Tag: amreadingromance

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#BookReview: Big Nick Energy by Kristen Bailey

Christmas Love Angle. Let me be crystal clear as someone more trained in mathematics than most who happens to work in a field that is technically a sub-discipline of mathematics: For three (or more, really) straight people, there can never be a true love triangle. There can only be a love *angle*. A triangle, by definition, has three sides and three intersecting points. For a romantic love triangle to exist, at least one person involved must be romantically attracted to both of the other two – even if unrequited. With three straight people, no matter the combination of either gender, it will thus never happen. Thus, this book is about a love *angle*, not a love “triangle”, as all of our central characters here are straight.

Now, possible (likely) pedantry aside, this was still a fun Kristen Bailey Christmas book. A bit spicier than a Sarah Morgan Christmas book, with far more sexual innuendo (but you knew that from the title, or should have :D), with quite a bit more comedy, and really at least as much heart to it as Morgan’s annual tales.

Now Jeff, why do you bring up another author in this review? Well, because in both cases they’re both United Kingdom based, with tales primarily based on that side of the “pond” and are fairly consistent in releasing a Christmas book every year, generally within a few weeks of each other. Meaning I tend to read them pretty close and indeed read this one barely ten days after reading Morgan’s latest, so it is fresh on my mind. 🙂

Overall this book hit about as expected – meaning I had a great time and think most readers will too, but if you’re one that doesn’t like cussing or jalapeno (at least) level spice (to be clear, this is nowhere near ghost level, even habanero is debatable, which is why I went with jalapeno)… maybe stick with Morgan’s books. But hey, if you *prefer* the occasional fuck – both in word and in deed – Bailey is going to be right up your alley bringing her version of… well, Big *Nick* Energy. 😀 (Ok, it had to be done once I realized I was kinda walking myself into that one. :D)

I would say that long time fans of Bailey will enjoy this one, and also that if you’re new to Bailey, this is a fun book that is fairly typical of her overall style, even as she writes a few books every year – not just her annual Christmas book. As someone who has been reading her stuff for a few years now, I can honestly say that they’re all fun and if you enjoy this one and are new to Bailey, you’re going to have a fun time reading through her back catalog.

As always, read the book for yourself and let us know what you think by leaving your own review wherever you see this one. Even if you think I’m completely wrong in my thoughts on this book, feel free to call me out in your review if you think I need it. Overall, more reviews reach more readers and help sell more books, so please, help both me and you and help Bailey continue to be able to write more books for us. 🙂

Very much recommended.

This review of Big Nick Energy by Kristen Bailey was originally written on October 21, 2025.

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#BookReview: The Eight Heartbreaks Of Hannukah by Jean Meltzer

A (Jewish) Christmas Tale. Seriously, if it wasn’t clear from the description, that is *exactly* what you’re getting here: a retelling of the Dickens classic, reimagined with a Jewish couple during Hannukah (and with the genders reversed) rather than a Christian couple at Christmas. Yes, the lower level details are more significantly different, but at a very high level, this is what you’re getting here.

Which means it is far from a romcom. So don’t delude yourself there. Even though Meltzer has written romcoms, this is absolutely a romantic *drama*, in line with its base tale. Yes, there is comedy here, enough to keep the overall heavy nature of the tale from being *too* heavy, but it isn’t really the core of this tale.

As a retelling, Meltzer really gets the overall spirit of the original quite well, making this an excellent read no matter your religious faith or what you do for December-ish (not technically winter all over the world, if we’re truly trying to be as “inclusive” as possible 😉 ) holidays. The re-envisioning of it to fit with a Hannukah theme is actually done really well… perhaps until the very ending. Without going into spoiler territory, let’s just go ahead and insert my “read the book and write your own review wherever you see this one” spiel here and let everyone know what you think about that. I personally think it works well enough, but I could see a lot of genuine and fair debate on that particular point.

