madeline's reviews
776 reviews

this was fun!  the hero has very much hook from once upon a time vibes, i feel like.  but i found myself much more interested in the set ups for the hero's brother and best friend, and not really into the one between the hero and the heroine.  just not quite what i was in the mood for, i think.

thank you avon and netgalley for the arc!

I’ve been excited about this book since Adriana started tweeting about it and it did not disappoint!

Luz Alana is in charge of expanding her family’s rum business after the death of her parents, and there’s no better place to introduce the world to her delicious spirits than the Exposition Universelle in Paris.  Evan Sinclair, Earl of Darnick, is there to do the same thing: to sell his family’s whisky and cement the last piece in his plan to take down his father.  When it becomes apparent that both of them need to wed, and quickly, it makes sense that the two would enter into a marriage of convenience.  But the chemistry between them is undeniable – can Evan convince this leona that he’s worthy of her love?

This was so delightful – full of history and times and places we don’t often get to see in historical romances.  Luz Alana and her friends are smart, fun, and self-assured, and I’m looking forward to each of their books.  Evan is definitely the first of the two willing to admit he’s in love, and I love a book where the hero falls first.  He’s thoughtful and protective, and the way in which he wants to shield Luz Alana from the harsher realities of some elements of their story evolves as she demonstrates to him how she wants to be treated.

The story is very insta-love: it’s days from their meeting to their marriage, and yet they’re not wed until at least 40% of the way through the book.  I prefer a marriage of convenience that happens as close to the start as logically possible, so I do wish that this element had been introduced faster. 

There’s a lot of plot threads here for the book’s length, and to me, the subplot about

Luz Alana’s trustee going off the deep end

could have been easily eliminated.  I also think that Adriana is still working through adjusting from writing mostly contemporary to historical – at times the language feels a little stilted, like she’s deliberately choosing words that feel like they belong in a historical romance rather than a simpler word.

Overall, though, this is wonderful.  Smart, sexy, and a really delightful romp.  I cannot wait for the rest of this series!

Thank you Harlequin and NetGalley for the ARC!

CW:

deceased parents, racism, sexism, abusive/manipulative father, gun violence

this was overall such a delight.  it may be trying too hard at times, i certainly think you need to kind of handwave the timeline of them falling in love, and the final conflict was, frankly, ridiculous.  but the writing really sparkles and each character feels like a fully formed person, even though the narration is single pov.

for two characters who spend a lot of time together on the page, you really don't see a ton of them falling in love.  it's a short book, and so i think we could have done with more of that, or the extant scenes being fleshed out a little more.  but in the end, incredibly charming.

CW:

homophobia, death of parents in a traumatic accident (off-page), sibling survived cancer (off-page)

Ten years ago, Lily Wilder and Leo Grady fell in love on her father's ranch in Wyoming.  Weeks into their relationship, Leo abruptly left for a family emergency and never contacted Lily again.  Now, ten years wiser and broker, she's capitalized on her father's reputation as an infamous treasure hunter to run treasure hunting expeditions in Utah.  On the heels of learning she'll probably never be able to buy back the family ranch, she leads a group of men into the desert... only to learn one of them is the unsuspecting Leo on a yearly boys' trip.   She can tolerate him for the trip, but when things take a sharp left turn, it looks like Lily and Leo might be spending a lot of time together.  Leo knows exactly what he wants, but can he get Lily on the same page -- and can they find some treasure and get out alive?

I love Christina Lauren books, but they all don't hit me the same way.  This one had some of the gut punch emotional bits I've been missing since Love and Other Words, but with more moments of levity.  There's a lot of action, but a lot of trademark banter, and of course, deliciously tender scenes between the two love interests.  It's a ride from start to finish, and you won't want to put it down.  There's honestly so much I could say about this book, so many quotes I'd love to share, but you're going to have to experience the whole thing for yourself.

A really cool thing about reading romance is how fast reader cycle through what they're looking for in their books.  Authors need to keep up with demand, which means it's often really easy to see how they've grown and improved during their careers.  If you look at, like, the longue durée of Christina Lauren, this book is absolutely evidence of how authors can really stretch themselves.  They've been traditionally published for less than ten years, and in that time they've gone from writing some really almost impenetrable heroes to Leo, a man who is so, so willing to put himself out there and confess his love from almost the jump.  He doesn't want to play games -- he wants Lily, and he's going to make himself vulnerable to prove that.  I truly cannot overstate how much I admire this kind of hero and this kind of growth.  This is the kind of book that makes me proud of the work romance can do in a relatively short period of time.

