Racing Hearts - Ann Adams (5 stars)

 

5/5 stars

Tropes: professional athlete mfc, athlete mmc, mmc coaches mfc, partnership, equality, olympics, rowing. 

This is such a sweet ( not in a sickening way) romance. The thing that struck me immediately is that the heroine knows herself, which is a novelty in romance books, honestly. She is very aware of how other people perceive her, how important rowing is for her, and how she doesn't care what others think.

Katherine is physically strong, and this is consistently demonstrated rather than just hinted at.  She is also very logical and practical about why things work/do not work for her. Her physique is also that of an athlete and she has muscles that demonstrate it. However, Adrian loves the way she looks and shows true appreciation for her. 

Adrian is a wholly sweet hero who is almost the polar opposite of Katherine, yet they seem to mesh together really well. He doesn’t disparage her, and whatever she thinks are her shortcomings, he treats them as her core personality. He thinks she is extraordinary from the very beginning, and that is also a very refreshing take. He is a true partner to her and can support her and making her a better athlete for it. Even though she scoffs at him and doesn’t seem to understand why he means ( literally), he is patient with her and gives her space to catch up. 

He was written so well that I almost forgot what he looked like and what his last name was. That’s when you know the personality outshines the looks (although I'm a sucker for green eyes, brown hair combo). He's not perfect; he has faults, and Kath can pick up on his insecurities, making their pairing that much more natural. 

Thanks to Netgalley and Ballantine for the e-ARC

Review: Caught Out - Ann Butler (4/5)

 From the Blurb

"Bad Press is her middle name

What does a socially awkward introvert do when she's trolled for not measuring up to her super model mum and gorgeous media personality sister?
If she's Amara Allen, she keeps her armour polished and her punch bag handy. After all, she'll need some way to cope when the trolling becomes too much.
Things start to look up when the man she's been watching for months and has pegged as one of the good guys asks her on a date. Maybe with him she can let her guard down.

As for Nicholas, the man in question, dating a social misfit who struggles to make conversation is not his idea of a good time. But what can he do when her mum is pulling his strings?"

Review

(eARC provided via Netgalley, 2025)

The story's about Amara and her crush on/interest in Nicholas Lewis, a furniture brand mogul. It's not explicitly stated in the book that she is ND so as a reader, you're wondering it, without any confirmation. I wish the author had explicitly stated it so everything fir in better.

Trinity, Amara's mother, gets Nicholas/Lewis (I wish the author had decided what to call him and then stuck with it) to date Amara for 6 months in exchange for a social media campaign. This means the story is a blackmail/extortion trope.

The problem is that you get the clash first. The book starts with Amara finding out so it colors all their interactions negatively (for me). The lack of verbal communication (makes sense in the instance of MFC being ND) makes this an awkward read for at least the first half of the book. The story could have had more visual cues to make up for it, but that's neither here nor there.

Now, a lot of people may have issues with Trinity (the mom) interfering with her child's love life, but it is pretty cultural, I think. SE Asians have their parents arrange their marriages so for us, meh, it's ok.

It's not explicitly stated how old Amara and Nicholas are (as far as I remember) so that aspect would have helped contextualize their interactions as well.

Open door explicit.