Just for Kicks

I love Scottish men, a dash of sports, and marriages of conveience, which made Just for Kicks by Tracy Solheim basically the perfect book. It had a bit of everything for the average romance reader and enough little twists to keep you on your toes.

• Genre: Contemporary Sports Romance
• Heat Level: ❤️❤️❤️❤️
• Overall Rating 6/6 Glass Slippers

Andi’s has a rough life, growing up in foster care then having her ex blow her student loans on gambling. She’s outed her heart into her dream of making her own beauty line, but now it seems to be sleeping away. She can’t seem to catch a break, until a plan begins to fall into place to pay her debt that’s just crazy enough, it might just work.

Scotsman Declan never wants to see the place of his birth again and will do anything to avoid it, including getting hitched to a stranger in Vegas. The plan seems perfect. If he marries the American girl, he can stay and keep playing for the Milwaukee Growlers football team and not have to go home. The one hitch? His fake wife is pretty cute.

The pair want to play their parts and get their fair share of the deal. Together, they’ll face the wannabe football wives, the curious friends, and their own growing feelings.

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This book was so cute. Well, maybe cute is an understatement since Declan is mega hot and Andi has the wit and charm to tame him. Their relationship was equal parts sexy, funny, and sharp as they both balanced each other out in the way only well written characters can. They had real issues and real chemistry that popped off the page and kept me reading.

I adore marriage for convenience and fake relationship stories. There’s something so satisfying about witnessing two strangers make something out of nothing more than a contract and a goal. The deadlines are usually strict, the cost high, and the payoff even better. All romance fans will love Just for Kicks.

To Rescue the Runaway Bride

Happy Saturday reading and writing friends. Before baby comes, I have one more book up my sleeve, then I’ll be on my own version of maternity leave until it’s time to work on a super special project Sarah and I will be revealing soon. So, introducing the last book in The Hollingsworth Sisters series, To Rescue the Runaway Bride, which is now available for preorder! This steamy romance will be everywhere on April 27th wherever books are sold.

She’s ready to take charge of her future…

Accountant Claire Hollingsworth has always played by the rules, squelching her own dreams to please her father, work for her family’s publishing business and play the perfect hostess for her ambitious fiancé. But when she learns he’s been cheating weeks before their wedding, Claire breaks the engagement and heads to Marietta, Montana, to reconnect with her sisters and with herself. Armed with a to-do list of adventures, she’s determined to break a few rules.

Théodore Deschamps is ready to start a new chapter. He left his successful career as a Hollywood stuntman to open a lodge on Copper Mountain, where he spent summers as a child. He loves nothing more than a challenge, and the strawberry blonde who literally falls into his arms promises to be his biggest one yet.

What starts out as ticking off items on her list quickly becomes much more intense. But Claire has to return to reality in two weeks, and she’s not sure how, or if, she can say goodbye.

You can preorder To Rescue the Runaway Bride and the rest of The Hollingsworth Sisters series HERE!

The Fae King’s Prize

Oh, look, it’s the latest addition of the Fae romance series that got me back into fantasy! Jamie Schlossler has graced my kindle today with her new release, The Fae King’s Prize, Between Dawn and Dusk book 3. As always, I devoured it in two days, which was both a blessing and a curse, as I’m still on bed rest!

• Heat Level: ❤️❤️❤️❤️
• Genre: Fantasy Romance
• Overall Rating: 6/6 Glass Slippers

There’s been a shortage of women in the Day Kingdom for years after a deadly plague. Since then, the male population has resorted to kidnapping and bride auctions to find wives…or breeders. It’s at one of these auctions that the human Maelyn finds herself after being snatched off the street. She decides to play along with her unusual captors until the moment she can finally escape. But who will make the winning bid on her?

King Zander of the Day Kingdom has been blind since a curse plunged all princes of Valora into darkness until they find their fated mates. The only clue he has to go on is the cryptic phrase, You’ll know her by her voice. She won’t be with you by choice. The last place he expected to hear her is at a the very bride auction he’s working to destroy. His own mother was one a victim of that very type of auction, and he’s vowed to be a different ruler than his cruel father, with Maelyn as his queen.

At first, Zander hopes Maelyn feels the same magnetic pull, but when she makes it clear she’s only interested in going home, he feels he has no choice but to pull a Fae trick. Now with a new, reluctant, queen and a kingdom to run, Zander has his hands full…and when the truth of what he really is comes to light, will he lose every chance to win over his new bride?

Ugh, as an Irish person with some knowledge of the Fae, I feel like a traitor adoring these books so much, but I can’t help it! It makes me want to find a mushroom circle and offer some honey and gold to lure them to me. It’s something I never considered until this series.

We get into the action on page one and it literally doesn’t stop. There’s old curses, shifting, kidnapping, quicksand…and that’s only in the first few chapters. This book keeps you seriously invested from the beginning, especially where the romance is involved. In the first books, the pull of the fated mates are paired perfectly and there’s no question that the couple are made for each other. But with Zander and Maelyn, it’s messy and there’s no instant connection on her side, which keeps readers on their toes.

Overall, this book was another amazing hit for me, and I’m still a solid fan of this series. While it is a series, each of the books can be read on their own, but starting at the beginning is always the best. Seriously, pick up the entire series today.

French Finds

French historical pieces are so decadent and theatrical. They always make me want to go back to the palace of Versailles in a billowing gown so I can run down the Hall of Mirrors or through the lavish gardens. The drama and costumes are just beyond, when done right. I also think we could all use some grand parties and grander wigs in our lives as we continue to cozy up and stay safe. So, here’s a list of movies and shows that’ll make you long for France.

This movie, starring Kirsten Dunst, is a personal favorite, flashy and sharp, it’s a delightfully dramatized look into the life of an often misunderstood queen. Casted wonderfully with an end that made you feel the doom, it will remain firmly on my rewatch list.

This is a fictional retelling of the life of famed composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s sister Maria Anna as she befriends the sister of the future King of France. Her musical talent draws his eye, but romance at the French court can be deadly, and there are little life choices for a woman in the shadows of Versailles.

Part drama, part documentary, this ones great for those looking for more fact than fiction when it comes to the infamous Sun King Louis XIV and his dreams of grandeur. But the show doesn’t end with the death of King Louis, as the palace and gardens live on in their splendor.

I touched on this dramatic series in my post Winter Watches, but it deserves a place on this list as well. It has all the glitz and glamour of Versailles King Louis XVI could dream of with the added bonus of sex, lies, and treachery.

On the eve of the French Revolution, the royal family is holding on to the last bits of power and normalcy their position has. The final days of Marie Antoinette are told through her servant, monarchist Sidonie, who doesn’t believe the time of the royals will ever end.

As the Palace of Versailles comes to fruition, the gardens also need to be created. King Louis XIV tasks royal gardener Andres with hiring a team and creating something magical. Andres employs an unlikely gardener, Sabine, a woman with creative ideas and little interest in court life. Drama, betrayal, and love are all themes in this movie starring Kate Winslet.

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