The book opens with Ty winning the lottery jackpot and a share of over $500 million dollars. We get to know her through a bit of a caper in how she should claim the ticket and keep her new found wealth hidden from those that would want to steal it from her.
Karla is on the US skiing development team, but has to walk away from her dream as she can’t afford to continue to train. She’s planning on going to college to study nursing and compete on their ski team.
The two main characters don’t meet until 25% of the way into the book – so by the time they do meet we know both of them quite well. I did start to get a little bit impatient as to how their lives were going to come together, but it did give the storyline an organic feeling.
The book isn’t full of excitement and mainly revolves around college life, skiing and hiding lottery winnings. There are some brief sex scenes and a couple of action moments, but at its heart this narrative is just a sweet coming together of two people who like each other. There are additional characters that add some interest to the storyline and whilst there aren’t major points of excitement I didn’t find the book boring either.
I thought the premise was interesting and I’d definitely be interested in reading more by this author.
I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This one is a bit of an odd one to review for me. It’s a nice read, it’s a pleasant book, tranquil in tone and setting, I really enjoyed reading it – but it didn’t excite me. It’s my first read of a Hill book (I know – another author I need to find time for) so I was really surprised to find that it didn’t make me want to grab all of her back catalogue. To be fair – I suspect the lack of excitement for me is probably due to the very laid back nature of the book, which is in this case is appropriate and works perfectly.
Kyler is a park ranger – transferred out to her remote state park after getting caught hooking up with her boss’s wife. I love how the book explores her having fallen in love with her new surroundings, her new hobbies and her sweet embarrassment about them.
Lexie’s parents run the lodge at the state park. She’s been made redundant from her job and is feeling lost so takes takes up the offer to try running the lodge for them. She’s more a city girl and the park is a bit of a culture shock for her. Much like with Kyler the narrative around her realising what the environment, a quieter life and family mean to her make the book.
The secondary characters are great. Lexie’s brother and parents closeness to both Kyler and Lexie allow us to see different sides of both MCs. I loved the communication between all of the characters in this story. The book just feels so open, peaceful and grown-up in character outlook – it’s very refreshing.
Whilst I can’t instantly think of any comparators to this book, I will definitely be checking out more Hill in the future and would recommend this to any fans of wlw romance.
I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
3.75 stars. I haven’t laughed reading a book as much as I did this one in a long time. Personally, sarcasm is my only form of humour – so the sarcasm from most of the characters in this was right in my wheelhouse.
Reading the notes from the author at the beginning of the book I was aware that this started as a work of fan fiction – however I’m clearly behind in my popular culture as I couldn’t work out what this aligned with. Either it’s moved on so much the original inspiration really didn’t matter – or someone else will spot something that has completely passed me by.
Sam is an actress in a popular sci-fi TV show (I think I get the inspiration here) that inspires much fan fiction, but she’s in the closet – it’s been a long time since she dated anyone except the guy she uses to hide her orientation and really wants a girlfriend. Her manager Jade advises her against it due to the usual you won’t be successful in your career if you’re out thoughts.
Alex is a landscaper by day but an inspiring writer. Her sister encourages her to write fan fiction about Sam’s show. Sam and Jade spot her work and decide to hunt Alex down leading to Sam hiring Alex as a contractor.
It’s clear Alex and Sam have feelings for each other, but they decide to take it slow and tease and flirt with each other constantly. The humour in Alex and Sam falling for each other and their conversations with their friends is the thing that made this book really good in my opinion. Clearly some of the friends exist in the narrative purely for humour opportunities but nonetheless it works. Despite it being the expected I still really enjoyed the ending and I love these two main characters together. I’d also really like to see a prequel book relating to Alex’s sister and her wife.
Whilst it’s not the most original storyline I’d happily recommend this to anyone who loves wlw fiction – and hopefully people will enjoy the humour too.
I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I have to say this wasn’t what I was expecting. I really enjoy Carolyn Elizabeth’s Curtis and Reynolds series – but I enjoyed this in a completely different way. Whilst the book is a little bit spooky – and I really shouldn’t have insisted on reading it past midnight – it’s essentially at heart quite a sweet book.
Starting with a prologue and approximately 25% of the book set 25 years ago, we meet Lee and Willa as teenagers, where they are staying at Forestlands Lake for the summer with their parents. They get up to the usual things teenagers do, but it’s the sweet exploration of what their friendship means to each other, and whether it is possibly anything more that really stands out at this point. Tragedy strikes and they are split apart.
25 years later we meet the two again, back at Forestlands Lake in very different circumstances. Lee now runs the summer camp – though it’s a very different one to the one they encountered in the past. She also has a daughter, Maggie. Willa has a her half-sister Nicole in tow and is returning to the lake for the first time since the tragedy.
This part of the book deals with Lee and Willa picking up where they left off – which might feel a little instant love to some – but I actually liked. It also deals with the difficulties of Willa’s return. Nicole and Maggie really shine as characters here as well.
I found I actually enjoyed the paranormal aspects of the story, which I thought would be a sticking point for me. I love the way it’s discussed through Willa’s books, Maggie and Nicole, rather than it all being about some phantom camp gossip and whispers. It made it more real and understandable to me.
Early death and how it impacts those left behind is never an easy topic, but I thought Elizabeth did a great job of covering the thoughts and feelings of all of the characters, whilst still giving both the paranormal aspects and romance parts equal footing.
I’d recommend this to romance fans and paranormal fans. It’s convinced me to read a paranormal book by one of my favourite authors that I’ve left to one side as I was convinced I’d hate it because of the paranormal – so I’d say Elizabeth is definitely onto a winner.
I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is another book due out in October with a number of darker topics. Remy is an Inspector who has been tasked with finding what is likely to be a serial killer, we meet her after the second victim has been found. Giana is a forensic scientist who decides to up and move her life across the country from Philadelphia to San Francisco, where she meets Remy at work.
I like both characters for very different reasons and connected with them both. Remy is well written as an inspector, but also with regards to her interactions and loyalty to family and friends and with regards to how her past impacts her feelings and decisions. I enjoyed Giana as someone discovering herself and her feelings about Remy and I liked reading about her work as a scientist, although it’s brief.
The story has some turmoil, both with family and the underlying murder storyline and the relationship isn’t always easy either. I’m finding it hard to rate because I enjoyed the book – but it isn’t one I’d want to read again – so I’m settling for around 3.5 stars. I would definitely appreciate a sequel though as I feel the situations they encounter mean that there would be lots of opportunity to tell lots more interesting stories about the pair and their friends and family.
I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
LGBTQ+ Reader 