CBR14 Book 6: "The Worst Guy" by Kate Canterbary

Page count: 340 pages

Rating: 4.5 stars

Sebastian Stremmel is a trauma surgeon at a large Boston hospital, rumoured to be the chief of staff's pick for the next chief of surgery. He's also known to be grumpy, rather antisocial, and a workaholic. Sara Shapiro is an introverted plastic surgeon working at the same hospital who forces herself to be cheerful and friendly in public to hide her own social anxiety and unease around others. Sebastian finds Sara annoyingly chirpy, she finds him unbelievably rude and arrogant. They try to avoid one another as much as possible, despite living in the same apartment building along with other surgeons from the hospital. 

After Sara furiously confronts Sebastian about the treatment of a patient of hers, a series of unlikely events lead to a wrecked exam room in the ER. The two doctors find themselves forced to do eight weeks of mandatory conflict resolution counseling, which not only involves weekly meetings with a therapist but a lot of homework where they have to spend time together outside of work. It doesn't take long before their extreme antagonism causes a reaction and they find themselves tearing each other's clothes off after every mandatory counseling session. Initially, they keep studiously avoiding one another outside the therapy sessions, assigned "homework" interactions, or their hate f*cking sessions. As the weeks proceed, however, they slowly begin to share more personal stuff and their feelings begin to change.

As far as I could tell, several of the supporting characters in this book have featured in other Canterbary novels in the past. I'm assuming Sebastian and possibly also Sara may have appeared previously in a supporting capacity, but I didn't feel like I was missing out on any significant backstory by beginning with this book.

Both Sebastian and Sara have significant emotional baggage which makes it difficult for them to open up to others and neither are exactly wildly sociable. Sebastian is part of an established friend group of doctors, who keep wanting to include Sara as well. While he's frequently surly and stand-offish and very much a workaholic, his friends clearly accept him, flaws and all, and he doesn't seem to mind the gentle ribbing he gets from them. Sara projects a pleasant and outgoing facade in public because she has learned to be a people pleaser, but in private she's nothing like her chirpy work persona and keeps to herself. She tries to avoid social situations because anything involving food and/or drink will likely become deeply awkward since she has extremely strict dietary needs since she's recovering from a serious eating disorder and her body cannot handle a lot of foods and certainly not alcohol without her getting violently ill.

One of the things about her that drive Sebastian up the wall is the small bags of snacks she keeps carrying everywhere and insists on grazing from. Yet even before he discovers the true reason for her odd snacking habits, his need to nurture and care for others manifests itself, and he begins silently picking out and removing the parts of the trail mix she never eats so she won't have to worry about them. There are a lot of such show, don't tell moments throughout the story, where Canterbary show the readers who her protagonists really are, and why they'd be so perfect for one another. 

With my reading slump this year, just finding a book that so fully holds my attention that I finish it in less than a weekend is a great feeling, and while I wanted to give this book a full five stars (I might, upon a reread), I did think there were a bit too many angsty moments of "oh, I'm not good enough for him/her" in the latter half of the book before I got to the satisfying happy ending. Still, I will absolutely be seeking out more of Canterbary's novels, to see if any of her many other books are as entertaining and satisfying as this one. 

Judging a book by its cover: You don't often see bearded heroes on the covers of romance novels, at least not if the character in question isn't a biker or lumberjack or some such. As our protagonist in question is a surgeon at the top of his field, one might wonder if the beard is even something someone whose job it is to perform surgery should have, what with the associated hygiene risks. Having looked it up, it seems it is OK for surgeons to have facial hair, but they have to wear additional protective gear to ensure the patients' safety. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

CBR14 Book 5: "The Love Hypothesis" by Ali Hazelwood

Page count: 384 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Olive Smith is a Ph.D. candidate working on her thesis at Stanford and really has neither the time nor the inclination for anything romantic. However, she did briefly date a guy who her best friend is now gaga over, and because Olive needs to convince her BFF, Ahn, that she is well and truly over said guy, she lies and claims she dating someone else. However, since her friend remains skeptical, Olive needs somebody she is supposedly dating, and this is how she ends up panicking and kissing a random guy in the science labs while she knows Ahn is watching. That her fake boyfriend turns out to be Professor Adam Carlsen, Stanford's science darling and well-known bane of many of the Ph.D. candidate's existence was NOT what Olive was prepared for.

