Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

Did you love What is Love? by Jen Comfort? Check out this book next! Originally posted in May of 2023.

Available now

CW: Discussions of pregnancy loss, divorce, gaslighting, severe illness, depression, and anxiety. This is all covered, and more, in the Author’s Note at the beginning of the book. I listened to this book on audio and this is what I remember from that section, apologies for anything missed.

This is a perfect book! It’s absolutely, hands down, 100% perfect! And contemporary romance is far from my favorite genre! It’s technically book 2 in the Part of Your World series, book 1 is on my nightstand waiting for me to read it, but you can easily read it as a stand-alone novel.

From the Publisher:

Dr. Briana Ortiz’s life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother’s running out of time to find a kidney donor, and that promotion she wants? Oh, that’s probably going to the new man-doctor who’s already registering eighty-friggin’-seven on Briana’s “pain in my ass” scale. But just when all systems are set to hate, Dr. Jacob Maddox completely flips the game . . . by sending Briana a letter.

And it’s a really good letter. Like the kind that proves that Jacob isn’t actually Satan. Worse, he might be this fantastically funny and subversively likeable guy who’s terrible at first impressions. Because suddenly he and Bri are exchanging letters, sharing lunch dates in her “sob closet,” and discussing the merits of freakishly tiny horses. But when Jacob decides to give Briana the best gift imaginable—a kidney for her brother—she wonders just how she can resist this quietly sexy new doctor . . . especially when he calls in a favor she can’t refuse.

This book is sweet, hilarious, cringey in a good way, and incredibly romantic. After making a horrible first impression at his new job, Jacob and Bri exchange funny, snarky, and sometimes ridiculous letters to each other for weeks. Through those letters, and lunches in a supply closet, the two fall head over heels for each other, but they are both such dumbies that they let all of their, very valid, past experiences and insecurities get in the way and instead of jumping into bed, they start a beautiful and supportive friendship. Jacob has severe social anxiety and Bri immeadiately gets him. She understands what he needs to feel comfortable and secure when going to new places and meeting new people. Bri does all of this without making a big deal about it. She just does it. I found it so sweet.

Their banter is sharp, witty, and highly entertaining. Bri loves to ask ridiculously specific questions and you could feel how much fun the two were having. All of the supporting characters are fabulous and there are some real #friendshipgoals going on.

I listened to the audiobook version and the narrators, Kyla Garcia and Zachary Webber, gave a fabulous performance. If it’s available to you, I highly recommend it.

I truly loved this book. If you would like to add it your shelf, you can click on the cover at the top or here for ordering information. I listened to it through my Library’s Axis360 app so if you’re a Library user, put that hold in now. I had to wait a few weeks for it to become available.

This post may contain affiliate links, including Amazon Associate links, and I may earn from qualifying purchases.

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

Available now

CW: Discussions of pregnancy loss, divorce, gaslighting, severe illness, depression, and anxiety. This is all covered, and more, in the Author’s Note at the beginning of the book. I listened to this book on audio and this is what I remember from that section, apologies for anything missed.

This is a perfect book! It’s absolutely, hands down, 100% perfect! And contemporary romance is far from my favorite genre! It’s technically book 2 in the Part of Your World series, book 1 is on my nightstand waiting for me to read it, but you can easily read it as a stand-alone novel.

From the Publisher:

Dr. Briana Ortiz’s life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother’s running out of time to find a kidney donor, and that promotion she wants? Oh, that’s probably going to the new man-doctor who’s already registering eighty-friggin’-seven on Briana’s “pain in my ass” scale. But just when all systems are set to hate, Dr. Jacob Maddox completely flips the game . . . by sending Briana a letter.

And it’s a really good letter. Like the kind that proves that Jacob isn’t actually Satan. Worse, he might be this fantastically funny and subversively likeable guy who’s terrible at first impressions. Because suddenly he and Bri are exchanging letters, sharing lunch dates in her “sob closet,” and discussing the merits of freakishly tiny horses. But when Jacob decides to give Briana the best gift imaginable—a kidney for her brother—she wonders just how she can resist this quietly sexy new doctor . . . especially when he calls in a favor she can’t refuse.

This book is sweet, hilarious, cringey in a good way, and incredibly romantic. After making a horrible first impression at his new job, Jacob and Bri exchange funny, snarky, and sometimes ridiculous letters to each other for weeks. Through those letters, and lunches in a supply closet, the two fall head over heels for each other, but they are both such dumbies that they let all of their, very valid, past experiences and insecurities get in the way and instead of jumping into bed, they start a beautiful and supportive friendship. Jacob has severe social anxiety and Bri immeadiately gets him. She understands what he needs to feel comfortable and secure when going to new places and meeting new people. Bri does all of this without making a big deal about it. She just does it. I found it so sweet.