They've cautioned that it's tonally a bit darker than their other works, and I'd say yes but not like remarkably so (although you should absolutely check content warnings).  If you're looking for a little grit, some really strong women, and a true sweet potato of a side character (walt ily), you're going to want to pick this one up.

Thank you Gallery and NetGalley for the ARC!

CW:

death of a parent in an accident (off-page), death of a parent due to stroke (off-page, remembered), parental abandonment, a purposefully gross side character, death of a side character on the page (dm me if you need more details), guns, near-drowning, general desert peril, betrayal by a friend

 Three months after his boyfriend broke up with him, Kian finds himself drawn back into Hudson River’s orbit.  Hudson just so happened to forget to tell his family that he and Kian were no longer dating, and now he needs Kian to be his fake boyfriend again, just for a weekend.  In return, he’ll connect Kian with a high school classmate of his, the CEO of an investigative journalism team he’s interested in working for.  Surely Kian can make it through the weekend unscathed, and the two of them won’t fall back in love.  But if they do – can they make it work this time?

I really wanted to love this – I’m a big fan of second chance and fake dating.  But this really, really fell flat for me.  Some of it could be “it’s me, not you”: I found Kian’s constant pop culture references super grating, and the writing style overall felt very juvenile.  Hudson’s family is crazy wealthy, and I find myself disliking that more and more these days, and there’s just a lot of talk about money here – what he spent at the tailor, the cost of flights, the cost of jewelry – for Kian being pretty anti-rich folks.  His family also just, like, totally sucks.  They’re all awful.  Also, if the Spotlight journalism team that Kian wants to work for is the Globe’s team, they don’t have a CEO?

But my biggest issue is that the linchpin to the second-chance romance is that the people involved understand why they broke up the first time and how to work through it this time.  We do not know why Hudson broke up with Kian, so we cannot be sure that they will be able to weather whatever it was the second time around, and for that reason, this book does not have an HEA to me.  You’re welcome to disagree!  I am totally unconvinced.

Anyways, I think I probably would have liked this more if I were ten years younger.  Alas, I am not, and thus the book was just not my thing.

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC!

CW:

racism, homophobia, unwanted sexual advances, future boss wants sex for a job

Kareena Mann and Prem Verma, in a moment out of character for them both, recently locked eyes across a bar and very nearly hooked up, until Prem was called away just as things were about to get... interesting. Now Kareena's understandably miffed, and she made that known on Prem's weekend talk show about health issues facing South Asians. But they've also both received news that makes them think it's a good time to get engaged: Kareena needs to get engaged to be able to buy her parents' home from her father and continue the renovations her deceased mother started, and Prem's mother will pay him if he gets engaged, enough to start the community health center he's dreamed of. Kareena's vowed to only marry for love and Prem famously doesn't think it exists -- so what's going to happen when a fake dating scheme becomes something much more?

Fated Mates teased this book like, a year ago, and I've been dying for it ever since -- a Shakespeare reimagining with a prickly heroine who still wants love and a cardiologist whose stage name means heart? Come on give it to me. And the wait certainly doesn't disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed this. Kareena and Prem kind of bump up against each other until they realize what they thought were crashes are actually one supporting the other, and it's pretty delightful to watch them both go, "oh no, feelings? For this ding dong?" Added in with some threads about expectations and being the children of immigrants, it pairs the romantic with the thoughtful really well.

It's not a perfect read: Kareena is kind of a Mary Sue and her family fuuuuuuuuucking sucks, I would have loved for them to receive much more comeuppance. Some pieces of Prem's background definitely could have stood to have been introduced much sooner. But it was a fun book from start to finish, and I can't wait for more installments. Mrs. W.S. Gupta has got to be someone great à la Lady Whistledown, right? And if you're interested in how love and responsibility may look different for children of immigrants, Fated Mates season 3 episode 12 may be really illuminating. It's not one of Nisha's episodes, but Adrianna is also pretty great.

Thank you Avon and NetGalley for the ARC!

full review to come, but if you love the politics of evie dunmore or cat sebastian, this should definitely go onto your tbr.

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC!

