Weight of wrath

de M.E. Carter (2021) Smartypants Romance

Résumé : Rosalind Palmer was blessed with the perfect stage name. Or so she’s been told. There are just a few problems with it:
1) Her family doesn’t know she’s a stripper
2) She’d like to keep it that way
3) She got over the nickname somewhere around seventh grade.
Unfortunately—because she likes her job and she really likes her independence—her unexpected pregnancy means Rosalind’s days on a pole are numbered. Even so, she's determined to make this co-parenting thing work.

Joey Marshall never thought much about having kids until he got the text announcing his impending fatherhood. Now it’s all he can think about. But there are a few concerns:
1) He doesn't know anything about babies.
2) Adulting usually leads to disaster.
3) It’s his best friend’s cousin he knocked up.
First things first, making sure his baby’s mama is in this for the long haul. Because now he's got baby on the brain, he can't wait to make this co-parenting thing into so much more.

Now all he has to do is convince Rosalind, which shouldn't be too hard . . . right?


Dans ce roman, nous retournons à Weight Expectations, la salle de gym où se sont croiser plusieurs de nos héros des tomes précédents. Celui-ci nous raconte l'histoire de Joey, le meilleur pote d'Abel, qui travaille lui aussi en tant que coach. Sa vie va prendre un tournant radical lorsque son dernier "rencart d'un soir" lui annonce être enceinte.

Rosalind est stripteaseuse et malgré tous les préjugés de sa famille, elle aime son boulot : pour elle c'est un mélange de performance artistique et sportive, elle est plutôt douée au pole dance, oui elle le fait dénudé, et alors ? Un soir elle est repartie avec Joey, car il était gentil et il avait autre chose dans le regard que tous les autres clients. Parcontre elle ne pensait pas tomber enceinte... (précision : tous les deux s'étaient protégés)

Elle n'imaginait pas non plus la réaction de Joey, qui passé le choc, se tranforme en futur papa prêt à vivre cette aventure avec elle. Joey et Rosalind vont devoir apprendre à se connaitre avant de rencontrer leur bébé.

Cette romance n'est pas hyper couinante, mais si comme moi vous êtes pas fan des romances mit bébé surprise, elle a quand même le mérite de ne pas nous saouler niveau "baby stuff". Oui, on suit les étapes de la grossesse, mais ça sera toujours en lien avec les petits pas de la relation entre Rosalind et Joey. Ils vont certes devenir parents, mais ils vont aussi tomber amoureux pour eux et pas uniquement à cause du bébé.
L'auteur évoque aussi le sujet de la dépression post-partum, un sujet sérieux pas forcément glamour dans ce type de romance, qui est traité ici avec justesse.

En conclusion, une romance sympathique, mais à laquelle j'ai pas autant accroché.

In this novel, we return to Weight Expectations, the gym where several of our previous books heroes met. This one tells us the story of Joey, Abel's best mate, who also works as a coach. His life will take a radical turn when his last "one-night stand" announces that she is pregnant.

Rosalind is a stripper and despite all her family's prejudices, she loves her job : for her it's a mixture of artistic and sporting performance, she is rather good at pole dancing, yes she does it half naked, so what ? One evening she left with Joey, because he was nice and he looked at her in a different way than all the other customers. But she didn't think she was going to get pregnant... (important detail : both of them had contraception).

She also did not imagine the reaction of Joey who, passed the shock of the news, turns into a future dad ready to live this adventure with her. Joey and Rosalind will need to know each other before they meet their baby.

This romance isn't super swooning, and like me, if you are not a fan of baby surprise romances, it still has the merit of not having to much "baby stuff" in it. Yes, we follow the stages of pregnancy, but it will always be related to the small steps of Rosalind and Joey's relationship. They will certainly become parents, but they will also fall in love because of each other and not only because of the baby.
The author also evokes postpartum depression, a serious subject not necessarily glamorous in this type of romance, which is treated here with sensitivity.

In conclusion, a nice romance, but one I wasn't into very much.

 

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Heart Smart

d'Emma Lee Jayne (2021) - Smartypants Romance

Résumé : Dr. Maximillian Ramsey has a problem…

I’m a jerk. Everyone I know or have ever worked with agrees. “Misanthropic asshole” is the term I hear most often. I don’t care what other people think as long as they leave me alone to focus on my research on soil microbiology. Plus, I walk with a cane thanks to a childhood accident. I have scars on my face. And if that isn’t enough to scare people off, my bad attitude and general grumpiness seal the deal. Which is just the way I like it. Except, I’ve been short listed for one of the most prestigious academic fellowships around. To win it, I’ll have to give a series of speeches. On a stage. With an audience. While being filmed.
Yeah. None of that is going to happen. Unfortunately, my boss has a plan. He brings in one of the communications lecturers to give me a “make over,” help me write the speeches, and manage my social media. But the last thing I need is some nosy, bossy, gorgeous woman meddling in my life.

And Holly is the solution…

I’m a mere communications lecturer at a prestigious research university. I’m used to being outclassed and under-educated compared to the PhDs who surround me. But I’m good at what I do. Brilliant, actually. When Max’s boss (who happens to be my ex-husband) begs me to help transform this beast of a man into someone worthy of the fellowship, I have my work cut out for me. It’ll take a lot of badgering, blatant manipulation, and some outright thievery to get Max to cooperate. All of which I handle with the enough professionalism and restraint that should earn me a fancy grant. What I can’t handle is how unexpectedly attractive I find the stubborn and brilliant man. This is a battle of wills and wits, and neither is prepared to admit defeat …


2e roman préféré sur le lot printemps 2021 des Smartypants Romance ♥

J'ai dévoré ce livre en 2 jours, j'avais simplement pas envie de le poser dès que je m'y mettais. Le couple de héros est parfait, leur histoire est très belle et le roman est bien écrit. Il y a juste ce qu'il faut d'humour, de sérieux, de challenge et d'émotion. J'avais envie de relire dès que je l'ai fini xD. C'est difficile d'écrire une review pour vous donner envie de lire, sans trop vous spoiler en vous racontant toute l'histoire.

