August 4, 2022 - Staff Review

 

The Cowboy She Loves to Hate

By Maisey Yates

Release Date: December 1, 2021

Ebook Available from WV Reads!

https://wvreads.overdrive.com/media/6368033

2 Stars - A little novella that's got a bit of an indentity crisis. It's still a short, easy, and fun read. Nelly is your ultra cliche girl next door who has long been crushing on Tag. The surprise is that he's been adoring her from afar just as long. A quick steamy little story that's sure to entertain for an hour or two.

Maisey Yates appears to be onto quite a series here, but I confess I couldn't figure out if this was the first one or not. Tag's family has quite a bit going on that's left very vague and mysterious. That would've been okay had his family history not factored in so much to his life choices. Nelly's backstory is more believable and even likable despite being a bit predictable. Both these two were clearly enamored of each other and had tension in spades, surprising for such a short story. The sparks were flying between them immediately but they were both pretty immature in different ways.

So this felt more like an episode of TV's Yellowstone more than a western novella. At first, the dialouge felt very historical and then it was just an accent, I guess. Yates didn't really have enough pages to draw any tension here. But there was oddly a lot of build up to the few scenes these two are steaming up the pages. Nelly's inexperience with everything from life to relationships is her number one feature. But I had to give her credit for being more emotionally stable than I expected given her rather intense personality. Tag's supposedly protective of Nelly but his actions just don't seem to match up with his attitude. He was the more unstable of the two. Their reasoning to not be together was very thin, and they felt like they were 21 the whole time not later 30. Anyway, this is an intense novella perfect for anyone looking for a cute childhood friends to lover romance will probably enjoy.

(NS)

July 26, 2022 - Staff Reviews

 

The Legacy

By Elle Kennedy

Release Date: September 21, 2021

Ebook Available from WV Reads!

https://wvreads.overdrive.com/media/7040580

3 Stars - This adorable return to the legacy of the off-campus crew is worth the read for any fan of the series and new adult genre. New adult writing has been on a decline of late but Kennedy makes it fun to revisit those days. While it felt a bit longer than I expected, she's worked in everything that's lovable yet also problematic about romance sequels.

So with this review, I have to touch on four couples and four stories so forgive me if I get extra wordy by the end. This was much more than a few brief extended epilouge novellas, which was great! All too often the reader doesn't get their time or money's worth. It had been a long time since I read the original stories and I was also excited to see some side characters from the spin-off series appear too. All the romances and the bro-mances are back and as good as ever. Plus, Kennedy really never fails to amaze me with her talents with male POV and managing to work in humor plus a little suspense. Her stories never fail to feel real.

Down to the finer details now. We have the real double edge sword in this book of why return to couples who are already happily living ever after? Grace and Logan's story which focused on them finding their next relationship step was unfortunately the peak here for me. Not just because they werey fave couple way back when. They really seem to grow and support each other.   Dean and Allie's story sort of blew by for me. They are maybe getting engaged. Their immaturity levels were always the hardest for me, little change here. And Allie's feelings about relationship progress and her actor friends annoyed me. But they're still hot and cute at least. Tuck and Sabrina go on their screwball comedy riddled honeymoon, and it's a steamy few pages then a lot of crazy. New friends, new jobs, etc. all appear on the horizon for them. Hannah and Garrett were saved for last and it's not really a spoiler she gets pregnant unexpectedly. But they barely handled the situation at all, let alone admirably for two grown people in a supposedly healthy relationship. At least once they got their act together, it was cute city. Was it engaging and exciting to see these couples again? Of course! But sadly, at least half these characters don't seem to have matured much. And some conflicts seemed thrown in for the sake of drama which I don't really think belongs in epilouges. Maybe we can revisit them again in another five or ten years!

(NS)

July 20, 2022 - Staff Reviews

Marriage on Madison Avenue

By Lauren Layne

Release Date: January 28, 2020

Ebook Available from WV Reads!

https://wvreads.overdrive.com/media/4815416

4 Stars! - A nearly perfect friends to lovers romance with an excellent fake engagement set up. Clarke and Audrey are basically the ideal couple everyone can see but them of course. Neither can bring themselves to call off the fake wedding and their chemistry really makes this slow burn worth the read.

Lauren Layne has a way of making even the simplest or basic of moments romantic, and her ability in that shines here. Audrey is a very likable heroine, a sweet society girl whose childhood friendship with Clarke has seen her through the worst of times. I'm still not a fan of the series set up with Brayden. It does, however, her lack of trust is understandable. Clarke's pretty indecisive the whole book. But he's always there for Audrey and cares about her so genuienely.

Audrey's friendship with Naomi and Claire has a chunk of this story as well, and it continues to grow through all the wedding planning hoopla. It's cute and fun to see her friends know her better than she knows herself. Plus, their hunky guys return too. I will say Audrey and Clarke have the classic miscommunication problems going on the entire book, and it can get frustrating. And worth noting, Layne's signature steamy scenes are completely absent here. Also, I went into this with low expectations but by halfway through, I was undeniably hooked. I think that's when the story peaked though. Lauren teased us with build up scenes that had the potential to be really dynamic, but they sort of came and went quietly without much of a bang. Like the whole ski lodge trip. The ending was much the same. The payoff was sweet and satisyfing, but I still felt like there was more fleshing out to do there after so much build up the first half of the book. Overall though, this was a fabulous little romantic comedy sure to please.

(NS)

July 8, 2022 - Staff Reviews

Brazen

By Jaci Burton

Release Date: December 21, 2021

Ebook Available from WV Reads!

https://wvreads.overdrive.com/media/6161179

3 Stars - This short and sweet little story was a surprise without being full of surprises. Instead of Burton's usually low key romances of late, this was actually an intense re-release from her early days. There's not a lot of conflict but there's a lot of cowgirl atmosphere and fun to be had. A bit predictable but more to it than expected.

Burton's earlier works are quite scandalous, and this one turned out to be no exception. Fans of her newer cowboy trilogy may want to look for something less steamy. I had been expecting something more along her newer lines but was none the less entertained. Walker's got the strong and silent cowboy part down. He's smooth and confident one minute but a bit broody and indecisive the next. Jolene's wild cowgirl, the baby sister who is happy in the country and running her ranch. I didn't quite get the vibe Burton was going for outside of that though. She didn't come off with an edge or as a mix of innocent and strong like she was trying to illustrate.

Now, there's a lot of build up and talking about Jolene and Walker's relationship or rather lack there of. It takes awhile for them to let their physical attraction actually fire up and even longer for them to let their guards down emotionally. It gets a bit tedious, but Burton hasn't quite honed her writing style here. It can get annoying hearing the same observations from different characters repeated. And Burton's got some rambling descriptions and run on sentences abound. It's just not very polished, but it's a novella so there's no time for it to really wear on the reader. The side characters aren't super deep but they're likable. These main two characters have sizzling chemistry though and a shared passion for ranch life. There was so much more country mood and atmosphere than I anticipated, but it was great. If you're into cowboy and cowgirl romances and you don't mind them a little dirty and rough around this edges, this one is sure to pass the time.

(NS)