Now, with all of this said, I actually had a bit of a personal connection with this book, and I’m absolutely going into more overt religious discussion in this paragraph than I normally do, so feel free to skip it if you feel you must. I promise to keep all of this type of commentary within this paragraph, but to be true to my own experience with the book I *must* discuss it. You see, while I can’t reveal what the personal connection is without going into spoiler territory – and to be clear, my own experience here wasn’t exactly the same in particulars, only fairly similar in end effect – what I really need to discuss here is how the religious aspect hit. Because what struck me, as a near lifeiong Christian who grew up in the Southern Baptist Church before finding the more Anabaptist-type Christian traditions as an adult and more closely identifying with them now, is the absolute despair this couple felt due to their religion offering no real hope in that particular circumstance. And while despair is an absolutely normal human reaction in it – which Meltzer absolutely nailed, by the way – as a Christian, there is *always* hope there. Enough to put a blindingly golden lining on even the darkest clouds, and sometimes the only thing a Christian can really cling to in those situations. Again, this was something I actually *lived* in a very similar circumstance, so I had to speak up at least a bit here.

Meltzer makes it a point with most everything she does in her public life to celebrate all things Jewish, and certainly in her writings, and she absolutely nails it here – at least so far as a Son of the South who has only casually known a few different Jews throughout his life can tell, at least. An actual Jewish person may have a very different take on how well Meltzer celebrates that particular culture and religion. But this is my review of this book, and from my view, I stand by what I said. Whether it be an Adam Sandler-esque romp through the entire Hannukah celebration (and yes, at times it does get up to Sandler level funny) or the much more intensely personal dramatic moments of a boy and a girl falling in love… and falling in love again…, Meltzer here proves that she isn’t a one trick pony only writing Jewish romcoms, that she really has the chops to accentuate Jewish tales across the two largest romance sub genres and do each remarkably well.

Overall a truly worthy holiday read no matter your own practices during the season, and one that shouldn’t be missed.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Eight Heartbreaks Of Hannukah by Jean Meltzer was originally written on October 21, 2025.

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#BlogTour: The Hidden Daughter by Soraya Lane

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a strong tale that brings new elements to this series while also setting up its conclusion brilliantly. For this blog tour, we’re looking at The Hidden Daughter by Soraya Lane.

First, the review I posted to the book sites (BookHype.com / Goodreads.com / PageBound.co / TheStoryGraph.com), SubStack, and YouTube:

Strong Penultimate Book In Series Brings In New Elements. This entire series of Lane combining both her historical side and her romance side have been truly excellent, and this one is no different there. What makes this one different from the rest of the series is that this one actually takes place comfortably outside the shadow of WWII… and is perhaps one of the more powerful books in the series because of this. Indeed, while it can sometimes be hard for modern audiences nearly a century removed from wartime horrors and tribulations to fully understand all that is happening inside a WWII setting, no matter how good the storyteller is, in bringing the story out of that particular shadow and in using a tragedy that is still rare but at least more relatable than total war, Lane makes this particular tale perhaps all that much easier to fully understand the depth of the tragedy here.

Once again, both historical and contemporary elements are done well and perhaps here blended even more seamlessly than the other books, due to the precise nature of what is happening within this one. Foodies will love the restaurant talk of having our FMC be a chef, and indeed her entire story is richly layered with all too relatable drama for far too many. Even the MMC, while not given remotely equal screen time, manages to have the main point of his backstory developed enough to be quite the gut punch when it is fully revealed.

Perhaps most exciting for fans who have been with this standalone-yet-interconnected-ish series since the beginning is the stinger in the epilogue here. On a scale ranging from “makes you not want the next tale at all to Infinity War’s “I need the next tale RIGHT TBIS FUCKING SECOND!!!!!!!!!!!!!”, this one ends not far off Infinity War’s level of build. With no release date given for the next book!

Which just means you have time to either read this book (if you’ve already been following along) or the entire series (if you haven’t) before the finale comes seemingly at some point in 2026. (Pure somewhat educated guess there.) When you read them, make sure to write your own reviews wherever you see this one. I clearly think this book and the entire series are truly excellent, and I’d love to see what you think too.

Very much recommended.

After the jump, the “publisher details” – book description, author bio, social links, and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: The Hidden Daughter by Soraya Lane”

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#BookReview: Love By Design by Maddie Evans

Atypical Romance Offers Solid Trilogy Conclusion. This is a very atypical romance that some could potentially see as problematic… and others could possibly very easily feel all too seen in. And that all centers on our FMC here.

