Batter of Wits

De Karla Sorensen (2020) - Smartypants Romance

Résumé : Hate at first sight couldn’t possibly exist, right?

That’s what Grace Buchanan thought, before her useless car stranded her on the side of a deserted road just inside the Green Valley city limits.

When Tucker Haywood—tall and handsome and full of southern charm— shows up to help, her reaction to him is the strongest thing she’s ever felt in her life, and it makes no freaking sense.

It doesn’t make much sense to Tucker either. Not why she hates him, or why he finds her so intriguing. He knows well enough that Grace is moving to Green Valley for a fresh start, not to distract him when he’s got no room for something like her in his life.

The complications between them are endless, but that doesn’t stop her definitely not love-at-first-sight feelings from changing into something else entirely.

Grace and Tucker are about to learn the hard way that in Green Valley, hating someone has never tasted so sweet.


On ne pourra pas dire que Grace et Tucker vont commencer sur un bon pied : alors qu'elle est en panne sur la route vers Green Valley, Tucker s'arrête pour l'aider et la conduit même chez sa tante, cependant le charme du sud ne prend pas du tout avec elle, au contraire, Grace espère ne plus jamais le voir !

Cela va même au delà : Grace est une Buchanan, la cousine de Levi (le héros de Baking Me Crazy), les Buchanan mâles sont tous touchés par la malédiction du coup de foudre au premier regard, et les filles ? C'est la répulsion au premier regard. Mais Green Valley ne va pas les laisser s'en sortir comme ça ! Grace et Tucker vont être tous les deux enrôlés par le comités des fêtes pour mettre en place un stand à bisous... et le travail forcé ensemble ça rapproche ^^

Outre l'atmosphère légèrement déjantée du roman, Grace et Tucker vont passer du statut d'entende cordiale à amis/confident, parce que parfois on parle plus facilement de ses soucis à quelqu'un qu'on connaît pas. Grace a compris les doutes qui rongent Tucker, alors que sa famille ne l'a pas remarqué...

J'ai bien aimé ce roman, déjà car Grace est une photographe ^^ que les challenges entre les deux héros ne tombent pas dans le cliché et qu'ils sont tout mignons en fait xD

We can't say that Grace and Tucker are starting off on the right foot : while her car has broken down on the road to Green Valley, Tucker stops to help Grace and even drives her to her aunt's house, however the southern charm get her at all, on the contrary, Grace hopes never to see him again after this !

It goes even further : Grace is a Buchanan, Levi's cousin (Baking Me Crazy), the male Buchanans are all affected by the curse of love at first sight, and girls ? It is hate at first sight. But Green Valley is not going to let them get away with it so easily ! Grace and Tucker will both be enlisted by the festival committee to set up a kisses booth... and forced labor brings them together ^^

Besides the slightly crazy atmosphere of the novel, Grace and Tucker will go from being cordial to to being friends and even confidants, because sometimes we talk more easily about their worries to someone we don't know. Grace has understood the doubts that gnaw Tucker, while his family has not noticed...

I really liked this novel, because Grace is a photographer ^^ , the challenges between the two heroes don't fall into the cliché and that they are very cute xD


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Cutie and the Beast

de M. E. Carter (2020) SmartyPants Romance

Résumé : Living with her mother seemed like a good idea at the time. But Elliott Donovan’s living arrangements are not working for her anymore. Desperate to get back on her financial feet after a divorce and out from under her mother’s thumb, Elliott takes a job in the child care center at Weight Expectations, a local gym.

It has everything she needs – family friendly hours, more pay than she expected, and a super cute trainer who just happens to have part of his house for rent.

Abel DiSoto was living the good life until his wife walked out taking half of the family income with her. The blow to his ego was bad enough, but after a fire at the gym scattered Abel’s clients, and consequently his commissions, he’s stuck figuring out how to make ends meet, too. Renting out the master suite of his house to his new co-worker seems like an easy solution. They’re both mature adults, they both have eight-year-old daughters, and their work schedules coordinate so they can lend each other a helping hand to ease the burden of single parenthood.

