Before and After You

de Hope Ellis (2021) SmartyPants Romance

Résumé : Leigh D'Alessandro is a fighter. She fought to escape her dysfunctional family, to end a soul-killing marriage, and to build a new life in a small Tennessee town. When the fate of the community hospital she works for is threatened, she's primed and ready for battle. What she can't fight any longer is her unshakable attraction to her best friend's brother, who has a notorious reputation and triggers all her worst fears about trust and betrayal.

Walker Leffersbee is a lover. At least that's the reputation he's built in his hometown. Scion of a prosperous Tennessee banking family, he's a known ladies' man and a confirmed bachelor. His hands are full as he juggles competing demands from his family's bank and his growing property renovation business. The last thing he needs is to give in to his long-standing craving for his sister's headstrong and hot-tempered best friend. Especially because she's the only one who knows the secret that threatens to upend his life.

When a home renovation project brings them too close for comfort, they both struggle to withstand the growing heat. As they grow closer helping each other navigate family minefields, Walker learns that love is not a four-letter word, and Leigh realizes that some battles are meant to be lost.

But Walker's secret is the one thing that could keep them apart, unless they both decide to fight for the love they never looked for but now can't live without.


Leigh et Walker se connaissent depuis longtemps, lui est le grand frère de Zora, la meilleure amie de Leigh. Ils sont aussi tous les deux à un moment charnière de leur vie personnelle et professionnelle, entre conflit familial et remise en questions de leurs valeurs vis-à-vis de leur boulot... Ils ne sont pas près à s'engager dans une relation romantique.

Evidemment, comme ils se plaisent tous les deux, ils vont quand même succomber aux charmes de l'autre ^^ . Leigh et Walker sont vraiment fait l'un pour l'autre, mais leurs obstacles respectifs vont les ralentir dans leur réalisation de leurs sentiments.

Cette romance fait partie de mes préférées des sorties Smartypants de cette année, on a affaire à deux personnages qui n'ont pas peur d'aller au bout de leur convictions (au niveau professionnel), et même si c'est difficile et que leurs proches ne comprennent pas toujours, ils n'abandonnent pas car ils savent qu'ils sont sur la bonne voie pour leur bien-être à eux.

Alors certes, ils vont commettre des petites erreurs ça et là, mais on peut difficilement leur en vouloir, ils ne sont pas nécessairement dans leur tort. C'est grâce à ces erreurs qu'ils grandissent et vont être là l'un pour l'autre, faire des compromis pour leur bien commun, ne veut pas dire qu'ils effacent qui ils sont.

Je sais que ça fait très cryptique comme review, mais je ne voulais pas tout spoiler ^^

Leigh and Walker have known each other for a long time, he is Zora's big brother, Leigh's best friend. They are also both at a pivotal moment in their personal and professional life, between family conflict and re-evaluate their values ​​at work... They are not ready to engage in a romantic relationship.

Obviously, as they both attracted to each other, they will still succumb to the other'as appeal ^^. Leigh and Walker are really meant for each other, but their respective obstacles will slow them down in realizing their feelings.

This romance is one of my favorite Smartypants releases this year, we are dealing with two characters who are not afraid to follow their convictions (on the professional level), and even if it's difficult and that their loved ones don't always understand, they don't give up because they know they are on the right track for their own well-being.

So of course, they will make small mistakes here and there, but we can hardly blame them, they are not necessarily in the wrong. It is thanks to these mistakes that they grow up and will be there for each other, making compromises for their common good does not mean that they fade away who they are.

I know it's very cryptic as a review, but I don't want to spoil it all ^^


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Love in a Pickle

de L.B. Dunbar (2021) Smartypants Romance

Résumé : When a mysterious silver fox becomes intrigued with this small town’s most disliked society woman, he finds she’s more than a little trouble and possibly a whole lot of heart.

Scotia Simmons. The name says it all—ornery, judgmental, mean—but underneath a woman like that is typically a shattered heart. Locked within her secrets, this fried pickle princess has used her unkindness as a shield of protection against the loneliness. However, menopause and a one-night stand can change a woman’s perspective on things. Who knew it would take a man the likes of him to push her strong will to its limits?

Chester Chesterfield. The name has more than one meaning—generous, quiet, private—but within one man is a multitude of personas. The gruff oil mogul has a wounded heart (and a big secret) that holds him hostage from the man he’s meant to be. His past defined him, or so he thought. He never imagined it’d take a woman like her to push him over his carefully constructed edges and show him love has no boundaries.

When you’re in a pickle, it’s time to relish what—or rather who—stands before you and accept that even over forty, a second chance at love can be a big dill (every pun intended).

Surement la romance qui m'a le plus laissée perplexe. Je l'ai pas détesté, mais je l'ai pas aimé non plus. Je l'ai lu en étant plus détachée qu'avec d'autres, je pense que c'était plus en raison du style de l'auteur et des personnalités des héros auxquels je n'ai pas vraiment accroché.

J'ai trouvé leur histoire un poil compliquée, et plusieurs fois quand l'un fait un pas vers l'autre, l'autre fait 2 pas dans le sens opposé. Je me suis demandée si vraiment ils allaient finir ensemble parce que c'était pas gagné...

