Narrator: Emma Wilder

Review: Loverboy by Sarina Bowen

Posted July 24, 2023 by Holly in Reviews | 7 Comments

Review: Loverboy by Sarina BowenReviewer: Holly
Loverboy by Sarina Bowen
Narrator: Joe Arden, Emma Wilder, Vanessa Edwin
Series: The Company #2
Also in this series: Moonlighter, Moonlighter
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: December 1, 2020
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 278
Length: 9 hours and 11 minutes
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two-stars
Series Rating: three-stars

Secrets, desires, and exquisite pie. It’s all in a day’s work at The Company.
Growing up, I was the rough guy from the wrong neighborhood who couldn’t catch a break. Posy was the pampered girl I tried to impress. But all she gave me was a single kiss before I had to skip town.Now I’m back, and the tables are turned. Posy runs a struggling pie shop. I’m the VP of a secretive billion-dollar security company. Not that I can tell her.There’s a murderer on the loose in New York, and he seems to spend a lot of time at Posy’s shop. It’s my job to identify him before he can harm a hair on her pretty head.Going undercover as Posy’s new barista wasn’t my idea. I don’t even drink coffee. But now I have to call her “boss,” and do everything the curvy perfectionist asks of me. I’d forgotten how much we infuriate each other, and that she somehow fills me with both irritation and desire in the same breath.There’s nobody more skilled at stealth ops than me. I can bring this killer down. Right after I take a cold shower. And just as soon I figure out how to make a skinny peppermint latte with milk poured in the shape of a kitten...

I really enjoy Sarina Bowen’s books as a whole. She does romance really well and I love falling into her stories. Having said that, I am not a fan of her writing romantic suspense.

Posy runs a pie shop and is doing her best to make ends meet. Unfortunately, she can’t find a good barista and she’s killing herself trying to do it all. When Gunnar turns up and seems like the answer to her prayers, she wants to turn him away on principle since he burned her once already when she was just out of college, but she can’t since she’s desperately in need of help and he seems kind of down on his luck. If only she wasn’t still attracted to him…

Gunnar is a security specialist. When a murderer seems to be taunting their firm and the police from Posy’s pie shop, he agrees to go undercover to figure out what he can. He doesn’t expect to still be attracted to Posy, or to what to help her in all the ways. He can’t tell her what he’s up to, but he vows to keep her safe.

There were so many cringe-worthy moments for me in this book. All of the “Security Specialists” seemed so incompetent, plus the whole “lying to her for her own good” trope was really frustrating. I enjoyed some parts of the novel, and I was curious how things would play out with her ex, which is why I kept reading. But the rest was a complete let-down. I do not plan to continue the series.

Rating: 2 out of 5

The Company

two-stars


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Review: Maggie Moves On by Lucy Score

Posted May 8, 2023 by Holly in Reviews | 2 Comments

Review: Maggie Moves On by Lucy ScoreReviewer: Holly
Maggie Moves On by Lucy Score
Narrator: Emma Wilder
Publisher: Forever
Publication Date: June 21, 2022
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
Point-of-View: Alternating First
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 416
Length: 13 hours and 41 minutes
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Can these opposites turn up the heat… without burning down the house?
House-flipping sensation and YouTube star Maggie Nichols can’t wait to dig into her next challenge. Arriving in tiny Kinship, Idaho, with only a cot and a coffeemaker, Maggie is prepared to restore a crumbling Victorian mansion in four months or less. She has her to-do lists, her blueprints, and her team. What she doesn’t have is time for sexy, laid-back landscaper Silas Wright.
The man takes flirtation to a whole new level. And he does it shirtless…sometimes pants-less. He and his service school-dropout dog are impressively persistent. But she’s not interested in putting down roots. Not when fans tune in to watch her travel the country turning dilapidated houses into dream homes. A short-term fling on the other hand could fit nicely into her calendar. After all, Maggie remembers what fun is like. Vaguely.
As their summer gets downright steamy, Silas manages to demolish the emotional walls she’s spent years building, sending Maggie into a panic. He’s the wrench in her carefully constructed plans. With the end of the project looming, she has a decision to make. But how can she stay when her entire career is built on moving on?

Maggie Moves On is a single-title romance by Lucy Score. I wanted something to listen to on my daily commute, so I requested the audiobook from the library. I ended up purchasing the ebook because I got impatient to finish the story. I didn’t love the narrator. Her voices for secondary characters were amazing, but I didn’t love her regular narration.

Maggie Nichols has made a name for herself as a YouTuber who flips houses. Her latest project is a crumbling Victorian in a small town in Idaho. She’s not the type to settle down, but she can’t deny her attraction to the sexy landscape architect she’s hired to help get the grounds in order. Silas is bowled over by Maggie from the start. He’s determined to break down her defenses and get her to see that they could have a future, even if neither of them knows what that looks like right now. Between his adorable dog, some feisty older folks and a bit of teenager angst, the town soon works its magic on Maggie…even if she isn’t quite convinced she doesn’t have to move on.

This was an adorable romance. I enjoyed both MCs. They both had humor and heart, which made for an engaging read. Their banter was especially fun and I literally laughed out loud a couple times at Silas. The whole town really came to life and I loved the relationship Maggie had with her business partner, Dean.

I did think the book was a bit long and there were times I was frustrated with the lack of communication, but overall I enjoyed it. I was sad when it ended.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5


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