Tag: California

Review: Just the Sexiest Man Alive by Julie James

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

Just the Sexiest Man Alive by Julie James

Reviewer: Wena
Main Leads: Jason Andrews, Taylor Donovan
Setting: United States, California, Los Angeles
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
Tags: Hate to Love, He Fell First, Badass Female Lead
Published On: October 7, 2008
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Format: e-Book
Source: Purchased
Pages: 296
Purchase It: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

No woman could resist him—except the one he wanted most…

Cool, Calm, Collected…

Nothing fazes Taylor Donovan. In the courtroom she never lets the opposition see her sweat. In her personal life, she never lets any man rattle her—not even her cheating ex-fiancé. So when she’s assigned to coach People’s “Sexiest Man Alive” for his role in his next big legal thriller, she refuses to fall for the Hollywood heartthrob’s charms. Even if he is the Jason Andrews.

Confident, Famous, Irresistible…

Jason Andrews is used to having women fall at his feet. When Taylor Donovan gives him the cold shoulder, he’s thrown for a loop. She’s unlike any other woman he’s ever met: uninterested in the limelight, seemingly immune to his advances, and shockingly capable of saying no to him. She’s the perfect challenge. And the more she rejects him, the more he begins to realize she may just be his perfect match.

It’s been such a long time since I’ve read this book and I’m super happy to report that it stood the test of time. I still love this book as much as I did the first time that I read it. I really miss reading books by Julie James and now that my daughter is reading, I’m having a blast introducing her to some of my favorite authors and books. This is one of the first books that she actually agreed to read with me and I’m thrilled that she loved reading this book as well.

Reading this book after so many years reminded me how much I used to love reading. This book in particular reminded me how much I used to love blogging about books because blogging introduced me to Julie James, who I’ve come to admire because she writes my kind of stories. Smart stories with steamy romances and characters that I adore to pieces. The only thing missing from this story is the steamy scenes but I can’t even be bothered to be mad about that because the story was still engaging, the characters were still charming as hell, and the book itself is still a memorable romance that stayed with me long after I finished. Bren finished the book before I did and I was glad to hear that she enjoyed it so it sped my reading.

So Taylor Donovan is a lawyer working a big case in the Los Angeles office of her law firm when she’s assigned the task of showing Jason Andrews, an A-List actor the ropes of being a lawyer…or in his case, playing the role of being an attorney. Jason’s new film has him playing an attorney and he’s determined to nail the role by doing what he does best, learning all there is to learn, first hand, about being a lawyer and bringing his character to life. On top of showing Jason the ropes, she’s going to be consulting on the film’s script to make sure that the writing makes sense from an actual lawyer. As busy as she is, she’s not given a choice in the matter so she squeezes these appointments into her work day and would have been professional about it all, had Jason not stood her up and wasted her time. Now, the very last thing she wants to do is help him.

Jason Andrews is a busy man. He works hard and he plays hard as well. Everyone loves him so when he meets Taylor Donovan, he’s surprised that she doesn’t fall at his feet, wanting to help him. Sure, he can get help from anyone but there’s something about Taylor Donovan that pulls at him and his curiosity makes him determined that he work with her and only her. If anything, things will definitely be interesting and he witnessed first hand just how good she is in the courtroom so his gut is telling him that it’s gotta be her…so he’s got to be on his best behavior because for the first time in a long time, he’s met someone that isn’t thrilled to be in his presence.

There’s a lot going on in this book and the writing style drew me in so I was invested from the jump. As much as I enjoyed the story the last time that I read it, enough time has past that I couldn’t remember a lot of the details so it kind of felt like I was reading this for the first time. I really enjoyed getting to know both Taylor and Jason again but it was also really good to see the side characters again. I didn’t think that the romance suffered without the typical steamy scenes we usually get from a romance so that was just another reason to like Julie James efforts in writing this story for Taylor and Jason. They were a fantastic couple and seeing them come together in love was a lot of fun so if you’re looking for a fun contemporary romance with a swoony hero and a kickass heroine, look no further cause this book delivers the goods. I definitely recommend!