To Olive's surprise, Adam agrees when she goes to him to suggest that they continue to fake date for a while, just to make absolutely sure that Ahn believes the charade. While he is famously moody, dictatorial and a pain in his students' backsides, he's also tall, dark, and decidedly interesting-looking and must surely have no reason to entertain far-fetched schemes from strange female students. However, Adam explains that the Stanford funding board is worried he's going to take his giant brain and brilliant research and leave for another university, and they're holding a large chunk of his funding money hostage. Appearing to have an on-campus girlfriend who has yet to finish her own Ph.D. would very much serve his purposes, as it might reassure the people holding the purse strings that he intends to stick around at Stanford for a good while yet. 

So Olive and Adam agree to meet publically for coffee at least once a week, and at various faculty events, and as is the case with all fake dating stories, one or both of the parties inevitably catch real feelings. Olive discovers that while he may not be as outgoing and effortlessly charming as some, Adam is nevertheless not the ogre that many at Stanford would paint him as. By the time a big out of town science conference comes around, the fake dating has been convincing enough to Olive's friends that they assume she's going to share a hotel room with Adam, and while there is, in fact, more than one bed in the room, it still involves even more up close and personal time to act on all those feelings. Will their fake dating ruse become the real thing by the time of their mutually agreed deadline?

This book was published in September 2021 and it didn't take long before it took romance internet, not to mention Book Tok, by storm. I started seeing mentions of it everywhere, including on many Best of the Year lists, and for months now, I've also seen the paperback widely advertised anywhere that sells books. I'm very happy for Ali Hazelwood because as well as being a delightful romance that I had trouble putting down, the science and academic backgrounds of the leads feel so much more true to life than in many books, probably because Hazelwood herself is a scientist. I know absolutely nothing about lab procedures, experiments that need to be run, or the many hoops you have to jump through to successfully achieve your Ph.D., but the descriptions included in this book all felt very realistic.

My main gripe with the book is that we only get Olive's POV throughout. I much prefer romance novels where we get an alternating perspective from both of the leads, and after reading the bonus chapter Hazelwood released to her newsletter subscribers, from Adam's POV, I am even more bereft at being denied his gloomy thoughts on things throughout the book. Adam is of course, for all his lacking social graces and foul temper, a wonderful and deeply emotional romance hero, Olive is just the first woman he's met that he feels enough for to want a romantic and sexual relationship with. While it's never addressed directly in the text, the description of both Adam and Olive makes me suspect they may be demi-sexual, and that's the reason they haven't really met anyone before who fascinates them enough to distract them from the science that so dominates their lives.

I'm very happy I finally took the time to read this book and even happier that Hazelwood has several titles due to be published this year. It's always fun to discover a new author, and I will happily take more romances set in the world of STEM.

Judging a book by its cover: While I long for the days when publishing decides that we're done with cartoony covers, I absolutely adore this one. It doesn't hurt that the cover artist has made the book leads look a lot like the Star Wars characters which they are (most likely) inspired by. It's just such a cute cover, and I keep seeing it pretty much everywhere right now - which in itself makes me super happy, because romance SHOULD be widely available, even in Norwegian book shops. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read

CBR14 Book 4: "Something Fabulous" by Alexis Hall

Page count: 363 pages

Rating: 4.5 stars

Official book description:

Valentine Layton, the Duke of Malvern, has twin problems: literally.

It was always his father’s hope that Valentine would marry Miss Arabella Tarleton. But, unfortunately, too many novels at an impressionable age have caused her to grow up…romantic. So romantic that a marriage of convenience will not do and after Valentine’s proposal she flees into the night determined never to set eyes on him again.

Arabella’s twin brother, Mr. Bonaventure “Bonny” Tarleton, has also grown up…romantic. And fully expects Valentine to ride out after Arabella and prove to her that he’s not the cold-hearted cad he seems to be.

Despite copious misgivings, Valentine finds himself on a pell-mell chase to Dover with Bonny by his side. Bonny is unreasonable, overdramatic, annoying, and…beautiful? And being with him makes Valentine question everything he thought he knew. About himself. About love. Even about which Tarleton he should be pursuing.

Just in case anyone was wondering, this book is unashamedly and extremely queer. It would not surprise me if several of the innkeepers and random people who are encountered over the course of the story and barely get to say two lines are also queer, it just didn't fit into the narrative to confirm how and in what way. So considering it's also a Regency romance, some disbelief will need to be suspended, because the very illegal nature of many of these queer relationships is not really dealt with in any way. Which was fine by me. 

I wanted to give this book five stars, but Arabella Tarleton made it utterly impossible for me. I get that she's a woman of meager financial means placed in a pretty undesirable situation with regards to her family wanting her to marry a duke she in no way likes or wished to spend any time with, but the completely irresponsible way she runs off and keeps spreading melodramatic lies about her situation was just insufferable to me. It might have been fine if it happened once, but the second or third time Valentine and Bonny catch up with her and she still keeps on with her ridiculous slander, I wished someone would drown her in a lake. I'm sure I should feel more sympathy for someone of my own gender, but I found her deeply frustrating and couldn't understand why her lovely companion put up with her either. Everyone in this story, including her twin, would have been better off without her. 