The only downside? Living like a blended family when you’re not actually a family can present some challenges.


Dans un monde de romance où les héros ont entre 20 et 25 ans, qu'est-ce que ça fait du bien d'en avoir une avec une héroïne qui en a 42 et un héros à 36 (je sais plus combien exactement mais il a pas encore passer la barre des 40 ^^), chacun divorcé avec un enfant. Des héros qui ont donc déjà vécu une première vie et qui ont plus vraiment l'illusion du grand amour.

L'arrangement de collocation chez Abel, tombe à pic pour lui et Elliott : déjà pour leur finances, ensuite comme ils ont tous les deux une filles du même âge et qu'ils travaillent au même endroit, ils s'entraide aussi pour l’organisation domestique. Leurs filles sont les meilleures amies du monde, ils ne manquent pas de réaliser (chacun de leur côté) que leur fonctionnement ressemble quand même à celui d'une famille... et à partir de Elliott et Abel ne peuvent s'empêcher l'un à l'autre ^^

Malheureusement, si l'histoire poursuivait comme ça serait trop simple et pas vraiment intéressant à lire... Ils ont tous les deux des ex qui leur facilitent pas les choses, et surtout vis-à-vis de leur enfant respectif. Les deux petites filles vont pas vivre l'histoire d'Abel et Elliott de la même façon.

J'ai bien aimé ce roman parce que les héros sont plus proches de moi en âge et pour le traitement de la famille recomposée et les challenges que cela crée au quotidien.

autre détail que j'ai apprécié : aucune scène de sex ! elle est suggérée, ça s'arrête à des bisous torrides mais après pouf ellipse au lendemain ^^ . je le mentionne car le bouquin lu juste avant en avait beaucoup à mon goût xD

In a world of romance where the heroes are between 20 and 25 years old, it is great to have one with a heroine who is 42 and a hero who is 36 (I don't know how many exactly but he has not yet passed the bar of 40 ^^), each divorced with a child. Heroes who therefore already lived a life and who no longer have the illusion of True Love.

The roommate arrangement at Abel's house, is timely for him and Elliott : for their finances, then since they both have a daughter of the same age and they work in the same place, they also help each other for the domestic organization. Their daughters are the best friends, they quickly realize (each one on their side) that their functioning resembles that of a family... and from then Elliott and Abel can not help thinking about the other "that way" ^^

Unfortunately, if the story continued like this would be too simple and not really interesting to read... They both have ex-es who do not make things easy for them, and especially for their respective children. The two little girls will not react to Abel and Elliott's growing feelings in the same way.

I liked this novel because the heroes are closer to me in age and how the blended family is treated with the challenges that it creates on a daily basis.

another detail that I appreciated: no sex scene ! it is suggested, it stops at hot kisses but after we have an ellipse to the next day ^^. I mention it because the book I read just before had too much of it for my taste xD


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The Treble With Men

de Piper Sheldon (2020) - Smartypants Romance

Résumé : As far as Green Valley is concerned, Kim Dae disappeared into the Wraiths a decade ago. They were sort of right. Kim has spent her life since Jethro fighting her curious nature and trying to blend into the background. Unfortunately for her, a mysterious Maestro comes to town and takes quick notice of her for reasons unknown to anybody.

The masked conductor, known simply as Devlin, was already a source of much gossip thanks to his reputation for getting fired. Now, his sudden interest in the quiet fourth chair cellist has added fuel to the rumor fire. The new conductor of the symphony needs to learn to control his temper and finish his latest musical masterpiece and only the reluctant star of his symphony can help him do that. If Devlin can’t convince Kim to help to finish his latest composition he’ll lose everything.

Can Devlin and Kim compose without losing composure ?

