Tag:

forced proximity

Fall with Me

by Jill August 1, 2024

written by Jill

Book Review:
Fall with Me

Becka Mack

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

Once again Becka Mack checks all the boxes for PERFECTION! 😍

Fall with Me is deeply vulnerable, hilarious and sexy, making you laugh and cry from one sentence to the next.

JAXON and LENNON are EVERYTHING! ✨

⭐️ rating: ♾️
🌶️ spice: 3/5 (many open door scenes, plot > spice)

💭 overall thoughts:
My notes for this one were absolute CHAOS 😅
As I went back through my 117 highlights I fell in love with this book all over again.

Lennon & Jaxon have incredible banter, and have so much more in common than what may be seen at first glance.
Jaxon is such an acts of service boy, and he doesn’t even realize he’s doing it (which makes it all the sweeter).

They are both the sweetest souls, looking for their place in the world, wanting to feel like they belong. The support and love they find with one another is beautiful, and a person to call home.

This honestly read a lot like a single dad romance, Jaxon takes Cat Daddy to the next LEVEL – and the way Lennon also falls in love with Mittens 🥰

We got SO MUCH of the rest of the boys & their ladies, they had me smiling from ear to ear (and they brought on the tears too).

tropes + topics:
1️⃣ one night stand
😡 frenemies to lovers
🏠 roommates with benefits
🏒 pro hockey player
📸 team photographer
🐱 cat daddy
🫶🏼 found family
💞 dual 1st person pov

In case you haven’t heard of this series before, Fall with Me is Book 4 in the series. While this can definitely be read as a standalone (for the main couple), I highly recommend reading them in order to get the full *found family* vibes & understanding of all the side characters.

Thank you to Becka Mack for sending me a surprise an advanced copy!! And to Simon & Schuster Canada for the physical arc. All opinions are my own.

Find it on Goodreads HERE.

Buy the Book:
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August 1, 2024 0 comments

So This is War

by Jill July 18, 2024

written by Jill

Book Review:
So This is War

Meghan Quinn

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

I dropped EVERYTHING to read this one the second it hit my kindle – it did NOT disappoint 😍😍

I loved seeing another side to Posey, and seeing him meet his perfect match in Wylie 🥰

We’ve got – age gap, coach’s daughter aka FORBIDDEN big time, boss/assistant, & they become roommates – the tension is 🔥🔥
Agitators fans – you’re gonna LOVE it!

📖 So This is War
📝 Meghan Quinn
🗓️ 06/25/2024
🏒 sports romance
📱 read on kindle (arc)
📚 book 5 • Vancouver Agitators series

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️

💭 overall thoughts:
This was HILARIOUS and sweet, and just the perfect *ending* to this series – though I will miss these boys so much! 😭
Ready for OC’s spinoff series 🙃

There were so many things I loved about this book!

First off, the “erotic torture” – I was constantly laughing out loud with how they were with one another.

It reminded me a lot of that episode of Friends (MQ even mentions it) – the “they don’t know we know they know” one.

The group text chat with the ladies of the Agitators made me so happy. I love the boys shenanigans, but their women are flat out AMAZING.

The spice was spicing too – that scene in the s3x club 😮‍💨 iykyk

I hope this isn’t too much of a spoiler but… Wylie LOVES BOLOGNA!
Could anyone BE more perfect for POSEY?! 🥪

“I love bologna sandwiches,” she whispers.
“So do I,” I whisper back.
“That’s how I know we’re meant to be together.”

Aside from the romance, we also get the struggles of a complex father-daughter relationship between Wylie + her dad (Posey’s coach). That was a bit of a struggle to read, the way he thinks about her and treats her for most of the book is heartbreaking (they do work things out, but it feels sort of toxic for a lot of the story).

tropes + topics:
🧡 age gap (22/32)
📋 coach’s daughter
🏒 pro hockey player
🏠 roommates
🖇️ boss/assistant – workplace
🚫 forbidden
🫶🏼 found family
💞 dual 1st person pov

✨ books with similar vibes:
♡ Beautiful Stranger by Christina Lauren (workplace, intense physical chemistry)

Thank you to Meghan Quinn for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Find it on Goodreads HERE.

Buy the Book:
AMAZON

July 18, 2024 0 comments

Book Reviews Meghan Quinn

He’s Not My Type

by Jill July 18, 2024

written by Jill

Book Review:
He's Not My Type

Meghan Quinn

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

Oh Halsey.. I was waiting for his moment 🥰 I love a broken boy pining & crushing so hard.

