It’s mid-February and the first of our cherry blossoms are blooming- spring is here!

It’s also a bittersweet time for our family. February 28th, 2015 is when my grandson was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes. He was just seven-years-old.

It’s been nine years and I am so proud of the young man he has become. His disease forced him to shoulder a lot of responsibility, field curious stares, and sometimes nasty comments, lost school days, and health challenges. But through it all, he retained his positive attitude and sweet spirit. He’s an inspiration to us all ❤

I had another interesting week of books, so let’s get started. As usual, for more info you can click the covers below.

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Not You It’s Me (A Boston Love Story Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Julie Johnson

Gemma Summers is sassy and has no filter on her mouth, especially in dangerous situations! This book is so much more than I expected. When Gemma wins courtside seats to a playoff game, she takes her good-for-nothing boyfriend, Ralph- hoping for a boost in their relationship. Instead, she ends up humiliated by his rudeness and kissed by a hotter-than-sin stranger with the jumbotron for a witness!

Billionaire Chase Croft is not into relationships. He’s learned the hard way that his money is a drawing card for gold diggers. But when the awkward, sexy woman seated next to him is manhandled by her douchebag boyfriend, Chase steps in to protect her vanity, and it blows up on social media the next day.

He’s a sculpture. Painstakingly chiseled into perfection over the course of years, until arias could be written about his eyebrows, his cheekbones, the freaking shape of his nostrils.
And me? Well, I’m probably a finger-painting.
Done by a three-year-old.

Not You It’s Me-Julie Johnson

Now, these two must find a way to deflect the press while avoiding the very real attraction that flares whenever they’re within two feet of each other! Other than the obvious romantic conflict, there are some seriously twisted characters in this book who have revenge of the dead kind on their minds. A must-read!

A Cursed Son (Remnants of the Fallen Kingdom Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Day Leitao

A Cursed Son and a Secretive Bride.

The premise of this story is good, but the characters fell flat for me, unfortunately. Astra is one of three trained to take the princess’s place in case of danger. On a trip to a wedding, she and a disgraced prince are kidnapped by a handsome man who welds magic without effort. Astra is shocked to realize he is the stranger from her dreams. The one who holds her tight and makes her feel safe- but she doesn’t feel safe now.

There’s a lot of almost juvenile thinking in this book that makes it difficult to read. Instead of developing real emotion between the MCs, the author counts on graphic sex to get the heart racing. For me, I prefer the former. Astra is smart and strong. I think she could have made this a page-turner if the. author gave her a bit more personality than a teen full of hormones. Thank you to NetGalley and Day Leitao for the opportunity to read this book.

Simply the Best: A Chicago Stars Novel Kindle Edition

by Susan Elizabeth Phillips 

Rory Meadows is the best heroine I’ve read in a long time! Rory is a calamity waiting to happen. She’s spent most of her life rebelling against her parents, who ignore her in favor of their golden boy, Clint, the football star, and loses sight of her own life goals in the process. Desperate to break out of the downward spiral, she beds a handsome, arrogant stranger at her brother’s party, only to find out the next day that he’s Clint’s uber-successful agent. And then there’s the murder.

Brett Rivers is on the fast track to managing his boss’s thriving business, and he’s not about to let a pint-size disaster-on-drop-dead-sexy-legs who makes chocolates that angels would weep over ruin his career. But when his top client’s ex-girlfriend winds up dead, he somehow finds himself in league with the chocolatier in a life-and-death search for a killer. All he has to do is keep his hands (and lips) off of his client’s stepsister. Shouldn’t be a problem, right?

There are so many funny, snarky interactions between these two that it made reading this book an absolute pleasure.

“Clint didn’t shove Ashley off the balcony,” she said. “And it’s past time for you to take your cash-stuffed wallet and leave.” She’d earned her grudge against him, and she was holding it tight.
“You’re not going to let that unfortunate money incident go, are you?”

Phillips, Susan Elizabeth. Simply the Best: A Chicago Stars Novel (p. 46). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

I’m a sucker for enemies-to-lovers romances, and this one hit all the right notes. But then it’s SEP, the queen of flirtation!

Reason To Believe Kindle Edition

by Rebecca Yarros

A heartbreakingly beautiful story ❤

Harper has been in love with her older brother’s best friend ever since they were kids recovering from the loss of their hero fathers in a devastating forest fire. After a soul-destroying kiss and humiliating letdown from Knox on the night of her prom, Harper buried her devotion to the big dummy and moved on with her life, but when she needs help seven years later, he’s there, no questions asked. How’s a girl supposed to get over a guy like that?

Knox has been hooked on his best buddy’s little sister for as long as he can remember, but there’s an inescapable rule in place stopping him from making a move, and besides, he’s not good enough for her anyway. Now he’s back in Legacy to fulfill a pledge to rebuild the Hotshot team that died on the side of the mountain eleven years ago fighting a raging fire- a team that included his and Harper’s fathers. He’s surprised when she calls asking to borrow his house and is stunned to find her caring for a five-year-old and his baby brother who just lost their mother. But, damn, she looks good.

Before either of them can draw breath, they are thrown into a fake relationship, then marriage, so they can foster the boys to keep them from getting split up. But when make believe hides real feelings, pain isn’t far behind.

This story is heart-wrenching. The kids, Liam and James, are adorable. Liam is so protective of his little brother, even though he’s little more than a baby himself. It’s no wonder Harper and Knox wanted to do everything in their power to keep them safe. While this is a love story, it’s also an insightful look into the emotional toll fostering entails. But it also provides rewards that make it worthwhile. Thank you to all the people who step up and let these children know they are loved.

I hope all my U.S. friends are safe from the storms you’ve been getting {{hugs}}