Final Rating

4 out of 5

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Review: The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren

Posted June 23, 2025 by Wena in Reviews | 0 Comments

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren

Reviewer: Wena
Main Leads: William Weston, Anna Green
Setting: United States, California, Palo Alto, Los Angeles
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
Tags: Contract Marriage, Fake Relationship, Rich Family Drama
Published On: May 14, 2024
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, Gallery Books
Format: e-Book
Source: Purchased
Pages: 352
Purchase It: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Half Price Books

Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam “West” Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she’d signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways.

Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There’s just one catch.

Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather’s will, Liam won’t see a penny until he’s been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he’s in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has no choice but to turn to the one person he’s afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents — his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife.

But in the presence of his family, Liam’s fears quickly shift from whether the feisty, foul-mouthed, paint-splattered Anna can play the part to whether the toxic world of wealth will corrupt someone as pure of heart as his surprisingly grounded and loyal wife. Liam will have to ask himself if the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie.

Christina Lauren is one of my feel good authors. Every single book that I read by them brings me all the joy. The Paradise Problem was no exception. This is such a fun summer read and I was able to escape the reality of my pretty mundane life for a few hours and just enjoy being part of a pretty chaotic island getaway while our main couple falls in love.

Liam “West” Weston is a rich guy with an inheritance that comes with strings. In order to gain access to his inheritance, he needs his brothers college friend Anna Green to marry him. But the charade doesn’t end with them getting married. They have to pretend to be in love and in a real marriage so Anna moves into West’s place and they pretend their life away. The arrangement works for the both of them because 1) they’re married in name only and 2) they give each other space to live their lives even though they share living space. All of that comes to an end when they go their separate ways and sign the divorce papers…only three years later, West finds out that they’re not actually divorced and they need to come together and play pretend some more because along with finding out they’re still technically married, he also found out some other stipulations of the inheritance so West needs Anna in a way he wasn’t prepared to need anyone.

As a struggling artist, it doesn’t take much to convince Anna to take on the role of West’s wife again, especially when West is all too happy to pay her some serious cash for her troubles. All she needs to do is fly to a tropical island and attend West’s sisters wedding and pretend that they’re still madly in love and happily married.

There’s a lot going on in this story between West’s family shenanigans, West’s personal struggles with his father, and Anna’s own struggles with where she’s at in her life, taking care of her father, and dealing with all of that while falling in love with each other really kicks them both in the ass and I really enjoyed seeing them work through their struggles and come together in love. It was messy, it was steamy, and with the beautiful island back drop, I was hella invested. They were so much fun getting to know on their own, especially Anna, that it was not hard to root for them. There were times when I didn’t understand why West thought and did the things that he did but I just chalked it up to rich people problems. I cannot connect with that but I still really loved West and I really loved the way that he loved Anna. They were such a fun couple and I was completely satisfied with their story, their romance, and all of the secondary characters made the story pop even more so I wasn’t mad about any of them, not even West’s dickhead Dad. I definitely recommend this if you’re in the mood for a steamy romance that makes you laugh with characters that will charm your socks off. It’s good, I promise!

Final Rating

4 out of 5

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Review: Love & Other Words by Christina Lauren

Posted May 22, 2025 by Wena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Love & Other Words

Main Leads: Macy Sorensen, Elliot Petropoulos
Setting: United States, California, Berkley
Tropes: First Love, Second Chance Romance, Traumatic Past
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
Published On: April 10, 2018
Publisher: Gallery Books
Format: e-Book
Source: Purchased
Pages: 433
Purchase It: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The heart may hide, but it never forgets.

The first women’s fiction novel from New York Times and #1 international bestselling author Christina Lauren (Autoboyography, Dating You / Hating You).

Macy Sorensen is settling into an ambitious if emotionally tepid routine: work hard as a new pediatrics resident, plan her wedding to an older, financially secure man, keep her head down and heart tucked away.

But when she runs into Elliot Petropoulos—the first and only love of her life—the careful bubble she’s constructed begins to dissolve. Once upon a time, Elliot was Macy’s entire world—growing from her gangly teen friend into the man who coaxed her heart open again after the loss of her mother…only to break it on the very night he declared his love for her.

Told in alternating timelines between Then and Now, teenage Elliot and Macy grow from friends to much more—spending weekends and lazy summers together in a house outside of San Francisco reading books, sharing favorite words, and talking through their growing pains and triumphs. As adults, they have become strangers to one another until their chance reunion. Although their memories are obscured by the agony of what happened that night so many years ago, Elliot will come to understand the truth behind Macy’s decade-long silence, and will have to overcome the past and himself to revive her faith in the possibility of an all-consuming love.

