Review: Tour Wars by Carla Luna*

*I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity. This review is being posted as part of the Tour Wars blog tour hosted by Rachel's Random Resources.

Title: Tour Wars
Author: Carla Luna
Genre: Romance

Trigger warnings:  Sexual Harassment, Parental Loss, References to Stalking, References to a Car Accident

Rating:    

Spice Level: ðŸŒ¶️🌶️🌶️

Ten days, two rivals, and a busload of tourists. How bad could it be?

For archaeologist Emilia Flores, landing a fellowship to work at the ancient ruins of Pompeii in Italy is a dream come true. The only catch? She’ll be digging alongside her infuriating nemesis, TJ Mayer, who’s been a constant thorn in her side.

TJ isn’t about to pass up the Pompeii project. Sure, he’ll be stuck working with Emilia, but he thrives on challenging her. And he hasn’t forgotten that secret kiss they shared at an archaeology conference last winter.

Though unearthing Pompeii’s treasures might be a dream, student debt is a nightmare that never takes a vacation. So, when TJ and Emilia are offered a lucrative side job to lead a ten-day tour through Southern Italy, they grudgingly agree to tackle it together.

Forced to set aside their animosity and work as a team, they forge an unexpected camaraderie. As the sparks between them ignite, their rivalry gives way to passion, making it easy to forget their years of fierce competition. But what happens when the tour ends and the real world steps in?

Tour Wars is a rivals-to-lovers, grumpy/sunshine romance featuring a nerdy cinnamon roll hero, a strong-willed Latina heroine, and plenty of hotel hijinks.

 

Tour Wars is the latest instalment in Carla Luna’s Romancing The Ruins series. Fans of academic rivals to lovers, forced proximity and reverse x sunshine with lots of spicy hotel scenes thrown in for good measure and all set against a beautiful Italian southern backdrop, this is the book for you!

Emilia and TJ were fantastic protagonists and I loved seeing their relationship blossom from academic rivals to reluctant friends to something more. They had great banter and really bounced off each other well. This is quite a slow burn so you have a whole books worth of beautifully written sexual tension before anything spicy but it was definitely worth it! The spicy scenes felt really realistic too which is something I really look for in a romance book.

Emilia was a fantastic FMC. She was driven, passionate and fierce when she needed to be. TJ was the cinnamon roll MMC of absolute dreams and I fell completely in love with him. We saw wonderful growth in both of them as the story progressed and they spent more time together and this was lovely to see.

We also have lots of fantastic supporting characters through the rather quirky bunch of tour guests. I particularly loved the Golden Girls and the brief backstory they were given.

Carla Luna’s vivid descriptions transported you to the beautiful southern Italian setting and it was the perfect backdrop for a romance story. I loved the snippets of history that were included in the story and finding out more about archaeological work; the author’s passion for archaeology was clear throughout the novel. She has a really engaging writing style and the story was very well-paced. I was so hooked that I read the entire book in a single sitting.

Tour Wars provides an important commentary on sexual harassment in the workplace, particularly focusing on the experiences of women in male dominated fields. These scenes made my blood boil, particularly seeing another woman being complicit in the harassment, but it’s a really important topic that it was great to see represented within the book.  

Although this is the third instalment of Carla Luna’s Romancing The Ruins series and the characters from the previous two books feature in minor supporting roles, this was my first time reading anything from Carla Luna and the story worked well as a standalone story. It has made me really keen to explore the other books in the series though, particularly as each book focuses on a different popular romance trope.

If you are looking for a feel-good romance packed full of your favourite tropes and a gorgeous European setting, look no further than Tour Wars.

Review: When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein*

  *I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity.

Title: When Grumpy Met Sunshine
Author: Charlotte Stein
Genre: Romance

Trigger warnings:  Parental Abuse, Childhood Poverty, Parental Alcoholism, Fatphobia

Rating:  

Spice Level: ðŸŒ¶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
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Finding love was not the only goal . . .

