Author: Chloe Liese

BOOK REVIEWS: The Mistletoe Motive by Chloe Liese & Unwrapping His Package by Cameron Hart

December 30, 2023 / Jen / 1 Comment

The Mistletoe Motive by Chloe Liese
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
He loathes the holidays. She loves them. She’s full of festive cheer. He’s brimming with Bah, Humbugs. Besides unreasonably seasonable names, the only thing Jonathan Frost and Gabriella Di Natale have in common is a healthy dose of mutual contempt. Well, that and the same place of employment at the city’s most beloved independent bookstore, Bailey’s Bookshop. But when the store’s owners confess its dire financial state, Jonathan and Gabby discover another unfortunate commonality: the imminent threat of unemployment.

With the Baileys’ requests to minimize expenses, win new customers, and make record sales dancing in their heads, Jonathan and Gabby conclude—barring a financial Christmas miracle—one of them will soon be cut from the payroll. Neither are willing to step down from their position, so they strike a bargain: whoever has more sales in December gets to stay on in the new year; the loser will resign. With a lifetime's worth of festive tricks up her sleeve, Gabby should easily outsell her nemesis, except the unreadable Mr. Frost’s every move seems purely designed to throw her off her game.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Gabby's deceptive ex won't quit pursuing her, and her anonymous online friend suggests they take a break. Worst of all, as the pressure mounts to save the bookshop and her job, Gabby meets a new, tender side of Jonathan. Is this the same man she's called her cold-hearted enemy?

Maybe he’s got a motive she just can’t figure out—or maybe Jonathan Frost isn’t as chilly as she once thought. Maybe Jonathan and Gabby already know—and love—each other in ways they never thought possible.

Review:

The Mistletoe Motive was an enemies to lovers that was filled with Christmas cheer. I loved how much holiday spirit was laced throughout the pages. And from the moment we met Jonathan Frost, aka Gabriella’s nemesis or so she says, you can completely tell he wants her from that first chapter! Johnathan was my favorite thing about this book and I adored how he protected her and how he could be a sexy, mystery. And while this book would typically be a huge hit for me, I just couldn’t connect to the characters or their romance. Even though I adored Jonathan. Plus it probably didn’t help that I kept thinking about two other books I absolutely adored so much more with two tropes in this book. For the workplace enemies to lovers, I kept thinking about how The Hating Game consumed my every thought while I was devouring that book. And the other trope about different forms of contact was in To Sir, With Love by Lauren Layne and that story was breathtakingly addictive. Those two books I devoured. This one I had to push myself to finish and kept putting it down. It was cute and steamy but I just couldn’t click with it. So here’s hoping if you end up picking up this book, you’ll end up loving it more then me!

Unwrapping His Package by by Cameron Hart
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Indie: I trust my gut, the universe, and the healing power of sugar. I’ll admit I had my doubts in all three of those things when my sister wanted to move all the way here to Christmas, Michigan in the dead of winter. I’ve been scrambling to be the supportive sister after her messy divorce, but I’m exhausted. Just when I think I’m at my breaking point, I sense something. The universe is telling me it’ll all work out. I know my gut instinct is right when I see him. I instantly want to know everything about the tall, broad shouldered, blue-eyed man staring at me. I want to unwrap him layer by layer. All of him. Every single inch.

Walker: As a doctor, I trust my mind, science, and empirical evidence. Until I see her. The short, curvy minx stares right at me, her teal eyes gliding down my body. My chest tightens and I can’t catch my breath. I run through a list of symptoms and possible diagnoses, but nothing quite matches what I’m feeling. My condition only worsens the longer I look at her, yet I can’t bring myself to do anything else. Love at first sight isn’t possible, but one look at my pixie and I know she’s about to prove me wrong.

Review:

If you love erotica and insta love, then Unwrapping His Package is for you! With a virgin hero, an alpha male who had sensitive thoughts and a wintery setting, this book was setup for the perfect Christmas miracle story. Unfortunately, it was not for me.

“You’re perfect,” I murmur, skimming my hands up and down the sides of her torso, giving her the reassurance she needs. “Now let me unwrap my present.”

While I love novella stories, especially ones that are steamy and revolve around Christmas, this one made me roll my eyes quite a few times. From the moment Walker told Indie that he knew she was a virgin and nicknamed her pixie….ehhh it just didn’t do it for me. Indie was optimistic, I’ll give her that. Yet she fell under TSTL. It. Was. Painful. I read this with my local book club and one of my friends pointed out that if she was more intelligent it would have been hard for Walker to control her like he did so *shrugs*. I guess it all worked out for the best anyway. I did keep muttering that I hoped for Walker’s sake that Indie had a magical vagina, so she was worth the effort. And I guess he thought she did, but I didn’t feel like she did anything fabulous. So while Unwrapping His Package didn’t work for me, I did give it a few stars because of the steamy scenes. I just wish I would have felt something during those moments. There was an epilogue set five years in the future, so readers who fall in love with this book will be so happy when they get to that chapter!

