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The Proposal
The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory is $1.99! Speaking to other romance readers, I feel like a lot of those I know liked this one more than The Wedding Date. What do you think? Do you have a favorite Guillory romance?
From the author of The Wedding Date comes a new novel about the perils of public proposals and the beauty of an unexpected second chance.
When Nik Paterson went to the Dodgers game with her C-list actor boyfriend, Ford, for his birthday, she expected nothing more than a few boring hours with him and his bros. She certainly didn’t expect a Jumbotron proposal. Or her name to be misspelled. Or to go viral in minutes…
Carlos Ibarra wants to hang out with his sister, catch a Dodgers game, and relax for once. But when a camera crew descends on Nik after the disastrous proposal, he has to rescue her. After they flee the stadium, he delivers her into the arms of her supportive girlfriends, and they both think they’ll never see each other again.
Fate has other plans. Nik and Carlos keep crossing paths, accidentally and on purpose. When they finally give in to their attraction to each other, they are on the same page: sex and nothing more. But the proposed friends-with-benefits relationship is turning into something more, and the pair have to decide if they have room in their lives for love.
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No Offense
No Offense by Meg Cabot is $1.99! This is book two in the Little Bridge Island small town romance series. A librarian and a sheriff are confounded by someone leaving a baby in the library’s bathroom. I’ve heard meh things about this series, but your mileage may vary.
New York Times -bestselling author Meg Cabot’s returns with a charming romance between a children’s librarian and the town sheriff in the second book in the Little Bridge Island series.
Welcome to Little Bridge, one of the smallest, most beautiful islands in the Florida Keys, home to sandy white beaches, salt-rimmed margaritas, and stunning sunsets—a place where nothing goes under the radar and love has a way of sneaking up when least expected…
A broken engagement only gave Molly Montgomery additional incentive to follow her dream job from the Colorado Rockies to the Florida Keys. Now, as Little Bridge Island Public Library’s head of children’s services, Molly hopes the messiest thing in her life will be her sticky-note covered desk. But fate—in the form of a newborn left in the restroom—has other ideas. So does the sheriff who comes to investigate the “abandonment”. When John Hartwell folds all six-feet-three of himself into a tiny chair and insists that whoever left the baby is a criminal, Molly begs to differ and asks what he’s doing about the Island’s real crime wave (if thefts of items from homes that have been left unlocked could be called that). Not the best of starts, but the man’s arrogance is almost as distracting as his blue eyes. Almost…
John would be pretty irritated if one of his deputies had a desk as disorderly as Molly’s. Good thing she doesn’t work for him, considering how attracted he is to her. Molly’s lilting librarian voice makes even the saltiest remarks go down sweeter, which is bad as long as she’s a witness but might be good once the case is solved—provided he hasn’t gotten on her last nerve by then. Recently divorced, John has been having trouble adjusting to single life as well as single parenthood. But something in Molly’s beautiful smile gives John hope that his old life on Little Bridge might suddenly hold new promise—if only they can get over their differences.
Clever, hilarious, and fun, No Offense will tug at readers’ heartstrings and make them fall in love with Little Bridge Island and its unique characters once again.
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So We Meet Again
So We Meet Again by Suzanne Park is $1.99! This is a contemporary romance and was mentioned in a previous Hide Your Wallet. As an aside, I’ve done a few events with Park for their books and they are a damn delight.
When up-and-coming investment banker Jess Kim is passed over for a promotion, laid off in a virtual meeting, and then overhears why (“she’s already being overpaid anyway for a woman” and “Asians are worker bees, not someone who can drum up new deals”) she delivers an “eff you guys” speech and storms out of the building. Not sure what’s next, she moves back home to Tennessee with her domineering Korean mom, who tries to set her up with her pastor’s son Daniel Choi, an M&A lawyer by day and a successful video game streamer by night. Turns out he’s swoony and smart, not the awkward preacher’s kid she remembers. With his help, Jess launches a Korean cooking YouTube channel focused on easy meal prep for busy professionals.
All is going well until her mom walks on the show mid-live recording and argues about cooking technique. While she hates being berated by her mother in front of the world, it actually works in their favor—they go viral!
Soon her cooking channel becomes an actual media company and brand. When a client is suddenly interested in buying Jess out, she finds herself sitting across the table from the very investment firm she quit not so long ago. But there’s just one other problem: Daniel, the guy whose been helping her and that she’s been falling for, is the firm’s new general counsel.
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Love Beyond Time
Love Beyond Time by Bethany Claire is FREE! This is a time travel romance and the first in a series. I think the series follows the same couple, but I’m not sure if it deviates at any point in the dozen books or so that are out.
A powerful Scottish laird. A time-traveling teacher. A tragic destiny only she can prevent.
Unlucky in love, schoolteacher Brielle “Bri” Montgomery wonders where all the good men have gone. They certainly don’t waltz through her safe and meticulous life in Texas. Venturing out of her comfort zone, she joins her archaeologist mother on a dig in Scotland… and finds herself transported 400 years into the past. Shocked and bewildered, Bri learns she’s just moments away from marrying an impossibly handsome Scotsman…
Eoin Conall has no interest in wedding the woman who irritates him to no end. But with a promise made to his dying father fresh on his mind, he ties the knot with his insufferable bride. Once wed, to his surprise, he notices something has changed about her. Something irresistible. Could he be falling for the wife he never wanted?
