Romance Reads... Update!

 

February is officially halfway done. It's gone by so fast! For me, it's been a blur off books and the endless amounts of chocolate I've been consuming. (It's not my fault the Ghirardelli squares fly into my cart at the store!) I always set this month aside to read romance books, and this time I've been pulling from my own ginormous TBR list. While I don't have a lot of romance books on it, I've been doing what I can to tackle the ones I do have on it. 

I thought I'd give you my thoughts on the books I've read so far. As I figured I would, I deviated from my planned list a little. But, I also stuck to my list a little. Either way, books have been read that have been waiting to be read for awhile (in some cases a year or more). So, here we go.....

The Wedding Party centers around Maddie and Theo. They have a mutual friend, Alexa, in common and that's about it. They don't like each other, but one night changes all that. The fling they try to hide from everyone gets even more interesting when they're both part of Alexa's wedding party. 

Jasmine Guillory has quickly become my go-to romance author. Each book of hers I've read I've enjoyed. The steamy parts are steamy and the storyline moves at a good pace. The only drawback I had for this book was I had a hard time liking. She could be an awesome character, but a second later, be a mean  and insulting character. I didn't care for the latter. She and Theo were fun together, but she had moments when she was mean and threw low blows. 

All in all, I liked the book. I didn't like Maddie's mean moments, but I liked her. I loved Maddie and Theo as a couple. 

This is book 1of 4 centering around the Tanglewood Inn. In this installment, you meet Jackson, who is the one behind the Inn's new renovation. Emma is hired as the Inn's resident baker for the weddings. He's the widower who is bringing his dead wife's dream to life. Emma's the highly talented baker who dared to take her talents where they would be appreciated and encouraged. Throw in Jackson's sisters and you have a recipe for a delightful read. Neither Jackson, nor Emma thought anything would grow from a working relationship, but it does. And watching how it does was sweet. 

This is a Christian fiction series, so it won't have the steamy scenes romance books are known for. But, I have to say, I didn't miss them. It was nice to watch a wholesome love grow. I felt the characters were real, the conversations they had were real and the flow of the story was real. These books weren't preachy as some Christian fiction books can be. This was much like watching a Hallmark movie. My favorite characters were the sisters. They were the best! They range from the Southern ball buster to nurturing. The whole cast was one I'd love to hang out with. I'm currently reading the second book in the series, so I'll let you know how it goes.

Olivia is focused on the law firm she and her bestie just started. She's moved from New York to LA with plans of focusing on her career on her terms. Max is the California Senator who, also, isn't looking for love. He's already learned that love and a political career aren't an easy mix. So, neither one has romance on their minds when they meet at a hotel bar. What started as a casual meeting, eventually grows into more. Before too long, they're feeling more than they expected to and have to navigate it amongst his political world. 

I have to say, I didn't enjoy Party of Two as much as other Jasmine's books. This plotline differed in that the steamy scenes I've come to expect from her didn't come into play as early on as they usually do. Don't get me wrong! When the steamy scenes happened, they were steamy! I just didn't expect it to happen as far into the storyline as they did. I wish there had been more of them. I loved Olivia and Max as a couple and enjoyed watching their relationship grow. It didn't start out as a physical thing, but they didn't expect it to blossom into love. While it wasn't my favorite of her books, it was still a good read. 

There we have the 3 books I've been curling up with while eating yummy chocolate. Even though none of them are books I'd put on my all-time favorite reads list, I did enjoy each one. They were cozy when I wanted them to be and steamy when I wanted them to be. I got to finally read books I've been meaning to read for awhile. Here's hoping the other half of February is just as good! Happy Reading!