Genre: Romance

An Amazing Race-style reality TV competition, an airport breakup + hot pilot meet-cute, and the good ol’ fake dating + forced proximity tropes, Chip Pon’s M/M romcom Winging It With You is a vibe. A perfect summer read mixing international travel destinations with romance trope hijinks, Pon’s trade publisher debut is a fun, light-hearted yet comforting story. Featuring lots of laughs, embarrassingly awkward moments, spicy scenes, yet a lot of heart, Winging It With You is the type of book that will make your day just a little bit brighter or leave a smile on your face with its endearingly sweet and cute story. I openly admit that I am a huge fan of the Amazing Race and have been watching it for years, so when this book randomly popped up in my Instagram reel suggestions I was intrigued. An Amazing race-style reality show paired with a fake dating M/M romcom, the algorithms are getting scary good these days. Comically over the top right from the start, Winging It With You makes it clear that it’s a story written for pure, unadulterated enjoyment and a good time. Rather than coming off as derivatively tired, Winging It With You wears its…

Comforting and heartfelt, like Miles states to Lenny, Cara Bastone’s Promise Me Sunshine promises the reader that there will always be sunshine after a gloomy day if you keep your head up and know where to look. Featuring a compelling premise via a reverse twist of a buckets list, this novel tells a story about two people broken down by grief and loss, helping each other in the areas they know best. Despite tackling difficult topics like loss of loved ones, terminal illness, depression and the importance of family, the story is delivered full of warmth and gentle comfort, making it highly accessible and mass appealing, albeit at the cost of more ambitious developments and deeper self-reflections. While pleasant and fine, I constantly found myself a bit underwhelmed with Promise Me Sunshine, frequently wishing it would go further with its great ideas. Struggling to get by and jumping between short-term, non-committal babysitting gigs, Lenny is not doing well following the recent death of her best friend and other half Lou. Upon arriving at her next weekend job, she meets single-mother Reece, her daughter Ainsley, and Ainsley’s grumpy uncle Miles. Constantly out of town on the job, Lenny is hired to…

A cute and refreshing take on the jaded romantics premise, First-Time Caller is a near perfect contemporary romance novel that should be a required read for all sappy romance fans, end of this review, Jeff signing off. Just kidding on the review part but all joking aside, B.K. Borison’s First-Time Caller is a masterclass example of an excellent contemporary romance novel that’s solid across the board. Featuring a fun and unique premise, charming and well-developed main characters, and lowkey great comedic chops, this book seems to have everything pitched just right. However, what sets First-Time Caller apart from the rest of the crowded contemporary romance genre is its charming honesty and spot-on relatability with the feelings and doubts its romance-adverse characters experience. “It feels like every time I get my hopes up for something good, reality comes out swinging. I don’t know how to be a hopeful person anymore. It’s easier not to be.” While Borison’s prose isn’t the most lyrical or poetic style I’ve read, the biggest highlight of her work is undoubtedly the amazing dialogue and reflections presented in the story. A jaded grumpy man complimented by an honest hopeless romantic is common territory, but right from Aiden’s…

The following review is based on a complimentary ARC provided by Sourcebooks Landmark via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Beautiful, fit, smart, on the surface Lily Lennox appears to be the perfect seasonal employee and lifeguard of the exclusive Riovan Wellness Resort that celebrities, influencers, and the wealthy flock to in the pursuit of healthy “wellness”. While physically matching the social media curated brand look of the resort, Lily hides a hidden motive for her annual Caribbean summer job. A lifeguard when on-duty, vigilante killer of toxic and problematic people off-duty, her fifth year at Riovan starts out like every past summer. That is until an attractive and charismatic guest Daniel Black starts asking the wrong questions, complicating her annual tradition as well as causing her to question her actions, motives, and her hopes of “saving people.” Despite this novel being classified on paper under the romance genre, A Killer Getaway has so much more to offer outside of a possible tropical summer romance. Blending elements of the mystery thriller, crime thriller, literary fiction, and of course a bit of romance, Sienna Sharpe has crafted an extraordinarily well-rounded and ambitious Women’s Fiction/Contemporary drama story that was a consistently…

The following review is based on a complimentary ARC provided by St. Martin’s Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Mixing elements from both holiday and light magical romance genres, Timothy Janovsky’s A Mannequin for Christmas novel is a light-hearted and cute story perfect for the holidays, though it’s still a solid read outside of the winter months (I read the ARC going into the summer, oops). A cross between the 1980’s movie Mannequin and the classic Disney movie Life Sized, paired with the wishing/midnight hour premise of Cinderella, the story has a charming whimsical feel despite clearly having the light spice and style of an adult romance novel. Likewise, the comedic and sillier moments are nicely balanced out with more serious and somber content, resulting in a well-rounded novel that’s far more ambitious than most holiday themed stories. The story follows Henry’s struggles and insecurities revolving around maintaining his Aunt Isla’s vintage items store as well as his recent breakup, and in a moment of despair, he makes a wish at the afternoon magic hour for a perfect man. Between Henry’s amusing horror at the mannequin/Aidan’s sudden appearance and Aidan’s childlike confusion at how to be a…