In the characterization of her rigidity of habit and how completely clueless she is socially, Evans here presents one version of a condition not named in the description, so it would be a spoiler to reveal here. To this writer, living in the real world with the same condition, the characterization here is perhaps a touch stereotypical… and yet while my own life and romances therein have been *wildly* different than portrayed here… I’m also aware enough of others living with this to know that there are indeed very likely some, perhaps many, who will feel quite seen in this characterization and indeed perhaps find hope that they too can find a love as portrayed herein.

Other irritations – and truly, these are *simply* irritations that your mileage will absolutely vary on – are that the author for some reason or another seems to have written “Disney” and then hit Replace All on the manuscript with a fictional name – that is how blatant the descriptions of the company are to real life, yet with the fictional name for the company. There are a few different reasons I can think of even off the top of my head that an author may choose to do this, but it was an irritant every time I encountered it and it did take away from the story a touch… which is unfortunate, given how critical it is at one point.

The other irritant is far more minor in its presentation… and yet it is also one I know many readers will want to be aware of, as it can be a deal breaker for some: without *actually* diving into spoiler territory, let’s just say there is a certain surprise in the epilogue that at least was hinted at briefly in the earlier text that it could potentially be a possibility in this exact situation, so at least it wasn’t a situation of the book before that moment either never mentioning this at all or even outright saying this wasn’t wanted at all.

To be clear though, this really was a solid romance of a very atypical form, between someone who thought he was going to be a priest and thus never have a romantic relationship and someone for whom relationships had always been rather difficult. Indeed, it is these exact two characterizations coming together that actually make this story as strong as it is, as it offers hope to so very many who perhaps are in similar boats of being on the verge of hopelessness for their own potential romances.

Another thing that was done quite well here is the integration of many elements of the Catholic faith, perhaps obvious with a potential priest as the MMC and with the author being so openly Catholic herself. Still, this is one element where at least some readers will want to be aware of up front and can make your own decision to thus read this book or not based on your own thoughts on the Catholic Church. Once again, I’m simply asking you, now that you’ve read this far into my own review, to simply leave this book be if you’re going to give it one star just because it features Catholicism and shows it so favorably or, more actually, normally.

The non-romance drama with the Brighthead Crafters is done very well once again, and this is where the trilogy conclusion comes to bear with both humor and heart, as is to typical of Evans.

Ultimately this really is a quite strong, if also very atypical, romance and a solid conclusion to this trilogy. So pick all three books up, read them, and leave a review for each wherever you find this review. Let us all know what you think – even if you think I’m a complete moron in my thoughts about these books, feel free to tag me anywhere and let me know! I’m just excited that you’re actually reading them, no matter what you think of them. 🙂

Very much recommended.

This review of Love By Design by Maddie Evans was originally written on October 10, 2025.

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#BookReview: A Merry Little Lie by Sarah Morgan

Another Solid Sarah Morgan Christmas Tale. The sun rises in the East. The grass is green. Some politician in your country is being an idiot. Some celebrity said something stupid. Baby animals doing cute things in short videos. The clock showing the same numbers twice every day. The tide comes in and goes away. Ohio State Football being severely overrated. Some things you can just count on, day after day, year after year. They just seem like they’re *always* going to be there, longer than the pyramids of Egypt.

Sarah Morgan writing a 300 ish page Christmas novel that feels like a warm blanket at a cozy fireside with the beverage of your choice on the table beside you and your cat (or dog, if you prefer) curled up at your feet is one of those things, and here, she doesn’t disappoint at all.

As usual, there is at least a touch of drama. A touch of romance. But at its heart is a family coming together for Christmas, and as usual yes, there is at least an element of a road trip involved for some of them.

Indeed, about the only thing to turn anyone off from this book or any of Morgan’s other Christmas romances is that she isn’t exactly a warm glass of milk level spice author. More of a jalapeno or so, *maybe* up to a habanero at certain key moments, but never more than once or twice or so per book. And even then, absent those scenes… yeah, about as spicy as a good eggnog. One where it is blended so well that you get all the flavors of the bourbon and rum and cognac without any burn whatsoever.

Seriously, if you’re looking for a Christmas romance author that you can just buy every year and not have to worry about quality or consistency and just *know* you’re going to get an enjoyable tale long enough to really sink into and spend a few hours with… Sarah Morgan absolutely belongs at the top of that list, and this book, her 2025 entrant here, is no different.

