Quick Reviews

Just Another Love Song by Kerry Winfrey (2022)

I'm late to the Kerry Winfrey train, but after reading this one, I'm not sure I'll be racing to pick up another of hers, unfortunately.  Sandy and Hank were high school sweethearts, but after he leaves for college and she remains in their hometown, they break up.  Fifteen years later, Hank is back, with his son, and the two may get their second chance after all.  This didn't feel like a romance to me at all.  It was more a small-town, contemporary fiction, with a dash of romance thrown in.  The fact that Sandy and Hank have been apart for 15 years and the assumption is they are still madly in love with each other and will just pick right back up where they left off is almost laughable to me.  Fifteen years is a long time, and it just makes me feel bad for Sandy that her life has been "incomplete" this whole time without Hank - honestly, it seems like she has a pretty good life, and it's only when Hank returns that she begins to question how happy she is.  It just didn't sit right with me.  Hank felt so bland and underdeveloped that it was hard for me to root for them.  2.5 stars

Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade (2022)

Maria and Peter have a steamy one-night stand, only to find out soon after that they've been cast in the same show, putting them in close proximity for the next several years.  Peter doesn't want to be anything more than friends while filming, but when the show ends, will the two get their chance?  I thought this was a fun story!  I didn't realize it was the third book in a series when I bought it, and I think I was missing some information about the other characters that could have made the reading experience different, but overall, I don't think it was super necessary to have read the other books.  Maria and Peter's chemistry is crackling, even when they're trying to just be friends - the way Peter worships Maria, for years, and especially when they finally get together, was so sexy!  I loved Maria's body confidence and the behind-the-scenes look at the making of a major TV show was very fun.  There is a big time jump that was very jarring - I knew it was coming, but I didn't think it was incorporated very well.  The third-act breakup felt very uncharacteristic of both Peter and Maria, so of course I was glad when they got over it to find their happily ever after.  4 stars

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