BOOK REVIEW: Better Hate than Never (The Wilmot Sisters #2) by Chloe Liese

October 15, 2023 / Jen / 6 Comments

Better Hate than Never (The Wilmot Sisters #2)
by Chloe Liese
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Childhood enemies discover the fine line between love and loathing in this heartfelt reimagining of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.

Katerina Wilmot and Christopher Petruchio shared backyards as kids, but as adults they won’t even share the same hemisphere. That is, until Kate makes a rare visit home, and their fiery animosity rekindles into a raging inferno.

Despite their friends’ and families' pleas for peace, Christopher is unconvinced Kate would willingly douse the flames of their enmity. But when a drunken Kate confesses she’s only been hostile because she thought he hated her, Christopher vows to make peace with Kate once and for all. Tempting as it is to be swept away by her nemesis-turned-gentleman, Kate isn’t sure she can trust his charming good-guy act.

When Christopher’s persistence and Kate’s curiosity lead to an impassioned kiss, they realize “peace” is the last thing that will ever be possible between them. As desire gives way to deeper feelings, Kate and Christopher must decide if it’s truly better to hate than to never risk their hearts—or if they already gave them away long ago.

Review:

Better Hate than Never was an opposites attract, enemies to lovers romance. I absolutely loved the first book in this series, Two Wrongs Make a Right, and couldn’t wait to dive into this one. Yet from those first few pages, I was never able to connect to any of the characters. There was fabulous banter. There was representation for mental health and chronic illness. Christopher’s thoughts could be so hilarious whereas Kate’s will tug on your heart. Yet from that first page to the last, I just couldn’t click. And for me to fully love and invest myself emotionally in a book, I have to make that connection. So while this one didn’t work for me, I have a feeling so many others will fall in love with this story!

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book, provided by the author. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

BOOK REVIEW: Only When It’s Us (Bergman Brothers #1) by Chloe Liese

December 20, 2022 / Jen / 6 Comments

Only When It's Us (Bergman Brothers #1)
by Chloe Liese
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Ryder

Ever since she sat next to me in class and gave me death eyes, Willa Sutter’s been on my shit list. Why she hates me, I don't know. What I do know is that Willa is the kind of chaos I don’t need in my tidy life. She’s the next generation of women’s soccer. Wild hair, wilder eyes. Bee-stung lips that should be illegal. And a temper that makes the devil seem friendly.

She’s a thorn in my side, a menacing, cantankerous, pain-in-the-ass who’s turned our Business Mathematics course into a goddamn gladiator arena. I'll leave this war zone unscathed, coming out on top…And if I have my way with that crazy-haired, ball-busting hellion, that will be in more than one sense of the word.

Willa

Rather than give me the lecture notes I missed like every other instructor I’ve had, my asshole professor tells me to get them from the silent, surly flannel-wearing mountain man sitting next to me in class. Well, I tried. And what did I get from Ryder Bergman? Ignored. What a complete lumbersexual neanderthal. Mangy beard and mangier hair. Frayed ball cap that hides his eyes. And a stubborn refusal to acknowledge my existence.

I’ve battled men before, but with Ryder, it's war. I’ll get those notes and crack that Sasquatch nut if it’s the last thing I do, then I’ll have him at my mercy. Victory will have never tasted so sweet.

Only When It’s Us is a frenemies-to-lovers, college sports romance about a women’s soccer star and her surly lumberjack lookalike classmate, complete with a matchmaking professor, juvenile pranks, and a smoking slow burn. This standalone is the first in a series of novels about a Swedish-American family of five brothers, two sisters, and their wild adventures as they each find happily ever after.

Review:

Only When It’s Us was a slow burn romance that will keep you smiling. While it was more emotional than I expected, there were lots of banter and moments that had me laughing out. Ryder made this book for me! I loved learning everything there was about him. He was kind, thoughtful, sweet, and such a fabulous book boyfriend! I was so grateful that he could be so calm and logical. Because Willa desperately needed that from him. Plus Ryder’s large family was everything. Ryder’s moments with them were heartwarming and left me excited to hear about their stories in future books!

I don’t even know what I am feeling, just that I’m feeling too damn much. Whatever emotion it is, it’s a hot, stinging ache that incinerates the path from my throat to my stomach.

It took me a while to warm up to Willa. She could be so emotional at times. She also blamed others, instead of taking responsibility. How in the world she thought she was being polite when she stormed up to Ryder and had a stare-down in the beginning is beyond me lol. It all left me wanting to shake her. But as the story progressed, I was so happy that she won me over! Willa continued to make mistakes, but I understood that this was new territory for her. She had severe trust issues with men and she was so guarded around others. Willa was a character that needs patience from the reader, or at least she did when it came to me. My favorite things about Willa was when she would mess with Ryder, those scenes had me laughing out loud!

“I love you, Mama,” I whisper. I count her heartbeats. I feel gratitude for each of them.
She presses her lips to my hair, a soft kiss that’s as comforting as her strong hugs. “I love you, too, my Willa Rose.”

