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Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert
Eve Brown is a certified hot mess. No matter how hard she strives to do right, her life always goes horribly wrong—so she’s given up trying. But when her personal brand of chaos ruins an expensive wedding (someone had to liberate those poor doves), her parents draw the line. It’s time for Eve to grow up and prove herself—even though she’s not entirely sure how…
Jacob Wayne is in control. Always. The bed and breakfast owner’s on a mission to dominate the hospitality industry—and he expects nothing less than perfection. So when a purple-haired tornado of a woman turns up out of the blue to interview for his open chef position, he tells her the brutal truth: not a chance in hell. Then she hits him with her car—supposedly by accident. Yeah, right.
Now his arm is broken, his B&B is understaffed, and the dangerously unpredictable Eve is fluttering around, trying to help. Before long, she’s infiltrated his work, his kitchen—and his spare bedroom. Jacob hates everything about it. Or rather, he should. Sunny, chaotic Eve is his natural-born nemesis, but the longer these two enemies spend in close quarters, the more their animosity turns into something else. Like Eve, the heat between them is impossible to ignore—and it’s melting Jacob’s frosty exterior.
Why you should read it: I can't remember the last time I actually finished reading a trilogy (I am notoriously awful at finishing series even when I am completely in love with them), and this final installment blew me away. Eve is such a sweet, lovely, alarmingly relatable character and every superlative moment of this book was a delight. Hot and sweet and full of heart, I adored every word.
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The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary
Tiffy Moore needs a cheap flat, and fast. Leon Twomey works nights and needs cash. Their friends think they're crazy, but it's the perfect solution: Leon occupies the one-bed flat while Tiffy's at work in the day, and she has the run of the place the rest of the time.
But with obsessive ex-boyfriends, demanding clients at work, wrongly imprisoned brothers and, of course, the fact that they still haven't met yet, they're about to discover that if you want the perfect home you need to throw the rulebook out the window...
Why you should read it: This book caught me completely off guard, which is probably silly considering how highly recommended it came. An absolutely charming cast, with even the most tangential side characters feeling real and warm and fully fleshed out. The villain of the story was gut-wrenching in that way of a far too plausible abuser losing his grip—warnings to anyone who might have trouble reading an uncomfortably well written scenario grappling with the aftereffects of an abusive relationship—but none of those heavy themes undermined the underlying joy and fun of the story. This book was just excellent all around.
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Best Laid Plans by Roan Parrish
Charlie Matheson has spent his life taking care of things. When his parents died two days before his eighteenth birthday, he took care of his younger brother, even though that meant putting his own dreams on hold. He took care of his father’s hardware store, building it into something known several towns over. He took care of the cat he found in the woods…so now he has a cat.
When a stranger with epic tattoos and a glare to match starts coming into Matheson’s Hardware, buying things seemingly at random and lugging them off in a car so beat-up Charlie feels bad for it, his instinct is to help. When the man comes in for the fifth time in a week, Charlie can’t resist intervening.
Rye Janssen has spent his life breaking things. Promises. His parents’ hearts. Leases. He isn’t used to people wanting to put things back together—not the crumbling house he just inherited, not his future and certainly not him. But the longer he stays in Garnet Run, the more he can see himself belonging there. And the more time he spends with Charlie, the more he can see himself falling asleep in Charlie’s arms…and waking up in them.
Is this what it feels like to have a home—and someone to share it with?
Why you should read it: My god this book is so sweet. I love how soft it is without ever feeling monotonous, how very much these characters are doing their best and meet each other halfway. It's not that there isn't any conflict on the page, but I appreciated the scope of it when it arose, how much it felt like something my emotionally exhausted heart could handle without having to clench up in self-defense. (This is not meant to throw shade on more stressful stories—just that right here and right now, I needed something a little more gentle—and this book gave me exactly what I was looking for.) A lovely read. Fiercely recommend.
Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert
Eve Brown is a certified hot mess. No matter how hard she strives to do right, her life always goes horribly wrong—so she’s given up trying. But when her personal brand of chaos ruins an expensive wedding (someone had to liberate those poor doves), her parents draw the line. It’s time for Eve to grow up and prove herself—even though she’s not entirely sure how…
Jacob Wayne is in control. Always. The bed and breakfast owner’s on a mission to dominate the hospitality industry—and he expects nothing less than perfection. So when a purple-haired tornado of a woman turns up out of the blue to interview for his open chef position, he tells her the brutal truth: not a chance in hell. Then she hits him with her car—supposedly by accident. Yeah, right.
Now his arm is broken, his B&B is understaffed, and the dangerously unpredictable Eve is fluttering around, trying to help. Before long, she’s infiltrated his work, his kitchen—and his spare bedroom. Jacob hates everything about it. Or rather, he should. Sunny, chaotic Eve is his natural-born nemesis, but the longer these two enemies spend in close quarters, the more their animosity turns into something else. Like Eve, the heat between them is impossible to ignore—and it’s melting Jacob’s frosty exterior.
Why you should read it: I can't remember the last time I actually finished reading a trilogy (I am notoriously awful at finishing series even when I am completely in love with them), and this final installment blew me away. Eve is such a sweet, lovely, alarmingly relatable character and every superlative moment of this book was a delight. Hot and sweet and full of heart, I adored every word.
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The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary
Tiffy Moore needs a cheap flat, and fast. Leon Twomey works nights and needs cash. Their friends think they're crazy, but it's the perfect solution: Leon occupies the one-bed flat while Tiffy's at work in the day, and she has the run of the place the rest of the time.
But with obsessive ex-boyfriends, demanding clients at work, wrongly imprisoned brothers and, of course, the fact that they still haven't met yet, they're about to discover that if you want the perfect home you need to throw the rulebook out the window...
Why you should read it: This book caught me completely off guard, which is probably silly considering how highly recommended it came. An absolutely charming cast, with even the most tangential side characters feeling real and warm and fully fleshed out. The villain of the story was gut-wrenching in that way of a far too plausible abuser losing his grip—warnings to anyone who might have trouble reading an uncomfortably well written scenario grappling with the aftereffects of an abusive relationship—but none of those heavy themes undermined the underlying joy and fun of the story. This book was just excellent all around.
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Best Laid Plans by Roan Parrish
Charlie Matheson has spent his life taking care of things. When his parents died two days before his eighteenth birthday, he took care of his younger brother, even though that meant putting his own dreams on hold. He took care of his father’s hardware store, building it into something known several towns over. He took care of the cat he found in the woods…so now he has a cat.
When a stranger with epic tattoos and a glare to match starts coming into Matheson’s Hardware, buying things seemingly at random and lugging them off in a car so beat-up Charlie feels bad for it, his instinct is to help. When the man comes in for the fifth time in a week, Charlie can’t resist intervening.
Rye Janssen has spent his life breaking things. Promises. His parents’ hearts. Leases. He isn’t used to people wanting to put things back together—not the crumbling house he just inherited, not his future and certainly not him. But the longer he stays in Garnet Run, the more he can see himself belonging there. And the more time he spends with Charlie, the more he can see himself falling asleep in Charlie’s arms…and waking up in them.
Is this what it feels like to have a home—and someone to share it with?
Why you should read it: My god this book is so sweet. I love how soft it is without ever feeling monotonous, how very much these characters are doing their best and meet each other halfway. It's not that there isn't any conflict on the page, but I appreciated the scope of it when it arose, how much it felt like something my emotionally exhausted heart could handle without having to clench up in self-defense. (This is not meant to throw shade on more stressful stories—just that right here and right now, I needed something a little more gentle—and this book gave me exactly what I was looking for.) A lovely read. Fiercely recommend.
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