This book is hilarious and sweet, and so spicy 🔥

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

💭 thoughts:
This one is probably my fav in the series, but I honestly love them all.
I think they’re best read in order, to really get the found family dynamics + the build up to this story!

📖 story:
We learn in the previous books that for Halsey it was pretty much love at first sight when he meets Blakely, but unfortunately, she has a boyfriend.

Following their breakup and her having an incident in her new apartment, they become roommates at Halsey’s place – this is one of my absolute fav tropes!! I love the forced proximity of living together 🥰

Halsey is still very much grieving the loss of his twin brother, and through friendship, and then more, Blakely helps bring him back to life 🥰

tropes + topics:
🏠 roommates
🙃 opposites attract
🩵 he falls first
🏒 pro hockey player
💼 workplace
🛏️ only one bed
🫶🏼 found family
💕 dual 1st person pov

✨ books with similar vibes:
♡ Always Only You by Chloe Liese (hockey/workplace, roommates, he falls first)

Find it on Goodreads HERE.

Buy the Book:
AMAZON

July 18, 2024 0 comments

Book Reviews Meghan Quinn

Kiss and Don’t Tell

by Jill May 9, 2024

written by Jill

Book Review:
Kiss and Don't Tell

Meghan Quinn

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

💭 overall thoughts:
PERFECT start to the series! I loved the main couple, and also how well Meghan set up the rest of the series – I can’t wait for each and every one of their books 😍
(I’ve read them since writing this, and they’re all so good!)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
🌶️🌶️🌶️

MCs:
Pacey – what a secret softie. I loved that he never really had a girlfriend because no one felt “right” for him – until Winnie came along 🥰

Winnie – love her sense of adventure and taking chances, and felt for her in her fear of trusting and letting others in.

📖 story:
Imagine being stranded and stumbling upon a house full of professional hockey players?! I’m not sure if I’d walk right in, or run the other way 😅

Thankfully the guys all end up being super sweet to Winnie, quickly taking her in as one of their own.

My tiny hesitation in giving this 5 stars is that at a certain point I was debating if Pacey was pushing Winnie TOO much to be with him, when she was very much in a vulnerable state. She definitely cared for him and maybe needed that push, but I had a moment where I was feeling a bit uncomfortable.

tropes + topics:
🏠 temporary roommates
🥅 professional hockey goalie
🤫 hidden identity (ex’s half brother)
🙃 strangers to lovers
🔗 forced proximity
💙 he falls first/boy obsessed
💞 dual 1st person pov

Find it on Goodreads HERE.

Buy the Book:
AMAZON

May 9, 2024 0 comments

Book Reviews Jillian Meadows

Give Me Butterflies

by Jill January 6, 2024

written by Jill

Blurb:

Give Me Butterflies is a slow burn, single guardian romance. This steamy story features a handsome grump who seems to only smile for his nieces, an anxious curator finding the confidence to believe in herself, and a cast of endearing, meddling side characters. It’s full of swoony moments, nerdy banter, and enough fiery tension to light the museum ablaze.

Source: Goodreads

Book Review:
Give Me Butterflies

Jillian Meadows

Series: Yes
Oak Sisters #1

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ 5/5

Spice: 3/5

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

Totally stunned that this was a debut novel – Jillian knocked it out of the park 😍
This book was so sweet, and had all the feels 🥰 don’t let that fool you though – the spice was 🔥 too!

📖 Give Me Butterflies
📝 Jillian Meadows
🗓️ 07/01/2023
💜 Contemporary Romance
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️♾️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

I love how Millie just seamlessly became a part of their lives (Finn & his nieces). It was so sweet to imagine her baking with the girls, and dancing around in their kitchen.

Their relationship just developed so naturally, and was so sweet and beautiful. The way they supported each other… I just loved how they helped heal, with grief & past negativity in relationships.

They gave one another the confidence they needed to set boundaries and stuff up for themselves – the mental health rep was so well written.

Tropes & stuff:
🦋 Workplace
🦋 Single guardian (nieces)
🦋 Grumpy/sunshine
🦋 Opposites attract
🦋 Mental health rep (anxiety, grief, therapy)
🦋 Scientists (entomologist & astronomer)
🦋 Adorable 5 year old twin girls
🦋 Supportive friend group
🦋 Found family
🦋 Dual POV/first person

*check triggers, there are some

Find it on Goodreads HERE.

