Mermaid Inn by Jenny Holiday: The Perfect Cure for the January Blahs

Mermaid Inn (Matchmaker Bay #1) by Jenny Holiday
Published: January 28th, 2020
Publisher: Forever
Genre: Contemporary romance
Tropes: Second chance romance
Heat level: Slow burn but then hot, hot, hot!
# of pages: 362
My rating: 4 stars
Acquired this book: From the publisher in exchange for honest consideration
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Buy now: Amazon Canada || Amazon US || Indigo

Eve Abbott has a problem - actually, make that a lot of problems. And they're all going to get worse the moment her toes hit the sand in Matchmaker Bay. Once a blissful summer escape, now the tiny town just reminds Eve of loss. Inheriting her aunt's beloved Mermaid Inn is the only reason Eve is coming back. She's definitely not ready to handle nosy neighbors, extensive renovations, or the discovery that a certain heartbreaker still lives down the street...

Police Chief Sawyer Collins always does the right thing, even when it costs him everything. Like Evie. He's spent the past ten years trying to forget her - to forget how right she felt in his arms, to forget the pain in her eyes the day she left. The last thing he expects is to see her back in town or to find that the spark between them is as strong as ever. Sawyer knows this is his only chance to prove that his feelings have always been real...before Eve turns tail and leaves for good.

Mermaid Inn was my first book by Jenny Holiday (although I bought One and Only as a to-me-from-me birthday gift last month and plan to read it soon). It was cute and funny with great characters, and I especially loved the Canadian setting. So few contemporary books are set in Canada, so I was thrilled to recognize nearby places and miscellaneous Canadiana (like the Milk calendar, which made me laugh because it was always a staple in my house).

Upon her great-aunt’s death, Eve inherits the Mermaid Inn, where she spent all her summers growing up. It’s been a decade since she stepped foot in Moonflower Bay; having her heart broken by her first love kept her away all these years. She returns with the intention of selling the inn as soon as possible, but it looks like her aunt is having a little fun from beyond the grave, hoping to keep Eve in the area. Enter Sawyer - the guy who did the heart breaking all those years ago and who now happens to be the chief of police, with his finger on the pulse of everything going on in Moonflower Bay - plus a bunch of nosy, meddling neighbours, and a few new friends, and you have a cast of characters who easily work their way into your heart.

I liked Eve and Sawyer together and separately. They both had issues to work through and past hurts to overcome. This story was fun, funny, and sexy with a great overall message of forgiveness and also finding your voice and having the courage to use it. If you love small-town romances, second chances at love, and if you’re a sucker for a book-loving heroine and a man in uniform like I am, be sure to pick up a copy of Mermaid Inn. It was the perfect cure for the January blahs.

Have you read Mermaid Inn? Do you have a favourite second-chance romance?

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*Please note I'm an Amazon affiliate, and some of the links in this review are affiliate links. All income made through affiliate sales goes directly back into maintaining Ramblings of a Daydreamer. Thank you for your support!  

Almost Just Friends by Jill Shalvis: Is it Too Soon to Call 2020 Favourites? + Giveaway!

Almost Just Friends (Wildstone #4) by Jill Shalvis
Published: January 21st, 2020
Publisher: William Morrow Books
Genre: Contemporary romance
Tropes: Fling to forever
Heat level: Steamy 
# of pages: 364
My rating: 5 stars
Acquired this book: From the publisher in exchange for honest consideration
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Buy now: Amazon Canada || Amazon US || Indigo 

Piper Manning’s about as tough as they come, she’s had to be. She raised her siblings and they’ve thankfully flown the coop. All she has to do is finish fixing up the lake house her grandparents left her, sell it, and then she’s free.

When a massive storm hits, she runs into a tall, dark and brooding stranger, Camden Reid. There’s a spark there, one that shocks her. Surprising her further, her sister and brother return, each of them holding their own secrets. The smart move would be for Piper to ignore them all but Cam unleashes emotions deep inside of her that she can’t deny, making her yearn for something she doesn’t understand. And her siblings…well, they need each other.