As her initial wary attraction to the gallant highlander turns to love, Bri wishes she wasn’t aware of history’s impending slaughter of Eoin and the entire Conall Clan. Unable to accept his gruesome destiny, she sets out to rewrite history.
Will Bri and Eoin succeed in protecting their impossible romance or is their heartbreaking fate already sealed?
Love Beyond Time is the first book in the enchanting Morna’s Legacy Series of time-travel romances. If you like bold, handsome highlanders, strong-willed heroines, and adventures that transport you across time, then you’ll love Bethany Claire’s sweeping page-turner.
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I feel like THE PROPOSAL suffers from the “early book from a talented author who is still working on craft” phenomenon. The ideas are good, but the execution is lacking. I did really enjoy WHILE WE WERE DATING (book 6 in this series)—the characters are great and the dialogue really shines (both of which are major deficiencies in THE PROPOSAL.)
THE PROPOSAL is my favorite Guillory, with WHILE WE WERE DATING as a close second.
I have a lot of nostalgia for Meg Cabot after so many of her YA series got me through my teen years. I know objectively that the LITTLE BRIDGE ISLAND series is not her strongest work from a craft perspective, but I have enjoyed it (in a way that sort of shuts off the critique side of my brain).
I love Scotland and Scottish people and appreciate their historic and continued struggle against the English government but I’m really over Highlanders and dialogue with a lot of “dinna”s and “lass”s in it. Are there any good contemporaries set in Scotland?
@EJ how about A Duke by Default from Alyssa Cole’s Reluctant Royals series
Oh! Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins, and the first book in that series, Prince Charming. YA contemporary with a dash of alternate history that gives Scotland its own royal family. Fluffy with lots of cute funny moments.
I am 100% here for non-public proposals (also non-public reconciliations, non-public declarations of love, etc.) – I almost wish that could be a content warning because no matte how much I like my main couple and the wacky grandma, some shit should happen privately.
Honestly, I agree that The Proposal is one of her weaker books, but Royal Holiday and The Wedding Date are great and don’t require reading the others in the series. Royal Holiday – older protags, holiday romance, travel romance. The Wedding Date – enemies to lovers, secret relationship.
One thing I really enjoy about her books is that she writes proper emotional conflict. Partners need to respect and delineate boundaries. Folks have work and family obligations. Sometimes you need to recognize your trauma response is driving you and how to explain and unpack that for your partner.
Basically, I really really like Jasmine Guillory’s work and she’s 100% auto-read for me 🙂
I’ve read two of Suzanne Park’s books and wouldn’t hesitate to read the rest. She gets inside what family, life and work are for Asian-American women, and women in general, with clarity and humor. The struggle is real and it comes from all sides. Highly recommended.
My pick is The Proposal, which I love.
I’ve spoken about No Offense here and it’s up. Not the greatest in the representation department.
I meant “um, not great.” Darn autocorrect.
@EJ, I’m reading two contemporary romance series set in Scotland. One is the Invertary series by Janet Elizabeth Henderson. It’s kind of fun, quirky, and romcom. The second is the Marry the Scot (and spinoff) series by Jolie Vines. It’s in KU if you have a subscription. Can’t comment on the “dinna” and “lass” quantity in either of these series, though, my brain tends to just skip right over that. It’s funny, I avoid historical Scottish romance, yet I love contemporary romances set in Scotland.
Inspired by EJ, but with the following disclaimer– I haven’t read much highlander-type romance, so maybe there’s a lot more out there than I realize.
Can anyone suggest historical romances set in Scotland that engage with actual Scottish history? I know there’s more out there, but I always feel like the worldbuilding is just “crazed land of bloodfeuds, hot men in skirts” or “he swore to murder the English but the king/his boner will force an exception for THIS ONE” without any further explanation.
Books I have read/already want to read: Outlander etc, Bertrice Small’s Love Wild and Fair, Carrie Lofty’s Starlight. Would love any recs, thanks!!
A fantastic historical series if you are interested in Scottish and European history is The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett. There’s kind of? a romance that develops late in the 6 book series and the main character is very much an anti-hero type. This series absolutely consumed me as a teenager in the 1970’s LOL and pretty much solidified my reading preferences (including romance) for many years after.
For straight romance, you could try Jennifer Ashley’s Mackenzie series. The first set of books is set in late Victorian times, but then she did a prequel series focusing on her Scottish Mackenzie family in the 1700’s. I haven’t read any of those so I can’t comment on the history content, but I’ve enjoyed many of her books.
Just thought of another one, Highland Rebel by Judith James. Her romances were set in the 1600’s and 1700’s and had a lot more focus on history than the usual historical romance.
@JenM I ADORE the Lymond Chronicles! They easily could have ruined me for other books and are likely why I was thinking “romance + Actual Scottish History would be a jam.”
I think I read a Mackenzie novella, but I didn’t know about the earlier series. Judith James sounds interesting as well. Thank you!
@EJ, “The Shadowy Horses” by Susanna Kearsley is a contemporary set in the Scottish Lowlands, with lots of local Scots history and a wonderful eerie atmosphere from the ancient Roman occupation. Highly recommended.
@One of the Ms. M’s, Susanna Kearsley’s “The Shadowy Horses” would fit your request, too.