katiedermody's reviews
1977 reviews

Okay, I actually loved this so much! I requested it because I'd seen the cover artist post the reveal and saw fat rep for both characters and the words "fake marriage" in the title and was all in. I started to read the arc and then immediately realized the other book I'd seen by this author was the first and was connected, so I started that one but was already too interested in this one, so I'll have to go back to that one. I'm curious to see what I'll think of Hazel as the best friend in book one, because I love her as the MC in this one. That she's fiesty, a little rude, loves going for shock value, all while being standoffish because she was essentially trained by her mother to be exactly what men want, to hide her real self and interests, etc. Then her adorably oafish, gentle-giant neighbor, Beck, sees right through that and without her even realizing it at first, encourages her to own it. She situates herself as his fake wife to help him save face with an awful colleague, and they end up at a two week writer's retreat all togrther, where she struggles with the fact that the more she sees who he is, the more she falls her walls dropping and wishing she was someone worthy of his real love.
This book is simultaneously so beautifully soft and incredibly horny, and it's such a great mix. It's all from her POV so there were times I wanted to shake her and say, "Get it together! This sweet man CLEARLY wants you for real, exactly as you are!" Beck is nearing 40 and very inexperienced, and I loved the way that was handled in the story, with her not only not judging him for it, but ultimately being excited by the fact that she's the one who gets to have firsts with him. He may be polite, and seem rather innocent because of his general demeanor with the public, but he also knows what he wants and is a very quick to apply what he's learned. The ending made me feel a little emotional for them both and I think it's because the "everyone deserves someone to love them just as they are" message got to me a little, because isn't that what so many of us want? 
Thank you to SMP for the arc, I very much enjoyed the story and will definitely look for more from this author in the future.
•Fat rep
•British and American characters 
•Spicy and sweet
•Release date: Mar 11/25

I enjoyed this most recent addition to the Forbidden on Fruit Street series about Wyatt, the neighbor and landscaper we met in book two that I hoped would get his own book next. We learn more about the daughter mentioned before, and that he's only been in her life since she was 12 because her mom didn't tell him. Now an adult, his daughter is moving from New York to San Francisco for a job, leaving her best friend without somewhere to live, so she asks Wyatt to let her stay. What she doesn't realize is that Wyatt and Poppy are both attracted to each other. They fight it because of the 17 year age difference and the best friend situation, but as they spend more time together, especially after he meets her abusive ex and wants to protect her, feelings grow and they eventually give in. This one took the longest of the three for me to get behind the forbidden aspect while reading, but it was because of how conflicted the characters were, so I think that points to good storytelling. It felt a little like they went from not quite zero to one hundred once they finally admitted their feelings, but I could see how they could happen after the time they spent together while denying themselves. The best part is how considerate and caring and encouraging they are to one another about making their dreams come true and doing something that they love. Though my fave story is still Daisy and Weston's (so fun to see them and Violet and Kyle from book one again), I do think that these two are my fave characters (hot tattooed guy who loves to garden and is super protective, and a redhead who loves to cook and has a fierce side once she lets herself feel it? Sign me up!). And as usual for a Jen Morris book, the spice was spicing. This time I'm not sure if there was someone set up to be the next book and I missed it or if this is meant to be the last in the series. Regardless, it was an enjoyable read so thank you to the author for the arc! Release date: Mar 4. 

I wanted to read this anyways because I am really loving the author's professional hockey series, so I was glad when my book club liked my suggestion. I'm also glad I read it now because the next book in the Terror series is out next month and though this is a different series, set at the university level, it 100% overlaps. You see characters from the other one and I think it when moved the plot song for some people. We'll see once that one's out. Cammie is in first year, considers herself weird because she likes writing spicy, poly LOTR fanfic, and admires Chase from afar. He's on the hockey team and super popular, but a few months into school finally notices her when there's a bit of a forced proximity/only one bed situation. He falls HARD and she eventually believes him and they date. It's a very college level story as far as social life, classes, etc. goes but definitely still spicy in the same way as the other series (and maybe that's legit and is some people's university experience but it wasn't mine so it felt a little unrealistic at times. It didn't bug me though). Definitely a few people I can see will have their own books as this new series continues and I look forward to it!