Their banter is sharp, witty, and highly entertaining. Bri loves to ask ridiculously specific questions and you could feel how much fun the two were having. All of the supporting characters are fabulous and there are some real #friendshipgoals going on.

I listened to the audiobook version and the narrators, Kyla Garcia and Zachary Webber, gave a fabulous performance. If it’s available to you, I highly recommend it.

I truly loved this book. If you would like to add it your shelf, you can click on the cover at the top or here for ordering information. I listened to it through my Library’s Axis360 app so if you’re a Library user, put that hold in now. I had to wait a few weeks for it to become available.

This post may contain affiliate links, including Amazon Associate links, and I may earn from qualifying purchases.

The Dating Playbook by Farrah Rochon

Available now

When it comes to personal training, Taylor Powell kicks serious butt. Unfortunately, her bills are piling up, rent is due, and the money situation is dire. Taylor needs more than the support of her new best friends, Samiah and London. She needs a miracle.

And Jamar Dixon might just be it. The oh-so-fine former footballer wants back into the NFL, and he wants Taylor to train him. There's just one catch—no one can know what they're doing. But when they're accidentally outed as a couple, Taylor's game plan is turned completely upside down. Is Jamar just playing to win . . . or is he playing for keeps?

Guess who just found out she loves sports romances? This girl! Farrah Rochon is such a great writer and I thoroughly enjoyed the previous book in this series, The Boyfriend Project. In this adventure, Taylor becomes very discouraged after losing out on a homeschooling physical ed teaching job and doubts her ability to maintain a solo career. When she decides to teach a pop-up fitness class in the park, she meets Jamar, a football player out with an injury but determined to make his way back to the NFL. Add in some fake dating, a lot of gym time, and some spicy grocery shopping trips and you have an excellent romance! The chemistry between them is electric and I love how hard Taylor worked to keep their relationship professional but these two are perfect for each other. Jamar respects Taylor so much and wants her to have a successful career and is willing to do whatever he can to help. I loved all the little snippets that took us behind the scenes of being a personal trainer and the work that goes into pursuing a learning disability diagnosis as an adult. It was all handled with such care and love that it’s obvious how much Rochon loves her characters.

Rochon gives us great dialogue, interesting characters, and complex family dynamics. And the friendship goals! Taylor, London, and Samiah have such a wonderful friendship and it’s lovely to read about women who are fiercely protective and supportive of each other. While you don’t have to read The Boyfriend Project first, I highly recommend it because it’s just a great book. I can’t wait to find out what London gets into in her book!

Interested in adding this book to your collection? You can find ordering information here:

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

This post contains affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases.

Neon Gods by Katee Robert

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I vividly remember checking out the same books on greek mythology over and over again from my local library when I was finally old enough to walk there on my own. They were small blue hardcovers and contained the basic stories of all the gods and goddesses and I was hooked. I have read some great retellings, Alisha Rai wrote a great one, and I was intrigued to see what Katee Robert’s take on the Hades and Persephone story. Especially a take that includes a wealth of rich people problems. 

The city of Olympus, divided into the upper and lower city by the River Styx, is ruled by the Thirteen. Thirteen Gods and Goddesses, titles given through birth or election, who control the economic interests and laws of Olympus. The Thirteen revel in their wealth and power and most are willing to go to any lengths to increase that power. When Persephone Dimitrou, daughter of Demeter, is engaged against her will to the known wife-killer Zeus, she flees the glamorous party on foot. Discovering she is being followed, she kicks off her heels and flees for her life. Crossing the River Styx places her in Hades’ territory but as he is nothing more than a myth, Persephone takes her chances in the lower city. 

The last thing that Persephone expected to find was a large, growling, incredibly handsome man intent on carrying her to safety and bandaging her feet himself. The man who should be nothing more than a myth, is now her best chance for survival and way out of Olympus for good. Hades sees Persephone as the perfect weapon to exact revenge against Zeus for killing his father decades before. Together, Hades and Perspehone develop a plan that will benefit them both: a very public and sex-driven fake-dating scheme to show the Thirteen that Persephone now belongs to Hades. 

As the two plot their scheme, ripples begin to form in the powerful connections between the Thirteen and the citizens who fall under their rule. When Demeter threatens to cut off supplies to the lower city, Hades must do all he can to protect his people. The harder he works to protect those around him, the more Persephone discovers that he is much more than the intimidating and ruthless gangster that so many make him out to be. Hades exposes Persephone to more than just life in the lower city, he also shows her the powerful attraction of unbridled passion and public erotic play. 

Robert created an intriguing world for the Thirteen to rule. To me, it felt like a take on Gotham City. There are the exclusive and wealthy high rises filled with penthouse suites and security details, but also high levels of crime and tensions between the areas governed by different gods. Persephone grows up believing the lower city is somehow more crime ridden and depressed than it actually is. She is shocked to find something that feels far more like an idyllic small town filled with small shops and cafes. There is a sense of underlying magic in both parts of the city. There is a force within the River Styx that prevents unwilling crossing and many of the buildings have a distinct sense of history and age with them, but people also have cell phones and credit cards that can be frozen. There’s a lot of discussion about trust funds and high end fashion, but also Hermes is able to perfectly mimic the voices of the people she carries messages for. It’s very interesting how the author blends the mythology with the present day and I’m curious to see how the series plays out in the future. 