Max est un docteur super ronchon doit préparer plusieurs présentations orales sur ses recherches afin d'obtenir un prix prestigieux, malheureusement il manque cruellement de compétences en communication et en socialisation. Il n'est pas surnommé le "connard" pour rien, entre terroriser ses étudiants et concrètement, tout les gens qu'il croise, cet exercice va être une mission impossible pour Holly, professeure en communication.

Holly est peut-être missionnée par l'université pour coacher Max, et leurs premiers échanges ont peut-être ressembler à des joutes, elle sent que Max vaut le coup et qu'il ne se résume pas à son caractère de merde. C'est le petit chat qui va venir titiller le gros grizzli et faire sortir la peluche enfermée dedans, mais attention, un chat ça aussi des griffes ;)

L'auteure est arrivée à nous peindre ses personnages, leur histoire, leur forces et faiblesses, leurs espoirs... avec justesse et je me suis toute de suite attachée à eux. Je ne peux que vous recommandé de plonger dans ce bouquin ♥

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This is my 2nd favorite novel on the Spring 2021 set of Smartypants Romance ♥

I devoured this book in 2 days, I just didn't want to put it down as soon as I started reading it. The couple is perfect, their story is very beautiful and the novel is well written. There is just the right amount of humor, seriousness, challenge and emotion. I wanted to re-read as soon as I finished it xD. It's hard to write a review to make you want to read it, without spoiling you too much by telling you the whole story.

Max is a super grumpy doctor who has to prepare several oral presentations on his research in order to obtain a prestigious award, unfortunately he is sorely lacking in communication and socialization skills. He is not nicknamed "asshole" for no reason, between terrorizing his students and basically, all the people he meets, this exercise will be an impossible mission for Holly, professor of communication.

Holly may be commissioned by the University to coach Max, and their first exchanges may have looked like jousting, she senses Max is worth it and he's more than his shit character. It is the little kitty who will titillate the big grizzly bear and bring out the stuffed animal locked inside, but be careful, a cat also has claws ;)

The author managed to paint us her characters, their history, their strengths and weaknesses, their hopes ... with accuracy and I immediately became attached to them. I can only recommend you to dive into this book ♥

-Read as ARC-

Street Smart

d'Aly Stiles (2021) - Smartypants Romance

Résumé : What could go wrong—four words MBA student Marcos Oliveira ignored when he accepted a prestigious internship at Reedweather Media, a subsidiary of the legendary Sandeke Telecom empire.

What did go wrong? Everything.

And when Marcos stumbles upon incriminating documents that signal corporate espionage against Sandeke’s son Martin, he suspects his strange intern wormhole has just exploded into chaos. When his alluring boss Eva draws him in to thwart the plot, he knows it.

After spending their lives overcoming adversity, can Marcos and Eva handle this latest threat? Even more perilous might be their losing battle against forbidden attraction.

His Ivy League education didn’t prepare him for spy games and illicit flames. Good thing he has the street smarts to work for it.


Ce roman m'a beaucoup fait penser à la série TV Chuck, il mélange plusieurs genres : de l'espionnage industriel, une romance entre collègues de boulot, et de la comédie WTF. On sent que l'auteur veut nous divertir sans trop se soucier de la crédibilité de son histoire et je pense qu'elle aurait pu se lâcher beaucoup plus à tous les plans.

Faut pas se leurrer, un stagiaire et sa boss qui décident de découvrir pourquoi leur patron possède des infos confidentielles sur leur concurrent et de rassembler assez de preuves pour le faire tomber, en montant des plans à la James Bond... c'est pas le truc le plus réaliste qui soit xD ... autant y aller à fond dans les trucs d'espion, en mettant nos héros dans des situations relativement dangereuses, histoire d'avoir un suspense, et en distillant des éléments comiques ici et là pour rendre le tout un peu absurde.

Cela dit, le roman est quand même bien et nous fait passer un bon moment. Eva et Marcos fonctionnement bien ensemble (tant sur le côté business/espionnage ^^ que sur côté romance), on a des personnages secondaires absolument merveilleux : Chad l'autre stagiaire et son powerpoint sur les noix en pole position xD.

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This novel reminded me a lot of the TV series Chuck, it mixes several genres : industrial espionage, a co-workers romance, and WTF comedy. We feel that the author wants to entertain us without worrying too much about the credibility of her story and I think she could have gone further at all levels.

Make no mistake, an intern and his boss who decide to find out why their boss has confidential information on their competitor and to gather enough evidence to bring him down, by setting up plans James Bond's style... it's not the most realistic thing xD ... the author might as well go deep into the spy stuff, putting our heroes in relatively dangerous situations, just to have some suspense, and distilling comic elements here and there to make it a little absurd.

That said, the novel is still good and gives us a good reading time. Eva and Marcos work well together (both on the business/espionage side ^^ as on the romance side), we have absolutely wonderful secondary characters : Chad the other intern and his powerpoint on nuts in pole position xD.