This was my second read of 2025 and it left an impression that has stayed with me ever since. This was also a buddy read that I did with my daughter and we both liked this book a lot more than our book club book so we were glad to have left The Mirror behind. It had been a long time since I was so moved by a book that I stayed up late into the night reading. This book did wonders in bringing my reading mojo back because I have not stopping reading ever since.

This story follows our main characters, Macy Sorensen and Elliot Petropoulos as they grow in love. We first meet them as kids when Macy and her Dad move into their summer home right next door to Elliot’s family and she sees Elliot for the first time reading in her closet. Now even though Macy and her Dad don’t live at that house year round, they return often to visit and get a break from the city so Elliot and Macy become best friends and every time they’re together, they spent a lot of time reading in her closet. As the years pass, their relationship changes as well. First love springs forth that grows into a deep love that stays with them even after they’re torn apart and Macy doesn’t return to the house. Theirs is a love that transcends space and time and eleven years later, they run into each other again and the love that Macy tried to move on from starts to creep up again and she’s forced to deal with the feelings she’s spent so much time and energy in running from.

Macy was a pretty great heroine. The more that I got to know of her, the more I loved her. Even when I didn’t understand why she avoiding Elliot the way that she was, I didn’t hate her and though there were times when I was a little frustrated that she stayed with Sean even when she knew that she didn’t love him, even then I didn’t hate her. Macy was someone who was used to loss and when she finally decided to break free from a loveless relationship and deal with the only love she’s ever known, I cheered for her because I understood that she has dealt with a lot of loss so seeing her taking back the things she had ran away from felt like a huge deal.

Holy cow, Elliot was the kind of love everyone wishes for. He was kind, he was smart, he was steady, and the way that he loved Macy was exactly the kind of love that fairytales are made of. When Macy comes back into his life after more than a decade, the way that he made himself available to her in every single way had me in a pile of goo at his feet. He really loved himself some Macy Sorensen and seeing him devoted to being part of her life and so grateful that he was a part of hers was just swoonworthy. He fought hard for the love that he knew they both deserved. Seeing what their separation did to him over the years was hard to read but never once did I doubt that he belonged with Macy and that Macy belonged with him. Their romance and their love was what girls dream of and seeing theirs play out, seeing them fight to be together again as they were in the present and not them in the past made this entire book all the more special.

The writing was fantastic and I thought Christina Lauren did such a great job of telling a complex story with a lot of heart. The plot twist completely threw me because I wasn’t expecting that to happen, I wasn’t expecting to be as heartbroken as I was when it comes out but holy cow, that scene where Macy is sitting in the house after all those years of never going back, seeing her deal with the guilt of the last time that she was there, ahhh, I was a ball of wrecked emotions.

My only gripe about the book is what happened to Elliot that broke him and Macy. It didn’t sit right with me that it was sort of glazed over, unfinished. What that girl did to him, while he was that drunk, didn’t sit right with me. Not when we find out that it happened but also that nothing was ever explained about the aftermath. Even Elliot’s attitude when he’s explaining it to Macy, how he says, “But come on, was it so bad that you cut me out for eleven years without a discussion?” didn’t sit right with me because it doesn’t acknowledge the very real harm that girl caused so that was a bit of a let down.

While that was a very huge ding to my enjoyment, I still really loved Elliot and Macy’s story (if I don’t think about that too hard) and I was so satisfied with the way their romance ended. This story does first love and second chance romance really well and I’m really glad that I read it. It was a good story to read with my daughter and it gave us much to discuss which was also a lot of fun so I’m happy with this book.

4.5 out of 5

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Review: The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren

Posted May 13, 2025 by Wena in Reviews | 0 Comments

The True Love Experiment

Series: DNA Duo #2
Also in this Series: The Soulmate Equation
Main Leads: Felicity “Fizzy” Chen, Connor Prince
Setting: United States, California, San Diego
Tags: Romance Novelist Female Lead, Single Dad, Secret Romance
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
Published On: May 16, 2023
Publisher: Gallery Books
Format: Audio
Source: Purchased
Pages: 409
Purchase It: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Sparks fly when a romance novelist and a documentary filmmaker join forces to craft the perfect Hollywood love story and take both of their careers to the next level—but only if they can keep the chemistry between them from taking the whole thing off script.