2025 reread: this is my 3rd time reading this one and I still love it. The fake friendship / friendship of convenience trope is great, their chemistry and mutual pining are excellent, and the mix of softness and fierceness this book and it's MCs has is lovely. As someone more recently exploring my own neurodivergence, Ziggy bring autistic was interesting to read. I liked that her experience and Frankie's experience have similarities but are unique, and how that was even shown in Zig's own journey from the burnout that lead to her diagnosis to now, years later as an adult. Seb's growth is amazing as far as his attitude and behavior go, and I like that he still keeps some of the best bits of his personality, just without the self-destructive patterns. I'm not sure why I forgot what a slow burn this one is, both for the reader but also for them (I forgot how much time the book spans), but it allowed their friendship to develop and we got both POVs so it didn't bug me too much. Overall, very glad to reread their story again. 

It was my goal to spend a large chunk of my Valentine's Day with Hudson and Madeline (and Lucy!) and I managed to read it all on release day like I'd hoped. Partly because I made that little goal, but largely because it was so good! Chelsea Curto is an author whose books I look forward to and they keep getting better and better every time. 
This one was what some people might consider long, especially as it's a slow burn, but I was super here for it. The way they build their friendship from the time Madeline and her daughter move in with Hudson so she can be his personal chef, through the slow burnz to when they finally get together was perfectly paced because I didn't notice the length at all, and was in fact sad when it was over. Their love grew organically as they spent time together, laughed, showed their vulnerabilities, supported one another.
Huddy is such a goner for her and it's very swoony, but as per usual with the best fictional men, the quiet ones who get jokingly called a pride are often anything but. The ways he makes her feel wanted are beautiful and sexy. He's possessive and protective in the best ways, and honestly is just too good for us all. 
Maddie takes longer to get there, understandably after Lucy's dad left as soon as she was born and they confirmed she was deaf. She's had her heart broken in a huge way and has had to take care of them primarily on her own, so she stays in denial of her feelings for a while. But I mean... the guy secretly learns sign language in his very little free time from being a professional hockey player and then surprises them with it because he genuinely loves Lucy too. She didnt stand a chance.
It was great to be back in the DC Stars world again, seeing Maddie become part of the womens' friend group, the guys and their wonderful camaraderie, and the way they both give each other hell and love and support one another, and trying to find every little breadcrumb left for future stories; I definitely caught some, loved every single one, and even found myself muttering "of COURSE they're going to end up together! She said she wanted xyz."
As both a success and the third book in the series, I guess that makes this a hat trick for Chelsea! (Had to do it).

•Hockey romance, 3ed in series
•Disability rep: FMC's kid is Deaf and they use ASL & SimCon
•Read on KU

This was a very emotional second chance story about two former NHL players, now in their early 40s, who used to be teammates, best friends, and roommates, and would hook up sometimes. Riley knew he was gay and was in love with Adam, whereas as Adam remained in denial about what his feelings and experiences meant, and hurt Riley multiple times because of it before they didn't see each other for 12 years. He married a woman, had kids, and only just retired from hockey recently. Riley left the sport at 29 needing help mental health and addiction, neither of which were supported in the league or discussed at the time. He went back to his small Nova Scotia town, figured out his stuff and built a quiet life for himself and his dog Lucky. But now his dad has died, which has thrown him for a loop, and amidst his already deep sorrow and grief, Adam shows up for the funeral. The men spend a week together working through their emotions, finally coming clean about things (including Adam's divorce), and trying to avoid their attraction, at first. It's a slow burn, but feelings are still there too and what they end up with is beautiful and joyful even with Adam's trip home to Toronto looming. I really liked this book, it got me in my feelings as a queer person and someone who loves second chance romances. It didn't blow me away as something I'd want to scream about from roof tops but I think that's because of its more somber, serious tone because it still has me captivated enough to stay up into the night to finish it. 
Thank you to Harlequin for the arc! Release date: Mar 4/25.

