Peaches and Dreams

De Juliette Cross - SmartyPants Romance (2023)

Résumé : Marly Rivers is not crazy. No matter what everyone says. They may think her dream is foolish, but she plans to prove them all wrong—one jar of moonshine at a time.

Single dad Wade Kelley is just fine. No matter what his best friend Jed says. He doesn’t need a woman in his life. But when his son Jake breaks a jar of moonshine, he sets something in motion that neither Wade nor Marly are prepared for.

A friendly favor turns into late nights, long dinners, and a romp in the woods. And in a deer stand too. By the time Wade realizes he’s fallen hard and deep for Mad Marly, it may be too late to tell her. When she falls into real and sudden danger with poachers, he may not even be able to save her.

Note : 4/5 ♥♥♥♥


Marly et Wade vivent dans 2 mondes différents : Marly est imprévisible, spontanée et a ce petit grain de folie qui surprend la plupart des gens, on l'appelle d'ailleurs Mad Marly. Marly a un rêve, gagner le 1er prix du concours de moonshine de Green Valley et ouvrir ensuite sa propre distillerie. Cependant, Marly souffre de voir son père dénigrer ses projets car elle ne rentre pas dans la case qu'il souhaiterait...
Wade est un nounours grognon toujours préparé à toutes les éventualités, il élève seul son fils de 7 ans et leur vie est faite de routine. Malgré cela, Wade se sent parfois dépassé et ne sait pas s'il est le père idéal.

Ces deux-là n'auraient pas vraiment pu se croiser, mais l'univers fait bien les choses, la meilleure amie de Marly est la copine du meilleur pote de Wade. Et quand Marly apprend que le grand-père de Wade possède un cabanon/distillerie artisanale dans la montagne, elle n'hésite pas à demander à s'en servir pour le concours et Wade ne peut que l'aider à s'installer correctement.

Plus ils sont en contact et plus leur attirance prend de l'ampleur, jusqu'à ce qu'ils cèdent tous deux à leurs sentiments. Marly fait sortir Wade de sa zone de confort et Wade apporte une stabilité à Marly, leurs différences les complètent. Il devient évident qu'ils sont fait l'un pour l'autre ♥

Marly and Wade live in 2 different worlds : Marly is unpredictable, spontaneous and has this little whim that surprises most people, they called her Mad Marly. Marly has a dream, it's to win 1st prize in the Green Valley moonshine competition and then open her own distillery. However, Marly suffers from seeing her father denigrate her projects because she doesn't fit into his idea what she needs to be...
Wade is a grumpy teddy bear always prepared for all eventualities, he raises his 7 year old son alone and their life is all routine. Despite this, Wade sometimes feels overwhelmed and unsure if he is the ideal father.

These two couldn't really have crossed paths, but the universe has its plan, Marly's best friend is Wade's best friend's girlfriend. And when Marly learns that Wade's grandfather owns a cabin/artisanal distillery in the mountain, she doesn't hesitate to ask to use it for the competition and Wade can only help her set up properly.

The more they are in contact, the more their attraction grows, until they both give in to their feelings. Marly takes Wade out of his comfort zone and Wade brings stability to Marly, their differences complement them. It becomes clear that they are made for each other ♥


Find Juliette Cross online
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/juliettecrossauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Juliette__Cross
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Juliette-Cross/e/B00MQ18Z1W/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliettecrossauthor/
Website: https://www.juliettecross.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7795664.Juliette_Cross
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/crossjuliette/_saved/

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Parks and Provocations

de Juliette Cross (2022) - SmartyPants Romance

Résumé : Lola Landry stares through the window of her locked car with the keys in the ignition and the radio blaring Beck’s “Loser.” While standing there and sweltering in the soupy Tennessee humidity, she wonders how her orderly life had crashed and burned so badly. Then her high school nemesis saunters up in all of his tall, strapping, fireman-to-the-rescue glory, slapping her with the humiliating proof that it can always get worse.

When the uber-confident Jedediah Lawson requests a date in return for popping her lock, a lightbulb goes off. Revenge is sweet. He would make the perfect victim—guest, that is—for her next podcast episode on Kiss and Tell. What shocks her is the casual way he not only agrees to the post-date interview on air, but ends up hijacking her audience and wooing them with his swoony, southern charm. Not even a low score on the date-o-meter can dissuade the man or keep her fans from demanding more of the charismatic Jed.

