Month: July 2025

Review: The Deal by Elle Kennedy

Posted July 16, 2025 by jennreads55 in Reviews | 0 Comments

The Deal by Elle Kennedy

Reviewer: Jenna
Series: Off Campus #1
Main Leads: Garrett Graham, Hannah Wells
Setting: United States, Massachusetts, Hastings
Genres: Romance, Contemporary, New Adult
Tags: Hockey Player, College Setting, Fake Dating, Tragic Pasts, Tutor Girl, Heavy Themes
Published On: February 24, 2015
Publisher: Bloom Books
Format: Tradeback
Source: Borrowed
Pages: 360
Purchase It: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

She’s about to make a deal with the college bad boy… Hannah Wells has finally found someone who turns her on. But while she might be confident in every other area of her life, she’s carting around a full set of baggage when it comes to sex and seduction. If she wants to get her crush’s attention, she’ll have to step out of her comfort zone and make him take notice…even if it means tutoring the annoying, childish, cocky captain of the hockey team in exchange for a pretend date. …and it’s going to be oh so good!

All Garrett Graham has ever wanted is to play professional hockey after graduation, but his plummeting GPA is threatening everything he’s worked so hard for. If helping a sarcastic brunette make another guy jealous will help him secure his position on the team, he’s all for it. But when one unexpected kiss leads to the wildest sex of both their lives, it doesn’t take long for Garrett to realize that pretend isn’t going to cut it. Now he just has to convince Hannah that the man she wants looks a lot like him.

The Deal is the first book in the Off-Campus series that follows Hannah Wells and Garrett Graham in their college era. Hannah is a driven student with a traumatic past that makes her extra careful when it comes to relationships. Garrett on the other hand is the star of the hockey team who despite the jock stereotype is passing all his classes except one, his ethics class who he just happens to have with Hannah. When he realizes he needs to get his grade up to be eligible to play he seeks her out for a tutor. After refusing multiple times they realized they could both benefit from this transaction. She helps tutor him and he helps make her crush Justin notices her by being seen with Garrett. But what starts out as a mutually beneficial agreement soon blooms into so much more than just friends!

I am a big hockey/sports romance girly so when Brenna asked if I had ever read the Off-Campus series I was so excited to have a new set of books to dive into and boy did the first not disappoint one bit! From the writing to the character development to the spicy scenes were amazing. The relationship Elle made between Hannah and Garrett was beautiful and so genuine. From their bickering to bantering to their intense chemistry in the bedroom was chef’s kiss! I loved it!! It was such an easy read and everything flowed so nicely. I was never confused on what was happening in scenes and honestly could not put the book down. It had me hooked from the very first chapter which I loved. The two POVs were so helpful and it was nice to see both of their thought processes and sides of the story!

Overall I was head over heels for this book and Garrett Graham! I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is a fan of sports romance or wanting to get into it!

On to the next book in the series! Let’s see what Logan gets himself into!

Final Rating

5 out of 5

Off Campus Series

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Review: The Wedding People by Alison Espach

Posted July 14, 2025 by Wena in Reviews | 0 Comments

The Wedding People by Alison Espach

Reviewer: Wena
Main Leads: Phoebe Stone
Setting: United States, Rhode Island, Newport
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Tags: Extramarital Affair, Grief & Loss, Suicidal Character
Published On: July 30, 2024
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.
Format: e-Book
Source: Purchased
Pages: 384
Purchase It: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help her start anew.

It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She’s immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe’s plan—which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other.

In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined—and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.

This book has been on my TBR pile ever since I became aware of it last year so when it was my turn to choose a book discussion book of the month, this book was the only option for me. This book surprised me with how much I enjoyed it. I expected to enjoy it but I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. I really enjoyed the author’s way of telling this story. There’s a lot of heavy themes throughout but Espach did such a great job of infusing humor throughout as to not bog the story that was being told down too much.

When we find out why Phoebe is at the Cornwall Inn, I didn’t think that there were any other things that would surprise me but boy was I wrong. From beginning to end, I was invested in the story being told, in the characters that we’re introduced to, and in seeing Phoebe come to life. Seeing the change in Phoebe throughout the book made for an interesting read and gave me a lot of hope that things and people can always turn around. There’s always light at the end of the tunnel. We just need to keep going.

This is the first book that I’ve read by Alison Espach but it won’t be the last. I liked her writing style and I thought she did a great job of bringing the setting to life. With each passing page, I didn’t want Phoebe to leave. Newport, Rhode Island was good for Phoebe and Phoebe was good for Newport, Rhode Island. As crazy and chaotic as things got for everyone at the wedding, at the hotel, and for Phoebe, I liked it all. Espach did a great job of balancing the humor with the heavier topics and because of that, I’m looking forward to reading more from this author. I definitely recommend this book.

Final Rating

4 out of 5

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Review: King & Conqueror by Alesana Nuusila

Posted July 9, 2025 by Chloe in Reviews | 0 Comments

King & Conqueror by Alesana Nuusila

Reviewer: Chloe
Main Leads: King, Toafa
Setting: Latu
Genres: Fiction, Fantasy
Tags: The Chosen One
Published On: February 4, 2025
Publisher: Self Published
Format: e-Book
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Pages: 139
Purchase It: Amazon

Born of the land but raised by the sea, King and TOAFA—two Lupe warriors—grew into legends, known for their unmatched skill and restraint in battle. Though feared and revered, they never sought conquest—only protection. Yet, whispers of their power spread across kingdoms, drawing both admiration and fear.

