41. Bride by Ali Hazelwood

listened on Libby - borrowed from library
410 pgs.

2024
 Adult paranormal steamy romance
Finished 5/7/24
Goodreads rating: 4.09
My rating: 3.75

My comments:  3.75  Good vampire/werewolf/human story.  Last third of book has a LOT of steam....a little too much, actually....which took it from a 4/4.5 down to 3.75.  Loved the first 2/3 of the book.  Haven't read a decent vampire book in awhile...

Goodreads synopsis:  A dangerous alliance between a Vampyre bride and an Alpha Werewolf becomes a love deep enough to sink your teeth into in this new paranormal romance.

Misery Lark, the only daughter of the most powerful Vampyre councilman of the Southwest, is an outcast—again. Her days of living in anonymity among the Humans are over: she has been called upon to uphold a historic peacekeeping alliance between the Vampyres and their mortal enemies, the Weres, and she sees little choice but to surrender herself in the exchange—again...

Weres are ruthless and unpredictable, and their Alpha, Lowe Moreland, is no exception. He rules his pack with absolute authority, but not without justice. And, unlike the Vampyre Council, not without feeling. It’s clear from the way he tracks Misery’s every movement that he doesn’t trust her. If only he knew how right he was….

Because Misery has her own reasons to agree to this marriage of convenience, reasons that have nothing to do with politics or alliances, and everything to do with the only thing she's ever cared about. And she is willing to do whatever it takes to get back what’s hers, even if it means a life alone in Were territory…alone with the wolf.

3. My Darling Bride by Ilsa Madden-Mills

listened on Audible

2023
327 pgs.
Adult Romance with steam...
Finished 1/16/2024
Goodreads rating: 4.10
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary NYC (with the beginning in the desert just outside Tucson!)

My comments: A steamy romcom set in a bookstore.  Take one six-and-a-half-foot exceedingly handsome football star and one thoughtful, conscientious (gorgeous, of course) bookstore employee who has raised her two younger siblings since they were very young, throw in a marriage-of-convenience/fake marriage trope and a few steamy sections ... and voila!  This is an excellently plotted story with great characters and, of course, an HEA.  Very enjoyable listening to on a frigid snow day.

Goodreads synopsis:  In a sizzling romance that sparkles with wit and depth, two wounded souls meet by chance in the desert and agree to get married, and their lives will never be the same.

On a normal day, Emmaline Darling isn’t a car thief. She’s just a simple girl who runs a bookstore and adores cats. But when she’s stranded in the desert and needs to get away from her dangerous ex-boyfriend, she picks her only option: swiping the keys to a famous football player’s Lamborghini and speeding away.

Football star Graham Harlan is in chaos. First he took a hit on the field that left him with a near-death experience, and now he’s promised his brother he’ll get married to secure the family inheritance. Trouble is he isn’t even seeing anyone.

Then a mystery woman steals his car. With his usual stubbornness, he tracks her all the way to Manhattan and gives her an ultimatum: marry me or I’ll press charges.

Her choice is obvious, only neither of them expect the sparks that ignite between them.

As the end of their arrangement looms, will Graham take a chance on love or let his darling walk away forever?

77. I Temporarily Do by Ellie Cahill

listened on Chirp

narrated by Stacey Glemboski - great job

Unabridged audio (6:11
2017
220 pgs.
Adult RomCom
Finished  7/21/21
Goodreads rating: 4.0 - 2817 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary Irvine, CA, eastern small-town IA, and Phoenix

First line/s: "The guys were all in the living room."

My comments:  Great narrator, I love the way she is able to do a male voice without changing her natural voice very much, but making it work perfectly.  I loved the story.  It was a feel good, very cute, fun-feeling story.  Not high steam at all.  It had plenty of meat and was actually somewhat believable...maybe because I wanted it to be that way, lol.  Two great protagonists with lots of other interesting characters.  Very much enjoyed it.

GoodReads Synopsis:   A little white lie. A little white wedding. A pair of roommates in over their heads.

        Days before she's set to move across the country and start a prestigious graduate program, a con artist leaves Emmy with no where to live and less than zero dollars in her bank account. But her day doesn't seem quite so bad compared to Beckett's--his fiancée called off their wedding just days before they tie the knot. Now he's single and ineligible for his place in married student housing.
        So what are a girl without a home and a guy without a wife supposed to do? A quickie wedding in Vegas will solve both their problems. It's a business arrangement, and no one even needs to know. They'll just get an annulment in a few months. What could go wrong?
        Only Beckett forgot to mention his new apartment is a one-bedroom. And neither of them counted on their new friends at Middlesex University thinking they're a great couple.
        The platonic newlywed game might be harder to play than Emmy thought. Especially when it starts to feel less than platonic.
        I Temporarily Do is a Stand-Alone Romantic Comedy.

52. Call Me Crazy by Melanie Harlow

Kindle Unlimited

2021

320 pgs.
Adult Romance
Finished 5/21/2021
Goodreads rating: 4.34 - 6848 ratings
My rating: 4 (Well, just check out the guy on the cover, lol....)
Setting: 

First line/s: "There comes a day in a man's life when he enters a room with hope in his heart and a ring in his pocket, fully prepared to get down on one knee."

My comments: A delightful love story following "the outline" of most romance novels, but I loved it anyway.  Fake marriage that turns into real love with the added "bonus" (if you want to call it that) of trying to get her pregnant at the same time that he ensures being the recipient of his father's contracting business.  Lots of Italian family and busybody/caring friends.  Nothing new, just a fun read.

Goodreads synopsis:  It was the perfect plan.

          I needed a wife—temporarily—in order to inherit the family business.
          And she needed a favor—the kind that takes nine months to deliver.
          We had it all worked out, from the no-touching policy on our wedding night (her rule) to the no-falling-in-love decree (mine). She’d marry me, I’d give her the means to have the baby she’d always wanted, and one year later we’d amicably part ways with no hassle, no demands, and certainly no regrets.
          After all, Bianca DeRossi and I are experts at infuriating one another—we’ve been doing it since we were kids. Trouble is, she grew up gorgeous and feisty, and she still knows exactly how to get under my skin.
          And that wedding night? Well, it doesn’t exactly go down hands-free.
          Then she moves in with me, and I really start to lose my mind. From her sexy little pout to her wicked sense of humor to those meatball sandwiches she makes just because she knows they’re my favorite . . . I find myself wanting to break every rule we put in place.
          Our story was never supposed to end with happily ever after.
          But call me crazy, I just might be in love with my wife.