The Fling: a romance in paradise follows two individuals home and a chance for a lifetime love

The Fling is the second book in the Lake Bittersweet series by Jennifer Bernard. Emmaline Curtis has never been far from home before but when she wins an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii, it is a dream come true. There she meets a gorgeous man and after a few moments of flirty banter, she is ready for anything. Conor Gault is in Hawaii on a business trip when his chance meeting with a beautiful woman turns into an unexpected romance in paradise. They agree to a fling. However, it is cut short when he receives news that his rock star father has passed away unexpectedly. He finds himself in Lake Bittersweet, Minnesota, a place he has purposely avoided for seventeen years. The last person he expected to run into is Emmaline, the woman who has haunted his thoughts since they parted in Hawaii. They find that their spark is still there but it will be tested when they discover that their pasts are linked in more ways than they ever knew. 

After reading the first book in this series, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue this series. However, when I had a chance to read the second book, I decided to give it a second chance. The Fling starts out great. Two people in paradise who throw caution to the wind, until reality brings them back. I enjoyed their interaction and flirty banter. After they meet up again in Lake Bittersweet, the story falters a bit. I loved Emmaline and Conor’s interactions. I loved Conor’s interactions with Emmaline’s brother, Henry. I think my issue with this story is the interactions with the supporting characters who were introduced in the story as if I should have already known them and their histories. Maybe it was the time between reading book 1 and book 2 that was the issue but I found myself losing attention. Overall, though, I did enjoy this story. I enjoyed Conor’s growth specifically. I may continue the series in the future. If you enjoy small town romance, I recommend The Fling. 

The Fling is available in paperback and eBook

The Sweetest Words: an enemies to lovers romance with great drama, banter and sweet moments

The Sweetest Words is the first book in the Three Sisters Cafe series by Laura Ann. When Aspen Harrison's father turns over the family bakery to her, she knows it’s her time to shine outside of his shadow. Along with her sisters, she remodels and re-themes the bakery as Three Sisters Cafe. A great way to kick off their grand re-opening would be a review from a well-known food critic, Eat It Austin. Austin loves food and is known for his snappy and snarky reviews that his followers eat up. However, his whole career is built on a lie and a facade is desperate to keep in place. When his editor takes his review of The Three Sisters Cafe and turns it into a harsher review than originally written. Austin feels bad, but unable to do much. When Aspen issues a challenge for an apology, Austin must decide between his reputation, his career and his heart. 

The Sweetest Words is a great enemies to lovers romance with drama and sweet moments. I loved the banter between Aspen and Austin. I especially loved Aspen’s spunk when she challenges Austin to “eat his words” about her cafe. I felt for Austin and his dilemma and I certainly wanted to throttle his boss. I also enjoyed the cast of characters and look forward to seeing them get their own love story. I enjoyed that Aspen and Austin both had their own challenges and issues they wanted to keep hidden and yet they found the strength and courage to open up about it to each other and eventually others. Overall, I enjoyed this story. Word of warning though, do not read this book while hungry. The descriptions of the sweet treats and food were so vivid that I wish I could eat it with the characters. If you enjoy an enemies to lovers romances with sweet treats, I highly recommend The Sweetest Words. 

The Sweetest Words is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

Tru Blue: a motorcycle club romance with found family and rebuilding one's life

Tru Blue is the first book in The Whiskeys: Dark Knights of Peaceful Harbor series by Melissa Foster. There’s nothing Truman Gritt wouldn’t do to protect his family and he proved it. He spent time in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Now he has been released and slowly rebuilding his life when his mother’s overdose shattered it all. He steps in to raise the two children she left behind. Overnight, he became the guardian of a toddler and an infant. When a beautiful stranger walked up to him at the store and helped him, he tried to resist. Gemma Walker saw the tattooed man struggle with two young kids, she couldn’t help but step in. As Truman tries to resist Gemma’s help, he finds himself slowly opening his heart. Truman and Gemma find an attraction between them that was hard to fight. However, when his dark past bursts into his life once again, Truman faces a tough decision. 

I usually don’t read books about motorcycle clubs; however, I was intrigued by Truman’s story. I also enjoy stories about found family and tough guys with hearts of gold. The story started off strong and I loved Turman’s tenderness with his small siblings. My heart broke for him as he was desperate to stay on the straight and narrow and keep his siblings from a life of drugs and crime. Gemma was a bright light in his dark world who had a hurtful past herself. I also enjoyed the Whiskey family who took Truman under their wings when he had no one in the world. Overall, I did enjoy this story; however, I felt the story lost steam with each chapter. Gemma's painful past would be painful; however, I could not get behind her comparisons to Truman’s past. I am not interested in continuing the series. If you enjoy motorcycle club romance with found family, I recommend Tru Blue. 

Tru Blue is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

Ticket to Ride: a young girl goes missing and an darker online world is exposed

Ticket To Ride is the fifteenth book in the Hart’s Ridge series by Kay Bratt. When a young woman disappears on her way to rehab, private investigator Taylor Gray is asked to follow her steps. When a young girl goes missing that hits closer to home, Taylor is thrown into the online world and the predators lurking in the shadows. As she searches, rumors and whispers of other girls gone missing under similar circumstances and every lead reveals a darker path and secrets involving powerful people who would do anything to keep them buried. With time running out, Taylor is determined to end the ring of predators who are luring vulnerable girls and the shadowy figures who are determined to silence those who threaten their system. Little does Taylor know that one link in the chain will throw the small town of Hart’s Ridge into turmoil. 

