ARC Review: A Friendly Flirtation by Christine Warner

I have to start out with my warning that you are going to be plagued by a sense of deja vu as you are reading this book. If you have ever read a friends-lovers, little sister romance before, this book is going to be very familiar to you. It's not just that, there are also some social themes in this book that are pretty well worn.

Allison is the nerdy girl who aspires to be something more than invisible. Jared is the best friend of Allison's brother who is going to help her be something more than invisible by giving her dating tips (stop me if you've heard this one before). Of course big brother does not care for the budding relationship between Jared and Allison. This is always the part that gets me in these little sister books. The "little sister" is a grown woman and I can never understand why her adult brother would be so involved in her love life or have such a strong objection to her dating. It just seems...weird. Allison's response is what the typical nerdy chick might do, she quits her job (it's a long story but Jared and the brother are business partners and Allison works there too and blah blah blah, drama). Jared quickly discovers his flirtation with Allison was more than that and it's on like donkey kong or whatever.

I really did feel like I had read each aspect of this book several times before. If you read my reviews, you know I don't criticize books just because they remind me of other books and I'm not doing that here. I chose to read this book because I like the little sister, reformed nerdy girl theme. I think this author does a good job with the theme. Allison is a bit timid for my taste but I like Jared and I liked how their relationship developed. Ok, the drama of it all was a bit contrived but it was all in good fun and it made it easy to keep turning the pages of the book. I wish Jared had realized his feelings for Allison sooner but aren't men always the last to know? I'm not going to hold it against him. This book was good fun, fast paced and the characters were sweet. If you are a fan of this sub-genre, I recommend you give this one a try.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

Purchase: | Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo |

Feature and Giveaway: A Friendly Flirtation by Christine Warner

One kiss can change your life...

Allison Hall is fed up with being a social outcast. Even at the tech company where she works for her brother and his best friend, Jared, she's the invisible nerdy girl. What she needs is confidence—and that requires a makeover and dating tips. And she knows just the man to help…

Jared Esterly is shocked when Allison asks for his assistance and turns her down, knowing that her brother—his business partner and best friend, Nick—would kill him if he dated her, even if it is just for practice. But when Al’s attempt to make changes on her own fails spectacularly, Jared reluctantly steps in. Things heat up quickly, and soon lessons move from the salon to the bedroom.

When overprotective big-brother Nick discovers Jared is dating Allison, their friendship and business partnership sour. Allison, consumed by guilt, must make a choice: stay with Jared, even though that means ruining his friendship with Nick and possibly his career, or leave the one man who sets her on fire.

Purchase: | Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo |

Guest Post with Author Christine Warner and Giveaway

Meet Christine Warner author of A Friendly Arrangement.

Christine Warner is living her dream in Michigan along with her husband, three children, one laptop and a much loved assortment of furry friends.

Besides laughing and a good round of humor, she enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, reading, writing but no arithmitic. A confessed people watcher, she finds inspiration for her stories in everyday activities. She loves to read and write about strong heroes and determined, sometimes sassy, heroines.

A girl gone wild, at least where social media is concerned, she enjoys meeting other avid readers and writers on facebook, twitter and her website.

| Site | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads |

ARC Review: A Friendly Arrangement by Christine Warner

If you've read a friends to lover romance, you've kind of read this one. And while this book is a decent source of entertainment packaged in some pretty good writing, you will have a really hard time distinguishing it from it's similar counterparts when you put it down.

I'm not going to give you a synopsis because if you read the blurb to this book, that's pretty much all there is to the the story, you don't really need me to repeat it. This is the second book in the "Friends First" series but it's a standalone with no cliffs. One thing that I always appreciate is that this book is told in alternating POVs between the main characters.

I liked the connection between Roth and Holly but what I found interesting was how much they didn't know about each other.I thought, based on the blurb, that the two were life friends but they had really only been besties for a couple of years and there were clearly many issues into which they had not delved. So contrary to what I initially said, one thing that will distinguish this book from others in this sub-genre is that once the romance begins between the characters, the book more closely resembles the stranger romance stories as the couple learns about each other. I also appreciated that Holly was as focused on building her career as was Roth. Holly didn't just say she was a commitment phobe she really was and that's not something you see very often in heroines. The supporting cast of Holly's family adds to the overall entertainment value of the book and is good for some laughs. You will also enjoy the changing dynamic between Holly and Roth as they realize that their commitment issues don't supersede their feelings for one another.

What surprised me about this book is how quickly we went from friends to lovers. There wasn't much build up and so we didn't get the usual amount of angst and tension you get in the friends books. I think that took away from the overall story, the relationship was just too abrupt and too easily accepted by the main characters. The other problem with this book is that because of how much the friends did not know about each other, I missed some of the details on why they wanted each other. The book winds up looking much more like instalove than a friends to lovers story. There are some pretty decent sex scenes, the plot moves at a good pace and does have a few surprises. All in all, I would recommend this book for all you friends to lovers junkies.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

Purchase: | Amazon | B&N | iTunes |

Guest Post with Author Christine Warner

Meet Christine Warner author of A Friendly Engagement.

Christine Warner is living her dream in Michigan along with her husband, three children, one laptop and a much loved assortment of furry friends.

Besides laughing and a good round of humor, she enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, reading, writing but no arithmitic. A confessed people watcher, she finds inspiration for her stories in everyday activities. She loves to read and write about strong heroes and determined, sometimes sassy, heroines.

A girl gone wild, at least where social media is concerned, she enjoys meeting other avid readers and writers on facebook, twitter and her website.

| Site | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads |

Guest Post with Author Christine Warner and Giveaway

Today I would like to welcome author Christine Warner to RFTC. Christine is celebrating the release of her book Bachelor's Special and has stopped to chat. Please give Christine a warm welcome.

Christine Warner is living her dream in Michigan along with her husband, three children, one laptop and a much loved assortment of furry friends.

Besides laughing and a good round of humor, she enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, reading, writing but no arithmitic. A confessed people watcher, she finds inspiration for her stories in everyday activities. She loves to read and write about strong heroes and determined, sometimes sassy, heroines.

A girl gone wild, at least where social media is concerned, she enjoys meeting other avid readers and writers on facebook, twitter and her website.

Places to find Christine: 

| Site | Facebook | Twitter | 

Interview with Author Christine Warner and Giveaway

Today I would like to welcome author Christine Warner to RFTC. Christine is celebrating the release of her upcoming book Two-Timing the Boss and has stopped by to answer a few questions. But before I get to the interview, let's get to know a bit about Christine.

Christine Warner is living her dream in rural Michigan along with her husband, three children, one laptop and a much loved assortment of furry friends.

Besides laughing and a good round of humor, she enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, reading, writing but no arithmitic. A confessed people watcher, she finds inspiration for her stories in everyday activities. She loves to read and write about strong heroes and determined, sometimes sassy, heroines.

A girl gone wild, at least where social media is concerned, she enjoys meeting other avid readers and writers on facebook, twitter and her website at christine-warner.com.

Places to find Christine:

| Site | Facebook | Twitter |