Based on my experiences with the first two books, I expected I'd enjoy this one well enough, and I'm happy to say that I loved it! The MC, Clementine, is in her mid thirties, bisexual and recently out of a very long term relationship with a man where she was very strait passing and not out to some people, and so now she wants to explore and expand the queer aspect of her life. 

After meeting during Clem's first solo visit to a local queer bar, she ends up in a fake dating situation with Chloe (friend of the leads in the first book and regular patron of the bar in the second), who she's met before at work things but she doesn't really remember. Chloe needs a date for her friends' wedding, as she's the only single one in the group and feels looked down upon, and she proposes that she can be Clem's practice girlfriend, someone to refer to as her ex when she starts dating women for real. The problem is, Clem likes Chloe from the start. It's all from her POV, and as much as I often prefer dual-POV, I think this story was exactly as it should be and it benefited my reading experience not knowing Chloe's inner workings in real time. 

As usual in this series, there's great found family in Chloe's friend group (one of whom is Clem's boss, which she didn't realize), and I had that that cozy, warm chest comfortable feeling I got from the others in the series. But what meant the most for me as a queer woman in her thirties who came out a few years ago and hasn't experienced much of anything, was seeing a "later in life" queer woman exploring her identity purposefully and outloud, actively going after the life she wants and going through all her firsts. I also so appreciated the aithor's note where she said she wanted to write this story for those of us who hear seventeen year olds saying they're late in life queers, and that no matter what age you are, it's never too late because we're all continually becoming the new version of ourselves (heavy paraphrase).

So, thank you to Amy Spalding for this story, for her words. And thank you to Kensington and NetGalley for the arc; I'm thrilled I got to read it early and now share how much I loved it. 

The reason I didn't start with this one even though it's the first in the series is because I'm not big on boss/employee romances because the possibility of a power imbalance/abuse. But I liked book two enough to go back and am glad I did because I enjoyed this one too and think the workplace aspect was handled well for the most part. Nothing was entirely secretive, they all considered the potential issues of her working for them, they'd actually all met and hooked up before she interviewed not knowing it was their company, etc. Paige moved to New York from LA after her fiance and colleague (she worked for his dad) cheated on her. After an intense one night stand with Ryker, Garrett, and Luca, all of them feel the connection but sort of ignore it for a while before admitting that all three men want to be with her and she wants them all. They're best friends so it's a bit different than the second book where it's two competing people, so that was a nice difference. The spice was spicing, there was plus size rep, and I got to know characters from the second one better, including  more about Ryker and Libby's childhoods like I wondered about from book two. Looking forward to book three later this spring. 

I enjoyed this MMF why choose romance with a woman, her best friend, and her brother's friend/her new coworker. I thought the chemistry was well written, the exploration of the way sexuality changes or you learn more about yourself (labels aren't boxes!) was well done with Ethan only every having been attracted to men but now in love with and attracted to Libby (I would think it's demisexuality for women, aka just her in this case, but the word was never on page), and Leo's further acceptance of himself and his attraction to both women and men. The one thing I wasn't sure was fleshed out enough was Libby's past with her mom and homelessness, but I'm wondering if that's because this is book two and her brother is one of the MMCs in book one, which I haven't read yet. 

I don't think I've ever seen Twister in its entirety, which means I also wasn't part of the Twisters/Glen Powell hype train last year, but I was still excited to read this book and now it makes me want to watch the movies a little bit. Finley is one year into her master's degree and is about to go on a weekend chase/research trip, chosen by her professor and professional storm chaser Ryker. Problem: she has a huge crush on him and is trying so hard not to cross a line (she doesn't know he's trying even harder because he likes her too). I am easily bother e by romances where there's an obvious abuse of power but in this case his class was done she's in her mid-twenties and really freaking smart and good at her work so it didn't feel like grooming at all, and they both take huge care and consideration into what it could do for both their futures (after they already cross the line, yes, but still). This has adventure, fat rep, smut (including holy crap we survived smut), humor, a great little cast of side characters, and a fun tie in to another of her series. I really enjoyed it and would be happy to end up back with this team again someday.