Felicity “Fizzy” Chen is lost. Sure, she’s got an incredible career as a beloved romance novelist with a slew of bestsellers under her belt, but when she’s asked to give a commencement address, it hits her: she hasn’t been practicing what she’s preached.

Fizzy hasn’t ever really been in love. Lust? Definitely. But that swoon-worthy, can’t-stop-thinking-about-him, all-encompassing feeling? Nope. Nothing. What happens when the optimism she’s spent her career encouraging in readers starts to feel like a lie?

Connor Prince, documentary filmmaker and single father, loves his work in large part because it allows him to live near his daughter. But when his profit-minded boss orders him to create a reality TV show, putting his job on the line, Connor is out of his element. Desperate to find his romantic lead, a chance run-in with an exasperated Fizzy offers Connor the perfect solution. What if he could show the queen of romance herself falling head-over-heels for all the world to see? Fizzy gives him a hard pass—unless he agrees to her list of demands. When he says yes, and production on The True Love Experiment begins, Connor wonders if that perfect match will ever be in the cue cards for him, too.

The True Love Experiment is the book fans have been waiting for ever since Fizzy’s debut in The Soulmate Equation. But when the lights come on and all eyes are on her, it turns out the happily ever after Fizzy had all but given up on might lie just behind the camera.

The True Love Experiment is the second book in the DNA Duo series by Christina Lauren and it is Fizzy’s book! Fizzy was such a delight in the first book that I was thrilled to find out that we were getting her story in this book. She was such a fun character that I knew having her front and center for an entire book was going to be a lot of fun, and I wasn’t wrong.

Fizzy Chen is all about the hook up. She’s not against finding true love, she just hasn’t felt anything more than lust. She loves love, so much so, that she’s made a career out of it. She’s a romance novelist that hasn’t been in love and it’s starting to feel like she’s living a lie, especially cause her job is to sell love to her readers. Fizzy was such a fantastic female lead. She was bright, she was kind, and she had such a good head on her shoulders that to know her was to love her. She was also funny as hell and was a huge reason I laughed so much while reading.

Connor Prince is a San Diego film maker that loves his job and is really good at his job. When his boss comes to him and tells him that in order to keep that job he loves, he has to make a reality show and make it a success. Reality shows are not Connor’s cup of tea, nor are they part of his expertise. But he ain’t no quitter so when he comes across Felicity Chen, he’s intrigued but more than that, he thinks she’d make a great main character in the reality show that he needs to make. When she tells him that she’d only do it if he fulfills every item on her list, he sets about…completing that list. He’s also a single father who loves his kid and works hard to be the kind of father she deserves. He was the kind of hero that matched well to Fizzy’s bright personality.

The chemistry between Connor and Fizzy was pretty great. They were such a good fit and seeing them fall in love was a lot of fun. Being part of their journey, seeing them become such a solid team made for an entertaining read. Their romance was sweet at the same time that it was steamy. The entire book was such a fun ride. There was a lot of laugh, a lot of support from the other characters, and the story itself was fun and interesting. I even loved seeing all of the contestants that Connor found for Fizzy. It was all just more to love.

I really liked this book. I loved the main characters, the side characters, the story, the romance…all of it. The story was well written and the pacing of the story never dragged so I was never bored. Christina Lauren did a really good job with this story and even though I did really enjoy The Soulmate Equation, I liked this book so much more. This was a fantastic romance from beginning to end. It was such a feel good romance that it took me no time at all to read. I definitely recommend this book if you’re in the mood for a contemporary romance that warms you up from the inside out. This is a really good book.

DNA Duo Series

4.5 out of 5

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Review: The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

Posted May 12, 2025 by Wena in Reviews | 0 Comments

The Soulmate Equation

Series: DNA Duo #1
Main Leads: Jess Davis, River Pena
Setting: United States, California, San Diego
Tags: Single Mom, Fake Relationship, STEM Characters
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
Published On: May 18, 2021
Publisher: Gallery Books
Format: Audio
Source: Purchased
Pages: 360
Purchase It: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Single mom Jess Davis is a data and statistics wizard, but no amount of number crunching can convince her to step back into the dating world. After all, her father was never around, her hard-partying mother disappeared when she was six, and her ex decided he wasn’t “father material” before her daughter was even born. Jess holds her loved ones close but working constantly to stay afloat is hard…and lonely.

