Back to the Start by Elle Keating

Morgan Kelley has left Boston and is settling in Philadelphia…to a city that harbors her most painful secrets. Will these secrets destroy Morgan’s new beginning or will coming clean give her the second chance she’s longing to have? Find out in Elle Keating’s BACK TO THE START!

Title: Back to the Start

Author: Elle Keating

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Series: Dangerous Love

Release Date: June 19, 2018

Format: Digital eBook

ISBN: TBD

Synopsis:

Jake McGinnis has the life he has dreamed of since childhood: a professional football career with adoring fans, financial security, and the unwavering support of his family. From the outside looking in, he has everything. But nothing could be further from the truth. Because there isn’t a day that goes by that Jake doesn’t think about his first love... and what his world would look like if she was still by his side. When he hears that she is relocating to start a new job less than a mile from him, the pain of their breakup feels fresher than ever. For eight years, he has wondered why their relationship ended and now she's settling in his city. A city that isn't big enough for the two of them.

For Morgan Kelley, moving to Philadelphia means living closer to her family and practicing veterinary medicine with two of her closest friends. It’s also her chance to start over and move on from her failed marriage. There’s only one con: the close proximity to Jake McGinnis. Once upon a time being near him was all she wanted, but now he is practically a stranger... and it's all her fault. Faced with awful memories and the possibility of bumping into him at her favorite coffee shop, Morgan is haunted by the real reason she once broke both of their hearts. Deep down, she knows she won’t be able to embrace this new chapter of her life without finally telling Jake the whole truth.  

But how will he react when she shares her secret? Their love story once felt inevitable, unshakable. Is this where it ends for good, or is it the beginning of a second chance

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Review:

Morgan and Jake have been in love since Morgan was five, right until she was eighteen and broke both their hearts. Now, it's eight years later and she's moved back to Boston, to her friends, her mom, and to Jake. Can they move past the heartbreak and deception to continue the love story that never should've ended?

This is a story of second chances, of friendship and football, of jealousy and forgiveness. I enjoyed how real both the characters were and how they made mistakes but fought their way to make things right. There is a large cast of characters to help them out: her friends and his family, and I look forward to reading their stories (Carina's book is currently on sale, by the way).

I felt like this is almost two love stories in one - a sweet childhood romance and the passionate affair years later. They are both well written but quite different in tone, so much so that the present was often overpowered by the past. Compared to the flashbacks, the present comes across a little one-dimensional, like it was there to hold the string the memories together with sex and angst (of which there is plenty).

While I enjoyed reading this, the excessive flashbacks pull a star off my rating. Also, trigger warning for miscarriage and IVF.

Four #fbf stars.

I received an ARC of this book from Barclay publicity.

Her Super-Secret Rebound Boyfriend by Kerri Carpenter

To get over being dumped, Lola McBride crashes a high school reunion looking for a rebound fling. Instead, she finds Luke Erickson who convinces her to pretend to be his girlfriend at his family reunion. Who said reunions had to be zero fun in this sweet romantic comedy releasing June 2018 from Kerri Carpenter and Entangled Publishing!

Synopsis:

It wasn’t shy librarian Lola McBride's idea to crash someone else’s high school reunion. Her best friend made her do it, insisting that having a little fun with a super-hot rebound would make her forget about her recent breakup. That’s when she meets the hottest guy she’s ever seen.

Architect Luke Erickson had no idea attending his ten-year reunion would turn out to be so fun. He catches the sexy brunette in a lie, and he counters with a proposal—He’ll keep her secret if she helps get his family off his back by pretending to be his girlfriend at an upcoming family reunion.

From one reunion to another, Lola and Luke are suddenly spending a lot of time together. Good thing they're only pretending, or this super-secret relationship could get really complicated.

Add to your TBR list:  Goodreads

Available at:  Amazon  | Barnes and Noble  | Kobo  | iTunes

Review:

Lola’s been dumped, so her best friend Frankie convinces her to crash a high school reunion. She’s caught in her lie by the handsome Luke, who convinces her to attend his family reunion as his girlfriend to keep his meddlesome sisters off his back.

Luke is instantly attracted to the lying librarian, but doesn’t do relationships because his dad walked out when he was five. Lola feels the same attraction, but her failed relationship and sub-zero self esteem convince her that Luke couldn’t possibly be interested in her. Cue the shenanigans and mutual pining.

This isn’t a bad read, but it felt a little cliched, with self-indulgent prose and uneven characterisation. Lola balks at pretending to be Luke’s girlfriend because she dislikes lying, but in the same conversation convinces him to lie about how they met. It all felt a bit forced, as if they change personalities in order to fit the plot. Barely a week after meeting, Luke opens up to Lola because she is different. To be honest, with the mutually-acknowledged attraction, I don’t know why they even had to lie, especially as it made Lola feel so guilty. The title had me interested but the elements didn't quite mesh to make a fully-satisfying whole.

The book definitely had its cute moments and hit all the right beats, but in the end, I can’t say it stands out from the crowd.

Three stars

I received an advanced reading copy from Barclay publishing.

Real Kind of Love by Sara Rider

Synopsis:

As an audiobook narrator, Clementine Cox has no trouble mastering the voices of space aliens, elven warriors, or even demon-possessed cats. But the moment she tries her hand at an erotic romance, she’s stumped. With her deadline looming, she books a week at a secluded cabin to restore her inner muse, telling her loving-but-overbearing family it’s a romantic getaway with her not-so-existent new boyfriend to keep them from worrying. She never expects them to invite themselves along to meet the new guy. Now, she has less than twenty-four hours to find a pretend boyfriend in order to save her job and, potentially, her sanity.

Workaholic Jake Donovan isn’t interested in a real relationship. After a broken engagement, all he wants to do is focus on keeping his brewpub, the Holy Grale, afloat. But when he finds out his favorite customer is in need of a fake boyfriend, and his business partners insist he take a long overdue vacation, he has no choice but to help Clem out. All he has to do is enjoy the sunshine, play nice with her family, and keep his hands to himself for the week.

But Jake’s not prepared to like waking up next to Clem every morning as much as he does. Or to feel so welcome by her quirky family. And as the line between real and fake starts to blur, he realizes one week might never be enough.

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Review:

I love me a good fake relationship novel and this is a solid one. The prose is engaging, the leads interesting, the relationship grows naturally, and the supporting characters are three-dimensional and entertaining.

This also has to be one of the most relatable and stressful novels I’ve read in a long time. I can totally relate to our heroine Clementine, reader and extreme introvert, so reading about her family problems strikes a nerve.

See, her family aren’t hateful or restrictive. They are loving and caring and have no idea about these things called boundaries. Their efforts to set the baby of the family up come from a place of love, but also a narrow-minded view of what it means to be happy. I feel like I would’ve snapped long before Clem did.

I love how Jake was the person who didn’t drain her - as an extreme introvert, I have a few of these people and value them like whoa. He’s a decent guy with his own baggage, but who quickly realised Clem’s worth. I could keep rambling happily about all the wonderful supporting cast but it’s better if you read the book yourself.

I wasn’t super happy about the extended moping near the end. The action was all over so it felt like padding and I found myself skimming to get to their well-deserved happy ending.

Otherwise, a high-quality book, a fun read, and I’m keen to get my hands on the next one in the series.

Four solid stars

I received an advanced reading copy from Barclays Publishing

About Sara Rider:

Sara Rider writes contemporary romance full of heart, heat, and happily ever after. She lives in British Columbia with her husband and daughters. She spends far too much time in public libraries and never leaves the home without her e-reader stuffed in her purse.

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