katiedermody's reviews
1971 reviews

Well, I loved it! There's a good chance that this final installment of the Brunch Bros series is my favorite of the four (I'll let you know once I've read them all again in succession). I think I'll love them all for their own reasons but I'd been WAITING for Sybil and Peter's story ever since it was teased in book one and it did not disappoint, and was worth the wait. 

It's emotional, it's funny, it's sexy, it's swoony, we get to see the small town and cast of side characters we love, and it's got the witty dialogue and repartee that Sarah infuses into her books. Also, she was over the top incredible with the references in this book, both obvious and subtle. Maybe they were extra special because I feel like I caught most or all of them and appreciated them, but even if that's the case there's got to he a lot of readers who will love anything from Jane Austen, to Princess Bride, to LOTR, to Notting Hill, to more. She's always been good at leaving little breadcrumbs like sky references or hints about future storylines, and she continued that here. Even though this is the last Brunch Bro book, she's very clearly set up the potential for (and has said she'd like to write) a McMahon Brothers series and we've gotten to know and love a lot of the people who will center in those already. 

As for this book's specifics, second chance romance is swiftly becoming one of my top tropes and this just pushed it further in that direction. The twelve year break, finally getting to learn about their past, seeing the love and the heartbreaking moments in flashbacks scenes, and watching them figure out how to exist now together, moving past the hurt and into the love that remains. There's also a bit of forced (ish) proximity since he's in town doing a movie with his parents directing and producing (sidenote: love them both) and she gets scouted by accident to be the lead actress's stand in since they look so similar. They spend time together, she tries to keep things casual, he sucks at casual, they end up rescuing a cat together. It's a whole wonderful thing, and I definitely recommend you read the entire series. You don't need to read them in order but you'll have a better sense of things and the story will be fuller if you do. 

Thank you, Sarah, for the ARC! It was a pleasure to read it a little early, send you multiple DMs while doing so, and now sing its praises. 

•Second chance romance (12 years later)
•small coastal Oregon town (back in Crane Cove!)
•sunshine golden-retriever hopeful-romantic actor x people-around-town-are-scared-of-her secretly soft coffee shop owner
•found family (last of the Brunch Bros series)
•Release date: Mar 13/25

Beta read: Holy crap this is good, even in this unfinished stage! Can't wait to see how it turns out when it's done. 

This one was such a mixed bag, but not in a bad way at all. It was SO funny, with hilarious side characters and excellent dialogue (inner and outer). It was spicy, and second chance because the four of them had been together once ten years ago before she freaked out and bailed on her best friends turned lovers. Now she's runaway brided after finding her fiance cheating and still almost going through with it, returned to her kooky small coastal town, and is dealing with her mom (called Crazy Daisy around town and she's fine with it) and her Aunt (Karlene, who is or think she is a psychic), both of whom cause trouble all over the place. And she's dealing with her guys. It's also emotional in ways I didn't expect (see CW at the bottom, but avoid if you're worried about spoilers). I liked it maybe a little less by the end than I assumed I would based on the first part, but still enjoyed it and would read more by the author. 
CW: discussion of past miscarriage, cheating, surprise pregnancy in the present (near the end).

As always, I enjoyed this why choose romance from the author duo Emma Foxx! Ivy gets ditched on her wedding day and is comforted by her best friend Liam, and her ex-fiance's best friends Harrison and Ford (yes, they've heard all the name jokes since they've been best friends since birth pretty much). Turns out the ex left the house they got to move across the country to in Ivy's name so she decides to drive out and sell it and the three men join her. There's immediate tension because Liam has loved her for years, Ford met her before her ex did and has liked her the entire time, and Harrison and Liam have a contentious past but clearly still have chemistry. There's an only one room situation where things progress, the spice is great in this one, and then they all end up in the guys' home town in South Carolina, all falling in love with her, and the two guys with each other. I forgot the way these authors often have their polycule members conflicted at first about sharing, forming relationships, being together, etc. and I appreciate that because it feels like what should happen in real life when you enter into a relationship with multiple people. I look forward to their next book!

