Andrea Jenelle's Blog, page 2

Forever Your Rogue

This was a wonderful debut! Just a few reasons I ten out of ten highly recommend:1. Exquisite banter! The sparkling repartee and snarky comebacks flying between the hero and heroine had me both cackling and swooning.2. The mature heroine! It’s so lovely to see a non-virgin heroine and single mother. Watching Cora’s inner battle to keep her composure while she did everything in her power to keep her children at her side was heartbreaking and so relatable.3. The marriage of convenience trope was executed with grace and imagination! Cora extracted a promise from Nathaniel Travers when she concealed his revelry from his family and paid his gambling debts. Now she’s demanding he pay the price and pose as her fiancé. The charade will ensure that her dead husband’s avaricious relatives can’t steal custody of her children.But what if the rake teaches the widow how to let go and shows her what marriage built on love and mutual respect looks like? What if the rake shows the widow exactly how she tempts him and how he wants to prostrate himself at her altar?What if the widow shows the rake he has a purpose? What if she shows him she sees who he really is beneath the facade- not shallow and callous, but vulnerable and hurting? What if they heal each other?I absolutely adored this book and I know you will too!Highly recommended for those who love Sarah Maclean, Christina Britton, Janna Macgregor, Eva Leigh & Lenora Bell.

Artfully Yours

Nina Finch never could have imagined that her first kiss would be at the hands of a mercurial, urbane art critic who holds the power to ruin her life. De’Ath never could have imagined that he would meet a woman who upends his carefully constructed life in the middle of a rose garden. Or that he would hire her to be his amanuensis.She’s spent her life repaying her brother for his rescue. She dons outrageous disguises and forges incredible art. And she does all of this while dreaming of the quiet contentment of a cottage and a fluffy cat snuggled in her lap. Because she’s used to a life full of jagged edges and narrow precipices and daring escapes. They should be declared enemies. His patronage grants her an exceptional opportunity - to determine the extent to which his discerning art critic’s eye has the power to upend her existence and land she and her brother in jail. But it’s not his critical eye that tempts her. His sleek angles and sardonic smile and dark brows and intense gray eyes tempt her. He has an uncanny ability to both eviscerate and energize her and his riveted attention turns her world upside down.Alan, Lord De’Ath knows that Nina Finch is more than she seems. Every instinct he has in his formidable arsenal of observation is bellowing that this woman is the most lethal creature he’s ever encountered. Lethal to his equilibrium. Lethal to his control. Lethal to the cage of ice and arrogance that shields him from censure.All Nina wants is the opportunity to bake gooseberry tarts. All she wants is escape from the snarling muddle of obligation and guilt that make up her days. De’Ath has the influence and the tools to wreck her dreams, but he’s becoming a part of them. I absolutely adored this complex, multi-layered love story about falling feet first like Alice into Wonderland. It’s about becoming beguiled and entranced against your better judgment. It’s about finding the one thing on earth that grounds you more than you ever though possible - and discovering it has the capacity to either send you soaring or hurtling toward the ground.The essential elements seem benign:A bargain between an art forger and an art critic. Forced proximity and a relationship built on lies that is rife with banked tension.A woman who is hiding her identity and a man who is intent on uncovering every single one of her secrets.Joanna Lowell’s prose has the Midas touch. It is full of subtlety and wonder. It singularly captures the invisible ties that bind her characters together. It blooms from the page like a florid, lush bouquet of the very roses that surround these characters when they first meet. Highly recommended for fans of Elizabeth Everett, Evie Dunmore, and Mary Balogh.A huge thank you to the publisher for providing me with an early copy in exchange for an honest review. Some of my favorite quotes:She wanted. She wanted beauty and pleasure, stolen moments to remember years from now, when she was living her quiet life, in Hensthorpe, with her aunts, their cats, Fritz. No, she wanted more. She wanted him.He’d said he wouldn’t speak of it. He’d make no reference to herhair, or her mouth, or her deep eyes that seemed to hold worlds. He’d make no reference to his soul-shaking longing to know her and be known to her. Holy God. He could barely breathe, lungs flattening. What she searched for in him - the self he hid from the world-offered nothing but annihilating darkness. The honey that seemed to well in him whenever they drew close- that was her sweetness. He drained it from her. If he got too close he would leave her dry and bitter and lost. He was triple the fool because he was still imagining it, imagining that he might lay himself bare. The two of them unmasked. Naked souls.