When grumpy ex-footballer Alfie Harding gets badgered into selling his memoirs, he knows he’s never going to be able to write them. He hates revealing a single thing about himself, is allergic to most emotions, and can't imagine doing a good job of putting pen to paper.

And so in walks curvy, cheery, cute-as-hell ghostwriter Mabel Willicker, who knows just how to sunshine and sass her way into getting every little detail out of Alfie. They banter and bicker their way to writing his life story, both of them sure they’ll never be anything other than at odds.

But after their business arrangement is mistaken for a budding romance, the pair have to pretend to be an item to satisfy a public ravenous for more of this Cinderella story. And now they have to decide: is their fake relationship all for show or something so real it might just give them their fairy-tale ending?

When Grumpy Met Sunshine is the latest novel from romance author Charlotte Stein and the (you guessed it!) grumpy x sunshine romance between grumpy retired footballer Alfie Harding and his sunshine-personified memoir ghostwriter Mabel Willicker.

This book is packed full of all of your favourite romance tropes. Our grumpy x sunshine pair end up in a fake-dating scenario after Mabel is caught by the paparazzi leaving Alfie’s house and this was really well executed. If you like the ‘Hates Everyone But You’ and ‘Touch Her and You Die’ tropes you will LOVE Alfie Harding as a swoon-worthy MMC who was fiercely protective over Mabel, even when they were ‘just friends’. BookTok is going to absolutely love this pair!

The narrative is packed full of witty-banter between Mabel and Alfie which had me laughing out loud. It did take me the first five chapters or so to settle into the story and get used to how fast paced the story was, particularly during conversations between Mabel and Alfie, but once I was there I was HOOKED.

This is a slow-burn romance but boy is it worth the wait. If you like a spicy romance with lots of sexual tension and great dirty talk, this is the book for you. I’d rate this as a 4 out of 5 on the spice scale as there are multiple open-door intimate scenes (and in a variety of locations – car and kitchen counter included!).

Mabel and Alfie were brilliant protagonists and their relationship felt really genuine, which is not always the case with celebrity romances. I love plus-size representation within romance books and Mabel was an absolute queen who was unapologetically her sunshine self. Alfie was a really complex character who I fell completely in love with. The chapters are interspersed with extracts from articles, social media posts and press interviews which add further detail to both our present-day story and Alfie’s backstory. It was really interesting to see how Alfie’s famous footballer public persona differed to his true self and this was well written. The shared childhood trauma Alfie and Mabel have was also well and respectfully written.

This book does have a HEA despite a third act breakup. I’m never a massive fan of third act breakups, especially ones linked to miscommunication, but it resolved itself well with a grand gesture that melted my heart.

Overall, When Grumpy Met Sunshine is a gorgeous romance read, perfect for reading around Valentines Day. I’ve been absolutely hooked on Charlotte Stein’s writing and can’t wait to read more of her books.

Review: Girl Abroad by Elle Kennedy*

 *I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity.

Title: Girl Abroad
Author: Elle Kennedy
Genre: Romance

Trigger warnings:  Absent Parent, Drugs

Rating:  
Spice Level: ðŸŒ¶️🌶️🌶️

When nineteen-year-old Abbey Bly gets the opportunity to study abroad for a year in London, it's the perfect chance to finally slip out from under the thumb of her beloved but overbearing retired rock star father. She's ready to be free, to discover herself - but first off, to meet the girls she's rooming with. That is, until she arrives at her gorgeous new flat to discover those roommates are actually all boys. Charming, funny, insufferably attractive boys. And off-limits, with a rule against fraternizing between housemates after unwanted drama with the previous girl.

Abbey has never considered herself a rulebreaker. But soon, she's lying to her father about her living situation and falling for not one, but two men she can't have: her rugby-player roommate and a broody musician with a girlfriend. Not to mention, her research for school has gotten her tangled in a deeply hidden scandal of a high nobility family, surrounding her in secrets on all sides.

If there's any hope of Abbey finding love, answers, or a future in London, she'll have to decide which rules - and hearts - might be worth breaking . . .