Buy the Book:
AMAZON

January 6, 2024 0 comments

Book Reviews Jessica Joyce

You, With a View

by Jill January 3, 2024

written by Jill

Blurb:

Noelle Shepard is grieving the loss of her beloved grandmother when she discovers decades-old photos and letters that hint to a forbidden love in her gram’s past. Needing to know the full story, she creates a TikTok video appealing for information – and it goes viral.

Through her video, she manages to track down her grandmother’s secret love, Paul, who offers to take her on the honeymoon road-trip he and Gram planned but never got to go on.

Noelle jumps at the chance to make this one last connection with her grandmother. There’s just one problem – Paul’s grandson is Noelle’s frustratingly handsome high-school rival Theo.

And Theo has to come, too.

It’s only two weeks. Surely Noelle can survive that long? But with one car between them – and often only one bed – it doesn’t take long for things to heat up…

Source: Goodreads

Book Review:
You, With a View

Jessica Joyce

Series: No

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ 5/5

Spice: 2/5

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

I was so captured by the poetic way Jessica Joyce tells a story. She just has such way with words, that’s so incredibly beautiful.

This book follows Noelle’s story as she reconnects with her late grandmother, by tracking down her secret love from the past.
Paul also happens to be the grandfather of her high school nemesis, Theo, and the 3 head out on a road trip (the honeymoon that never happened), as they go through her letters.

The way Jessica writes, I felt it.
I felt it in my heart and soul, and I was so connected to all of the characters, and their stories.

I highlighted so many parts while reading, some simply because of the way they were written and how she described something simple.

“I stare up at him, the moon shooting silver through his hair, teasing me with how he’ll look years from now.”

This book is so much more than a romance, as it goes through living with grief and finding your path in life.

Tropes + topics
💜 (high school) rivals to lovers
💜 Road trip
💜 Close proximity
💜 Only one bed
💜 Photographer fmc
💜 Tech CFO ? Mmc
💜 Grief & loss
💜 Family & found family
💜 Self discovery
💜 Single POV/first person

Find it on Goodreads HERE.

Buy the Book:
AMAZON

January 3, 2024 0 comments

Book Reviews Karissa Kinword

Christmas in Coconut Creek

by Jill December 19, 2023

written by Jill

Blurb:

There are a few things Coconut Creek has that Pine Ridge does not.

Palm trees, sandy beaches, butterfly museums—infuriatingly attractive special forces veterans.

When Colorado elementary school teacher Ophelia Brody decides to ditch her divorced family for a Christmas in the sunshine state with her college roommate, she doesn’t expect a mile high meet cute to tailspin the entire trip. Frankie Casado is cocky , he’s presumptuous , he’s shameless —and he’s just the right distraction from her depressing, fruitless dating life back home for a few weeks. It just so happens the retired fighter pilot is in somewhat of a rut of his own, and the circumstances around their coincidental meeting and unavoidable physical attraction are the perfect excuse for a festive fling.

The rules are Ophelia teaches him how to date again, and Frankie shows her exactly what she should be demanding behind closed doors. Friends with benefits until the ball drops in the New Year.

But a little bit of long-lost Christmas magic just might find a way to stir up more than their complicated pasts.

Source: Goodreads

Book Review:
Christmas in Coconut Creek

Karissa Kinword

Series: Yes
Book 1 in the Dirty Delta series

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ 5/5

Spice: 4/5

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

This book was SO GOOD!

I loved everything about the dynamic between Ophelia and Frankie. Their dialogue and behaviour towards each other was refreshing, and they were far more realistic characters than I typically read.

I adored their meet cute, it totally had me laughing out loud, as did a lot of the book!

It was beautiful to read about them tearing down each other’s walls, with an undeniable connection leading to so much more than a fling.

I’m so glad there will be more books in this series, I’m not ready to fully let go of these two yet!

Tropes + topics:
✈️ Friends with benefits to lovers
👙 Military veteran pilot
✈️ Elementary school teacher
👙 Vacation fling
✈️ Forced proximity
👙 Age gap
✈️ Grumpy sunshine
👙 Slow burn
✈️ No 3rd act breakup
👙 Dual POV/first person

Note: Edit is mine, photos are not. Photos found on Pinterest. If there are any issues with any of the photos being posted, please email me and let me know at hello@readinginpjsblog.com

Find it on Goodreads HERE.