The rest of this book was delightful and I laughed out loud several times. Poor Valentine may be a rich and powerful duke, but he's deeply out of touch with his feelings and it was probably good that he had to go haring off through the south of England on an unusual road trip with a handsome young man, even with some of the misadventures they have along the way. 

Boyfriend Material is still my favourite Alexis Hall novel, but until the sequel comes out later this year and possibly surpasses it, this is in second place for me. 

Judging a book by its cover: I'm honestly not entirely sure what I think about this cover. I think I like it? I do like the very colourful coats on our heroes, but the face of the individual I think is supposed to be Valentine seems too leering and wrong to me. I also would have wished for more of a background image, not just ghostly outlines of buildings. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

CBR14 Book 3: "I'm Only Wicked with You" by Julie Anne Long

Page count: 400 pages

Rating: 3 stars

Hugh Cassidy is an ambitious man. He knows exactly what he wants from life, he's going to run for mayor of his hometown, from thence devote his life to politics. While his parents may not have been particularly distinguished, they clearly loved one another and raised Hugh and his siblings to believe in hard work, as well being moral and upstanding people. Hugh is in England to try to track down the runaway daughter of a good friend (and as the story progresses it becomes clear that there may have been some form of sentimental attachment between Hugh and the young lady), and while he's travelling around, he's using the comfortable Palace of the Thames as his home base. Complications involving the beautiful high-born daughter of a nobleman complicating were the last thing Hugh expected to face. 

Lady Lillias, the eldest daughter of the Earl and Countess of Vaughn, is both angry and frustrated. Stuck in some pokey boarding house near the docks just because her idiot brother decided to bring a snake home and a large hole was shot in their wall, she now finds herself confined to her chambers, chastised like a naughty child, just because some insufferable American caught her in the garden, smoking a cheroot. Hugh Cassidy may be tall, trapping, and very handsome, but as far as Lillias is concerned, he may as well be the devil, having tattled to her parents and gotten her barred from shopping, socialising, and anything else that could make her involuntary exile somewhat more bearable. All the while, the gossip sheets are speculating about her absence, not to mention what advantageous match she is likely to make during the end of the season. Of course, no one, not even Lillias' family, knows that she's nursing a broken heart, convinced that she'll never really find love, as the only person she's ever felt close to seems likely to offer for another. 

Hugh and Lillias may not seem like an obvious match, and while this was a perfectly fine romance novel, I must admit I found it rather lacking compared to Long's previous entries in The Palace of Rogues series so far. The book is probably still better than the most forgettable of her Pennyroyal Green books, but nevertheless, a diverting read, if a bit slow to start.

I think part of the problem is that it takes too long for the reader to get a proper insight into what Lillias is going through, and at the start, she just seems like a spoiled and bitter society maiden, with too much privilege and not enough experience about the world around her. It's difficult to see how she and Hugh will ever find any sort of common ground, and it takes a bit too long before the story progresses from sniping disguised as banter or insta-lust. It probably doesn't help either that to me, living in upstate New York in the early 19th Century, sounds like a fate worse than death. Rustic pioneer life really never appealed to me, I really didn't care how enthusiastically Hugh kept describing his home.

I very much enjoyed spending more time with the already established supporting cast of the series, however, and Lillias' family is also fun and remarkably understanding for your high-born noble parents. There's also the fact that even a middling Julie Anne Long historical is usually at least entertaining, and if I don't exactly remember all the details of the plot a year from now, that's OK - she still has some solid gold classics that make her worth my time and money. 

Judging a book by its cover: For some inexplicable reason, all the covers for this series are just a bit off, and there's always some element in them that doesn't work for me. In my review of book 2 in the series, Angel in a Devil's Arms, I mentioned that I hoped Ms. Long would be luckier with her next cover. Yes...and no. The many shades of green are very soothing to the eye, and we thankfully can't see the hero's face, as he's facing away from us (no sad Antoni knock-off cover model here), but the woman who I'm guessing is supposed to be Lillias looks sickly somehow. Possibly she's going through some sort of stomach bug? I think the look on her face is supposed to be flirtatious and sexy, but I think whoever drew this made her look bone-tired and/or possibly drunk instead. Sigh.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

CBR14 Book 2: "Electric Idol" by Katee Robert

Page count: 375 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Psyche Demetriou wishes her mother would stop trying to push her at the most powerful men in Olympus to arrange a solid business alliance. She's used to pretending to be shallow and vain, as well as deaf to all the voices who try to tear her down for her social position or body shape. She misses the quiet life before her mother became hugely powerful and sees the good in everyone, to the point where she spends time patching up dangerous hitman Eros at a party when he arrives late and clearly the worse for wear. Unfortunately, in Olympus, no good deed goes unpunished and Psyche and Eros are caught on camera in what appears to be an amorous embrace. 

Eros has been his mother Aphrodite's hitman, general fixer, and all-round boogeyman since he was still a teenager. By now, he's pretty sure he's killed enough to drown both what is left of his heart and conscience in heinous deeds ordered by his volatile parent. Yet when Aphrodite orders him to murder Psyche, as she's upset both by the positive press the woman is getting and Demeter's matchmaking attempts, Eros finds that he has had enough. Psyche showed him gentleness and kindness when no one else would have dared, and he rationalises that if they get married, she will be safe, as Aphrodite would never have her own daughter-in-law murdered. 

Given the choice between death or a marriage of convenience to the frightening, but utterly gorgeous Eros, Psyche doesn't really feel she has any choice but to accept. They agree to stay married until Aphrodite is no longer in power, and Eros promises he will do everything in his power to protect her and keep her safe. They need to present the union as an impulsive love match for the ages, but Psyche is mostly worried about how she's going to persuade her sisters to believe that she's suddenly so smitten with Eros that she'd marry him on next to no notice.

Last summer, I was lucky enough to be granted an ARC for Ms. Robert's Neon Gods, the first book in this series of Greek mythology-inspired contemporary romances. I've checked out some of her erotic reimaginings of Disney villains and other characters, and while they were fine, they didn't really tempt me to read more. With her Dark Olympus books, however, I'm really intrigued at world building and cast of characters she's establishing. 

The actual world-building is a bit vague, mostly a big modern city divided into an upper and a lower half, with most of the power divided between thirteen very powerful individuals, named after the Greek pantheon. Only a few of the positions, like for instance Zeus and Hades, are hereditary, the others are assigned. The old Zeus died at the end of the previous novel, now his son is Zeus, and looking for a wife, who will automatically become Hera. Both Demeter and Aphrodite are extremely influential and wield a lot of power, but if they die or are removed, they are not automatically replaced by a family member, someone non-related can easily assume the name and mantle of power. It's established that one of the points of contention between Demeter and Aphrodite is that Demeter was elected by the people of Olympus by popular vote, and Aphrodite is clearly a woman who doesn't deal well with jealousy, and frequently punishes people she feels have offended her by sending her son to send a bloody, or lethal message. Eros has clearly long been uncomfortable with being his mother's weapon of choice, and when he's tasked to cold-bloodedly murder an innocent woman who recently showed him vulnerability and kindness, just because his mother is annoyed with her mother, he decides that he needs to draw a line.

As far as I can tell from her Twitter, Katee Robert has a lot of books planned in this series, and I'm totally OK with that. We mainly spend each book almost wholly focused on the main couple, but a little bit about the wider world and some supporting characters also flesh out the stories. Eros and Psyche aren't complete strangers, having appeared in the same social circles for years. Eros hasn't really shown anyone his true self, though, and Psyche has a very firmly established public persona, which doesn't always match up with the home-loving and sweet person she really is. She's not exactly thrilled with the thought of marrying Eros, but if the only other option is death, she's pragmatic enough to agree. Even before letting their guards down towards each other, the couple certainly share a strong physical attraction, which means Eros can pretend to himself that the only reason he's suggesting the match is so he can sleep with Psyche. 

I'm not sure which of the two books I've read in the series so far I prefer. I really liked Persephone and Hades in Neon Gods (and love their cameo appearances here). Both novels are more than entertaining (and steamy) enough that I'll be waiting with bated breath for more installments. There's some very interesting developments set up in this story, and I can't wait to see how things play out in future books.

 

Judging a book by its cover: I think the first cover mock-up for this book featured an ornate gilded mirror, which was fine, but the final cover is so much more eye-catching. I really like the glowing jewel heart - and considering that the hero supposedly is very stone-hearted, the image fits on several levels. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

CBR14 Book 1: "A Very Beery New Year" by Jackie Lau

Page count: 56 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Encouraged by his mother to socialise more, introverted software developer Gerald Nakamura goes to his local craft beer bar to sit by the bar, reading a book, not really interacting with anyone except the serving staff. He especially likes exchanging a few words with the pretty and vivacious bartender Kelsey. 