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Girl Abroad is the latest romance novel from New York Times bestselling author Elle Kennedy. Our protagonist Abbey moves to London from Nashville for a year studying abroad, moving into the shared house she thinks she’s sharing with four female roommates who turn out to actually all be attractive guys. Abbey then finds herself in a love triangle with one housemate – despite a strict no flatcest rule – and one of their friends – despite him having a girlfriend.

This was my first time reading anything from the author but based on other reviews it appears this isn’t her usual style. The book largely read as a mature YA story with a few spicy scenes thrown in.

I tend to not actually go for the love-triangle trope but something about this book really intrigued me and the trope did end up working quite well, definitely supported by the focus on all three parties not expecting commitment. I was incredibly conflicted for the majority of the book as to which MMC I wanted Abbey to end up with but (being mindful of avoiding spoilers) she did end up making the right choice in my eyes.

I had a real love/hate relationship with Abbey as a protagonist. I liked the banter she had with her flatmates and particularly her relationship with Mr Baxley the librarian (who, aside from their demon pet cat, was my favourite character) but aside from this she felt like a largely two-dimensional character so it was at times difficult to see why she had half of England falling at her feet. Morally it was quite difficult to get on board with her too as she spent half of the book preaching that she wasn’t the kind of girl to steal another girl’s boyfriend but then went and did it anyway, using the technicality that nothing physical happened between them whilst he was still in a relationship.

It did also feel like all of the male characters were quite two dimensional also and based around stereotypes. Jack was a blonde, tanned, muscular Australian rugby player who spent more time shirtless than not, Jamie was a posh playboy and Nate was a free-sprit motorbike-driving musician. They did start to explore Jack and Nate’s characters on a deeper level as their relationships with Abbey blossomed but I would have liked this to have been developed even further. The character I was most disappointed with was Lee who was portrayed as your stereotypical 00s rom-com gay best friend when he had the potential to be so much more than that, had he been better written.

In terms of spice-level this is probably a low 3 out of 5. There are a couple of open-door spicier scenes which are largely well written, but the majority of potentially good spicy scenes, especially involving Jack, had a fade to black which was a shame. It was disappointing that there wasn’t more of an even split of spicy scenes between the two love interests.

I do, however, want to praise the positive portrayal of female pleasure that we have within one of the scenes between Abbey and Nate, one of the male love interests. During a spicier scene, Nate actually asks Abbey “what do you need to come?”, acknowledging that few women can climax from penetration alone and that most will require another form of stimulation. We love respectful lovers like Nate who prioritise their partners pleasure alongside their own and actually understand how the female body works! This was ruined slightly later in the scene when it felt like Abbey mocked him for saying this but this largely felt like a really important portrayal of female pleasure.

I was disappointed with the fact that it felt like the UK university experience hadn’t been very well researched at all, which feels like a fundamental flaw in a book about someone studying abroad in London. In Girl Abroad, Abbey starts her first semester in August when UK university academic years don’t actually start until at least mid-September. There were also language choices which were incorrect, such as use of ‘spring break’ which isn’t a thing in the UK, we have an Easter break. The idea of university students living in Notting Hill was also borderline ridiculous and implied that the author’s only understanding of British life comes from 90s and 00s British romcoms and the Taylor Swift song London Boy. There seemed to be few other references to British culture – aside from a few pub trips – so it just didn’t feel authentic to British student life which was disappointing and a real missed opportunity.

I did largely like the historical mystery element to the novel – as Abbey tries to uncover the identity of the woman in a mysterious painting she picked up at an estate sale, as part of her studies – and the way it mirrored the love triangle Abbey found herself in but at times it felt like it took away from the romance plot.

Overall, this was a largely enjoyable read it just lacked quite a lot of the substance I was craving. Those who want an easy romance read, especially fans of the love triangle trope, will like this book.

How To Build A Calming Morning Routine When Working from Home

When you work from home, and therefore don't have a morning commute, it's easy for the line between home and work to be blurred. The morning routine you may have had previously can be lost to the pressure to wake up and immediately sit down at your computer. But ultimately this really isn't good for our wellbeing. 