Take the Lead

“The bare-chested man chopping wood behind the main house was six-five if he was an inch, covered in rippling, bulging muscles and smooth, tanned skin. Obliques and delts flexed and released with each swing, highlighting his pure strength and perfect form. The rustic axe acted as an extension of his beautiful body and hit its mark every time. He was the kind of man who’d look remarkable doing any activity, but he fit here, as if he’d sprung from the earth fully formed—and conjured by Gina’s wildest fantasies—for the express purpose of chopping wood. She wanted to lick him just to make sure he was real.”Is that image burned into your brain like it is mine? Excuse me while I grab a bucket of ice water and empty it over my head…This romcom features a survivalist hero who joins a reality dance competition to help out his family financially. The heroine, Gina, is a cast member in danger of losing her place because she’s yet to win a season.It’s forced proximity, opposites attract with a sweet, patient, cinnamon roll, lumber snack hero aptly named Stone.And it is all the serrano peppers burn the roof of your mouth hot.Any kind of dancing besides break dancing is way outside his comfort zone. He doesn’t like the limelight. And he’s trying to keep the way his dance partner affects certain parts of his body a secret. Gina can’t afford any distractions right now. Especially not the distraction of abs she wants to lick and a stubbled jaw she wants to nibble. And big capable hands that snug around her waist and easily lift her in the air. Hands that will catch her when she falls. She especially can’t afford tumbling into bed with a man who has an expiration date. Because there’s no way this can work past the current season of the show. She has dreams in New York and he has obligations in Alaska. But what if the world delivers what you need instead of what you want? In the most inconvenient way at the most inconvenient time?What if you learn that the way someone looks at you, the clasp of their palm against yours in the middle of a spin, is as addictive as caffeine?Highly recommended for fans of Emily Henry, Rachel Lynn Solomon and Lynn Painter.

Conquer the Kingdom

Gemma and Leonidas are preparing the city for the gladiator tournament of the decade. They are trying to stop Leo’s evil brother Milo from bringing the world crashing to its knees. The world is breathing down their necks - full of intrigue and darkness and the threat of impending death.Like the cherry on the sundae, Gemma’s court isn’t afraid to show its contempt and distrust of the man she has chosen to love. Because the Marracones are wicked and deceitful and of course if he grew up cradled to the bosom of a nest of vipers, he deserves their loathing.Will Gemma and Leo’s love be strong enough to survive all the odds against it?This is a fast-paced romantasy full of political intrigue, suspense, fierce battles and a full cast of characters you want to see find happiness. In the last book of the Gargoyle Queen trilogy we see Gemma finally come into her full power and recognize the bond between she and the stone guardians of he homeland, the hidden properties of tearstone and liladorn, and what it means to gove your life to protect those you love. I cannot wait to read the next book set in this world!World Building: 5 StarsCharacters: 5 StarsPlot Development: 5 StarsSpice Level: 3 Chili Peppers (2 open door scenes- fairly explicit)

