A small-town enemies to lovers romance and the debut novel from the bestselling author of Flawless and Wild Love.

Keeping things professional with my employees has never been an issue… until Billie waltzes onto my property.

She’s talented, feisty and so damn tempting. We clash from the moment we meet, and I can't stop thinking about all the ways I could take her down a peg. I can't stop thinking about her, period.

And in a small town, on an even smaller farm, it’s hard to keep my distance. Billie is the whole package: whip-smart with a body I fantasize about, and quite possibly the only woman who can save this business – and me. She drives me crazy, but the more time we spend together, the more I crave her: her lips, her trust, her heart… I want it all.

But at what cost? Because suddenly I don’t just want to win races, I want to win the girl.

Review: 

Off to the Races is my first book by Elsie Silver and also Elsie Silver's first book. Silver's debut novel is a western, small town, workplace romance. While Billie and Vaughn have great chemistry, Billie's best chemistry is with DD (Double Diablo) the racehorse she's hired to train. I have to say I had a little bit of trouble connecting with this book at the beginning. It picked up and I was able to get into it, but it took me a long time to actually connect. If you're a horse person, might be that wouldn't happen to you, but I struggled a little bit. 

I think my problem was that I have certain expectations for my western romance and this one challenged those expectations. The ranch in this book raises race horses and the book's sport is derby, for example. But once I was able to connect with the characters, I was able to get into the book. 

The plot is well paced and revolves around Billie training Double Diablo and building a relationship with this horse while trying to avoid Vaughn. There are a lot of references to derby and I found myself actually interested in that aspect of the book, particularly when a race is actually happening. Billie's attempts to avoid Vaughn obviously fail and the two them go from dislike to lovers after a slow burn. The heat in this book is probably a 2 out of 5, so there's spicy scenes, but they're pretty mild as spice goes. 

I do have to admit, the book made me cry. There're some scenes with Billie and DD, late in the book, that made me break out in sobs. I got it together, but I definitely cried. Since I don't often cry over books, Silver got me with this one. 

Overall, I'd recommend this book to anyone who really enjoys western romances, loves horses, and enjoys a slow burn romance with a 3rd act break up (no one likes a 3rd act break up, do they?).

Rating: 

❤❤❤ - Just Okay. 

A best friend’s brother stand-alone from small-town romance author Brooke Montgomery about a girl who falls pregnant by the wrong man and the cowboy who takes her in…

I've crushed on my best friend's brother for years.

He's a six-foot-three, dark-haired cowboy who works on his family's ranch and sends butterflies to my stomach anytime he looks at me. But he's never made a move, so I need to get over it.

Except, when he reads a text message about me liking a mysterious guy, he snaps and demands answers. Little does he know, it's my code name for him.

When he finally confesses he likes me too, I find out I'm pregnant. With my ex-boyfriend's baby.

After spending three weeks together in secret, my world turns upside down when that little white stick reveals a positive sign from the one-night stand I had before him.

Now everything's a mess and my life's spiraling out of control.

I can't expect him to date me anymore, so I insist we return to being friends. The last thing he needs is a girl who's carrying another man's baby and about to be a first-time mom.

But when my apartment gets broken into, and there's a suspected criminal on the loose, he insists I move in with him to keep me safe.

Staying platonic proves to be harder with each passing day as he goes with me to my appointments, takes me baby shopping, and stocks the kitchen with all my weird cravings. He's so involved that everyone assumes he's the father. And I don’t correct them.

But the truth always comes out in a Southern small town.

Review:

Whew, I wasn't sure about this one when the book started. Brooke Montgomery's Stay with Me is a romantic suspense about Magnolia and Tripp, the mess they make of their life, and how it comes back together to give them their HEA. If you've read the first book in this series, then you know when this book starts that the book involves an accidental pregnancy, you even have a small inkling about how it happens. This book is about that accidental pregnancy and how it pans out. Since pregnancy tropes are my least favorite tropes, I wasn't sure how this book was going to play for me. Turns out, thanks to Tripp, it played pretty nicely. 

The characters, Tripp and Magnolia are in love and have been for a long time. Neither of them knows that, however, so it takes them a hell of a long time to get together but the book picks up shortly before they finally figure it out. I have to say, Tripp completely makes this book. Yes, Magnolia is the object of his affection, but the way he treats her is everything and I absolutely mean everything. EVERYTHING. Trip is 100% the cowboy every girl wants. The way he handles his girlfriend's accidental pregnancy with another man is completely swoon-worthy. I absolutely fell in love with him from the start. 

The book has a suspense element with Magnolia's ex-boyfriend, but I won't give that away. Let's just say it doesn't end well for Travis (Magnolia's ex). Otherwise, the whole plot revolves around the pregnancy and how Tripp and Magnolia handle it. Something about this book I particularly liked was the well-handled anxiety rep. As a person with severe anxiety, I completely feel for Tripp. Also, this book's plot is perfectly paced. 