Willa and Ryder played the most hilarious games and it made this story so much fun. I loved their antics. I loved their frenemies relationship. But I loved it even more when they started to toe the line from frenemies to just friends and more. I will say, I had a huge personal connection with this book. We had someone we loved View Spoiler » So I struggled and cried multiple times, because past feelings kept surfacing. But even through that heartache, I had a lot of fun reading this book! I guessed a few of the twists. And that ending left me excited to read the next book about Ryder’s brother, Ren!

My grinch heart grows twice as large.

BOOK REVIEW: Two Wrongs Make a Right (The Wilmot Sisters #1) by Chloe Liese

November 29, 2022 / Jen / 4 Comments

Two Wrongs Make a Right (The Wilmot Sisters #1)
by Chloe Liese
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Opposites become allies to fool their matchmaking friends in this swoony reimagining of Shakespeare’s beloved comedy, Much Ado About Nothing.

Jamie Westenberg and Bea Wilmot have nothing in common except a meet-disaster and the mutual understanding that they couldn't be more wrong for each other. But when the people closest to them play Cupid and trick them into going on a date, Jamie and Bea realize they have something else in common after all—an undeniable need for revenge.

Soon their plan is in place: Fake date obnoxiously and convince the meddlers they’re madly in love. Then, break up spectacularly and dash everyone's hopes, putting an end to the matchmaking madness once and for all.

To convince everyone that they’ve fallen for each other, Jamie and Bea will have to nail the performance of their lives. But as their final act nears and playing lovers becomes easier than not, they begin to wonder: What if Cupid’s arrow wasn’t so off the mark? And what if two wrongs do make a right?

Review:

It’s a text. Just a text.
But it feels like so much more.

With humor, romance and heart, Two Wrongs Make a Right was so easy to love! Enemies to lovers was mixed with fake dating, and it played out beautifully! The characters were vivid and ones that you will be rooting for, the story-line was so much fun and I left this book knowing I had to read all of Chloe Liese’s books!

He grins. A crooked, soft Jamie grin that once again fills my heart to a shimmering, golden pop. “I have a feeling you’re going to be a bad influence, Beatrice.”
“Ah, James,” I tell him through the buttercream sweetness lighting up my tongue. “Now you’re catching on.”

Beatrice Wilmot aka Bea and Jamie Westenberg didn’t get off on the right foot. They rubbed each other the wrong way and Bea had no problem slaying Jamie with her words. It didn’t matter that something was there and that the chemistry could be felt. That first impression did them in. But when their friends wouldn’t give up and set them up on a blind date, that was when they realized they could finally agree on something. Revenge. So what’s a little fake dating to trick their friends into thinking they did what was best, and then breaking up once their friends were truly invested. It was a solid plan, yet feelings don’t always seem to go the way you want them to.

Holding me close. He turns his face so slightly, until his mouth brushes the shell of my ear.
And for a moment, I forget why this is happening.

I adored Bea! I loved listening to her thoughts and watching how she saw the world. She was an artist who had a twin sister and a wonderful group of friends. She claimed they were her sister’s friends, but you could tell they loved her just as much too! And I loved how much fire Bea had in her! Her words and even her flying carrots had me cracking up! Ohhhh and her second hand embarrassment was all of mine too.

Being in a fake relationship isn’t supposed to be complicated. Kissing isn’t supposed to make me think foolish, ridiculous thoughts about Bea actually wanting me when she kissed me, too. This situation is terrifyingly beyond me.

Through Bea’s eyes, Jamie came off as so cold. But we also got chapters in his voice and Jamie was definitely one of the good guys! He could be so thoughtful and sensitive, it was heart melting. As we spent more time with him, you realize that there was a whole lot more going on with Jamie then meets the eye. Anxiety clung to him at times. That representation was so relatable to me, so Jamie was so easy to click with and love.

You’re the best thing in my life, I want to tell her. You’re safe and real and perfectly imperfect . We started as a lie, and now we’re the truest thing I’ve ever known.
But I don’t say it, don’t speak those fragile words into the delicate space between us.

Bea and Jamie fought and bantered so fabulously! Yet they both had a lot more in common than they thought. They had been burned in the past and hearts will hurt listening to their stories. So they both lied to themselves for how felt towards the other, even though they wanted each other! I loved watching how they both surprised one other with kindness, insight, understanding, and generosity. It was impossible for them not to become friends with the path they were going down. Especially when you have to tell each other personal stuff. True boyfriends and girlfriends would talk about that right?! *smirks* Eeps, their fake dating was a ton of fun. And when emotions got involved it was difficult not to be giddy!

“My fake boyfriend isn’t supposed to ruin me for everyone else,” I whisper.
Jamie’s eyes fall shut as he drops his forehead to mine. “Sometimes, Beatrice, I want to ruin you for everyone else.”

With friendships that were strong and beautiful, self-doubt, pushing the line and fabulous date nights, this book was so much fun! There were sentimental moments that made tears gather in my eyes, and steamy moments that fit so well together. And even watching wrong choices being made, I was cheering them on! Two Wrongs Make a Right was lovable, entertaining and such a fabulous mix of enemies to lovers and fake dating!

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book, provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*