Dewey Belong Together

de Ann Whynot (2021) - Smartypants Romance.

Résumé : Librarian Maxine Peters lives her life behind the scenes. By day, she's a buttoned-up cataloguing whiz in the basement of the Green Valley Public Library. By night, she's secretly dominating in an online role playing game as the legendary Maximus_Damage. Her in-game persona has the skills to back up the hype. But every hero has an enemy; every saga,a villain. And by her own invitation, Maximus’ arch nemesis, Wrath, has just landed in Green Valley.

Jonathan Owen is not at all who Maxine expects when she meets Wrath face to face. Eager to leave the past in the game, Jonathan takes this golden opportunity to win Maxine's heart. There's just one wrench in that plan: he may have, on a few occasions, acted like a bit of a jerk online. And to his puzzlement, she has taken their fun rivalry to the level of epic dislike.

When Jonathan and Maxine are unexpectedly alone for a weekend, secrets are revealed that make love hard and hatred even harder. Jonathan quickly learns fighting his own demons will take more than one elite gamer. And Maxine, who is busy rebooting her life in Green Valley, might not be up to the task.

When real life starts to override the game, can Maxine and Jonathan find a way to make it work ? Or will it be game over for this player versus player adventure ?


gros coup de coeur pour cette romance de geek *_* les deux héros vont très bien ensemble, l'histoire est bien écrite, les personnages secondaires sont supers, les challenges à relever cohérents avec les histoires personnelles de chacun.

J'ai bien aimé le contexte de l'histoire : des geek qui ne se connaissent qu'en virtuel décident de se rencontrer en réel (même si je ne suis pas une accros aux jeux vidéos, on peut se reconnaitre quel que soit son mode de geekage ^^). Un malheureux concours de circonstances fait que Maxine ne va accueillir finalement qu'une seule personne au lieu d'un petit groupe, et cette personne c'est Jonathan aka Wrath, son arch nemésis dans le jeu, le seul du groupe qu'elle peut pas encadrer tellement il la saoule xD. Mais Maxine a caché pendant 10 ans qu'elle était une "elle" alors que son avatar dans le jeu est un mec, et que tous les joueurs n'en ont aucune idée, et encore moins Wrath...

Jonathan a une idée bien précise en tête en venant à Green Valley : rencontrer pour de vrai Maximus_Damage, le joueur à qui il vaut une admiration sans limite, mais également un amour inconditionné. Pour lui c'est l'occasion de déclarer enfin ses sentiments... quelle n'est donc pas sa surprise en découvrant que Maximus est une femme, et qu'elle le déteste xD. Jonathan va en faire sa mission de conquérir sa guerrière, car homme ou femme il s'en fou, c'est la personne qui compte pour lui.

L'ambiance général du livre est très décomplexée, il y a beaucoup d'humour, beaucoup de références geek, et de la répartie dans les dialogues. Mais on y trouve quand même de la gravité avec les vies personnelles de Maxine et Jonathan. Maxine a été agressée et s'est coupée de vie sociale, elle a peu d'amis en vrai, elle ne sort pas, s'occupe de sa mère agoraphobe et le jeu vidéo est son exutoire ; Jonathan, lui souffre de bipolarité et doit faire attention à son traitement, il s'occupe également de sa mère dépressive et de ses soeurs, son meilleur ami et le seul qui connait sa maladie.

La balance est très bien fait entre le gros délire geek et les soucis de la vie réelle, la romance n'est pas too much et on est pas dans un "l'amûûr sauve tout". J'ai passé un bon moment avec ce bouquin, lu en 2 jours !

This geek romance is a favorite *_* the two heroes are good together, the story is well written, the secondary characters are great, the challenges met are consistent with each characer's personal stories.

I really liked the context of the story : geek people who only know each other in virtual reality decide to meet in real life (even if I'm not a video games player, we can recognize our geek self regardless of our geek means ^^). An unfortunate combination of circumstances means that Maxine will welcome only one person instead of a small group, and this person is Jonathan aka Wrath, her arch nemesis in the game, the only one in the group that she can not put up with as he annoys her so much xD. But Maxine has been hiding for 10 years that she was a "she" when her avatar in the game is a guy, all players have no idea, let alone Wrath...