This is my first Katee Robert romance so I’m far from an expert on how Neon Gods lands on her steam scale. This is definitely a hot and highly erotic romance.  Hades loves kink and loves public displays of sex. When he discovers that Persephone intends to use that to her advantage, he takes great care to introduce her to the rules and expectations that level of kink comes with. It doesn’t take long for the two to genuinely fall for eachother, and they fall hard. 

There is a great cast of side characters that I hope will all have their own books. It was really fun to watch grumpy Hades clean up after the hard partying of Hermes and Dionysus. Hades doesn’t want friends, or the responsibility of having friends, but Hermes and Dionysus don’t seem to care. They are going to be there whether he wants them or not. Persephone’s sisters are all distinct forces on her life and they’re hatred of the Thirteen should make for some interesting plot lines in the future. 

Overall, this is one great book! I plowed through this in a day and loved every minute of it. It’s fast paced, very steamy, and has great characters. I loved watching Persephone and Hades fall in love and I can’t wait to see what happens next. 

If you would like to add this amazing book to your shelf, you can find ordering information here: 

This post contains affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases.

Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell

Available Now

Content warning for partner abuse.

All the positive hype and joyful squeeing you are hearing about this book is extremely well deserved. I first heard of this book through a podcast, surprising I know, that was listing off all the modern Shakespeare retellings and Winter’s Orbit was getting some rave reviews in that episode. As someone who could care less about Shakespeare retellings, I was actually curious how it would translate into a sci-fi novel set in space. Also, don’t ask what play this was inspired by-I don’t have a clue.

Winter’s Orbit would be a perfect gateway book for romance readers who want to add in a new genre to their reading. We have two characters who are forced to marry each other to uphold an important treaty between two worlds. Add in a boatload of physical attraction, major pining, fake dating, only-one-bed, trapped-in-the-snow, and a lot of tip-toeing around situations because of diplomacy reasons and you have the perfect romance novel, it’s just set in space. 

Prince Kiem is the palace playboy who fills his days enjoying life and ending up in the gossip pages. When his cousin dies in a tragic shuttle accident, he is forced to marry the now widowed Count Jainan, the diplomat from Thea, to maintain a decades-long treaty. While Kiem has known his whole life that he would marry for duty, he never believed that marriage would be forced on someone who just lost their partner and is still grieving. But what Kiem doesn’t know is that Count Jainan didn’t have a fairytale marriage and is just as uncertain at how to approach this new relationship. As the two negotiate how to become friends and balance their new royal duties, they discover that there is a real attraction between the two but there is an evil force who wants to sabotage their relationship and even more, the treaty between the two worlds. Now, the two men must try to find out how Jainan’s husband really died and who is trying to pin the murder on Jainan. 

I flew through this book. It is such a wonderful, fast-paced political thriller with a ton of romance elements thrown in. If you are a fan of watching two characters pine over each other for hundreds of pages, this is definitely your book. These two have some serious feelings for each other from the first moment they meet but because Kiem is convinced that Jainan had this amazing marriage and is grieving, he tries to do his best to respect his space and feelings. Jainan sees all this as Kiem not being interested in him and disappointed in having to marry him and feels like a failure as a husband. Trust me, there are so many times I yelled at both of them to just talk about what is going on but for very important political reasons, they really can’t. Prince Kiem is an actual Prince and Count Jainan is a very important diplomat so neither wants to upset the other. So. Much. Pining. 

Prince Kiem’s homeworld of Iskat has an interesting way of distinguishing genders amongst their people. Women wear flint jewelry, men wear wood, and some people choose to wear neither, which I interpreted as everyone got to choose their gender. Throughout the book,both Kiem and Jainan make some goofs in missing those cues but it doesn’t seem like that was a huge deal as there was such a wide range of people in very high and important positions of power. It also meant that when Kiem and Jainan finally realize that there is only one bed and they’re just going to have to share it, it all fades to black and I think that was such a smart choice. 

There is far more focus on the relationship between Kiem and Jainan than on the political and planet world-building, but I still thought there was  more than enough to make the story very interesting. Also, Bel Siara, the assistant to Kiem, is a complete badass with a shady past and I think this would make an excellent series with her as the next main character. Her book would be the perfect vehicle to give us more background on the Empire and how it came to be. 

This is a fantastic debut from Everina Maxwell and I can’t wait to see what they put out next. If you would like to add this to your collection, or finds more information to rec it to your Library, you can do that here:

This post contains affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases.