Tag: romance

When a wary rock star and a cynical reporter fake date to bury a scandalous rumor, will true love be exposed as the real story?

Nick: I do my best songwriting while playing my guitar on the fire escape. Unfortunately, my in-bed-at-ten next-door neighbor, Maddie, is not a fan of my music. She clambers out on the fire escape to
yell at me about making “noise.” In bunny slippers, no less. But then she trips and falls into my arms.

That photo of Maddie plastered all over me hits the papers, just as my dream recording company wants to sign my band. Which is a problem, because an obsessed fan is claiming that I’m her
boyfriend and now the media is blowing up that I’m two-timing them both. Good-bye recording contract, unless….

Maddie: I’m supposed to cover the story. Not be the story! But when Nick begs me to fake date, I can’t resist the chance to be Nick’s girlfriend—even if fake—the opposite of my life as a city desk reporter. But my ex said I’m a terrible kisser, and there’s no way I want Mr. Hot Rock Star saying the same thing. Hence, clause 11 in our contract: There will be absolutely no physical contact.

Nick: When Maddie receives a threatening photo of the two of us with an X over her face, my desire to protect her suddenly feels all too real. It’s either a troll or her undercover investigation has been
compromised. With both our careers at stake, is breaking up the only way to keep Maddie safe?

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Kathy Strobos is an award-winning author living in New York City with her husband and two children, amid a growing collection of books, toys, and dollhouses. She took a break from working as a lawyer to write romantic comedies full-time and get in shape. She is still working on
getting in shape.

Born and raised in Manhattan, she loves writing about New York City and her smart heroines who live and fall in love there, amidst its vibrant energy and the aroma of homemade chocolate chip cookies. She is the award-winning author of: A Scavenger Hunt for Hearts, Partner Pursuit, Is This for Real?, Caper Crush, My Book Boyfriend, Love Is an Art and My Secret Snowflake.

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My thoughts: This is a very cute romance, with a whole fake dating while actually really wishing it was real plot. Nick’s an up-and-coming rock star and Maddie is his journalist neighbour. A crazy fan is claiming to be his girlfriend, and the record label isn’t happy.

When a sneaky pap posts a photo that seems to imply something between the two friends, Nick decides to ask Maddie to be his fake girlfriend – just for a few months – and then they can break up.

Against her better judgment, Maddie agrees, as long as the terms are clear. She’s working on a huge corruption story for her paper and doesn’t really need the distraction, but Nick’s game to help her investigate. As the two don disguises and try to work out what’s going on, they find themselves falling in love for real…

Fun, charming and with an enjoyable subplot about Maddie’s investigation into corruption at city hall, you’ll wish you were in Maddie’s gang of pals for real.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

A charming literary-themed novel about a young woman determined to save her great-aunt’s beloved bookshop from extinction by the shiny new competition—which also happens to be run by the handsome son of her family’s rivals.

The cute, seaside town of Portneath has been the home of Capelthorne’s Books for nearly a hundred years… The shop, in the heart of a high street that stretches crookedly down the hill from the castle to the sea, may be a tad run-down these days, but to Jules Capelthorne, the wonky, dusty world of literary treasures is full of precious childhood memories.

When her great-aunt Florence gets too frail to run it alone, Jules ditches her junior publishing job in London and comes home to make the bookshop’s hundredth birthday a celebration to remember. Jules quickly discovers things are worse than she ever imagined: The bookshop is close to bankruptcy, unlikely to make it to its own centenary celebration, and the lease on the building is up for renewal. With a six-figure sum needed, the future looks bleak. To make matters worse, the owner of the property is the insufferable Roman Montbeau, from the posh, local family who owns half of Portneath.

The Montbeaus and Capelthornes have feuded for years, and Roman has clearly not improved since he tormented Jules as a child. Fresh from a highflying career in New York, he is on a mission to shake things up, and—unforgivably—proves his point about Capelthorne’s being a relic of the past by opening a new bookshop directly opposite—a shiny, plate-glass-windowed emporium of books.

Jules may not be able to splash the cash on promotions and marketing like the Montbeaus, but she’s got some ideas of her own, plus she has a tenacity that may just win the hardest of hearts and the most hopeless of conflicts. Let the battle of the bookshops commence…

Poppy Alexander is the author of The Littlest Library, Storybook Ending, and 25 Days ’Til Christmas. She wrote her first book when she was five. There was a long gap in her writing career while she was at school, and after studying classical music at university, she decided the world of music was better off without her and took up public relations, campaigning, political lobbying, and a bit of journalism instead. She takes an anthropological interest in family, friends, and life in her West Sussex village (think The Archers crossed with Twin Peaks), where she lives with her husband, children, and various other pets.

My thoughts: If you (like me) like You’ve Got Mail, you’ll love this. There are also plenty of Romeo & Juliet references too, because Jules and Roman are very aware of the whole star-crossed lovers from two warring families. Thing is, they’re not entirely sure why their families have this ancient feud.

Although Roman’s new bookshop right across the street from Jules’ hundred years old family run, slightly down at heel shop, is definitely going to reignite the family war. But then they realise how much they like each other. Even as they battle for bookshop dominance.

It’s cute and funny and a bit silly, and altogether rather charming. Perfect for a grey day’s reading.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.