But then Jess hears about GeneticAlly, a buzzy new DNA-based matchmaking company that’s predicted to change dating forever. Finding a soulmate through DNA? The reliability of numbers: This Jess understands.

At least she thought she did, until her test shows an unheard-of 98 percent compatibility with another subject in the database: GeneticAlly’s founder, Dr. River Peña. This is one number she can’t wrap her head around, because she already knows Dr. Peña. The stuck-up, stubborn man is without a doubt not her soulmate. But GeneticAlly has a proposition: Get to know him and we’ll pay you. Jess—who is barely making ends meet—is in no position to turn it down, despite her skepticism about the project and her dislike for River. As the pair are dragged from one event to the next as the “Diamond” pairing that could launch GeneticAlly’s valuation sky-high, Jess begins to realize that there might be more to the scientist—and the science behind a soulmate—than she thought.

The Soulmate Equation proves that the delicate balance between fate and choice can never be calculated.

This was a book club read from last year and it’s one of the books that I actually really liked so I knew that I wanted to review it here. I am in the process of rediscovering my love of reading and this book did a lot to remind me how much I love a good book. Right from the jump, I was interested in both of the main leads and the female leads best friend.

This story follows single Mom Jess Davis as she fake dates Dr. River Pena into true love. Jess hasn’t had the best of luck in relationships and after a while, she kind of just stops dealing with them and does the single Mom thing on her own. It’s lonely though, doing things on her own and when she gets roped into participating in DNA-based matchmaking app, she finds herself agreeing to it. She’s definitely interested in the data side of things and intrigued enough with the whole operation that it didn’t take that much convincing to get her on board. River is snooty and Jess is not a fan of his at first but the more time that they pretend to be together, the easier it gets to like him.

Watching as River and Jess fall in love with each other was a lot fun and it was interesting as well. The science behind the app, the other characters, especially Juno and Fizzy, were all wonderful additions that made falling into this story worthwhile. I was charmed, I had the biggest crush on River, and I laughed a lot more than I thought I would. Christina Lauren delivered another winner with this book and I’m so glad that I read it. I picked it for book club and I picked right because I really enjoyed the story, the characters, and the romance was top notch. There’s much to recommend this book and there’s much to look forward to if you haven’t read this one yet. It’s good, I promise!

DNA Duo Series

4 out of 5

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Review: Seoulmates by Susan Lee

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

Seoulmates

Main Leads: Hannah Cho, Jacob Kim
Setting: United States, California, San Diego
Tags: Best Friend Love, Second Chance Romance, Hate to Love
Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Young Adult
Published On: September 20, 2022
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Format: e-Book
Source: Purchased
Pages: 314
Purchase It: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Hannah Cho had the next year all planned out—the perfect summer with her boyfriend, Nate, and then a fun senior year with their friends.

But then Nate does what everyone else in Hannah’s life seems to do—he leaves her, claiming they have nothing in common. He and all her friends are newly obsessed with K-pop and K-dramas, and Hannah is not. After years of trying to embrace the American part and shunning the Korean side of her Korean American identity to fit in, Hannah finds that’s exactly what now has her on the outs.

But someone who does know K-dramas—so well that he’s actually starring in one—is Jacob Kim, Hannah’s former best friend, whom she hasn’t seen in years. He’s desperate for a break from the fame, so a family trip back to San Diego might be just what he needs… that is, if he and Hannah can figure out what went wrong when they last parted and navigate the new feelings developing between them.

Her ex-boyfriend wants her back. Her former best friend is in town. When did Hannah’s life become a K-drama?

This book came on to my radar when I learned that the author is a Carat (a fan of the k-pop group Seventeen) and the boy in this book was inspired by Mingyu..who is my bias in Seventeen. I’m all about supporting a fellow Carat so I bought this book and was eager to read it.

This book follows Hannah Cho into summer after she gets dumped by her boyfriend Nate who broke up with her because he was more into her culture than she was. He legit broke up with her because she didn’t know what a bias was so Hannah plans to win him back by getting into k-pop and k-dramas. Her plans are derailed when her childhood best friend, Jacob Kim returns to San Diego for the summer and his family is staying with her family for the summer. He hasn’t been back to San Diego since he moved to Korea and because Hannah has abandonment issues, she’s got issues with Jacob.

