He Falls First - Jill Shalvis (3.75/5)

 

Rating: 3.75/5 rounded up to 4.

Thanks to Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca for providing me the e-ARC. Views are my own.

Tropes: sweet romance, beta-hero, trauma-childhood, family-values, siblings, part-of-a-series, sassy-grandma, working-class-hero, working-class-heroine.

This is a sweet romance. I wish there were any other way to describe it, but sweet really does describe it well. The hero, Ryder, is the oldest sibling, takes cares of his family and all the kids were abused by their dad. Now their dad has had 2 strokes and is the sweetest ever, but the siblings are still reeling from the past abuse of their dad. Together, they own and run Colburn Construction.

Penny's mom is unstable and has left her grandma and younger (half?) brother alone. She gives up her job to help them out. She dreams of opening up her cafe, but is so bogged down from day to day, that she can't think straight. She works for the catering company that supplies lunches and snacks to the Colburn Construction.

I will concede that there is no doubt that the hero likes the heroine. All the people around him ALSO know that he likes her. He waits for her delivery and has (supposedly) bumped into walls because he was watching her. My issue is that I wish there were a little more anticipation between the two. The conflicts that each of them took a back seat, where as a reader you sort of discard their issues (they are not highlighted much at all, in my opinion). Because they kiss so naturally and are already so in tune with each other, it seems hard to understand why they aren't together already.

The about-face that Hank (the dad) had... I'm not sure if that was necessary? The relationship between the heroine's mom and herself could also have been explored much more to give more depth.

Homebound - Meredith Trapp (4/5)

 

Many thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books | Atria/Emily Bestler Books for providing me the e-ARC.

Tropes: Single dad, woman rodeo rider, forced proximity, childhood best friends, friends to lovers, he falls first, he falls hard, it's always been her, written in dual perspective.

Wyatt has been in love with Dakota forever, but she has always treated him like a friend over the 18 years that they've known each other. This time round, he will ensure that she sees him as more than a friend. It's a really sweet romance. Not a ton of action except that you get to see his angst and his yearning for her and that is really nice. The little baby in the book is adorable and Wyatt's anxiety about being a good dad is endearing. The heroine is very gutsy and strong although she is extremely anxious about her bull riding career and how it will be affected. 

I also liked that unlike other romances, the heroine wasn't a virgin. She had sex and a lot of it, and the hero still loved her. She wasn't emotionally involved with the other guys and it was mostly physical, but I liked that the author didn't shy away from making her really bold in this respect.

Could have been more fleshed out, but a sweet read nonetheless.