Very much recommended.

This review of A Merry Little Lie by Sarah Morgan was originally written on October 9, 2025.

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#BookReview: Maybe This Once by Sophie Sullivan

Solid Slow Burn Romance. This is one of those romances where both people come into it with some pretty hefty emotional baggage – that each is very cognizant of their own and knows they need to work on, thus providing most of the actual drama here. Those looking for external drama/ suspense will only find the barest touch, deep in the text, and thus this may not be the book for you if that is something you *must* have.

For those looking for a more laid back “I’ve gone through hell and need to heal myself, but this person is extremely interesting” type romance, this is much closer to that kind of feel, and I think you’ll like it quite a bit. It *is* the third book in a series and possibly the finale of a trilogy, but it also works decently well as a standalone, so long as you don’t mind previous characters showing up and thus knowing that prior couples from other romance novels actually (shockingly! -note the dripping sarcasm there) wound up together.

The presence of a minor yet recurring (and somewhat essential, at least in the endgame) non-binary character is one of those things that some will actively buy the book specifically because it has this kind of character, and others will actively avoid this book for exactly the same reasons. You do you, no judgement at all here – unless you one star the book because of this character. That, I absolutely condemn you to some minor irritation for a day over. After all, I’ve now warned you about this, and you chose to read the book anyway.

Regardless of what you thought though, please do leave a review wherever you see this one after reading the book yourself. I’d love to hear what you think.

Oh, and a note about the “spice level”: Apparently Sullivan is known for closed-door romances, and this is exactly that. Things get a touch more interesting than basic kissing, so I think I’d rate this somewhere around a poblano pepper or so. It may cause some heart palpitations for some and yet be quite bland indeed for others, but for most it will work well enough to provide a solid flavor without being overwhelming.

Very much recommended.

This review of Maybe This Once by Sophie Sullivan was originally written on September 30, 2025.

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#BookReview: You Make It Feel Like Christmas by Sophie Sullivan

A Mullet Of Christmas Romance Not Even Until The Middle, Then Hockey Romance In The Back. In total, this book absolutely works. Now, it won’t be for the “clean” / “sweet” crowd – if the fucking cussing in Chapter 2 doesn’t throw you out, the habanero spice not much later will. But for those who don’t mind a dude that cusses like a … well, an athlete… and who *want* the spice… hey, this may be exactly what you’re after as a whole book.

Now, there are reasons I titled this book a “mullet” and I mention that it works “as a whole book”. And those reasons all center around the fact that it feels almost like a merger between a 140 ish page Christmas novella and a 180 ish page Hockey short novel, with enough of a merger that it works… but also because of what it actually is, isn’t going to be fully want many (either direction, Christmas or Hockey) really want.

Now, some people can absolutely rock mullets and absolutely make them work. Here, I think Sullivan actually does a reasonable job of exactly that. maybe not quite a David Bowie mullet, but certainly a Billy Ray Cyrus Achy Breaky Heart mullet. (Which, to be clear, as a not-quite-10yo Son of the South in that era, *all* of my friends wanted to sport that particular mullet there for a minute.)

Basically, as long as you come into this book expecting a spicy romance more generally, I think you’re going to enjoy this book. If you come in expecting it to be 100% either one of its main components… you’re likely not going to enjoy it as much. I do think you’ll enjoy whichever component you’re here for, and based on the cover I expect that will be the Christmas “novella” that doesn’t quite hit the 50% mark of this text. But if Hockey romance isn’t your thing… that just-over-half won’t be *as* compelling to you.

All I ask here is that if this review makes you want to read this book, go in knowing what I’ve told you… and don’t 1 star or 2 star this tale because it has cussing or because it is a bit spicy or because it isn’t fully one trope or another. Judge it, as I have, on its totality, and still discuss in your review what issues you may have had with it. PLEASE discuss the cussing and the spice, if you enjoyed it or if you had a problem with it. Not everyone will see this review. But don’t 1 or 2 star the book just because of those things.

Overall, a solid enough mullet of a romance story, and I for one will be continuing to read Ms. Sullivan’s books to see where she goes next.

Recommended.