Jacob is going through his own struggles and he’s in San Diego for the summer because he needs to take a break from his job and from the immense pressure he feels surrounding his job. Jacob is a k-drama actor and the drama that he’s working on is pressuring him to be in a fake relationship with his co-star to garner interest and appease avid fans of the show. On top of being in a fake relationship with a girl he doesn’t even like, he’s got some family drama with an uncle trying to horn in on his fame and capitalize on Jacob’s fame. When he became the man of the house, Jacob had to find work to support them and working in the industry is taking a lot out of him. Add to that, he’s back in his hometown with the girl he left behind and she kind of hates him now.

Seeing these two bicker their way toward their happy ending was good but it wasn’t anything that I was head over heels in love with. I think I struggled with Hannah’s attitude toward everything and everyone the most. It is absolutely a mature thing. I get that she’s young and she’s immature and the obvious reason for the story was to see her growth in character but holy shit, she made it hard a lot of the time. Jacob was better but I don’t know, I didn’t absolutely love him either. I thought he was just okay…which sucks to say because I really love the guy that inspired his creation. I also struggled with the writing style. I felt like I was talked at, not really connected to the story and the characters. I felt like I was watching a tv show but it was more background noise and I just wasn’t as invested in what happened.

I will say that the ending was better than the beginning and when Hannah does her growing and Jacob gets his shit together, they were a lot better to take but that’s about it.

3 out of 5

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Review: The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

Posted May 6, 2025 by Wena in Reviews | 0 Comments

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

Reviewer: Wena
Series: The Kiss Quotient #1
Main Leads: Stella Lane, Michael Larsen
Setting: United States, California, Silicon Valley
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
Tags: Fake Dating, Autistic Female Lead, Asian Romance, Male Escort Main Lead
Published On: June 5, 2018
Publisher: Berkley
Format: e-Book
Source: Purchased
Pages: 323
Purchase It: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

A heartwarming and refreshing debut novel that proves one thing: there’s not enough data in the world to predict what will make your heart tick.

Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases—a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old.

It doesn’t help that Stella has Asperger’s and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice—with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can’t afford to turn down Stella’s offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan—from foreplay to more-than-missionary position…

Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but to crave all the other things he’s making her feel. Soon, their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic…

The book starts off with our heroine, Stella Lane, having dinner with her parents and her Mom mentioning the fact that she would like grandchildren soon so that has Stella thinking. When a colleague at work brings up her lack of successful dating, Stella figures she needs to hire someone to teach her how to be good at having sex. Stella has Asperger’s and that makes things hard for her because her mind won’t turn off and she says the wrong thing and her partner always gets turned off and so she’s learned some things to get through sex but she doesn’t ever enjoy it herself. She needs professional help and that is when we meet my boo thang, Michael Phan.

Michael Phan is a dead ringer for Daniel Henney, much to his chagrin but it’s helped him in his undercover gig as a male escort so he can’t complain too much. He’s got his reasons for the way that his life turned out and while he doesn’t have regrets, he sometimes has them. He holds himself to a set of rules, a code of ethics, if you will that keeps his professional and his personal life separate. All of those rules seem to have gone right out the window with his latest client, Stella Lane because he’s breaking rules left and right.

Stella hires Michael to help her be more comfortable with sex…only, their first night together, they don’t get past second base so plans change and before either of them know what’s what, Michael and Stella are teaching each other all about love and intimacy. Stella can’t help her personality any more than Michael can help his financial situation. The more time that they spend together, the more they have to fight from falling in love with each other. Stella doesn’t think anyone would love her and all of her quirks while Michael feels the shame of his secret life-threatening to overwhelm the ever living shit out of him.

I loved the heck out of this story. I loved Stella. I loved Michael. I loved both of their families and I seriously could not get enough. I know that I love a story when I keep texting Holly in between scenes, explaining to her in detail why I’m loving the book so much. I texted Holly a lot while reading this book.

