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The Fiancee Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur
Tansy Adams’ greatest love is her family’s bookstore, passed down from her late father. But when it comes to actual romance… Tansy can’t get past the first chapter. Tired of her stepfamily’s questions about her love life, Tansy invents Gemma, a fake girlfriend inspired by the stunning cover model on a bestselling book. They’ll never actually meet, so what’s the harm in a little fib? Yet when real-life Gemma crosses Tansy’s path, her white lie nearly implodes.
Gemma van Dalen is a wild child, the outcast of her wealthy family, and now the latest heir to Van Dalen Publishing. But the title comes with one tiny condition: she must be married in order to inherit. When Gemma discovers a beautiful stranger has been pretending to date her for months, she decides to take the charade one step further—and announces their engagement.
Gemma needs a wife to meet the terms of her grandfather’s will and Tansy needs money to save her struggling bookstore. A marriage could be mutually beneficial, if they can fool everyone into thinking it’s a love match. Unexpected sparks fly as Tansy and Gemma play the role of affectionate fiancées, and suddenly the line between convenient arrangement and real feelings begins to blur. But the scheming Van Dalen family won’t give up the company without a fight, and Gemma and Tansy’s newfound happiness might get caught in the fallout…
Why you should read it: This book is so incredibly satisfying. The villain characters are over-the-top villainous, but not in a way that's badly done. Just, in a way where I want them to face terrible consequences, almost as much as I want the lovely main characters to be together. The chemistry between Tansy and Gemma is smoldering, and I loved watching them fall into each other and learn to trust. I'm such a sucker for characters with trust issues who do their best anyway, and have each other's backs. I enjoyed the hell out of this story and will need to read more by this author.
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Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail by Ashley Herring Blake
For Astrid Parker, failure is unacceptable. Ever since she broke up with her fiancé a year ago, she’s been focused on her career—her friends might say she’s obsessed, but she’s just driven. When Pru Everwood asks her to be the designer for the Everwood Inn’s renovation that will be broadcasted on a popular home improvement show, Innside America, Astrid knows this is the answer to everything that is wrong with her life. It’ll be the perfect distraction from her failed love life, and her perpetually displeased mother might finally give her nod of approval.
However, Astrid never planned on Jordan Everwood, Pru’s granddaughter and lead carpenter for the inn’s renovation, who despises every modern design decision Astrid makes. Jordan is determined to preserve the history of her family’s inn, particularly as the rest of her life is in shambles. When that determination turns into a little light sabotage, ruffling Astrid’s perfect little feathers, the showrunners ask them to play up the tension. But somewhere along the way, their dislike for each other turns into something quite different, and Astrid must decide what success truly means. Is she going to pursue the life that she’s expected to lead, or the one she wants?
Why you should read it: This was very charming, very fun despite some of the heavy subject matter, and an incredibly cathartic read. Astrid is a fascinating character—I loved seeing her as the complicated not-quite-antagonist of the first book in this series—and the chance to read a story from her POV was honestly delightful. Jordan was lovely too. You can absolutely read this book as a standalone if you want to, but I'd recommend reading "Delilah Green Doesn't Care" first for the complete experience.
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Tapping Into Love by Monica McCallan
Lucy Parsons wants absolutely nothing to do with the Westmoore family or the maple syrup they produce. When Sierra Westmoore blows back into town after her father’s death and tries to rent a room at Lucy’s family’s bed-and-breakfast, The Maple Inn, Lucy kicks her out on the spot. It doesn’t matter that Sierra hasn’t set foot in Maple Run in fifteen years—the Westmoores are not allowed.
But small towns don’t leave a lot of room to hide, and Sierra and her brother, Drake, have set their sights on improving the town’s opinion of them now that their father is gone.
Lucy doesn’t believe any Westmoore could have good intentions, and although she may have to play nice with Sierra, it doesn’t mean she’s going to like it.
Why you should read it: This one started out a little rough for me, just because one of the main characters behaves so abysmally. But the story makes room for accountability, and for genuine growth, and in the end I found this romance to be incredibly sweet. Definitely worth a read.
(Sorry the buy link for this one is Amazon only -- this title is a kindle unlimited release -- but I got access to it via my library, so hopefully you can request it that way too if you're not an amazon customer.)
The Fiancee Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur
Tansy Adams’ greatest love is her family’s bookstore, passed down from her late father. But when it comes to actual romance… Tansy can’t get past the first chapter. Tired of her stepfamily’s questions about her love life, Tansy invents Gemma, a fake girlfriend inspired by the stunning cover model on a bestselling book. They’ll never actually meet, so what’s the harm in a little fib? Yet when real-life Gemma crosses Tansy’s path, her white lie nearly implodes.
Gemma van Dalen is a wild child, the outcast of her wealthy family, and now the latest heir to Van Dalen Publishing. But the title comes with one tiny condition: she must be married in order to inherit. When Gemma discovers a beautiful stranger has been pretending to date her for months, she decides to take the charade one step further—and announces their engagement.
Gemma needs a wife to meet the terms of her grandfather’s will and Tansy needs money to save her struggling bookstore. A marriage could be mutually beneficial, if they can fool everyone into thinking it’s a love match. Unexpected sparks fly as Tansy and Gemma play the role of affectionate fiancées, and suddenly the line between convenient arrangement and real feelings begins to blur. But the scheming Van Dalen family won’t give up the company without a fight, and Gemma and Tansy’s newfound happiness might get caught in the fallout…
Why you should read it: This book is so incredibly satisfying. The villain characters are over-the-top villainous, but not in a way that's badly done. Just, in a way where I want them to face terrible consequences, almost as much as I want the lovely main characters to be together. The chemistry between Tansy and Gemma is smoldering, and I loved watching them fall into each other and learn to trust. I'm such a sucker for characters with trust issues who do their best anyway, and have each other's backs. I enjoyed the hell out of this story and will need to read more by this author.
- — - — - — - — -
Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail by Ashley Herring Blake
For Astrid Parker, failure is unacceptable. Ever since she broke up with her fiancé a year ago, she’s been focused on her career—her friends might say she’s obsessed, but she’s just driven. When Pru Everwood asks her to be the designer for the Everwood Inn’s renovation that will be broadcasted on a popular home improvement show, Innside America, Astrid knows this is the answer to everything that is wrong with her life. It’ll be the perfect distraction from her failed love life, and her perpetually displeased mother might finally give her nod of approval.
However, Astrid never planned on Jordan Everwood, Pru’s granddaughter and lead carpenter for the inn’s renovation, who despises every modern design decision Astrid makes. Jordan is determined to preserve the history of her family’s inn, particularly as the rest of her life is in shambles. When that determination turns into a little light sabotage, ruffling Astrid’s perfect little feathers, the showrunners ask them to play up the tension. But somewhere along the way, their dislike for each other turns into something quite different, and Astrid must decide what success truly means. Is she going to pursue the life that she’s expected to lead, or the one she wants?
Why you should read it: This was very charming, very fun despite some of the heavy subject matter, and an incredibly cathartic read. Astrid is a fascinating character—I loved seeing her as the complicated not-quite-antagonist of the first book in this series—and the chance to read a story from her POV was honestly delightful. Jordan was lovely too. You can absolutely read this book as a standalone if you want to, but I'd recommend reading "Delilah Green Doesn't Care" first for the complete experience.
- — - — - — - — -
Tapping Into Love by Monica McCallan
Lucy Parsons wants absolutely nothing to do with the Westmoore family or the maple syrup they produce. When Sierra Westmoore blows back into town after her father’s death and tries to rent a room at Lucy’s family’s bed-and-breakfast, The Maple Inn, Lucy kicks her out on the spot. It doesn’t matter that Sierra hasn’t set foot in Maple Run in fifteen years—the Westmoores are not allowed.
But small towns don’t leave a lot of room to hide, and Sierra and her brother, Drake, have set their sights on improving the town’s opinion of them now that their father is gone.
Lucy doesn’t believe any Westmoore could have good intentions, and although she may have to play nice with Sierra, it doesn’t mean she’s going to like it.
Why you should read it: This one started out a little rough for me, just because one of the main characters behaves so abysmally. But the story makes room for accountability, and for genuine growth, and in the end I found this romance to be incredibly sweet. Definitely worth a read.
(Sorry the buy link for this one is Amazon only -- this title is a kindle unlimited release -- but I got access to it via my library, so hopefully you can request it that way too if you're not an amazon customer.)
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