Okay, I actually loved this so much! I requested it because I'd seen the cover artist post the reveal and saw fat rep for both characters and the words "fake marriage" in the title and was all in. I started to read the arc and then immediately realized the other book I'd seen by this author was the first and was connected, so I started that one but was already too interested in this one, so I'll have to go back to that one. I'm curious to see what I'll think of Hazel as the best friend in book one, because I love her as the MC in this one. That she's fiesty, a little rude, loves going for shock value, all while being standoffish because she was essentially trained by her mother to be exactly what men want, to hide her real self and interests, etc. Then her adorably oafish, gentle-giant neighbor, Beck, sees right through that and without her even realizing it at first, encourages her to own it. She situates herself as his fake wife to help him save face with an awful colleague, and they end up at a two week writer's retreat all togrther, where she struggles with the fact that the more she sees who he is, the more she falls her walls dropping and wishing she was someone worthy of his real love.
This book is simultaneously so beautifully soft and incredibly horny, and it's such a great mix. It's all from her POV so there were times I wanted to shake her and say, "Get it together! This sweet man CLEARLY wants you for real, exactly as you are!" Beck is nearing 40 and very inexperienced, and I loved the way that was handled in the story, with her not only not judging him for it, but ultimately being excited by the fact that she's the one who gets to have firsts with him. He may be polite, and seem rather innocent because of his general demeanor with the public, but he also knows what he wants and is a very quick to apply what he's learned. The ending made me feel a little emotional for them both and I think it's because the "everyone deserves someone to love them just as they are" message got to me a little, because isn't that what so many of us want? 
Thank you to SMP for the arc, I very much enjoyed the story and will definitely look for more from this author in the future.
•Fat rep
•British and American characters 
•Spicy and sweet
•Release date: Mar 11/25

I enjoyed this most recent addition to the Forbidden on Fruit Street series about Wyatt, the neighbor and landscaper we met in book two that I hoped would get his own book next. We learn more about the daughter mentioned before, and that he's only been in her life since she was 12 because her mom didn't tell him. Now an adult, his daughter is moving from New York to San Francisco for a job, leaving her best friend without somewhere to live, so she asks Wyatt to let her stay. What she doesn't realize is that Wyatt and Poppy are both attracted to each other. They fight it because of the 17 year age difference and the best friend situation, but as they spend more time together, especially after he meets her abusive ex and wants to protect her, feelings grow and they eventually give in. This one took the longest of the three for me to get behind the forbidden aspect while reading, but it was because of how conflicted the characters were, so I think that points to good storytelling. It felt a little like they went from not quite zero to one hundred once they finally admitted their feelings, but I could see how they could happen after the time they spent together while denying themselves. The best part is how considerate and caring and encouraging they are to one another about making their dreams come true and doing something that they love. Though my fave story is still Daisy and Weston's (so fun to see them and Violet and Kyle from book one again), I do think that these two are my fave characters (hot tattooed guy who loves to garden and is super protective, and a redhead who loves to cook and has a fierce side once she lets herself feel it? Sign me up!). And as usual for a Jen Morris book, the spice was spicing. This time I'm not sure if there was someone set up to be the next book and I missed it or if this is meant to be the last in the series. Regardless, it was an enjoyable read so thank you to the author for the arc! Release date: Mar 4. 

I wanted to read this anyways because I am really loving the author's professional hockey series, so I was glad when my book club liked my suggestion. I'm also glad I read it now because the next book in the Terror series is out next month and though this is a different series, set at the university level, it 100% overlaps. You see characters from the other one and I think it when moved the plot song for some people. We'll see once that one's out. Cammie is in first year, considers herself weird because she likes writing spicy, poly LOTR fanfic, and admires Chase from afar. He's on the hockey team and super popular, but a few months into school finally notices her when there's a bit of a forced proximity/only one bed situation. He falls HARD and she eventually believes him and they date. It's a very college level story as far as social life, classes, etc. goes but definitely still spicy in the same way as the other series (and maybe that's legit and is some people's university experience but it wasn't mine so it felt a little unrealistic at times. It didn't bug me though). Definitely a few people I can see will have their own books as this new series continues and I look forward to it!