CW:

woman with infertility, death of a spouse from cancer (off-page, remembered), coldness from a spouse after an infertility diagnosis (off-page, remembered)

Ramon Montez, heir to the Taco King throne, is ready to let go a little at the local Dia de los Muertos celebration.  He serenades a beautiful woman bearing tacos, and they nearly douse the fire burning between them -- before she runs away the second he gets her home.  Julieta Campos cannot believe she nearly hooked up with the Taco King CEO, son of the famous gentefier of Mexican food and the secret thief of her mom's fish taco recipe.  Good thing she'll never see him again: until he's in her restaurant the next day, telling her he's her new landlord and she'll have to close so he can open a Taco King.  The two must balance their dreams, their responsibilities to their communities, and their new relationship, and Ramon is ready to show Julieta that true love is worth a risk.

This is such a fresh-feeling romance, centered around Mexican/Chicano culture and beginning with a Dia de los Muertos festival.  The instant chemistry is totally believable, and I really valued the gentefication/gentrification plot here -- obviously you're rooting for all of the local businesses to remain open and the community to stay intact, but if you squint you can almost see the argument Ramon is making that it's better for the block to be bought by a member of the community.

A lot of the characters and plot stay surface level, though.  I'd be interested to learn more about literally everyone here, and I know that it's the first in a series but I don't think that's the issue.  I also think the gentrification plot could have been deepened a little more.  It's a relatively short/quick read, and I definitely could have done with 50 or 80 pages more, particularly since the end felt a little rushed.  

Overall, though, I loved this new addition to the "fall holiday romance" canon, I will definitely grab the next in this series, and I am absolutely craving fresh fish tacos now.  Too bad I live in Missouri... 

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC!

CW:

absentee parents, deceased parent with implied addiction issues, death of a parent (off-page), racism & gentrification

Reggie Johnson needs a job – like, really needs a job.  So it seems like her stars have finally aligned when she sees a listing for an assistant at the company that makes her favorite card game, Spellcraft: The Magicking (bonus if you’re familiar with the game).  Imagine her surprise when she realizes she’s actually been hired to assist with spellcrafting as a witch’s familiar, much to the chagrin of her employer Dru’s super hot nephew Ben.  Reggie’s finally getting the hang of things, but when Dru and her previous familiars are all struck down by curses, she’s reliant on Ben to keep her safe and help break the curses – and it turns out maybe he’s not so bad after all.

This book has such a fantastic premise, with the mixup between the card game and the real intent of the job posting.  It’s kind of let down by a saggy second quarter and fairly flat characters, but the magic system is very fresh and the plot is interesting.  The sex scenes read a bit awkward, but they’re forgivable.  It’s trying to do some work in the end about the patriarchy that isn’t quite accomplished.

I’m most uncomfortable with the word “mongrel” being used to describe characters of mixed magic and human ancestry.  It’s historically been used as a slur against people of mixed race, and I really hope that the author can find an alternative word before the book is released, because I do not think it’ll be received well.

This read didn’t quite live up to my hopes for it, but I’m an easy mark, and it has the feel of a series.  I’ll pick up the next one. Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC.

CW:

emotionally manipulative parents, one set of whom eventually requires a restraining order

 Purple-haired, tattooed, Marie Curie loving neuroscientist Bee Königswasser is the polar opposite of her grad school nemesis: uptight, Bee-hating Levi Ward.  So of course, five years after they last saw each other, they’re co-leading a life-changing project for NASA.  Levi clearly still detests Bee, and it seems like he’s determined to thwart her work.  But the more time they spend together, the clearer it becomes that it’s someone else working against them, and maybe their mutual dislike is actually mutual… something else.

I was lukewarm on The Love Hypothesis, and kind of expected to be lukewarm on this one too.  Nope.  Sucked me in and stole my heart.  A lot of my issues with TLH are worked out here: it’s not (to my knowledge) Reylo fanfic where the hero shares the actor’s first name, we get a little more backstory on Levi, the sexism in academia is worked in better, and the spice level is upped.  There’s also a fairly predictable (in a good way) little mystery woven in, which is super fun.

The first 25% of the book sets you up to really mistrust the hero, and even though I knew I’d get my HEA, I was really worried that it would lean a little too undermine-y for me.  No worries on that front, Levi has Bee’s back at every turn.  The whole thing hinges on a few miscommunications, which I think some readers will ding it for, but they seemed relatively believable to me.  It was a very enjoyable four hours of watching one absolute brussel sprout realize another brussel sprout has been head over heels for her for years.  

CW:

sexism in academia, death of parents (off-page), death of a friend (remembered, off-page), guns, infidelity

 

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC!