★ Fundamentals of Being a Good Girl
First in Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone’s new Academic Affairs series, Fundamentals of Being a Good Girl is unashamed, clever and rollicking sexy fun with an unforgettable cast that includes nosy friends, realistic children and a frog. New-on-campus adjunct Maddie Kowalczk and Astra University ecology professor Bram Loe set the story in motion when a chance meet at a bar leads to hot sex—but then it turns out that Maddie is the single dad’s new live-in nanny. Don’t think, just go with it and enjoy the ride. This romance swings toward the erotic end of the spectrum, meaning the sex is on fire with explicit language and some role-play thrown in. That said, what really stands out is the complex characterization of these very likable leads. The authors expertly handle Maddie and Bram’s romantic dilemma, where what the rules say is right is being steamrolled by, well, the steam of two people who have undoubtedly met their match. This one should come with warnings: cautions for both readers’ hearts and funny bones.
How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days
Love battles prejudice and preconceptions in Jessie Sylva’s charming, opposites-attract tale, How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days. Halfling Pansy moves to her grandmother’s supposedly vacant forest cottage. To her dismay, she finds Ren, a goblin who has taken up residence and cannot be convinced to move out. Despite a long history of goblin-halfling, well, hatred, Pansy and Ren agree to cohabit—but each determines to drive the other out. It could happen, as goblins like dirt floors and moss-covered walls, which halflings despise, and halflings’ habits of second breakfasts and using their roommate’s tea without asking confirms goblin presumptions of halfling selfishness and excess. Sylva deftly builds this enchanting world as well as the cultures of the goblins and halflings while Pansy and Ren get to know and appreciate each other. But can hearts overcome a lifetime of looking down at a different kind? The fight against a common enemy might just be the turning point in this cozy, kisses-only fantasy romance.
Motor City Love Song
Readers can immerse themselves in the 1990s Detroit garage band scene in Motor City Love Song by Lisa Peers. The infamous Artemis Club has launched many a musical talent, but has since fallen on hard times. Current event manager and ex-talent manager Jace Randolph vows to keep the place open for a longtime friend. She’ll organize a fundraiser by getting together the old musicians, including booking her onetime lover, who has gone missing from Jace’s life and the music world after a brush with fame in the ’90s. But Paloma Doralle proves hard to find, and the search takes Jace into her past and through her past mistakes, which Peers relates in flashbacks. When Paloma arrives on the page, drama and heartache amp up, and the two former lovers must reach across the decades to create a bond that won’t break this time. Deeply romantic and peppered with impressive detail, this is a love story between two 50-somethings who still have epic moments ahead.
Racing Hearts
Racing Hearts by Ann Adams explores the mind and heart of an elite athlete. Katherine Parker is a talented rower with a huge Olympic dream. However, when she loses a series of races (and her boyfriend at the same time), she also loses her place at the Olympic Training Center. There’s hope, but it means going home and training with a coach she finds she doesn’t like at all . . . or maybe she likes him too much. Told in Kath’s honest first-person voice, this story details her idiosyncrasies and the rituals around all aspects of her life including eating, sleeping and relationships. When her new coach, Adrian Crawford, reveals his interest in her, she worries he’ll upend her routine and tries to push him away. But their chemistry can’t be denied, and Kath hopes she can manage a temporary affair while keeping her training at the forefront. To find a way from temporary to forever, both Kath and Adrian must confront their self-images and pasts in this interesting look into a unique world.
The Re-Do List
Can the little sister of a man’s best friend ever become said man’s friend with benefits? Conscience says no, but chemistry says yes in Denise Williams’ The Re-Do List. After a bad breakup with her first-and-only, Willow Lewis returns home to dog-sit after her military brother is deployed. Her bro left behind a friend too: Deacon Rakes, who’s been instructed to look after Willow, but not to touch. This story chronicles Willow and Deacon’s sweet and funny friendship as it transforms into a hot and funny romance. Willow wants to redo a two-page list of experiences she had with her ex, and Deacon goes along even as the list progresses from brunch to the bedroom. Along the way, they help each other seek new futures, and what they thought might be a harmless fling becomes so much more. Deacon was once a ladies’ man and Willow a pushover, so while the sex is smoking, is there really a Happily Ever After in the cards? And will big brother’s return change everything? Witty dialogue, fun friends and adorable dogs round out this feel-good romance that is low on drama but big on heartfelt feelings. Readers will root all the way to the last page for this pair.