This review of You Make It Feel Like Christmas by Sophie Sullivan was originally written on September 24, 2025.

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#BookReview: Through Water And Stone by Karen Barnett

Solid Christian Romance Beautifully Displays Its National Park And Shows Dangers Of A Particular Modern Technology. This is Barnett’s latest “National Park” book, and once again it shows off its particular national park – in this case, Zion National Park, which I’ve only ever seen in the context of Fallout New Vegas’ Honest Hearts DLC (and which we thus *might* see in Fallout Season 2 on Amazon Prime?).

Yes, the dual timeline nature will throw some readers off, but this one works fairly well, with obvious time jumps even as at least a few characters are in both timelines.

Also, the whole “Christian Romance” thing. Yes, that means there is little more than kissing here, so if you’re one of those readers that *must* have sex scenes in your romance books… this isn’t that. But I’ve seen more and more people recently specifically asking for Christian books of late, and I already recommended this book directly to one *long* time friend in particular. (Hi, Katie!) (Katie is the elder daughter of my parents’ best friends – our parents are actually directly responsible for everyone meeting everyone, in a story I’ve never fully understood. Something about the guys knowing each other and the girls knowing each other and somehow everyone gets introduced. Over 45 yrs later, both couples are still together.)

This also means that you’re going to see a lot of references to God and prayer and such, though to be clear, this is about as truly non-denominational as anything within Christendom gets. So there won’t be any saints or discussions of baptism or the exact mechanism of salvation or any of that. Just more generic cultural level Christianity where people openly mention God and openly pray and aren’t ashamed of or insulted for doing either.

And yes, the (apparent) beauty of Zion National Park really does shine through here, along with some of its specific dangers playing key roles in the overall story. This is absolutely one of those books that will make you want to go to its real world place just to see for yourself just how well Barnett has captured its beauty in her words.

Finally, there is the danger. Not just in Zion itself, but in a particular modern technology. Revealing the tech would be a spoiler, but suffice it to say I’ve read (and reviewed, as I review all books I read) at least two other books dealing with the effects of this particular technology, including at least one other novel.

Overall quite a solid book generally and specifically within its genre, this is absolutely one fans of Christian Romance – or even romance or Christian readers who can at least tolerate the other half of the term “Christian Romance” – will enjoy.

Very much recommended.

This review of Through Water And Stone by Karen Barnett was originally written on September 23, 2025.

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#BookReview: Palette Of The Soul by Maddie Evans

Second In Series Shows Strong Growth. Yeah, I couldn’t find an “s” word to keep the alliteration through the title. Bummer. But that is on me.

For Evans, she breaks ground in a couple of different ways with this book that at least in my reading of her books over the years, I’ve never once seen her do – thus showing tremendous growth in a single book, which very few authors ever really do.

Here, Evans uses a love angle for the first time. Why a love “angle” rather than “triangle”? Because despite her growth in even having this angle, Evans is still Evans and all of our characters here are straight. As a true love triangle requires either three gay, lesbian, or bisexual people or at bare minimum two people of the same sex and sexuality along with a bisexual person of either sex to complete all three sides of the triangle… an actual love triangle among three straight people cannot exist. Two people interested in the same person or one person interested in two people both result in a love *angle*, where two line segments meet at a common point – not a love *triangle*, which requires three line segments connecting three points.

But enough of the math geek stuff, this really was meant more to praise Evans for her courage in even having this be a part of her book at all rather than diving into math pedantry, even if said pedantry is one of my own sore spots within the romance world and its inaccurate terminologies. 😉

The other solid growth point here is in using a character that is explicitly black, and whose blackness is as core a component of their character as Jack None Reacher’s sheer physical size is with his character. (Meaning Tom Cruise will *never* be Reacher. Period. End of that discussion. And moving on from another booklandia sore spot… :D) This is again new to at least my own reading of Evans, and I’ve been reading her books for several years now but admittedly haven’t read *everything* she’s written. Most of the time, most of her characters leave truly racially identifying characteristics out/ don’t make them a core component of the characterization, meaning that for the most part, readers can really read most any race they want onto her characters.

Here though, Evans deviates from this history and it works quite well. There is no preachiness from any particular viewpoint and also no racial guilt from any viewpoint, simply an acknowledgement of the humanity and experiences of these characters in ways that feel quite real and fleshed out.