When King is summoned back to his birthplace, the island of Latu, he faces an identity he never knew. The people welcome him as Peau—the tide that returns—but his presence awakens long-buried tensions. His mother, Tupou, refuses to let him claim the land, while his forgotten grandmother, Selu, sees the truth in his eyes.

As King dedicates himself to saving the starving islanders, he defies the ancient warnings and leads a mission into the forbidden Sea of Leanga. There, he finds an abundance of fish—but no Anga warriors, as he had been led to believe. Had he been deceived?

Meanwhile, Tupou, driven by grief and pride, launches an attack on the Anga, seeking to eradicate them before they can retaliate. But the battle is not a victory—it is a massacre. The Anga are nearly wiped out.

Devastated, King realizes that he cannot deny the people who would die for him. He bids farewell to the Tangata, promising to return to his grandmother, and embraces the weight of his destiny.

As the tides pull him home, King is no longer just a warrior.

He is Peau. The tide that returns. The King who will reign beneath the waves.

This book was very short. I like the story and feel there’s so much potential. The writing felt a little everywhere and more like bullet points than a story telling. I just wanted more detail. Wanted more depth. Just MORE. The book is supposed to be about the King and his brother Toafa (the conqueror), but we only ever really got the King’s story. And for some reason I pictured the Lupe and the Anga as the sea creatures from the movie Luca. 😅

Overall, I didn’t hate it, didn’t love it. It was just different for me.

Final Rating

3 out of 5

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Review: The Neighbor Favor by Kristina Forest

Posted July 7, 2025 by Wena in Reviews | 0 Comments

The Neighbor Favor by Kristina Forest

Reviewer: Wena
Series: The Greene Sisters #1
Main Leads: Lily Greene, Nick Brown
Setting: United States, New York, Brooklyn
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
Tags: Neighbors Romance, Second Chance Romance, Fell in Love through Emails
Published On: February 28, 2023
Publisher: Berkley
Format: e-Book
Source: Purchased
Pages: 403
Purchase It: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

In this heart-fluttering romance by Kristina Forest, a shy bookworm enlists her charming neighbor to help her score a date, not knowing he’s the obscure author she’s been corresponding with.

Shy, bookish, and admittedly awkward, Lily Greene has always felt inadequate compared to the rest of her accomplished family, who strive for Black excellence. She dreams of becoming an editor of children’s books but has been frustratingly stuck in the nonfiction division for years without a promotion in sight. Lily finds escapism in her correspondences with her favorite fantasy author, and what begins as two lonely people connecting over e-mail turns into a tentative friendship and possibly something else Lily won’t let herself entertain–until he ghosts her.

Months later, still crushed but determined to take charge of her life, Lily seeks a date to her sister’s wedding. And the perfect person to help her is Nick Brown, her charming, attractive new neighbor, whom she feels drawn to for unexplainable reasons. Little does she know that Nick is an author–her favorite fantasy author.

Nick, who has his reasons for using a pen name and for pushing people away, soon realizes that the beautiful, quiet woman from down the hall is the same Lily he fell in love with over e-mail months ago. Unwilling to complicate things even more between them, he agrees to set her up with someone else, though this simple favor between two neighbors is anything but–not when he can’t get her off his mind.

Kristina Forest is a new to me author and this book came onto my radar when it was chosen to be a monthly book club read. I try to read all of our book club books and so I went into this book with hope of a sweet and fun read with charming characters and a romance that made me smile. I’m happy to report that I got what I was hoping for and Kristina Forest was added to my TBR list. I really enjoyed their writing style and am very curious about the other Greene sisters so I’ll definitely be checking their stories out.

The Neighbor Favor is the first book in the The Greene Sisters series and it follows Lily Greene as she bumbles her way toward true love. Lily is shy and doesn’t feel like she measures up to her successful sisters. She works for a publishing company and is itching to be an editor for children’s books but she stuck in the non-fiction department with no clue how to get ahead. When she starts emailing back and forth with her favorite author, the book really takes off. At least, it did for me.

I loved seeing them both fall in love with each other with each passing email. The way that words were such a big part of their lives and then falling in love through exchanged words? Ahh, I was a sucker for it all. I was also a fan of them being neighbors in real life and not knowing. It was a lot of fun seeing each interaction between the two of them and though I didn’t quite understand Nick’s reasons for the way that he walked away from Lily and everything, even when he finds out who Lily is in his real life, I wasn’t mad at him. His reasons and his feelings were valid so even though I didn’t personally understand them, all is well that ends well and when their feelings are all out there, their issues all dealt with, and they decide to be together, I was satisfied and super happy for them.

I’m glad that I read this one and I’m definitely looking forward to reading more from this world. I was really drawn to both Violet and Iris so I’m looking forward to seeing them front and center. This was a great read and I definitely recommend it to those looking for a modern romance between a shy editor and a troubled author who find love in each other and make promises to choose to show up for each other every day. The book wasn’t perfect but it was perfect enough to be super enjoyable so go out and get this one. Read it. Love it. And then go back for more with the following books.

Final Rating

4 out of 5

The Greene Sisters Series

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