The Duke Gets Even

One of my most anticipated releases of 2023! I've been craving the duke's story since we met him in second book of the series, The Lady Gets Lucky. This story of star-crossed lovers did not disappoint and lived up to every one of my expectations. Some of the things I loved the most:1. A strong, uncompromising heroine who fights for self-determination and forges her own path with reckless courage. 2. A nobleman with the grit of a warrior - he's had to fight tooth and nail to keep the creditors at bay and wants nothing more than to secure the safety and happiness of his sibling. He resents going hat in hand to wealthy Americans, but is willing to sacrifice his own chance at happiness to ensure those he loved are protected and cared for. 3. This duke is a delicious dirty talker who is anything but polite in the bedroom. Their meet cute is a clandestine skinny dip in the brisk ocean under the moonlight. Andrew is a a duke bound by duty, rarely tempted to indulge in flights of fancy. When he spies a mermaid rising from the moon-kissed waves with flaming hair and silky limbs, he questions his own sight and common sense. She mistakes him for her tryst appointment. They don’t exchange names. The anonymity doesn’t stop them from indulging in a kiss that ends up haunting them both once they learn the truth of each other’s station and identity. He needs a rich heiress to prop up his failing family fortunes and restore the assets of his estate gutted by his profligate forebears. She has coffers deep enough to be his salvation, but she’s sworn off the institution of marriage. Nellie considers marriage the worse kind of shackle - one that permanently renders a woman without resources of her own, leaves her no viable escape route and silences her voice and her autonomy forever.He knows the three fates snipped his life line at a young age and the days he has to make sure those he loves are safe when he is gone are dwindling to a close like the sands in an hour glass. Neither one of them can forget the moonlit kiss. Every encounter is fraught with tension and banked desire, vulnerable to a stray spark that will ensure they incinerate everything in their path. They unlock something in each other they keep hidden from everyone else. His need to surrender to the wildness in his soul he keeps chained up like the ones Zeus used to bind Prometheus. Her need to surrender to the dark, delicious feeling of someone both taking control and giving her the freedom to fully embrace her sensuality. She’s thwarted every one of his attempts to salvage his family’s finances by encouraging her friends to follow their hearts. Her encouragement brought him three missed chances. He should resent her meddling. He should want to avoid her and all of the chaos and complication he’s certain she’ll bring. Instead, he wants to relinquish the tightly held reins for once and be his truest self, The one only she sees and wants.This story of star-crossed lovers, who fight their attraction but are helpless to resist the way the wreck each other to the very soul. will have you swooning and sighing and looking for dukes in secret alcoves who can pin your wrists against the wall and ravish you so thoroughly you forget your name.

The Chemistry of Love

The only dress Anna has hanging in her closet is an Arwen cosplay.She’s had a crush on her department director, Craig, since the day he rescued her. Her direct supervisor is a chauvinistic tool who doesn’t respect her ideas or her experience. She tells herself it’s ok because she has the job she’s always wanted.And then she decides she’s had enough and quits. She decides to take one last swan chance and declare her feelings for her crush - since a relationship wouldn’t violate the no-fraternization rule because she no longer works there. So she dons her Arwen dress and goes to the party. Where he announces his engagement to someone else. Drinking a bottle of wine by herself, holed up in the bathroom. seems like the perfect way to drown her sorrows. Except she picks the men’s bathroom. And her actual boss, who is also her crush’s brother, ends up keeping her company. But he’s not the CEO she expected. He’s just as nerdy as she is. But he’s a hot nerd who’s genuinely nice, gets all her gaming references, and is comfortable talking about chemical compounds and reactions. And he’s the perfect way to get the attention of her crush, because Craig always wants what his older brother has. Marco agrees to a fake relationship and Craig finally starts noticing her. And she realizes it was the idea of him, not the reality. That Marco is the one who’s stolen her heart and she doesn’t want to fake it with him. Because Marco is confident yet vulnerable, competent yet relatable. Strong and tender at the same time. Because she never has to pretend to be anyone other than herself when she’s with him.This slow burn, fade to black romance with a steminist heroine and a sculpted, geeky hero was delightful. Tropes: fake dating; fake relationship; steminist heroineThank you to Kaye Publicity for a complimentary ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.

The Second You’re Single

There’s just something about second chance romance that makes me swoon…Sora likes her life just like it is. In comfortable stasis. Does she have a neighbor she thinks plots the demise of her rescue dog? Yes. Does her mom nag her incessantly about her weight and her lack of a significant other? Yes. Is her sister a Bridezilla who thinks her day will be ruined if Sora shows up dateless? Yes.But her life is manageable and she’s content.So she decides to very publicly Go Solo and talk about why it’s both fulfilling and freeing. And then the boy who had a crush on her before she was the Sora she’s become, shows back up in her life. And Jack’s nothing like she remembered. He’s got all the bearded, ax-wielding lumberjack vibes that make her legs weak and her pulse flutter. Her inner monologue is shouting that she “needs to climb him like a tree and ride him like a tire swing.”And he bakes. This is an adorable love story about nice, pining guys who finally get their chance to show the woman of their dreams how she deserves to be treated. It’s a story about realizing that you are worthy of an HEA - no matter when it happens. That cleansing your life of junk means setting clear boundaries with everyone - even family. That taking chances sometimes means embracing people and things that are safe and might seem boring on the outside, but are full of revelation and discovery and kisses that change your world.Some of my favorite quotes:I glance around at the fancy cream-filled chocolates in big red heart-shaped boxes and wonder if they have an “I Hate Valentine’s Day” assortment. Flavors? Bitter Lemon. Dark Chocolate of Despair. Forever Single Strawberry. Never Getting In My Bed Buttercream?“The things some of us like—romances and rom-coms and fizzy pink champagne are stupid and silly, but the things some guys like, like loud action movies, sports, and beer are important. Nobody is paying millions of dollars for a fifteen-second ad for a rom-com Christmas movie on cable. But they should.”“We go on juice cleanses to clear our body of junk food, but what about junk men? Our souls need a cleanse. We need to get all those toxic men out of our lives by fasting. At the end of thirty days, we’ll be able to see them for what they are: entitled, privileged jerks who are messing with our lives because we let them.” I take a deep breath. “And we’re not going to let them anymore.”