What’s worse, she secretly wants a second date with this man who is so different from his teenage self. His unwavering patience and dimpled smile erodes her will, until she breaks the Kiss and Tell rules by agreeing to a second…and a third date. It’s a disaster. Not the date. They’re wonderful. The disaster is that she is falling for a man she once dubbed Jockstrap Jed.


Si vous ne voulez pas vous prendre la tête sur une intrigue compliquée et que vous voulez couiner à chaque apparition du héros, cette romance slow burn est faites pour vous !

Lola et Jed se connaissent du lycée, au début ils avaient rien l'un contre l'autre, et puis un jour c'est devenu un champs de bataille. Dès que Lola a pu partir de Green Valley, elle l'a fait, pour l'université et un boulot, mais voilà quelques années plus tard, elle obligée de revenir. En attendant qu'une meilleur opportunité arrive, elle partage son temps entre un job de serveuse et l'animation de son podcast "Kiss'n Tell" avec sa meilleure amie. Le sujet du podcast ? Débriefer les premiers rencarts qu'elle a, en faisant participer aussi les messieurs.

Jed quant à lui a dû arrêter ses études pour s'occuper de son père et est devenu pompier professionnel. Il est habitué à voir tout et n'importe quoi à Green Valley, alors quand sa soeur lui demande si il peut aller secourir quelqu'un qui a verrouillé sa voiture avec les clés dedans, il y va sans sourciller. Quelle surprise quand il découvre que le quelqu'un n'est autre que Lola, son grand crush d'ado, que dis-je ? C'est son grand amour, celle qui lui a échappé... Cette rencontre fortuite, c'est l'occasion rêvé, il invite Lola à diner. Et Lola va accepter, seulement pour elle ce sera un cobaye pour son podcast, de quoi se venger des misères que Jed lui faisait au lycée...

Seulement un rendez-vous c'est pas assez, Jed insiste pour qu'ils se revoient, une 2e, puis une 3e fois. Pour Lola c'est dans l'intérêt du podcast ? Quoi que... plus elle passe du temps avec Jed, plus elle oublis son émission.

Ce slow burn fait très bien son travail, Jed séduit petit à petit Lola, qui essaie de résister, mais au final à quoi bon hein... surtout après une certaine scène à la caserne avec tous les pompiers, comment résister. Evidemment le happy ending n'arrive pas comme ça, il fallait bien un petit challenge à traverser pour Lola.

If you don't want a complicated plot and want to squeal every time the hero appears, this slow burn romance is for you !

Lola and Jed know each other from high school, at first they liked each other, and then one day it became a battlefield. As soon as Lola could leave Green Valley, she did, for college and a job, but a few years later she had to come back. While waiting for a better opportunity, she divides her time between a waitress's job and the animation of her podcast "Kiss'n Tell" with her best friend. The topic of the podcast ? Talk about the first dates she has, involving the gentlemen too.

Jed meanwhile had to stop his studies to take care of his father and became a professional firefighter. He's used to seeing anything and everything in Green Valley, so when his sister asks if he can go rescue someone who's locked their car with the keys in it, he goes without batting an eyelid. What a surprise when he discovers that the someone is none other than Lola, his big teenage crush, what am I saying ? She is his great love, the one that got away... This fortuitous meeting is the perfect opportunity, he asks Lola to dinner. And Lola accept, only for her it will be a test subject for her podcast, enough to take revenge for the miseries that Jed caused her in high school...

Only one date is not enough, Jed insists that they meet again, a 2nd, then a 3rd time. For Lola is it all in the interests of the podcast ? Well... the more time she spends with Jed, the more she forgets about her show.

This slow burn does its job very well, Jed gradually seduces Lola, who tries to resist, but in the end what's the point... especially after a certain scene at the barracks with all the firefighters, how to resist. Obviously the happy ending doesn't happen like that, there had to be a little challenge for Lola to go through.

 

Find Juliette Cross online
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/juliettecrossauthor
Twitter : https://twitter.com/Juliette__Cross
Amazon : https://www.amazon.com/Juliette-Cross/e/B00MQ18Z1W/
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/juliettecrossauthor/
Website : https://www.juliettecross.com/
Goodreads : https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7795664.Juliette_Cross
Pinterest : https://www.pinterest.com/crossjuliette/_saved/

Connect with Smartypants Romance
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