2025 reread: this is my 3rd time reading this one and I still love it. The fake friendship / friendship of convenience trope is great, their chemistry and mutual pining are excellent, and the mix of softness and fierceness this book and it's MCs has is lovely. As someone more recently exploring my own neurodivergence, Ziggy bring autistic was interesting to read. I liked that her experience and Frankie's experience have similarities but are unique, and how that was even shown in Zig's own journey from the burnout that lead to her diagnosis to now, years later as an adult. Seb's growth is amazing as far as his attitude and behavior go, and I like that he still keeps some of the best bits of his personality, just without the self-destructive patterns. I'm not sure why I forgot what a slow burn this one is, both for the reader but also for them (I forgot how much time the book spans), but it allowed their friendship to develop and we got both POVs so it didn't bug me too much. Overall, very glad to reread their story again. 

It was my goal to spend a large chunk of my Valentine's Day with Hudson and Madeline (and Lucy!) and I managed to read it all on release day like I'd hoped. Partly because I made that little goal, but largely because it was so good! Chelsea Curto is an author whose books I look forward to and they keep getting better and better every time. 
This one was what some people might consider long, especially as it's a slow burn, but I was super here for it. The way they build their friendship from the time Madeline and her daughter move in with Hudson so she can be his personal chef, through the slow burnz to when they finally get together was perfectly paced because I didn't notice the length at all, and was in fact sad when it was over. Their love grew organically as they spent time together, laughed, showed their vulnerabilities, supported one another.
Huddy is such a goner for her and it's very swoony, but as per usual with the best fictional men, the quiet ones who get jokingly called a pride are often anything but. The ways he makes her feel wanted are beautiful and sexy. He's possessive and protective in the best ways, and honestly is just too good for us all. 
Maddie takes longer to get there, understandably after Lucy's dad left as soon as she was born and they confirmed she was deaf. She's had her heart broken in a huge way and has had to take care of them primarily on her own, so she stays in denial of her feelings for a while. But I mean... the guy secretly learns sign language in his very little free time from being a professional hockey player and then surprises them with it because he genuinely loves Lucy too. She didnt stand a chance.
It was great to be back in the DC Stars world again, seeing Maddie become part of the womens' friend group, the guys and their wonderful camaraderie, and the way they both give each other hell and love and support one another, and trying to find every little breadcrumb left for future stories; I definitely caught some, loved every single one, and even found myself muttering "of COURSE they're going to end up together! She said she wanted xyz."
As both a success and the third book in the series, I guess that makes this a hat trick for Chelsea! (Had to do it).

•Hockey romance, 3ed in series
•Disability rep: FMC's kid is Deaf and they use ASL & SimCon
•Read on KU

This was a very emotional second chance story about two former NHL players, now in their early 40s, who used to be teammates, best friends, and roommates, and would hook up sometimes. Riley knew he was gay and was in love with Adam, whereas as Adam remained in denial about what his feelings and experiences meant, and hurt Riley multiple times because of it before they didn't see each other for 12 years. He married a woman, had kids, and only just retired from hockey recently. Riley left the sport at 29 needing help mental health and addiction, neither of which were supported in the league or discussed at the time. He went back to his small Nova Scotia town, figured out his stuff and built a quiet life for himself and his dog Lucky. But now his dad has died, which has thrown him for a loop, and amidst his already deep sorrow and grief, Adam shows up for the funeral. The men spend a week together working through their emotions, finally coming clean about things (including Adam's divorce), and trying to avoid their attraction, at first. It's a slow burn, but feelings are still there too and what they end up with is beautiful and joyful even with Adam's trip home to Toronto looming. I really liked this book, it got me in my feelings as a queer person and someone who loves second chance romances. It didn't blow me away as something I'd want to scream about from roof tops but I think that's because of its more somber, serious tone because it still has me captivated enough to stay up into the night to finish it. 
Thank you to Harlequin for the arc! Release date: Mar 4/25.