Kelsey lives with her rather exasperating grandmother (who just discovered Tik Tok and is determined to become a viral sensation) and works at the bar until she can find something more suitable to her skillsets. She notices the silent, scowling man and begins to ask him the occasional question about the books he reads. As the weeks and months pass, they interact more and eventually even exchange phone number to continue to conversations via text.

While both Gerald and Kelsey find the other attractive, neither wants to ruin a good friendship by assuming anything more. While he's clearly shy, Gerald nevertheless shows up to Kelsey's second job, selling d*ck-shaped donuts at a popup stand in the park. He also politely interacts with her matchmaking grandmother - but does that mean he LIKES likes her, or just that he's a perfectly nice guy? When she recieves an invitation from Gerald to spend New Year's Eve together, she hopes she hasn't misread the situation, and that he wants to be more than just friends.

A Very Beery New Year was a free novella for subscibers of Jackie Lau's newsletter and one of the protagonists, Kelsey, already appeared occasionally in book 3 of The Cider Bar Sisters, as Nicole's cousin in The Professor Next Door. The novella features pretty much everything you want in a Jackie Lau story, except in smaller doses, since this is a novella. There's likeable, dedicated professionals who find a spark and have excellent banter with one another. There's mention of lots of food and drink, in this story, the afore-mentioned d*ick-shaped donuts (with a creamy filling) play an important part. There's also mentions of various craft beers for those who care about that stuff, I don't drink, and even when I did, beer was NOT something I enjoyed. 

Jackie Lau's stories continue to be comforting reads that I know will amuse and entertain me, and I'm looking forward to the next books in the Cider Bar Sisters, out later this year. 

Judging a book by its cover: I know for a fact that Jackie Lau doesn't have an easy time of it, finding decent-looking cover models for her books when going through stock photos. There's just not as many photos of hunky-looking Asian guys out there, but I think she manages pretty well. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.  

#CBR13 Book 56: "Fated Blades" by Ilona Andrews

Page count: 222 pages

Rating: 4.5 stars

This was an ARC from Netgalley. My views and opinions are my own. 

On the alien planet of Rada, most of the powerful families have genetic abilities in some way or another, but the ones born with lethal combat abilities are the fiercest of rivals, and none more so than the Adlers and the Baenas. They are constantly vying to be the most dominant, and now both families are close to discovering the secrets behind their genetic abilities. 

Matias Baena, head of his house, is surprised when he is told that Ramona Adler, head of hers, has come to see him unannounced. He's even more shocked when she has undeniable proof that her husband has been having an affair with his wife, and the couple is currently on the run with the business secrets of both the Baenas and the Adlers. Matias and Ramona have no choice but to join forces in tracking down their cheating spouses, to prevent possibly universe-altering technology being leaked and exploited. 

It quickly becomes apparent that there are some very deadly groups wanting the business secrets, and Matias and Ramona do not have a lot of time. They need to keep their personal alliance hidden from their families and business rivals, escape the lethal forces trying to kill them, and resist the rapidly growing attraction between them. Not only are they both still married (although that's not going to be lasting long), but their families have been bitter rivals for more generations than anyone alive can remember.

Previous to releasing this novella, author-pair Ilona Andrews hadn't written or published anything in their sci-fi series Kinsmen since 2011. So I think it's fair to say that this story took a lot of their fans by surprise. At the same time, die-hard Ilona Andrews fans, affectionately nicknamed the Book-Devouring Horde on their website(of which I am certainly a member), will buy and probably love anything they publish. The good news for those readers who haven't read any previous Kinsmen stories is that this stands entirely on its own and can act as a jumping-on point to the other stories in the series or just act as a very nice taste of what the authors have to offer.

There is interesting world-building, which even in a story this short, feels perfectly established. There are intricate power struggles. The protagonists are both extremely capable at what they do, top of their field and also start out as antagonists. The chemistry between the leads and the dialogue, both between primary and supporting characters, sparkles. In this story, there is a clear goal, some very impressive action sequences, some hot personal moments, and a wholly satisfying ending. Well, if I was going to quibble, the ending came a bit too soon for my taste and I would have loved to spend more time with Matias and Ramona than a longish novella. 

This story is available now and has been since late November. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to review it, but I am hoping to do better with my reviews in the coming year. 

Judging a book by its cover: After seeing this cover, and the one for Blood Heir, from the start of the year, I am of the opinion that Louisa Pressler should design and create all of Ilona Andrews' covers. Considering so many of their books are eye-sores, these recent self-published books are a welcome change. I love Pressler's art and even if Ilona Andrews were number one on my pre-order list, I would have bought the book based on this cover. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.