Buy the Book:
AMAZON

December 19, 2023 0 comments

Book Reviews Holly June Smith

Can I Tell You Something?

by Jill November 8, 2023

written by Jill

BLURB:

Hannah Richmond is about to spend Christmas with the man of her dreams.

The man of Hannah’s dreams has no idea she exists.

Hannah
I’ve been desperately looking forward to Christmas in my family’s snowy alpine chalet. Two blissful weeks of skiing, eating, and sneaking off for ‘naps’ to listen to my favourite audio erotica star.

Yes, the man who warms my bed each night may have no idea I exist, but that doesn’t stop me fantasising that his spicy stories and filthy words are for my ears only.

It’s set to be the most relaxing Christmas ever. Until my brother shows up… with an unexpected guest.

Cameron
I’d planned to spend the holidays working. Just me, my microphone, and a lot of new content for subscribers of my audio erotica channel.

When I convinced my best friend to fly home and surprise his family, I never expected he’d take me along for the ride. I didn’t expect to find myself halfway up a mountain. And I definitely didn’t expect to find out his sister is my biggest fan.

Source: Goodreads

Book Review:
Can I Tell You Something?

Holly June Smith

Series: No

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ 5/5

Spice: 4/5

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

Add this to your holiday TBR – you won’t be disappointed!!
It’s the perfect little sweet & spicy novella to get you into the Christmas spirit 🥰

📖 Can I Tell You Something?
📝 Holly June Smith
🗓️ 11/09/2023
💜 Holiday Romance Novella
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

I read this in just a few hours (would have been one sitting if I didn’t have a toddler) and didn’t want to put it down!

I love a celebrity romance, but the idea of an audio erotica narrator is just brilliant!
Hannah meeting the man she has been *very intimate* with (in her mind) is the ultimate fangirl experience 😍

I loved how the whole story developed – how they first see each other, to their “previous connection,” to spending time together and getting to know one another… just so good.

This book also brings the HEAT 🔥 I mean how could it not with Cameron’s profession?!

Tropes + Topics:
🎙️ Holiday romance
🎙️ Brother’s best friend
🎙️ Audio erotica voice actor
🎙️ Lawyer
🎙️ Forced proximity
🎙️ Family traditions
🎙️ Winter in French alps
🎙️ Novella
🎙️ Dual POV/first person

Thank you so very much to author Holly June Smith for an advanced copy to review. All opinions are my own!

For more of my Holly June Smith reviews, click HERE.

Note: Edit is mine, photos are not. Photos found on Pinterest. If there are any issues with any of the photos being posted, please email me and let me know at hello@readinginpjsblog.com

Find it on Goodreads HERE.

Buy the Book:
AMAZON

November 8, 2023 0 comments

Book Reviews Liz Tomforde

Caught Up

by Jill October 14, 2023

written by Jill

Kai

I’m a single dad and starting pitcher for Chicago’s MLB team.

I’m stretched too thin, but I don’t want help raising my son.

Each of his previous nannies only lasted a few weeks before I let them go.

Now, my coach is putting his foot down by hiring the one person I can’t fire—his daughter.

Miller Montgomery is the last woman I should fall for. Too wild, too young, and too unattached. Chicago is just a quick stop for her. I thought I’d be counting down the days until she left, but summer feels too short when I start thinking about forever.

Miller

As a high-end pastry chef who recently won the most prestigious award in my industry, I’m desperate to prove I deserve it. But with a new title comes new pressure, and I can’t create a fresh and inspiring dessert to save my life.

With only two months to get back on track, I should be focusing in the kitchen, but instead, I let my dad talk me into using my time off to nanny for his star player’s kid.

Kai Rhodes forgot how to have fun, and I’m eager to jog his memory. But when he and his son start to feel like home, I have to remind us both that my time in Chicago ends with the summer.

Besides, I’ve always been a runner, and the last thing I want is to get caught.

Source: Goodreads

Book Review:
Caught Up

Liz Tomforde

Series: Yes (Book 3 in Windy City)

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ 5/5

Spice: 2/5

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

The best kind of books are where you feel like the main characters are real – you feel genuinely for them, happy or heartbreaking.

This was one of those books.

