ARC Review: Bittersweet by Sarina Bowen

Bittersweet is the first book in the True North series from Sarina Bowen. I am a huge fan of Sarina's, so when I saw she had a new series coming out I was really excited to see what she had in store for us. Bittersweet was different and fresh, and I really enjoyed it! I can't wait for more in this series after reading this book. 

Audrey Kidder was looking for another chance after many mistakes, and her last chance with her employer sent her to the Shipley Farm. There she comes face to face with Griff Shipley, a guy she had hooked up with in college. She needs to get cheaper prices for good produce for her employer and he isn't willing to sell his produce for less than it's worth, but the attraction and chemistry between them is stronger than ever.

I liked Audrey and Griff together. I thought that they were a lot of fun to read about. Their banter was great, and I loved seeing them interact with one another. The chemistry between these two was seriously hot, and I couldn't get enough of them. The only thing that did bother me a bit here was Audrey and her commitment to her company in the face of all they were doing. While I understood that she wanted them to help her out in the long run with her dream of owning a restaurant, she let things go on too long while knowing exactly what they were doing. She was a bit stubborn and that drove me crazy at times here.

Overall, this was a great first installment to this series and I am really looking forward to reading more. I really liked not only Griff and Audrey, but also the secondary characters. This is one of those books that you just have a great time reading and don't want to put down. It was refreshing and different, and I highly recommend it.

**ARC Provided by Bocci PR**

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Guest Post with Author Codi Gary and Giveaway

Meet Codi Gary author of One Lucky Hero.

An obsessive bookworm, CODI GARY likes to write sexy small-town contemporary romances with humor, grand gestures, and blush-worthy moments. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading her favorite authors, squealing over her must-watch shows, and playing with her children. She lives in Idaho with her family.

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Feature: Only You by Denise Grover Swank

Never say never…

Romance isn't an option for Holly Greenwood. With her wedding planner career on the line she needs to stay focused, and that means pleasing her demanding boss, not getting distracted by her mind-alteringly hot neighbor…

Ex-Marine Kevin Vandemeer craves normalcy. Instead, he has a broken-down old house in need of a match and some gasoline, a meddling family, and the uncanny ability to attract the world's craziest women. At least that last one he can fix: he and his buddies have made a pact to swear off women, and this includes his sweetly sexy new neighbor.

After one hot night that looks a whole lot like a disaster in the light of day, Kevin and Holly are about to learn that true love doesn't play by the rules…

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ARC Review: Heat It Up by Stina Lindenblatt

Heat it Up is the first standalone Off the Ice book by Stina Lindenblatt. I knew I wanted to read this one when I saw the cover and read the blurb, but I have to admit that I have had some issues with Stina's books not completely working for me before. Unfortunately that was the case here as well, and as much as I wanted to like this one it just didn't wasn't the book for me. 

Sofia Phillips is done with love. Her father cheated on her mother and her boyfriend cheated on her, so she heads to Finland to stay with her grandmother and work in a summer work program to help her get experience as an athletic trainer. But she quickly finds out that instead or working in her career field, she is put on cleaning the facility including the toilets. But then she meets Kyle . Kyle is also in Finland in the summer looking to escape and also has no interest in love. When Sofia's grandmother starts pushing a guy named Joni on her to date, Sofia asks Kyle to be her fake boyfriend to get her grandma to stop. But the lines soon begin to blend between real and fake. Can two people not looking for love find it together?

Unfortunately some of my issues here were with the characters themselves. I wasn't a fan of the love triangle going on here. Joni was horrible. At first I kind of felt bad for him, but then we get to see who he really is and he was not a good person in my opinion. I hated that Sofia didn't really do anything about all the stuff he tried to pull either. I understand Kyle had been through a lot, but he was pretty much a drunk. He knew he had a problem yet continued to overdo it the entire way through this book. It was a huge turn off. There was also an incident in a bar that I didn't care for at all. I know he and Sofia weren't exclusive or anything, but I felt like he let it get too far before doing anything about it. Sofia was my biggest issue though. I'm not sure if Sofia was oblivious or just stupid, but there were so many times that I wanted to shake her because she seemed to have no clue when it came to Joni. He did so many things that were beyond easy to see through, and yet she just blindly went along. It was ridiculous and so frustrating! I also hated how she handled things at times with Kyle. He would tell her things and she would do nothing, but there were things she should have told Kyle and didn't. Honestly she was just awful and super immature.

I think my biggest problem overall though was that this book felt very YA, so most of it was so unrealistic that I couldn't buy into the story. These characters were supposed to be college aged and with Kyle having been married, you would think that there would be a certain level of maturity there. But that wasn't the case at all here and I just felt like the entire story fell flat. Besides being unrealistic, it was drawn out at times and I found myself bored a lot. This one was just a miss all around for me. I spent most of the story alternating between irritated and bored. If this book sounds like one you might like, I encourage you to give it a shot. It might just be me that this one didn't work for. I just found the characters to be unlikable and the story hard to get into and this isn't a story I would recommend based on my personal opinion.

**ARC Provided by Publisher**

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ARC Review: Playing the Perfect Boyfriend by Julie Patricka

I have one problem with this book- Jade, the heroine. I just could not connect to Jade or agree with her motivation. Jade is a Hollywood photographer who does not believe in commitments that extend longer than one night. Jade plays the role that you usually see men in when reading these books. Jade even has a crash pad where she takes men she does not plan on keeping- her words, not mine. I consider myself to be fairly enlightened and liberated but I just couldn’t get into a female character playing this role. So, I have to say if you don’t think you will have an issue with that kind of role reversal, you might enjoy this book much more than I did.

Another issue that I have with Jade is her motivation for beginning a relationship with Dean. Dean is a young up and coming Hollywood star who Jade meets during a photo shoot. Jade is immediately attracted to Dean and vice versa. Right from jump, Jade decides that Dean is not the “keeping” type though he is definitely the screwing type. Jade decides to have a quick one night stand with Dean. For Dean’s part, he’s attracted to Jade’s sexy grown woman vibe. Dean, because of his background, also doesn’t really believe in forever so he is game for Jade’s ‘no strings’ set up.

Then a weird thing happens. Jade’s ex comes back into town and catches her on the tail end of her hook up with Dean. In order to prove that she is relationship material, to her EX, Jade pretends that her hookup with Dean is actually a relationship. Jade and Dean embark on this rouse to convince Jade’s ex that she is now qualified relationship material, by faking a relationship. Jade does this because she’s convinced that her ex is the person she needs to settle down with. Unlike Dean with whom she has explosive sparks flying left and right. And that right there was just too much for me people. I just don’t think you convince a man to be in a serious relationship with you by pretending to be in a relationship with someone else. I know, I know, it’s fiction but I have my limits and this was just too much for me.

I like the writing of this book. I found it incredibly easy to read and the plot certainly moved. I liked Dean as a character and appreciated his commitment to proving to Jade she was wrong about herself. I like Jade’s confidence and her unapologetic attitude about her life choices (for the most part). What went wrong for me and effected my rating was just Jade’s relentless commitment to kind of being a jerk. Usually when you have a character like her, there is something that makes you empathize with the person and understand where they are coming from. I didn’t feel that way about Jade mostly because the thing she kept saying she didn’t want was the same exact thing she was after. I just didn’t like Jade and so it made the book hard to love. For me.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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