Book Review: "Sapphire Dawn" by C. Travis Rice

Thanks so much to Get Red PR Books and 1001 DarkNights/Blue Box Press for including me on the tour for this book!

While I’ve not read many books by Christopher Rice, I’ve really enjoyed this series, which he’s written under the name C. Travis Rice. These books are steamy, romantic, and emotional, and Rice does an exceptional job making you long to be where the books are set.

“Because I don’t live in a world where a man as amazing as you could be invisible.”

Donnie is a take-charge kind of guy. He’s not ashamed to have been a porn star, or owner of a porn studio, but he has never believed himself worthy of true love. When he agrees to help his best friend Logan plan his wedding, he wants to do the best job he can. What he’s not counting on is falling for the wedding planner.

Richard has created the perfect wedding for so many people, yet his own life is in shambles. His husband has been unfaithful and they’re in the midst of a divorce. When he meets Donnie, he can’t deny their attraction to one another. But Richard believes in monogamy and Donnie doesn’t do relationships. So they have to put their desire aside in order to create Logan’s perfect wedding. But of course, desire won’t be denied…

While this is the fourth book in the series, this can be read as a standalone. But you’ll want to read the rest of the series!!

Book Review: "Margo's Got Money Troubles" by Rufi Thorpe

I hate being an outlier, especially on a book I’ve really been anticipating, but this just didn’t grab me, although I appreciated its message.

Margo is a student at a junior college, working as a waitress to make ends meet. She really doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life, but her English professor, Mark, thinks she’s tremendously intelligent and can do almost anything.

It’s not long before Margo and Mark start sleeping together, despite the fact that he’s married with children of his own. But after Mark ends the affair, Margo discovers she is pregnant. Although everyone—Mark, her mother, her friends—tell her that she should have an abortion, that having a baby will ruin her life, she decides to give birth.

When her son Bodhi is born, she’s 20 years old, and she’s quickly at the end of her rope. Her mother won’t help, and she can’t find anyone to watch the baby, so she can’t work. When her estranged father Jinx, a former pro wrestler, needs a place to live, he moves in and helps take care of the baby.

Margo still needs money, however. Her father tells her about OnlyFans, and while she can’t quite imagine filming herself, the money she could make is a powerful enticement. Little by little, she comes out of her shell, and the experiment becomes a smashing success.

There are definitely some funny moments in the book, including the baby shower (IYKYK), but there’s a lot of poignancy as well. The gimmick in which the narration shifted between first and third person threw me off a lot. But lots of people have loved this, so give it a try!

Book Review: "The Roommate" by Rosie Danan

Rosie Danan's The Roommate is fun and super-steamy, and it's built on a really interesting concept.⁣

⁣ Clara has spent most of her life doing the right things, making the safe choices, to avoid her scandal-prone family experiencing any more embarrassment. But when the man she’s had a crush on since childhood invites her to travel across the country, she throws all caution to the wind and moves to California.⁣

⁣ When she arrives, of course, she learns all is not what it seems. Suddenly she’s sharing a house with Josh, a handsome stranger. He seems to “get” her, which makes her a little uncomfortable, but they fall into an easy friendship/flirtation.⁣ She starts tackling her own issues, including overcoming her fear of driving and finding a job.

⁣ And then she finds out what Josh does for a living: he’s a porn star. A popular one with women, at that. But with his contract with his studio trying to force him down a road he doesn’t want to travel, he has to find a new plan. Surprisingly, it comes from Clara—how can women learn to have better sex? It’s an idea sure to gain traction, and one which Clara is becoming ever more interested in the more time she spends with Josh.⁣

⁣ As the project advances, the attraction between them deepens. But can scandal-shy Clara really imagine her family’s reaction if she dates a porn star? What if her crush finally comes to his senses?⁣ Is Josh willing to let his guard down?

⁣ I enjoyed Rosie Danan’s twist on a typical rom-com. Josh and Clara were two really fun and complex characters, and I liked that the book touched on both of their perspectives and desires. It definitely was thought-provoking and, as you’d imagine, pretty hot!!