Jonathan has a very specific idea in mind when he comes to Green Valley : to meet Maximus_Damage, the player to whom he has a limitless admiration, but also an unconditional love. For him this is the opportunity to finally declare his feelings... what a surprise it is to discover that Maximus is a woman, and that she hates him xD. Jonathan will make it his mission to conquer his warrior queen, he doesn't care if is she's a man or woman, it is the person who matters to him.

The general atmosphere of the book is very uninhibited, there is a lot of humor, a lot of geek references, and repartee in the dialogues. But there is still some seriousness with the personal lives of Maxine and Jonathan. Maxine has been assaulted and cut herself off from social life, she has few real friends, she does not go out, takes care of her agoraphobic mother and the video game is her outlet ; Jonathan, suffers from bipolar disorder and must be careful with his treatment, he also takes care of his depressed mother and his sisters, his best friend is the only one who knows his illness.

The balance is very well made between the big geek delirium and the worries of real life, the romance is not too much and we are not in a "love saves everything" storyline. I had a good time with this book, read in 2 days !

Find Ann Whynot online
Facebook: http://bit.ly/3rNm2Z5
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnnWhynotWrites
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/38W1IMa
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ann.whynot/
Website: http://www.annwhynot.com/

Connect with Smartypants Romance
Facebook: http://bit.ly/2kvDnb4
Twitter: http://bit.ly/2lzyduO
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2lGdIMQ
Instagram: http://bit.ly/2kwKsYK
Website: https://smartypantsromance.com/
Newsletter: https://smartypantsromance.com/newsletter/

Steal My Magnolia

de Karla Sorensen (2021) - SmartyPants Romance

Résumé : Life lesson from Grady Buchanan: If you're going to fall in love with the untouchable girl in town, don't hire her as your only employee. Even after he bungled the interview with Magnolia MacIntyre, he knew better than to hire her. The list of why it's a bad idea is a long one. Her father could ruin his fledgling business. She is completely overqualified. And he’s attracted to her. What does Grady do? He offers her the job.

Magnolia knew better than to take it. Normally, she'd make the safe choice, and working for Grady is anything but. He's new in town--and entirely too charming. Her dad will be furious. She hates the outdoors and working for an outdoor adventure company is not exactly the right fit. What does she do? She says yes on the spot.

Grady and Magnolia will have to prove to everyone in their life that they're not crazy. And prove to each other that the list of why it's a bad idea should be tossed out the window. For these two opposites, sometimes doing the wrong thing is exactly right.


Je suis restée un peu sur ma faim avec ce roman, j'ai trouvé qu'il était très mal équilibré entre la phase de séduction et le moment où le couple est formé. En gros, le bouquin se termine sur le moment où ils passent enfin aux choses sérieuses, on a un chapitre et un épilogue qui nous montrent Magnolia et Grady ensemble...

L'histoire est pas mauvaise, mais c'est beaucoup trop long. Ils ont beaux être choupi-chou les deux là, passé un stade on n'attend plus qu'ils se jettent l'un sur l'autre xD .

J'aurais voulu avoir plus de scènes de couple, où Grady va passer du temps avec les parents de Magnolia, des moments avec la soeur de Grady, Grace, et son copain Tucker (l'ex de Magnolia) (on peut pas dire qu'il n'y avait pas du contenu à creuser sur cet arc narratif).

Le livre se termine sur un avant-goût de ce que sera le tome de Hunter, le Buchanan qui a fuit Green Valley et sa malédiction. ça promet !

I was a little unsatisfied with this book, I think it wasn' very well balanced between the seduction's phase and the moment when the couple is formed. Basically, the book ends with when they finally get together, we have a chapter and an epilogue that show us Magnolia and Grady as a couple...

The story isn't bad, but it's way too long. They may be the cutest people, after a time, all we want is for them to throw themselves on each other xD.

I would have liked to have had more couple scenes, where Grady is spending time with Magnolia's parents, scenes with Grady's sister, Grace, and her boyfriend Tucker (Magnolia's ex) (we can't say that there wasn't content to dig into this story arc).

The book ends with a taste of what will be Hunter's book, the Buchanan who run away from Green Valley and his curse. Sounds intruiging !