Not only is this a romance book, but also one about healing. Kai & Miller both support one another in the ways that they need, and help them heal from their pasts. They also balance each other out perfectly 🥰

She SEES him. Immediately. What he really wants and needs. And he sees her too. Beyond what she puts out in the world.

I really fell so in love with all 3 of these main characters – (baby) Max is definitely such an integral part of the story 🥹
The banter was spot on, I love the dynamic between Miller & Kai.

Tropes + Topics:
⚾️ Single Dad & Nanny
🧢 Baseball Player MMC
⚾️ Pastry Chef FMC
🧢 Coach’s Daughter
⚾️ Grumpy Sunshine
🧢 Forced Proximity
⚾️ Only one bed
🧢 Opposites Attract (grounded vs. wild child)
⚾️ Found family
🧢 Dual POV/First Person

📖 Caught Up
📝 Liz Tomforde
🗓️ 10/10/2023
⚾️ Sports Romance
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Spice: 🌶️🌶️

Note: Edit is mine, photos are not. Photos found on Pinterest. If there are any issues with any of the photos being posted, please email me and let me know at hello@readinginpjsblog.com

Find it on Goodreads HERE.

Buy the Book:
AMAZON

October 14, 2023 0 comments

Book Reviews Hannah Grace

Wildfire

by Jill October 3, 2023

written by Jill

Maple Hills students Russ Callaghan and Aurora Roberts cross paths at a party celebrating the end of the academic year, where a drinking game results in them having a passionate one-night stand. Never one to overstay her welcome (or expect much from a man), Aurora slips away before Russ even has the chance to ask for her full name.

Imagine their surprise when they bump into each other on the first day of the summer camp where they are both counselors, hoping to escape their complicated home lives by spending the summer working. Russ hopes if he gets far enough away from Maple Hills, he can avoid dealing with the repercussions of his father’s gambling addiction, while Aurora is tired of craving attention from everyone around her, and wants to go back to the last place she truly felt at home.

Russ knows breaking the camp’s strict “no staff fraternizing” rule will have him heading back to Maple Hills before the summer is over, but unfortunately for him, Aurora has never been very good at caring about the rules. Will the two learn to peacefully coexist? Or did their one night together start a fire they can’t put out?

Source: Goodreads

Book Review:
Wildfire

Hannah Grace

Series: Yes (Book 2 but can be read as a standalone)

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ 5/5

Spice: 2/5

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

Wow wow wow! I loved this so very much 🥰

What starts as a hookup at a college party turns into so much more, as Aurora & Russ get to know each other over the summer as fellow camp counselors.

Wildfire is truly a story about two somewhat broken people who are looking for someone to love them, and put them first.

They both have a lot of trauma/issues with their families, especially their dads.

Russ is the absolute cutest! There is nothing hotter than a shy, non-cocky hockey player 🥰

Aurora is such a fun heroine, and they are an amazing match.

I was swooning & laughing so often while reading! As someone who LOVED camp as a child (and teen, and 20-something), this brought back so many good memories!

Tropes + Topics:
⛺️ One night stand
🌳 Summer camp counsellors
⛺️ Forced proximity
🌳 Dad issues/family trauma bonding
⛺️ Found family
🌳 College/New adult
⛺️ Adorable pups – Fish, Salmon & Trout
🌳 No 3rd act breakup
⛺️ Dual POV/first person

*check trigger warnings if you need!

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Canada/Atria Books for an advanced copy to review!
All opinions are my own.

Find it on Goodreads HERE.

Buy the Book:
AMAZON

October 3, 2023 0 comments

Newer Posts

Older Posts

forced proximity

Book Review: Fall with Me

Becka Mack

Book Review: So This is War

Meghan Quinn

Book Review: He's Not My Type

Meghan Quinn

Book Review: Kiss and Don't Tell

Meghan Quinn

Book Review: Give Me Butterflies

Jillian Meadows

Book Review: You, With a View

Jessica Joyce

Book Review: Christmas in Coconut Creek

Karissa Kinword

Book Review: Can I Tell You Something?

Holly June Smith

Book Review: Caught Up

Liz Tomforde

Book Review: Wildfire

Book Review:
Fall with Me

Book Review:
So This is War

Book Review:
He's Not My Type

Book Review:
Kiss and Don't Tell

Book Review:
Give Me Butterflies

Book Review:
You, With a View

Book Review:
Christmas in Coconut Creek

Book Review:
Can I Tell You Something?

Book Review:
Caught Up

Book Review:
Wildfire