I loved Hoang’s writing style. I thought that the way she wrote Stella’s character, her struggles with being autistic and just the way that her personality was, it felt authentic and it was written in a way that I completely got what Stella was going through, what she was thinking and I just got it. I really, really loved Stella and how her moral compass was planted firmly in what she thought was right. I loved seeing her love Michael and I loved whenever she changed the plan because when she secretly changed the plan to seduce Michael, my heart sighed ever so happily. She was just a freaking great heroine that I loved oh so much.

Stella made the book fantastic but the addition of Michael Phan? OMG. I completely adored him. His devotion to his family, to his cousins, to his Mom’s business and just everything. The wealth of love coming from this man had me from the jump. I loved seeing him fall in love with Stella. From his confusion over what was happening to his crush and then to him realizing he was in love with her? OMG, so stinkin’ good.

For me, this book was a complete romance. I enjoyed every single minute of this book and I’m super anxious for the next book to come out. Helen Hoang did so well with this book and seriously, if you’ve been on the fence about reading this book, don’t be. You have no reason to fear you won’t enjoy this book. I have every confidence that you’ll love it.

4.5 out of 5

The Kiss Quotient Series

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Review: Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh

Posted May 5, 2025 by Wena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh

Reviewer: Wena
Series: Psy-Changelings #1
Main Leads: Lucas Hunter, Sascha Duncan
Setting: United States, California, San Francisco
Genres: Romance, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy
Tags: Pack Alpha, Opposites Attract, Shapeshifter Romance
Published On: September 5, 2006
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Format: e-Book
Source: Purchased
Pages: 334
Purchase It: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Dive into a world torn apart by a powerful race with phenomenal powers of the mind—and none of the heart . . .

In a world that denies emotions, where the ruling Psy punish any sign of desire, Sascha Duncan must conceal the feelings that brand her as flawed. To reveal them would be to sentence herself to the horror of “rehabilitation”—the complete psychic erasure of everything she ever was . . .

Both human and animal, Lucas Hunter is a Changeling hungry for the very sensations the Psy disdain. After centuries of uneasy co-existence, these two races are now on the verge of war over the brutal murders of several Changeling women. Lucas is determined to find the Psy killer who butchered his packmate, and Sascha is his ticket into their closely guarded society. But he soon discovers that this ice-cold Psy is very capable of passion—and that the animal in him is fascinated by her.

Caught between their conflicting worlds, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities—or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation . . .

It’s AANHPI Month in the States so we’re going to try to feature as many AANHPI authors as we can this month because representation matters! I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to introduce the girls (well, Chloe and Jenna since Brenna only reads contemporaries right now) to Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changelings Series. Nalini Singh is one of my favoritest authors and she writes incredible paranormal romances that hit all of my happy buttons.

Slave to Sensation is the first book in her Psy-Changelings Series and it is a book that is near and dear to me because this book was my introduction to this world and to…Judd Lauren. To Kaleb Krychek. To Hawke Snow. To Aden Kai. And to so many more characters that I love the heck out of. This is one of the few ongoing series that I’m still reading and the adventure starts here.

Lucas Hunter and Sascha Duncan were compelling characters that were interesting on their own but they were magic together. Their romance was steamy as hell and Lucas was sexy as hell. The way that he had me blushing like a school girl and jealous of Sascha should be studied because I’m not a school girl nor am I one to blush but for Lucas? Yes. I blush for Lucas. I really loved Lucas but I also really liked Sascha. Her struggles with hiding her emotions that were getting closer and closer to simmering right over the top with every interaction with Lucas had me hooked. I really liked learning about the different aspects of this world. The Psy’s, the Changelings, and though we don’t get very much interactions from the humans, I enjoyed learning that they were there and they shared the world with all of these gifted people and that we might get to read their stories as well.

Now if you’re new to this world, there will be some confusion as you’re learning the world and the characters but I promise, it gets better and Nalini Singh’s writing is worth pushing through. This book is a fantastic read and you’ll meet and fall in love with so many people and you’ll come to care so much about Lucas and Sascha and the set up for the rest of the books is done well, done in a way that will make you curious and want to continue on. Nalini Singh does a really good job of stringing storylines together and giving readers something to come back to.

Lucas and Sascha’s story was pretty fantastic and I definitely recommend this series to anyone looking for an interesting world to fall in to. There’s much to love in this book and Lucas and Sascha are only a small part. It’s been a lot of fun getting to know these characters and fall in love with the world as a whole so yeah, read this series!

4.5 out of 5

Psy-Changelings Series

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