firewhiskeyreader

Alright y’all, I have been dragging my feet at reading ARCs, let alone reviewing them, but I’m here today because I have miraculously read three contemporary romances I had as ARCs this week! I’m in a very mood reading sort of zone, tbh, and I’ve been reading a lot in July (just like zero obligatory reads) so these reviews are going to be short and sweet because I have a whole lot more books I’m in the mood to read, plus, I’m counting down the minutes until Taylor Swift takes the stage in Seattle (thank God and Tess for livestreams, tbh). But enough rambling. Let’s actually talk about the books I came here to tell you about!

So Playing for Keeps by Tristen Crone is a June Indie release that is about two people with some emotional baggage falling in love over board games and dessert croissants, which sounds like a perfect blend to me. I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC well in advance, but obviously, I’m late in getting it read. Oh, and did I mention it’s a debut? It is! So that’s exciting. Then a July release from Harlequin is Best Man with Benefits by Sophie Pembroke, whom I read from earlier this year and really enjoyed. This one is about two people who had a brief moment of something that could have been more, but now they don’t really get along well and are being shoved together because of their best friends/twin sister’s wedding. A good time. It’s out on July 25th. And then finally, we have The Best Laid Plans by Karla Sorensen, which is out from Montlake in October, but I love Karla Sorensen and have very little impulse control right now, hence the rampant mood reading. It’s a grief book with rebuilding a historical house in Michigan and it’s really lovely. Anyway, shout out to Netgalley, but now let’s enter deep dive territory (which will really be short dive territory today, but whatever)!

Playing for Keeps
by Tristen Crone

As I mentioned earlier, this book is about two people with a pretty significant amount of emotional baggage who manage to fall in love due to a chance encounter at a café while fighting over who gets the last dessert croissant by playing to win a board game. Farren is a fat white woman who is currently substitute teaching, but also is loosely working on her passion project of designing a board game surrounding pitching books. It sounds like it would be a good time. Her emotional baggage comes from feeling invisible to her family and she has a difficult time letting people in and comes across as a little flighty. Then we have Sebastian, who sometimes goes by Ian. Sebastian is working this horrifically awful job where all he does is work, basically, and it’s not even like he’s passionate about it. But for some reason, he has intrinsically linked his self-worth to his job, which is really never a good idea. Anyway, the two meet at this coffee shop and things go from there.

The Good: For the most part, I really enjoyed the characterization of Farren and Sebastian. I wouldn’t say that I fully came to understand them, but I did feel like they were people you could actually encounter. I largely liked the writing in this one too and the way the games were rolled into the book, plus the way each of their workplaces were weaved in as well felt well done and well-rounded.

The Bad: The third act conflict in this one was pretty much unforgivable to me? I don’t know if I’m just in a mood where I’m not very forgiving or what, but they both very much used their words to hurt in a way that I would have a really hard time coming back from without something changing. Like therapy. For multiple years. I don’t know. I just struggled with the way the book resolved this one. I also felt like there were other conflicts that were started but not satisfactorily resolved and I don’t mean with a pretty bow, I just mean, they literally were insufficiently addressed for my tastes.

All that to say, at the end of the day, I would say this book was a good time and you should feel free to pick it up if it appeals! I will definitely keep my eye out for more from Crone because I really appreciate her ability to make a pun.

Best Man with Benefits
by Sophie Pembroke

Having loved the first book of Pembroke’s I read, I had really high hopes for this book. Basically, Nell’s twin sister and Alex’s best friend are getting married. The four all work at this event company that was the brain child of Polly (I think is her name) from college and Alex came on as the lawyer and Nell came on as the accountant. Honestly, not sure what the fiancé does, but that’s not really that relevant, I guess. Anyway, at the start of the book, Nell thinks she’s about to be proposed to, but instead her boyfriend of quite a while dumps her (Paul was his name). Then she goes into work on Monday and hasn’t told Polly, but Polly has her big announcement anyway. She’s engaged and they’re going to be married in like four months and she wants to pull all the stops. Additionally, Polly is adamant that this wedding will be couples themed, but people can’t bring someone they haven’t been dating for at least three months. Um… What? So anyway, this means that Nell and Alex are going to be forced together if they don’t find someone right quick, but the two don’t actually like each other. Or… do they?

So… It’s a perfectly fine, albeit over the top set up, which is fine. I mean, this isn’t a shock when it’s a Harlequin because most are about rich people doing weird rich people things. But where the plot of the first Pembroke I read really sucked me in and I was deeply invested in the characters, this time around, the plot kept taking me out even when I was interested in the characters. I do think Pembroke has a really thorough grasp on characterization and manages to build her main love interests really well, but honestly, I’d like to see her work in a longer page count and with a less ridiculous plot. My tl;dr is read this if you’re in for a silly goofy time, but otherwise, pick up Their Icelandic Marriage Reunion instead.

The Best Laid Plans
by Karla Sorensen

Okay, so here’s the deal, I love a grief book and I really love Sorensen’s writing. I also finished this book yesterday, have read three books since then and still can’t stop thinking about Burke and Charlotte so… I may need to increase my rating on this one, but let’s start with talking about what this book is about, shall we? Essentially, Burke’s best friend, Chris, and his wife die in a car accident and Burke, already emotionally stunted, is really struggling to deal with it, while also compartmentalizing the hell out of his feelings. Finally, the attorney calls and is like, “Chris left you this house in Michigan that he and Amie were working to restore.” The house? It’s a wreck. It’s super old, belonged to Chris’s grandparents and there’s this loose goal of having it put on the historical preservation society thing or something. Anyway, the consultant for that is Charlotte.

Burke and Charlotte have this really intense, slow build up of a relationship. They’re a little antagonistic towards one another at first, but then, slowly, they become a little more friendly and then they become even more. But it’s slow and so gradual and I think it’s incredibly well paced. But it’s also interesting because Burke has this tendency to run the fuck away at the first sign of any emotional difficulties and so to watch him grown throughout this book was really great. I do wish that we’d gotten to see him go to therapy, but… I’ll take what we got for sure.

I’m really, really hoping that Sorensen is going to write at least two more books in this world because she set up the side characters so freaking well and I want them all to find their own happily ever after. But mostly, I just am truly so in love with Sorensen’s ability to create these characters that I just want to get lost in. I can’t wait for more, whatever that may be.

Closing Thoughts

I’ve been in the mood for more of an emotional read in the last week or month or whatever and that definitely shines through in my impressions of these books, I think. But I hope I’ve been able to help you decide if these books may fit whatever mood you are in. Regardless, I hope you have a very happy reading time!

xx