Only when the secrets come out, it changes everything Piper thinks she knows about her family, herself…and Cam. Can she find a way to outrun the demons? The answer is closer than she thinks—just as the new life she craves may have already begun.

I keep saying this is my first Jill Shalvis book, but that’s technically not true. My first was actually Her Sexiest Mistake, which I read about fourteen years ago (!!) when I was still new to romance. I remember loving it, but then I became obsessed with YA and never picked up any of her other books until now. And wow...not only was Almost Just Friends a fantastic way to kick off 2020, it also made me want to read Shalvis’s entire backlist. I know it’s pretty bold to say this so early in the year, but I already know this book is going to make it onto my list of 2020 favourites.

Piper is the list-making, journaling, planner-obsessed, “fixer” of the Manning family. She raised her younger brother and sister after their parents’ deaths, and with her siblings finally off living their own lives, she had just started to live life for herself. The sudden, unexpected reappearance of both of her siblings throws a major wrench in her plans...as does the appearance of her gorgeous new neighbour, Camden Hayes.

I absolutely loved these characters and all the different dynamics. I also loved that while the main focus of the story was on Piper and Cam, we got to see things from a variety of perspectives, including Piper’s brother, Gavin, who is gay. The stories wove together seamlessly, showcasing emotional, heartfelt journeys that touched on life and death, guilt and grief, second chances, and the duties we have to the people we love. It was a love story in every way - the love between siblings, between parents and children, and romantic love.

And speaking of romantic love...I adored Gavin and CJ’s second-chance romance storyline, and I loved watching Piper and Cam fall in love. It’s been awhile since I loved a hero enough to call him a book boyfriend, but I fell hard for Cam. I loved the way he treated Piper and how good he was to her siblings and his dad. He was trying to make up for lost time with his dad, and be around for the Manning siblings the way he couldn’t be for his brother. Piper and Cam had such great chemistry, and I loved that their interactions ranged from sweet to hilarious to steamy.

Expect to see me raving about and recommending this beautiful, heartfelt, relatable book a lot in the coming months. I may be new to Jill Shalvis’ books, but luckily she has a massive backlist and I’m looking forward to delving into it.

The publisher has generously allowed me to offer a print copy of Almost Just Friends to one lucky Canadian or US reader. Good luck! 

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New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is, um, mostly coincidental. Look for Jill’s bestselling, award-winning books wherever romances are sold and visit her website, www.jillshalvis.com, for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures. Follow Jill on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Have you read Almost Just Friends? Have you read any of Jill's other books? Do you have any recommendations for which of her books I should read next? Are you a planner, list-maker, or journaler like Piper?

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*Please note I'm an Amazon affiliate, and some of the links in this review are affiliate links. All income made through affiliate sales goes directly back into maintaining Ramblings of a Daydreamer. Thank you for your support!  

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord: Grab a Grilled Cheese and Prepare to LOL

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord
Published: January 21st, 2020
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult
Tropes: Enemies to lovers, anonymous relationship
Heat level: As sweet as Monster Cake and Kitchen Sink Macaroons
# of pages: 368
My rating: 5 stars
Acquired this book: From the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for honest consideration
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Buy now: Amazon CA || Amazon US || Indigo 

Meet Pepper, swim team captain, chronic overachiever, and all-around perfectionist. Her family may be falling apart, but their massive fast-food chain is booming ― mainly thanks to Pepper, who is barely managing to juggle real life while secretly running Big League Burger’s massive Twitter account.

Enter Jack, class clown and constant thorn in Pepper’s side. When he isn’t trying to duck out of his obscenely popular twin’s shadow, he’s busy working in his family’s deli. His relationship with the business that holds his future might be love/hate, but when Big League Burger steals his grandma’s iconic grilled cheese recipe, he’ll do whatever it takes to take them down, one tweet at a time.

All’s fair in love and cheese ― that is, until Pepper and Jack’s spat turns into a viral Twitter war. Little do they know, while they’re publicly duking it out with snarky memes and retweet battles, they’re also falling for each other in real life ― on an anonymous chat app Jack built.

As their relationship deepens and their online shenanigans escalate ― people on the internet are shipping them?? ― their battle gets more and more personal, until even these two rivals can’t ignore they were destined for the most unexpected, awkward, all-the-feels romance that neither of them expected. 

Tweet Cute was an absolute delight. Emma Lord managed to create the perfect balance of adorable, funny, and emotional. The story was lighthearted and heartfelt at the same time, and it hit me in the feels as often as it made me laugh out loud.

Pepper and Jack were fantastic characters. They were realistic and relatable, and I loved how layered they were. On the surface, they seemed so different, but they were dealing with many of the same issues: complicated family dynamics, pressure and expectations from others (and themselves), trying to figure out who they truly were and what they wanted in life. I really felt for both of them as they learned some difficult, painful life lessons. They were easy to root for separately and together. Their inner dialogue was witty and real, and their banter was hilarious. Jack and Pepper weren’t the only great characters; there was an entire cast of friends and family members, and all of them had something to add to the story.

2020 is starting strong for me reading-wise, and books like this one continue to set the bar extremely high. I rediscovered my love of YA last summer, and Tweet Cute is the exact type of book that continues to fuel that love. This book will make you laugh out loud, feel all the feels, and crave grilled cheese and baked goods.

Have you read Tweet Cute? Do you have a favourite book that deals with an anonymous relationship or one that started online? This book is being called a modern-day take on the movie You've Got Mail - am I the only one who hasn't seen it? *hangs head in shame*

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*Please note I'm an Amazon affiliate, and some of the links in this review are affiliate links. All income made through affiliate sales goes directly back into maintaining Ramblings of a Daydreamer. Thank you for your support!  

Hung Up on You Release Day!

Hung Up on You is now officially out in the world!

I can't believe this day is finally here. I started writing this book three years ago, finished two years ago, and then set it aside to work on other projects. Late last summer, I knew it was time to finally pull it out again and see if it was worth publishing, and I immediately fell back in love with Julia, Zack, and the other characters. With help from two amazing author friends, I came up with a title and synopsis, and my wonderful team of beta readers helped me make the story itself much better. Writing is such a solitary thing, but all the rest of it involves so many moving pieces and people behind the scenes.

Now on to the book! Hung Up on You is a sweet and sexy slow-burn, friends-to-lovers, fake-dating romance. It's set in Canada and features Canadian characters. Friendship is an important aspect of the story, and you can expect plenty of giggles and swoons. Sound like your kind of thing? The ebook will be 99 cents for a day or two longer and then the price will go up to $2.99 so be sure to snag a copy soon!

Julia and Zack aren’t really dating. Their ‘relationship’ is fake. Julia’s heart did not get the memo. 

Julia is single and happy, thank you very much. Try telling that to her happily-coupled bestie, though. She’s so determined to pair Julia off, she brings an extra guy friend along on a weekend getaway, in what’s clearly a set-up attempt. Julia’s interest is immediately piqued by sweet, sexy, nerdy Zack. There’s just one problem: he’s still hung up on his ex. Big time.

Despite knowing that - and despite her attraction to him - it doesn’t stop her friends from throwing them together every other second, insisting they’d make the perfect couple. But Julia is determined to friend zone him...at least until he suggests they pretend to date to get their respective friends off their backs.

At first, their fake “dating” is more friendship than fireworks. But as they get closer, the lines begin to blur between them, and Julia realizes she has to either shut down her developing feelings for Zack or let him in. The question is: can she fully trust him with her heart? Or does his heart still belong to his ex?

★Amazon US

★Amazon Canada

★Amazon UK

★Kobo

★iBooks

★Nook

★Smashwords

Hung Up on You is making the rounds of the blogosphere as well as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter this week thanks to Xpresso Book Tours, so be sure to keep an eye out for posts featuring reviews, excerpts, teasers, and more! There's also a tour-wide giveaway, which you can enter below!

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Friday Favourites: 2019 Edition

Happy New Year! I know it’s now 2020, but I have one more 2019 recap of sorts to do, showcasing some of the things I loved last year. I did a separate post for my favourite books of 2019, but I thought I’d share my favourite TV shows, movies, and music too.

The Year of Elton John

If I could sum up 2019, especially the last half of the year, I’d call it The Year of Elton John. Early in the year, I became obsessed with Richard Madden. When I found out he was going to be in the movie Rocketman, I knew I had to see it. I didn’t know much about Elton and really only knew his hit songs, especially those from The Lion King, plus of course “Candle in the Wind” since I loved Princess Diana and her death really shook me. A few days after I went to spend part of the summer with my best friend Krista (you can read more about that here), we went to see Rocketman in the theatre. I went into it basically just wanting to see Richard Madden and Taron Egerton on the big screen, and I left with a newfound love and respect for Elton John. I was completely captivated from beginning to end, and it was easily one of the best movies I’d seen in a very long time.

After that, I had Elton’s music on repeat pretty much non-stop. I did the Spotify Wrapped thing for 2019, and it said I’d listened to 173 hours of Elton’s music, and that was mostly since July when I saw Rocketman. That doesn’t include the hours I listened to his music on Krista’s Alexa when we were hanging out or doing work around the house. What can I say, my obsessions are intense!

So, favourite movie of the year: Rocketman, obviously, hands down. Most listened to song, according to Spotify: “I Guess That’s What They Call it the Blues” by Elton John.

Other favourite music of 2019: Taylor Swift’s new album “Lover”. When I didn’t have Elton on repeat, I had “Lover” on repeat.

Favourite TV shows:

Bodyguard. Did I mention my obsession with Richard Madden? I watched Bodyguard early in the year based on a friend's recommendation, and then I made Krista watch it when I was living with her. Psychological thrillers aren’t usually my thing (I get scared too easily!), so this was 100% another one of those things I watched specifically because of Richard Madden. BUT...I loved it. It was intense and raw and emotional, and the whole cast was phenomenal. I’ve got my fingers crossed for another season.

Anne With an E. I’ll admit, I was hesitant to watch this show. I’m a diehard fan of the 1980s Anne mini-series starring Megan Follows and Jonathan Crombie, and I was afraid I’d have trouble separating it from Anne With an E. I kept hearing amazing things about it, though, and finally one day this summer Krista announced we were watching it, put it on, and that was that. I went in with an open mind and decided to enjoy it for what it was, and I ended up loving it. The actors are fantastic, the stories are great (although there’s still a part of me that’s a tiny bit twitchy over some of the creative liberties they’ve taken with the story and characters), and I love how inclusive and diverse it is.

Good Omens. This is another one Krista and I watched together in the summer. We weren’t sure about it at first, but we ended up getting hooked. It was strange and hilarious, and it reminded me why I adore David Tennant.

Fleabag. When season two of Fleabag aired, my whole Twitter feed seemed to be full of mentions of the Hot Priest and Andrew Scott. My curiosity was piqued, especially since I love Andrew in Sherlock. Krista and I talked about watching it together, but things got a bit chaotic toward the end of my stay, so while she was away for a few days, I decided to watch it on my own. It was another show I wasn’t sure about at first but got hooked on; I ended up watching both seasons in the span of two days. It was twisted and irreverent and so, so funny. I especially loved season two, and yes, it was largely because of the Hot Priest!

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. This was another show I a) resisted watching for a long time, and b) wasn’t sure about when I finally started. I loved Sabrina the Teenage Witch (still do, actually; my nine-year-old nephew and I watch it together all the time) and I kept hearing about how dark and twisted this version was. I caved in October, figuring it was the perfect show to watch around Halloween. It definitely was dark, twisted, and sometimes downright disturbing, but there’s something compulsively watchable about it, and I'm looking forward to the next season.

So, those are some of my top favourite things of 2019. It was a good year for entertainment, and this year is shaping up to be just as good and we’re only a few days in! Stay tuned for more about what I’m currently watching because I feel like I’ll have a lot to say about it. In the meantime, if you’re curious, be sure to follow me on bookstagram.

What were some of your favourite things in 2019? Do we have any faves in common?

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*Please note I'm an Amazon affiliate, and some of the links in this review are affiliate links. All income made through affiliate sales goes directly back into maintaining Ramblings of a Daydreamer. Thank you for your support!