Gros gros coup de coeur pour cette romance. Le premier tome de cette série, toujours de Piper Sheldon, m'avait aussi beaucoup plu, donc j'avais de bons espoirs pour celui-ci, j'ai pas été déçue. Le tome 1 s'inspirait de "My Fair Lady", ce tome 2 s'inspire lui du "Fantôme de l'Opéra" (que je n'ai pas vu, je sais, honte à moi etc).

Pour rappel les Scorned Women Society sont les ex-copines de Jethro Winston, elles donc toutes plus ou moins eu de embrouilles avec les bikers. Dans ce tome-là, Kim a eu une brève histoire avec Jethro à l'adolescence, a touché aux drogues assez pour se faire envoyée en cure de désintoxication. Adulte, Kim vit toujours chez ses parents, toujours assez fragile, elle n'a de contacts amicaux qu'avec un tout petit nombre de gens et se consacre entièrement à la musique : elle joue du violoncelle dans l'orchestre de la ville. Elle n'est le violoncelle principal donc ça lui va bien, elle est dans le fond, se fond dans la masse et personne ne la remarque... ah oui et accessoirement elle utilise un pseudonyme.

Sauf que non, il y a un qui la remarque : le chef d'orchestre. Arrivé fraîchement, Devlin the Symphony Devil, a pas la meilleure réputation qui soit. Il porte un masque qui couvre tout le bas de son visage et un chapeau tout le temps, on dit de lui qu'il ne maîtrise pas ses colères. Un soir, il pense que tous les musiciens sont partis, mais Kim est restée pour jouer toute seule, là bam The Révélation. Non seulement Kim joue beaucoup mieux que ce qu'elle fait en répétition, mais sa façon de jouer l'inspire tout d'un coup pour une composition originale... ah oui et accessoirement il la reconnait, parce que tous les deux ils se sont déjà croisé ^^

Devlin arrive à convaincre Kim de travailler avec lui sur sa composition, et là les choses sérieuses commencent ! La romance se construit doucement entre deux partitions, chacun revenant de loin, blessé mais ensemble très complémentaire. On apprend aussi pour quoi Devlin se cache le visage, pourquoi Kim se cache tout court...

Si je pouvais dire une seule critique ce serait sur le personnage du connard de service (je sais même plus son nom xD) qui ajoute certes un obstacle dans l'intrigue, mais franchement j'avais juste envie de l'éclater contre à mur à chaque fois qu'il débarquait xD

Very big crush for this romance. I also liked the book 1 of this series, still by Piper Sheldon, so I had good hopes for this one and I was not disappointed. Book 1 was inspired by "My Fair Lady", this book 2 is inspired by "Phantom of the Opera" (which I have not seen, I know, shame on me).

As a reminder, the Scorned Women Society are the ex-girlfriends of Jethro Winston, so they all more or less got into trouble with the bikers. In this book, Kim had a brief liaison with Jethro when tey were teenagers, she did drugs enough to be sent to rehab. As an adult, Kim still lives with her parents, always quite fragile, she only has friendly contacts with a very small number of people and devotes herself entirely to music : she plays the cello in the city orchestra. She is not the main cello so it suits her, she is in the background, blends in with the crowd and nobody notices her... Also she uses a pseudonym.

Except that there is one guy who notices her : the Maestro. Freshly arrived, Devlin the Symphony Devil, doesn't have the best reputation there is. He wears a mask that covers the bottom of his face and a hat all times, it is said that he does not control his anger. One evening, he thinks that all the musicians are gone, but Kim stayed to play alone, then bam Revelation ! Not only does Kim plays much better than what she does in rehearsal, but her way of playing suddenly inspires him for an original composition... Also he recognizes her, because their paths have already crossed ^^

Devlin manages to convince Kim to work with him on his composition, and the serious things begin ! The romance is slow burn between two partitions, each coming from afar, wounded but together very complementary. We also learn why Devlin hides his face, why Kim hides himself...

If I could say only one criticism it would be on the asshole on duty (I don't even remember his name xD) which certainly adds an obstacle in the plot, but frankly I just wanted to explode his face against the wall at every time he was here xD

Oh and Jethro's little cameo is just perfect ♥


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