Find Karla Sorensen online
Facebook : http://bit.ly/2lU6xAS
Twitter : http://bit.ly/2khRSPL
Amazon : https://amzn.to/2k0Yp0T
Instagram : http://bit.ly/2lBNuez
Website : http://www.karlasorensen.com/

Connect with Smartypants Romance
Facebook : http://bit.ly/2kvDnb4
Twitter : http://bit.ly/2lzyduO
Amazon : https://amzn.to/2lGdIMQ
Instagram : http://bit.ly/2kwKsYK
Website : https://smartypantsromance.com/
Newsletter : https://smartypantsromance.com/newsletter/

Engagement and Espionage

de Penny Reid (2020)

Résumé : Jennifer Sylvester made her deal with the devil . . . and now they’re engaged !
But all is not well in Green Valley. A chicken choker is on the loose, 61 dead birds most "fowl" need plucking, and no time remains for Jennifer and her devilish fiancé. Desperate to find a spare moment together, Jenn and Cletus’s attempts to reconnect are thwarted by one seemingly coincidental disaster after another. It’s not long before Cletus and Jenn see a pattern emerge and the truth becomes clear.
Sabotage!
Will an undercover mission unmask the culprit? Or are these love-birds totally plucked ?


Si vous faites partie de celles qui ont besoin d'une dose supplémentaire de Cletus Winston dans leur vie, ce livre est fait pour vous : c'est un mixte entre le cosy mystery et la romance, dans la suite direct du tome de Cletus et Jennifer (Beard Science), il vaut mieux l'avoir lu avant de vous plonger dans celui-là, sinon beaucoup de choses vont vous échapper.

Branle-bas de combat à Green Valley après que des poules d'un éleveur soient sauvagement assassinées. Ce sont leurs oeufs que Jennifer utilise pour ses pâtisserie, très vite d'autres de ses producteurs fétiches vont avoir des déconvenues et cela devient vite un drame pour son activité (en plus de celle des producteurs hein ne l'oublions pas xD). Alors que le chérif et ses adjoints doivent se concerntrés sur des affaires impliquant biker, Cletus et Jennifer décident de tout faire pour résoudre le mystère qui leur tombe dessus et qui en est responsable... Très vite plusieurs personnes sont suspectées, restent à Cletus et Jenn a rassembler les preuves discrètement.

Outre cette affaire à élucider, ce roman nous offre une vraie suite de Beard Science, en nous montrant Jenn et Cletus dans les premiers temps de leur relations, avec tous les nouveaux challenges que cela représente pour chacun d'eux. Malgré l'ambiance légère et un peu loufoque du roman, il y a quand même de sérieuses étapes de couple qu'ils vont devoir passer ensemble, des discussions importantes et, comme son nom l'indique, des engagements à prendre !

Ce roman montre aussi comment la relation entre Jennifer et sa mère évolue. On a pu avoir des infos furtives dans les tomes des Winston, ici on approfondi les choses. Penny Reid nous donne aussi quelques scènes entre frères qui sont toujours adorables (Billy, soupirs...).

If you are one of those who needs an extra dose of Cletus Winston in their life, this book is for you : it's a mix between cozy mystery and romance, it directly follows Cletus and Jennifer's book ( Beard Science ), you better read it before you dive into this one, otherwise you might not understand some things.

Uproar in Green Valley after a breeder's hens are brutally murdered. It's their eggs that Jennifer uses for her pastry, very quickly other of her favorite producers will have troubles and it quickly becomes a tragedy for her activity (in addition to that of the producers let's not forget xD). While the sheriff and his assistants must work on matters involving biker, Cletus and Jennifer decide to do everything to solve the mystery that falls on them and find the culprit... Very quickly several people are suspected, Cletus and Jenn must discreetly gather the evidence.

In addition to this mystery to be elucidated, this novel offers us a real sequel to Beard Science, showing us Jenn and Cletus in the early stages of their relationship, with all the new challenges that this represents for each of them. Despite the light and a little wacky atmosphere of the novel, there are still some serious couple stages that they will have to go through together, important discussions and, as the name suggests, engagement to make !

This novel also shows how the relationship between Jennifer and her mother evolves. We were able to get some sneaky info in the Winston tomes, here we dig deeper. Penny Reid also gives us some scenes between the brothers who are always adorable (Billy, sighs...).

Connect with Penny:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PennyReidWriter/
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2lakzsD
Twitter: @ReidRomance
Mailing List: http://pennyreid.ninja/newsletter/
www.pennyreid.ninja