The Viscount Without Virtue

This was my first read from Katherine Grant and it certainly won’t be my last!I love it when indie authors of historical romance turn tropes upside down and tackle the grittier side of history that sometimes gets glossed over in traditionally published books. Grant accomplishes this! She features a heroine who is passionate about her commitment to fair trade and adamantly opposes the consumption of anything that can be linked to slave labor. The hero is a wastrel disguised as a blacksmith. He’s on a mission to uncover the hypocrisy of the heroine’s father and disprove his alleged altruism and commitment to making the world a better place. But from the moment Ellen teaches Grant how to properly plane a piece of wood, there’s a sparkling awareness between them. She thinks he’d be the perfect teacher and the trysts everywhere but the bed simmer with sensuality and the lure of forbidden fruit. The intimate scenes evoke the tentative emotions of both the heroine and the hero.Of course the hero hasn’t been truthful about his identity or his intentions, and suddenly protecting her interests becomes more important than seeking the approval of his judgmental father. Both characters are the catalyst for the other’s personal growth and their relationship is both a sanctuary and a dare to be truer to themselves. I cannot wait to dive into the rest of the series!

Love By Design

“You told me the perfect bridge—the strongest and most aesthetically pleasing of them—is not just a way to span a distance. It is a physical expression of the balance between tension and compression.”
As Bond would say, Elizabeth Everett’s finale to the Secret Scientists of London series is the perfect vodka martini. Shaken not stirred. Imbued with the perfect balance of tart and sweet and pepper on the roof of your mouth. The heroine is a woman who walks a delicate line between carving out the intellectual niche she needs and claiming the joy her heart craves. It’s not that Maggie doesn’t love George. Their love was undeniable during one perfect season of contentment and dreams and planning. But that innocent love was a bubble. When it dissolved like the fleeting effervescence it was, she packed up her belongings and her heart. The hero is a true golden retriever. His loyalty and true heart have only ever belonged to one woman. Since they were children and executed intricate pranks that confounded everyone around them with their complexity, they have been two halves of a whole. George knows that for him there will only ever be Maggie. That she is his alpha and omega and all the letters in between. His love isn’t relentless - it’s inexorable. I know before I even crack the spine that this author’s books will saturate me with their wry humor, their flawless eloquence of prose, and their realistic, sometimes brutal exposure of human weakness.George and Maggie’s love story is a frank examination of social construct, gender neutrality and personal autonomy. It weaves these elements together in an uncanny parallel to the themes of oppression so prevalent in today’s newsreels and shows the reader that we can choose to rise above the conditioning we receive. Margaret wants to be an engineer. George wants to make a difference. Their love story began with a bridge and now they must learn to build one together. They must ford the distance and distrust and betrayal that lies between them. Their journey to find each other means George must find his confidence and Maggie must embrace her vulnerability. Neither of these battles will be paved with rainbows and butterflies. Both of these tattered souls have learned to believe what they have been told: George is pretty to look at, the epitome of his moniker as The Untamed Earl; Maggie’s success depends on her appearance of impermeability and paddling her canoe over the edge of the waterfall by herself. When their walls come tumbling down it is a splendid, chaotic mess. Exactly what love is supposed to be. George: Virgin, Golden Retriever, Cinnamon Roll Hero who must be protected at all costs.Maggie: Prickly, Persistent, STEMinistHeroine with an easily shattered heart of glass who needs a soft place to land.TROPES: Grumpy vs. Sunshine; Friends to Lovers; Second Chance RomanceSome of my favorite quotes:Surreptitiously rubbing the ache where she’d punched him, he took a rock. The linnet’s song and the plunk of stones falling into the water filled the silence between them that day as Georgie Willis fell irrevocably in love with Maggie Strong.There are moments in life when the world shifts as though a door has opened somewhere out of sight. Whether a person runs toward that opened door or not depends on how fast they’re stuck in place.Thirteen years, a marriage, a career, and home had come between them, yet Margaret still knew where he stood in any room she entered and could taste the salt of his warm skin on the tip of her tongue. Her body didn’t understand what Grantham had done; her traitorous heart raced in her chest fueled by memories and the scent of him that somehow reached her from across the room.Like most men, Grantham preferred to pretend he was never in the wrong, but he’d been cursed with a conscience.When women were offered positions of real power, they always came with a price. Either they had to sacrifice their dreams of motherhood, or they had to sublimate their attractiveness, or some other measure of blood was extracted.“That night on my way to fetch you, I crossed over your bridge. You called it a negotiation with gravity. What goes up will always be struggling not to fall back down.”“Know that friendship goes both ways. If you but ask, I will give you everything you want and in return . . .” Grantham stepped away. As he brushed the plaster from his knuckles, he drank in the sight of Margaret’s pulse fluttering wildly at the base of her throat, her unfocused eyes and parted lips. “In return,” he said, “all I ask is that you let me in.”At the sound of sunlight flung from his throat, the earth shifted beneath her. Not literally, of course. Metaphorically, the world moved like an earthquake and the lovely construction she’d erected around her heart cracked. How could it not?