Ticket to Ride opens with a seemingly normal court case as a young woman must choose between jail or rehab and the story doesn’t stop. Page after page, readers are on a race against time as Taylor follows a case that hits too close to home. With gritty reality, Ticket to Ride brings to light the darkness and danger of an everyday activity: online games and communities. While online activities can be innocent, there are predators lurking, ready to lure innocent kids into a darker world. With each piece of evidence, Taylor gets closer to the true boss of this web of criminals and it will leave readers’ jaws on the floor when Taylor discovers who is behind it all. As the sixteenth book has been noticed, I am looking forward to Taylor’s future in Hart’s Ridge. I highly, highly recommend Ticket to Ride. 

Ticket to Ride is available in paperback and eBook

Woke Up Like This: a magical romantic comedy as two high school seniors to enjoy the smaller moments

Woke Up Like This by Amy Lea is a seventeen going on thirty story in which two high school seniors find themselves waking up as their adult selves. Charlotte Wu is ultra-organized and trying to plan the perfect prom, the final hurrah before they graduate and enter the adult world. After falling off a ladder and landing atop her archnemesis, J.T. Renner, Charlotte wakes up at thirty years old and lying next to her fiancé, a bearded Renner. In the situation together, Charlotte and Renner discover what they have missed twelve years and must discover if there’s a way to get back. Charlotte also realizes there is more to Renner than just the irritation jock she thought she knew. As they navigate the situation and try to figure out how to get back to seventeen. How will life be different when or if they do? 

Woke Up Like This is described as a “magical romantic comedy about growing up too fast and living in the moment,” I was intrigued by the premise of waking up as your adult self and learning what really matters in life. In the beginning, I was annoyed by Charlotte. She was a hard character to like as she was bossy, judgmental and petty. As someone who does not see the big deal of prom and did not attend my senior prom, I could not connect with her desire with the perfect prom or the perfect milestones. However, I enjoyed her growth as she realizes that the milestones are not as important as the smaller moments that happen in between. Overall, I enjoyed the story as the character showed great growth throughout the story. If you enjoy young adult and magical romantic comedies, I recommend Woke Up Like This. 

Woke Up Like This is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

The Color of a Dream: can a dream tell one woman the path she needs to follow?

The Color of a Dream is the fourth book in The Color of Heaven series by Julianne Maclean. In a continuation story from The Color of Hope, Nadia Carmichael is learning to live after a heart transplant and raising her infant daughter. She is grateful for her new life and finds joy in the little things. She has a recurring dream of flying while it doesn’t frighten her, Nadia feels the dream is trying to tell her something. She wakes up with questions. Could it be related to the identity of her donor? She decides to figure out its meaning. In the meantime, the father of her daughter blindsides her by suing her for full custody. In preparation for her case, Nadia meets Jesse, his estranged brother, who is a rescue helicopter pilot, and the nature of her dreams becomes clearer and leads her down another path.  

The Color of a Dream was a fast paced read with plenty of drama, sweet moments and an exploration of dreams and finding a new path in life. I enjoyed this story more than I did The Color of Hope, which I did enjoy, however, I loved the growth of Nadia and her desire to fight back. I also enjoyed the introduction of Jesse and he was a great character in Nadia’s journey. There were moments when I wanted to scream at certain characters and wanted to shake some sense in them.  I also loved the possible connection to the next book in the final chapter. Overall, I enjoyed this story as I could not put it down. I am looking forward to the rest of the series. If you haven’t started this series, I highly recommend it. I highly recommend The Color of a Dream. 

The Color of a Dream is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

My Next Breath: a memoir of a near-fatal accident and one man's miraculous recovery

My Next Breath: A Memoir by Jeremy Renner is a gripping and inspirational story of Jeremy Renner’s near-fatal accident on New Year’s Day 2023 and his miraculous recovery. Jeremy Renner is a renowned actor with memorable portrayals of an army bomb tech in The Hurt Locker, a Boston bank robber in The Town and Hawkeye in seven Marvel films. Yet his world comes to a halt when he is crushed by a fourteen-thousand-pound snowplow. With vivid details, Mr Renner recounts the struggle to keep breathing while help struggled to find their way to him. From the ICU to multiple surgeries and months of painful rehabilitation, Mr Renner's no-holds-bar account of his inner strength, endurance and hope as he set to recover, against all odds, with one breath at a time. In a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the amazing ability of the human body is to endure and recover. Writing with vulnerability and strength, despair and hope and redemption and renewal, Jeremy Renner invites readers on this journey with him. 

Jeremy Renner has been one of my favorite movie actors when I first saw him in The Hurt Locker and of course, I loved him as Hawkeye, the underrated Avenger. I remember hearing about his accident and feeling the dread of the pain he and his family were in and the long road his recovery would be. I followed his journey on Instagram. His memoir has been on my Wish List since its publication and yet, I hadn’t had the chance to read it yet. Recently, I was able to listen to the audiobook, read by Mr Renner, and what a journey it was. In fierce detail about his accident, the aftermath, and his recovery was extremely emotional. So emotional that tears welled up as I listened to Mr Renner recount every painful second and even more so when his own voice would crack with emotion. I laughed, I cried and I cringed with horror but in the end, I celebrate his amazing recovery. I highly, highly recommend My Next Breath, especially the audiobook. 

My Next Breath: A Memoir is available in hardcover, eBook and audiobook