Overall, I would recommend this book for anyone who enjoys western romances and anyone who enjoys a particularly strong MMC. Have I mentioned that Tripp is absolutely everything?

Rating: 

❤❤❤❤ - Delightful... because of Tripp!

LOVE IS UNIVERSAL

Henrietta ‘Henri’ Laselle lives a quiet life in Kansas City, Missouri—or so it seems. While Henri looks like the average girl next door with an animal hoarding problem. In reality, Henri is half-witch, half-alien who runs the only animal rescue in the galaxy. With a pygmy kraken in her fish tank, a talking bear who hogs the tv, and a quantum portal in her basement, life for Henri is never boring.

Until the day someone steals her pets. Someone not from this Earth. Left with no other choice, Henri leaves Earth and ventures deep into cosmos, searching for answers. A chance encounter leads her to a possible solution. Orion Worldkiller; criminal, murderer, prisoner, out-of-this-world attractive, and a giant Dragon.

Orion Worldkiller offering to help Henri find her pets is the last thing she expected, but she has no other choice. Stuck in a spaceship at the far reaches of the galaxy, Henri fights both her growing worry and her newfound feelings. The closer they get to saving her pets, the harder she falls for Orion.

When their mission goes haywire, Henri and Orion are taken prisoner and forced to compete in a deadly tournament against vicious monsters. Even worse, they’re cut off from their magic. Henri’s only hope to save her pets is to win the tournament--even if it means risking an intergalactic war.

The fight for survival—and for Henri’s heart—is on, and Dragons do not fight fair.

• THE EBOOK: Available for pre-order on Amazon
• THE PHYSICAL COPIES (paperback + special edition hardback): Will be available exclusively on Kickstarter

Tour organized by:

Return to the cozy fantasy world of the #1 New York Times bestselling Legends & Lattes series with a new adventure featuring fan-favorite, foul-mouthed bookseller, Fern.

Fern has weathered the stillness and storms of a bookseller’s life for decades, but now, in the face of crippling ennui, transplants herself to the city of Thune to hang out her shingle beside a long-absent friend’s coffee shop. What could be a better pairing? Surely a charming renovation montage will cure what ails her!

If only things were so simple…

It turns out that fixing your life isn’t a one-time prospect, nor as easy as a change of scenery and a lick of paint.

A drunken and desperate night sees the rattkin waking far from home in the company of a legendary warrior surviving on inertia, an imprisoned chaos-goblin with a fondness for silverware, and an absolutely thumping hangover.

As together they fend off a rogue’s gallery of ne’er-do-wells trying to claim the bounty the goblin represents, Fern may finally reconnect with the person she actually is when there isn’t a job to get in the way.

Have you read anything by Travis Baldree? I looooooovvveeeedddd Legends and Lattes! I imagine this one will be just as good. If you're interested in cozy fantasy novels check out my review for the first book:

☕ Legends and Lattes

What's your Can't-Wait book this week?

1. 13 year hiatus: Just what it sounds like, my blog took a very long hiatus and I decided earlier this year that I would come back to it and start blogging again. But, things have changed in that time. Lots of the blogs I used to follow don't exist anymore. May of the old blog memes I enjoyed, they don't exist anymore and while I've considered starting one of them back up, I don't really get enough blog traffic to actually pull it off. 
2. More organized: One thing that's different now than before is that I'm a little bit more organized. I'm still a little bit of a mood blogger, but I try to keep it a bit organized now. 
3. Less rambling: My reviews used to be a big longer and more rambly than they are now. I've streamlined it down and got a format I like.
4. Same format: Something that hasn't changed is that my general blog review format is still the same. Maybe a little more streamlined, but still generally the same. 
5. The old memes: There were so many old memes I really enjoyed, but I'm enjoying taking part in the new blog memes too! This one included.
6. Still focused on romance: Since this blog was created in 2011, most of my reading has been romance. There's the occasional fantasy or other type of book, but almost everything I read is romance and this blog reflects that.
7. Cleaner blog theme: I had a really cute blogger theme with buttons and everything that I put together myself and while I enjoyed it, it was really busy! I'm definitely more of a minimalist as I get older, at least on my blog (real life... well, not so much). I love the clean style I'm rocking with now. Also something I created.  For reference, check out the old theme...
   
8. Personal posts: I only post personal stuff in my Sunday posts now. Where I used to post personal stuff more frequently, I've definitely focused the blog down to more specifically book related stuff now. Sunday Post is the exception, I share a little bit about my week on Sundays.
9. More aesthetically pleasing: My posts are, in general, more aesthetically pleasing now than they used to be. They were a bit more messy back when I started this blog. I have more tools and more know-how, so the posts come out a bit better than they used to. 
10. Reflects a different place in life: I'm generally in a different place in my life than when I started this blog. Back when I started book blogging, I was a grad student. So, my life was hectic and my blog kind of looks a little hectic to match. Now, I'm in a much more settled place, I'm older, and I'm more able to devote time and resources to my blog. 
11. Bonus: I have a Bookstagram account. So, if you're on Bookstagram (Instagram) I'd love to be friends.

