not all fun and games with his large and complicated family.

The book is written in first person, present tense - so “I sigh.” “I walk…” etc. and in both Jax and Molly’s point of view, normally alternating a chapter each, but sometimes it changes halfway, or a couple of times in the middle. It’s a good mix of both voices.

It takes a long while for Jax and Molly to cross that friendship line into something more - but even when they did I felt that it was on the rebound and nothing more. I did change my mind as they spent more time together but it was always a bit of a niggle. But by the end I was cheering for them to get together - and it was kinda sweet the way Jax apologised and made things right.

I didn’t think there was much need for Steve to be redeemed in anyone’s eyes at the end. And him going to bat for Molly and then being so cool with Jax just made me shake my head in disbelief. Sometimes people are douchecanoes and always will be - and that’s alright.

There was a fair amount of steamy sex in the book which did help create the intimacy between Molly and Jax and I’m never going to complain about sex in a book. There was also a scene when both were sharing a bed and Jax was having some, well, solo time. At first I was a bit grossed out by this but as it went on, I got less and less mad. By the end I was probably as happy as Jax was and I think I might need this in every book I read from now on.

Despite that, I just couldn’t get into this book or this story. I think that if you fancy this book and haven’t read the others in the series, read them first so you have some sort of attachment to the Wynn family. Then, I’m sure you’ll really enjoy this book and devour it from cover to cover. Coming in as a newbie to the Wynn’s, I can only give it 3 stars, I’m afraid.

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