Scotia est une langue de vipère, elle n'est pas forcément la personnalité la plus aimé de Green Valley, elle commence à renouer du lien avec ses soeurs mais ce n'est pas chose facile. Clairement, elle s'est ensevelie elle-même dans une masse de "Qu'en dira-t-on ?", une façon de se comporter en société et un système de défense au cas où quelqu'un oserait lui dire quelque chose, c'est elle qui frappe la première... Les seuls moments où elle m'a touché c'est son lien avec les enfants du foyer de Chester et surtout avec le petit Malik.

Chester, tient, personnage presque schizophrène avec 3 identités en 1... Qu'on ne soit pas pareil au boulot et à la maison d'accord, mais avoir 3 versions de soi est assez perturbant, même Scotia dit à un moment ne pas savoir à qui elle a à faire : Chester, Chet ou Big Popy... D'autant que le Chester homme d'affaire, on sait pas vraiment ce qu'il fait comme boulot xD (nan mais c'est vrai).

Donc autant la romance ne m'a fait ni chaud ni froid, autant j'ai plus apprécié l'intrigue autour de Malik, ce petit garçon trouvé que personne ne cherche. Ce bouquin est extrêmement bien documenté sur le système des familles d'accueil aux USA, c'est pour moi le point le plus intéressant du livre.

Surely the romance that left me the most perplexed. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it either. I was more detached than others books I read, I think it was more because of the author' style and who the characters were and I didn't really get hooked on.

I found their story a bit complicated, when one takes one step towards the other, the other takes two steps in the opposite direction. I wondered if they were really going to end up together because it was not an match made in heaven...

Scotia is a vicious gossip, she is not necessarily the most beloved woman of Green Valley, she is starting to reconnect with her sisters but it's not easy. Clearly, she has buried herself in a mass of "What will they say ?", a way of behaving in society and a defense wall and in case someone dares say something to her, it's her who strikes first... The only moments when I liked here was because her bond with the children of Chester's foster home and especially with little Malik.

Chester, by the way, an almost schizophrenic character with 3 identities in 1... If you are not the same at work and at home it's okay, but having 3 versions of yourself is quite disturbing, even Scotia said at one point that she doesn't know who she's dealing with : Chester, Chet or Big Popy... Especially since Chester is a rich businessman, we don't really know what he does for a living xD (but it's true, I 've no idea).

So as much as the romance leaves me completely indifferent, I enjoyed the intrigue around Malik, this little boy is found and no one is looking for him. This book is extremely well documented on the foster care system in the USA, it's for me the most interesting point of the book.

 

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Hopelessly Devoted

par Piper Sheldon (2021) SmartyPants Romance

Résumé : Skip has one goal: retrieve his romantically reckless best friend from Green Valley, Tennessee and get back to their normal life. Then Skip meets Jack. The handsome and caring stranger is just another distraction from his careful plans.

Jack has dealt with more than his fair share of troubled men and is done with letting his guard down. When he meets walking red flag, Skip, he knows he should run the opposite direction and ignore their chaotic attraction.

Only, fate seems to have other plans when they are stuck on a camping trip together. Jack and Skip are convinced they can put their attraction aside and focus on helping their friends.
One quick trip, one shared tent, what could possibly go wrong?


Pourquoi les romances les plus hot et sexy sont des novella qui ne font qu'une centaines de pages xD ? Pourquoi ???

Skip et Jack, on les croise dans les tomes précédents chacun de leur côté (le 1er dans le tome 3 juste avant et le 2e dans le tome 1). Alors que Sanders court après Roxie (The One That I Want), Skip le suit de mauvaise grâce, sûr qu'il devra réparer les pots cassés après le passage de cette tornade... Un soir dans un bar gay, il va faire une crise d'angoisse ; et Jack qui l'avait repéré de loin, va l'aider à passer ce mauvais moment. Puis les étincelles fusent, et ça se fini en bisous torrides dans dans la ruelle sombre.

Quelques jours plus tard, ils se retrouvent tous accompagnateurs d'un groupe d'adolescent pour une virée camping. Entre faire leur boulot et lutter contre leur attraction mutuelle, ils ne s'en sortent plus xD...

Piper Sheldon a un don pour rendre des scènes d'une sexitude pas possible, alors qu'il se passe pas grande chose xD. Le MM n'est pas forcément le genre vers lequel je vais aller, mais quand c'est aussi bien écrit, ça fait encore plus swooner que d'autres romances FM...

Seul regret de ne pas avoir eu un livre à part entière plutôt qu'une novella, mais quand on a un nouveau Piper Sheldon, on le prend ^^

Why are the hottest and sexiest romances, novellas that are only a hundred pages long xD ? Why ???

We've meet Skip and Jack in the previous books, each on their own (the 1st in Book 3 just before and the 2nd in Book 1). As Sanders runs after Roxie (The One That I Want), Skip reluctantly follows him, sure that he will have to mend the damage after the passage of the tornado... One evening in a gay bar, he is having an anxiety attack ; and Jack who had spotted him from afar, help him through this bad time. Then the sparks fly, and it ends up in hot kisses in a dark alley.

A few days later, they find themselves accompanying a group of teenagers for a camping trip. Between doing their job and fighting against their mutual attraction, they don't see the end of it...

Piper Sheldon has a knack for making very sexy scenes, when nothing much is going on xD. MM is not necessarily the genre I'm reading, but when it's this well written, it's even more swooning than other FM romances...

My only regret is not having had a full-fledged book rather than a novella, but when you have a new Piper Sheldon, you take it ^^

 

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