Beyond these factors, you’re getting a fairly standard Maddie Evans romance that is in the middle of a series here. Those who prefer even Jalapeno level spice won’t find that here, and those who prefer books that at least mention God in a positive light will find that here. As this is a continuation of her crafting/ yarn based series, there is quite a lot of yarn and painting and other crafting discussion here, which allows Evans to geek out with what I know to be some of her real world passions. (As she did with running in the Brighthead Running Club series that this one shares a world – and even a town – with.)

As always and maybe even moreso now, I’m very much looking forward to seeing where Evans takes this series next.

Very much recommended.

This review of Palette Of The Soul by Maddie Evans was originally written on September 19, 2025.

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#BlogTour: All The Ways You Save Me by Melissa Wiesner

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a strong, emotional romance that packs quite a punch. For this blog tour, we’re looking at All The Ways You Save Me by Melissa Wiesner.

First, the review I posted to the book sites (BookHype.com / Goodreads.com / PageBound.co / TheStoryGraph) and YouTube:

Strong Tale Packs A Punch – And Leaves Enough Left For An Exciting Followup. This is one of those books that packs *such* an emotional weight that I think the best comparison I can make goes back nearly a decade now – to Laurie Breton’s Coming Home, which I read circa 2017 or so and was the first book I ever used the term “tour de force” to describe.

This one doesn’t hit *quite* as hard as that one, but it’ll still land a few haymakers. Maybe Mike Tyson vs George Foreman when both were in their primes. In other words, “mere mortal”, prepare for an emotional beatdown with this book… in the best possible ways.

Seriously, this has “summer romance that can go so much further” written *all* over it, and thus its release window – just before Labor Day in the US, after at least some kids (including my nieces and nephew) have started back to school already but right there as college Fall Semester is starting up and summer is coming to a close – is damn near perfect for exactly this story. Even now literally 20 yrs post college and having been married for the vast majority of that time (18 yrs this Fall vs graduating 20 yrs ago this past May), I don’t know, for some reason this season of the year just evokes those kinds of emotions for me, and always has.

There isn’t really any comedy here, so the levity is more in the fact that we’re not in the middle of an emotional scene and are thus riding the swell to the next one (ha! a surfing metaphor, in a book that *does* include some surfing!). And yet the book works perfectly well *because* of this, rather than in spite of the lack of comedy. Not all tales need to be romcoms, and this one in particular is well served by keeping the comedy out. It allows the emotions to have the heft and also the breathing room they need to really work well.

Some may argue that in at least one somewhere between jalapeno and habanero scene that “they’re only 17!!!!”. A valid point, in that exact scene. But it also reflects *reality* going back essentially as long as humanity itself, and that scene helps give the overall tale the weight it needs for what happens later in the timeline. (I don’t remember where this exact scene is in the actual storytelling.) If you’re going to 1 or 2 star this book over that scene, it really says more about you than Wiesner, her storytelling abilities, or this tale in particular, and now that I’ve told you the scene is there, it really is on you, the reader of my review, to just avoid this book if that truly is a dealbreaker for you. I’ll tell you right now you’re depriving yourself of one of the more emotional romance tales I’ve read in my life – maybe even beating out Nicholas Sparks on the emotional side – but that is completely on you, and you do what you need to do. Just don’t be unfair to this book when I specifically made you aware of the existence of this issue here. 😀

Overall, again, truly one of the more emotional and thus stronger overall romances I’ve read in quite some time, and even though it leaves a few threads unanswered, it does so in ways that make it clear that they will be explored in Book 2… which I am very excited to get in my hands ASAP. Per Wiesner herself on social media gearing up for the release of this book, that one is titled All The Ways You Break Me and releases in February 2026 – roughly six months from now. I tell you now that unless Bookouture (the publisher) or Wiesner prevent me from doing so, I will be reviewing that book and on its blog tour as well. I *wish* it were already in my hands. And you’re very likely going to say that last sentence yourself if you read this book near release date, as hopefully you see this review in time to do. 🙂

Very much recommended.

After the jump, the “publisher details” – book info, description, author bio, social links, and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: All The Ways You Save Me by Melissa Wiesner”