• Curse
• Political intrigue
• Love square
• Reluctant hero
• Forced proximity
• High seas adventure
• Quest
• Enigmatic magic

She’s the one that got away. He’s the one that never let her go.

From the bestselling author of Done and Dusted and Swift and Saddled, the next book in the Rebel Blue Ranch series, a small town romance in which past lovers get a second chance to rediscover what they lost.

Camille Ashwood had always loved a plan. Her latest was her best yet. She was going to get married so she could secure her daughter’s future, get her overbearing parents off her back, and finally start building her own life in small town Meadowlark, Wyoming. Easy, right?

But when her groom doesn’t show up to the wedding, Cam’s life is turned upside down—she doesn’t even have a place to live. That is, until she finds out the house she’s loved since high school is available to rent. There’s only one problem: the neighbor.

Dusty Tucker has spent nearly all of his adult life running. Running from what, though? More like who: Cam Ashwood. But ever since he returned home last year, the girl who was his first, well, everything has become a woman seemingly determined to keep him at arm’s length. And he was okay with that—at least, that’s what he kept telling himself. She was getting married, after all. But now she’s single and living next door. Dusty wants to show her that they can be friends, and that he can stay put.

Despite her best attempts to stay far away from Dusty Tucker, Cam realizes that being close to him is like slipping on her favorite jeans. Easy. Comfortable. That is until past wounds start to open and feelings—both old and new—wreak havoc. Nearly ten years after they first met, Dusty and Cam begin to wonder if their first love can also be their last. And this time, will it be forever?

Review:

Wow, if you're a fan of small town, second chance, and cowboy romances this book has it all. Wild and Wrangled is Cam and Dusty's story and if you're an avid Rebel Blue fan (like me), you've probably been waiting for this one! Cam and Dusty's story is the quintessential "it was always you" story about a single mom, Cam, and a world traveling cowboy who goes home to settle down, Dusty.

The characters in this book are so swoon worthy. Dusty is absolutely everything. He loves Cam, has always loved Cam, and would do anything for her. He's the guy every girl wants. The one who would fight for you... at least the second time around. He's the guy that you want in your corner when things aren't going great or when you need someone to stand up for you.

Cam is a little less everything and a bit more standoffish, she has worries and, after being left at the alter, is a little bit untrusting. She has good reasons, given that her family is awful and the man she was going to marry (a man she's sort of meh about) seriously didn't show up to their wedding. Any girl would be completely put off under those circumstances. I think Cam might be the most realistic, relatable heroine in the Rebel Blue series because she's completely imperfect in ways that make her very realistic. 

The plot is a second chance, single mom, couple tries to get back together plot. It's full of hurdles and is perfectly paced. Cam and Dusty don't just run back into one another's arms. While there are a few places I think Cam is being unreasonable, I also think her reactions are very human and that makes them relatable. 

Overall, highly recommend this book, and all of the Rebel Blue novels, to anyone who enjoys second chance, single mom, small town, cowboy romances. 

Rating: 

❤❤❤❤❤ - Wonderful, I completely loved it!

Fall From Grace is a sweet small town romance that starts as a big city tragedy. Grace is a big city party girl who, after a tragedy befalls her, runs away from her life in the big apple to hide in a cozy little town. Grand Haven is exactly what a sweet little town should be, it's full of small town, Hallmark-ish charm and the cast of characters in Grand Haven are a wonderful, diverse group of people. Napolitano does a very nice job making the characters in this book, well... characters. 

Caleb is a hot single dad, so his little girl, Noelle, plays a big role in the book. While there's some sad moments with little Noelle, she's a ray of sunshine throughout the book. While he may be hot, Caleb has a few issues, like a fear of being abandoned by city girls because this exact thing has happened to him before. But, he's a sweet, stable, sexy bar owner with a good support system. He's basically the exact opposite of Grace, who is living out of hotels and Bed & Breakfasts. 

Grace and Caleb have heat and chemistry almost from their first meeting and it's easy to see how they fall in love as the story progresses. While they don't weather their first big hurdle very well, no one in romance novels ever does. Talking goes out the window and Grace does what she does best, she runs. The whole thing could probably have been worked out with better communication, but overall their struggles aren't insurmountable. 

Fall From Grace has a few different things happening, there's a redemption plot, a romance between Caleb and Grace, and a side-plot with little Noelle. So there're a lot of threads and Napolitano does a great job tying them all up in the end. There're no loose threads hanging around, everything is tied up with a pretty pink bow. When the book ended, I still wanted to know more about Grace and Caleb's life together, which I think is the mark of a good story. 

Overall, I would recommend this book for anyone who enjoys cozy, small town vibes. 

Rating: 

❤❤❤❤ - Delightful!!