Convergence of Desire

A tender, triumphant love story that will burrow into your heart and leave you breathless with wonder. There are so many reasons I loved this delightfully unconventional regency romance. Because the list is quite long, I’ll elaborate on my top five- one for each star in my rating:1. The sensitive, conscious portrayal of neurodivergence. The heroine Harriet’s neurodivergence doesn’t serve as a plot device or as nod to inclusion. Instead, it is intrinsic to her nature and celebrated and revered by the hero, Thomas.Harriet’s journey through a world that baffles her is told with both tremulous hope and exquisite care. At no point in the story is her difference used as a vehicle to earn pity. She is only described as peculiar in contrast to those trying to understand her and provide her with a place she feels safe. It isn’t that she shies away from the efforts of those around her to cocoon her in a world where she can bury herself in her passion for mathematics, it’s that she doesn’t understand the shifting that happens all around her as even those closest to her adjust their expectations. The thing Harriet deserves most in the world is someone who cherishes the unique twists and turns of her mind instead of being embarrassed or repelled by them.2. The hero’s redemption arc isn’t compelled by a rare epiphany. Instead it creeps over him as his own self-awareness evolves. That self-awareness is the motivation for the changes wrought in his character.From the moment they first meet in an abandoned room and she wakes up with her head on his thigh and their conversation ends with both of them covered in blood and an admonishment to take care of his “tumor”, Thomas is captivated by her. She doesn’t wear her unconventionality like a badge meant to entice him, she simply presents him the unvarnished version of her true self. She is completely without artifice and has no desire to beguile him. 3. The frank discussion of sexuality that happens between the couple throughout the book as the heroine explores her body and what brings it pleasure. It is in itself a celebration of woman’s sexuality and a subtle nod to the fact that men are not required for orgasms.Harriet’s open attitude toward her sexuality, and her earnest entreaty to Thomas is the ultimate portrayal of trust. 4. The vulnerability of the male main character is unflinchingly excavated. The plot itself is a very poignant examination of the pitfalls of toxic masculinity. The way the hero takes care of the heroine, ensuring her body and mind receive the same nourishment and freedom they need to flourish is beautiful.The hero’s admiration for his wife blooms slowly. The reader is drawn into the anticipation of acknowledging his utter captivation before he fully realizes her rarity is the perfect complement to his emptiness. He shows her the depth of his feelings by making sure she eats her breakfast, has sturdy shoes for walking and a woolen cape to protect her from the rain. His gestures are fully altruistic and giving.5. The solid friendship that forms the basis of Tom and Harry’s marriage. They go on walks together. He patiently listens to her lectures on mathematical theorems. This is not a couple who hurls headlong into the mad throes of passion. Instead, they build a genuine respect for each other brick by brick. Because their marriage is based on a true knowing of each other, a true seeing of each other, every moment is imbued with a deep authenticity that soars from the pages. This is a couple who communicate with each other. They discuss everything.This was an extraordinary debut novel and I cannot wait to read the rest of the series.