Taking the time in the morning to have a solid morning routine will not only set you up for a more positive day - and therefore a more productive day - but it will also support your overall physical and mental health.

If your intention is to curate a gentle morning routine to ease into the day with, one that helps you feel calm, centred and ready to take on the day, then you've come to the right place. In this post I wanted to outline some of the steps you can take to make your morning routine more purposeful and centred around self care. 

Wake up gently

One of the best ways to begin your morning in a calm and gentle way is with a sunrise alarm clock, such as the Lumie Bodyclock Shine 300. It begins brightening thirty minutes before your alarm is due to go off and gets brighter and brighter before the alarm sounds. This wakes you up gradually which personally I've found to work wonders on my anxiety levels. Being woken up suddenly can leave me feeling so anxious and panicky but a gradual wake up combats this.-

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Let in daylight and fresh air

Light is something which is really powerful in supporting a calm and positive morning routine. Open your curtains as soon as possible and - weather permitting - open the window too to let some fresh air in. I try to open the window in my home office first thing to let the fresh air circulate whilst I'm completing the rest of my morning routine.


Start the day with a morning affirmation
Start the morning with a positive affirmation to set the tone for the day. Repeating a positive statement to yourself first thing in the morning can really help to cast away any negative thoughts and vibes you've woken up with. My affirmation can change dependent on my plans for the day but my favourite choices are "I am strong enough to throw anything today throws at me" and (quite simply) "today is going to be a good day".
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Schedule in gentle movement

Finding time in the morning to squeeze in some easy movement can have a really positive impact on how you feel starting your day. I don't know about you but I will never be one of those girls who is able to wake up at 5am and hit the gym before work, but finding ten minutes or so in the morning to complete some gentle yoga and stretching is much more manageable. 

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Take the time to shower, get dressed and complete your skincare routine

Everyone who works from home has at some point been guilty of working from their pyjamas. I'll hold my hands up and admit that I was practically the president of this club until I starting making a targeted effort to get dressed everyday. But taking the time to shower, get dressed and complete your skincare and/or makeup routine will definitely help you to feel more ready to take on the working day. It also helps to define the work/life boundary that can be lost when you work from home. 

Personally I have a specific dresser drawer dedicated to comfy working from home clothes. Matching loungewear sets are a fabulous way of achieving that comfy yet chic work from home look that'll leave you always camera ready for those out of the blue teams calls.

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Eat a good breakfast

One of the benefits of working from home is that you can have a later breakfast if you're someone who needs to wait a few hours between waking up and having your first meal. But whenever you choose to eat it, it's important that you make having breakfast part of your everyday routine to really set you up for the day.

I'm not saying you need to rustle up a full English each and every morning before work by all means, but try to have something planned which you actually will want to wake up to. For me I'm quite partial to a bowl of the chocolate crunchy nut clusters or some porridge or a delicious bowl of yogurt and fruit. I know I perhaps should be advocating the most healthy breakfast choices going but I like to think that whatever makes you want to eat breakfast and fills you up for the morning is good enough. 

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Prepare for your working day

Although it's always tempting to jump straight into the working day, it's a good idea to take five minutes in the morning to set up your workstation to make sure it's as purposeful yet calming as possible. For me this includes setting up an essential oil diffuser (using a diffuser blend designed to enhance focus), ensuring I have a full bottle of water so I stay hydrated throughout the day, writing out my daily plan and to-do list and turning on some music. What I listen to in the morning is entirely mood dependent but I tend to go for something uplifting and positive.-

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What does your morning routine look like?
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Review: The German Child by Catherine Hokin*

*I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity.

Title: The German Child
Author: Catherine Hokin
Genre: Historical Fiction

Trigger warnings:  War, Antisemitism, Bombs, Child Kidnap, Forced Child Adoption

Rating: 

Berlin, 1944. ‘No! Not my child!’ Annaliese screams, her voice breaking as she pounds the window uselessly. But no-one looks up as the man in the SS uniform cradles her precious baby and strides away…

She lies unmoving on the threadbare cot, her throat hoarse from long hours of screaming but her tears keep falling. Her heart has been cleaved in two, now the Nazis have taken the only thing she has left – her child. She is utterly powerless against them. But as Annaliese cries herself to sleep, she makes a vow - she will find her precious baby again. Whatever it takes.

Berlin, 1979. Lawyer Evie has come to the city to investigate the horrifying stories of infants torn from their mothers during the war. One of the cases is Sebastian, whose yellowing birth certificate tells a heartbreaking tale. Evie is drawn to this lost man, and vows to do all that she can to help him.

But poring through old records, it is Evie who recognises the faded photo in a newspaper article. Her heart stops as she realises her whole life has been a devastating lie – and that her and Sebastian’s pasts are impossibly, unimaginably connected…

The German Child is the latest novel from historical fiction author Catherine Hokin.

The story is told through a dual-timeline narrative, switching between chapters set in the USA in 1979/80 and chapters set in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War Two (WW2). In 1979/80, we follow Washington-based lawyer Evie as she investigates the Nazi Lebensborn programme on behalf of the newly formed Office of Special Investigations (OSI). I do find the work of the OSI and the history surrounding the number of former Nazis and their collaborators who ended up in the United States after the war to be truly fascinating so it was great to see this explored through historical fiction. The chapters set in the 1940s then supplement the information we’ve learnt through Evie’s investigating, in particular exploring life in the Lebensborn homes and the work of the notorious Brown Sisters who searched through villages and towns in Nazi-occupied countries looking for Aryan-looking children to kidnap and place in the homes of loyal Nazis.

I want to split my review into two sections, one focusing on the 1979/1980 timeline and one focusing on the WW2 timeline as I have vastly different views on each one.

To start with I will discuss the WW2 timeline, which was by far my favourite part of the story. The history was clearly very well researched and the compelling writing really captures your emotions as a reader and takes you on a heart-wrenching journey. Catherine Hokin does writes antagonists incredibly well and the character of Helene was a truly vile piece of work who made my blood boil whenever she appeared. The opening chapters set in WW2 were really powerful and hooked me into the story so I was disappointed when this interest was lost as the story progressed, for reasons I’ll explore below.

Unfortunately, the 1979/1980 timeline really let the rest of the book down for me. The chapters were quite try and slowly paced and I found myself longing to be back in the WW2 timeline. Evie felt quite unlikeable as a protagonist unfortunately, and don’t get me started on her beyond infuriating behaviour when they visited East Germany. Within this part of the narrative, we have a blossoming romance between Evie and Sebastian and I will say that unfortunately this was not an aspect of the book I enjoyed. Their romance felt quite forced and out of place against the rest of the story which did mean that it at times felt like it was taking away from the rest of the narrative.

At the forefront of focus in this later timeline is a big ‘twist’ regarding the connection between Evie and Sebastian but I found this to be very predictable from very early on in the story, as were many of the other twists. I did find that having predicted it so early on meant that the shock factor which gripped other readers to the story just wasn’t there for me unfortunately. But I will say that based on other reviews I’ve read of The German Child I do seem to be in the minority here.

It felt a real shame that so much of the book focused on the 1979/1980 timeline as it would have been better to structure the book in a way which focused on the more interesting WW2 timeline with then supplementary chapters set in 1979/1980 as Evie completes her investigation. Focusing so heavily on the 1979/1980 timeline meant that certain aspects of the WW2 story also weren’t explored in the depth I was craving. This is particularly true with Annaliese’s story as, despite her being implied as a main character in the book synopsis and playing such a significant role in the plot, we do see very little from her.

It's been a while since I’ve read a book I’ve had such mixed feelings about and it has taken me a week or so to process my thoughts enough to determine a fitting star rating. I was incredibly torn as for me the WW2 timeline gave the book real 5* potential but the other chapters really tarnished this rating and reduced it to a 3* read.

That being said, I do think The German Child would be good for readers who like historical fiction but want something different to your typical Second World War fiction books and are interested in a read which is predominately set in the 1970s/80s.

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