Review: I Knew You Were Trouble by Sandy Barker*

*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 I Knew You Were Trouble blog tour hosted by Rachel's Random Resources.

Title: I Knew You Were Trouble
Author: Sandy Barker
Genre: Romance

Trigger warnings:  Cheating/Affair

Rating: ★★★★

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️ (Closed Door)  

Don’t get mad. Get even.

Kate Whitaker has always believed in love, but when a stranger named Willem shows up on her doorstep, the news he has to share isn’t as exciting as his god-like looks might suggest. He’s come to tell her that Kate’s fiancé is also engaged to his sister.

Kate doesn't know how she didn’t see the red flags: Jon’s work as an airline pilot having him flying around the globe, the postponed dates, the huge rock of an engagement ring that isn’t her style at all.

Overcome with fury – and entranced by the Nordic god’s piercing blue eyes and quiet allure – Kate agrees to accompany Willem to his hometown of Amsterdam to help break the news to his sister. Yet what begins as a simple gesture of support soon twists into a deliciously devious plan to get back at Jon.

Kate is drawn into a world of retribution, revenge and – unexpectedly – romance. Because sometimes the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else…

A laugh-out-loud romantic comedy about broken trust, sweet revenge, and the surprising places we find love. Perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella and Emily Henry.

I Knew You Were Trouble is the latest fun romance from author Sandy Barker. This book follows a duped fiancée as she plots revenge against her cheating fiancé whilst finding herself finding love in a very unexpected place. We get to return to the Ever After Agency in this fifth instalment of the series, reuniting with some of the much-loved characters from earlier books as they help Kate with her revenge plot but can’t resist doing a bit of matchmaking for her along the way.

This is a very easy read you could easily get through in a single sitting. Sandy Barker nailed the blend of romance and the revenge plot point and the whole narrative was really well paced.

Whilst the book is mainly set in London, Kate does travel across Europe to find out the truth about her fiancé. Sandy Barker’s brilliant storytelling really immerses you in the settings and I particularly enjoyed the chapters set in Amsterdam as someone who visited recently.

Kate and Willem had great chemistry. Theirs is very much a slow-burn will they, won’t they romance with lots of yearning which was all really well written. There was a great forced proximity element to the story but I particularly loved the bit of meddling from the other characters which gave us a brilliant only one bed moment. This is a closed door romance but it doesn’t completely shy away from any spicier references, it’s more of a fade to black which worked well.

There’s also some brilliant supporting characters. If you like strong female characters you’ll love this book as there’s a brilliant girl power aspect as they seek revenge on the man who wronged them. Margot in particular had a brilliant personality and I’d love to return to her story in some capacity later in the series.

Overall, this is a fun and easy read and a great new addition to the Ever After Agency series.

Review: Romancing the Drylander by Remy Sinclair*

*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: Romancing The Drylander
Author: Remy Sinclair
Genre: Romance

Trigger warnings:  Death Of A Spouse, References To Cancer

Rating: ★★★★

Spice Level: 🌶️ (Only Kisses) 

Can Love Bloom in the Dusty Trails of Drylanders' Hope?

Isabelle "Izzy" Montgomery has achieved everything she dreamed of - a high-powered career, big-city penthouse, and financial success. But when she's sent to tiny Drylanders' Hope, Texas to restructure a failing cattle ranch, her perfectly cultivated world turns upside down.

Ethan Walker, a ruggedly handsome widowed cowboy, is convinced this corporate city-slicker has come to destroy the community's beloved ranch and their entire way of life. He's prepared to fight for the traditions and faith that sustained his family for generations.

From their very first encounter, the spark between Izzy and Ethan cannot be denied. But it will take insurmountable courage to bridge the vast divide between their clashing worlds. As Izzy adapts to life on the ranch, an unexpected romance blossoms, challenging her to rethink her priorities.

Ethan is drawn to Izzy's tenacious spirit, but he refuses to risk his heart again. When corporate greed threatens to shatter their budding relationship and tear the community apart, Izzy and Ethan must confront their pasts and take a leap of faith. In a race against time, they'll need to rally the townsfolk and fight for not just their love, but the very future of Drylanders' Hope itself.

Romancing The Drylander is the latest romance novella from author Remy Sinclair. It’s a clean cowboy romance perfect for anyone wanting a short and sweet romantic read.

Remy Sinclair has a really descriptive writing style and her vivid descriptions made the Texan setting come alive on the page.  Our story is told through a third person dual POV narrative and it was nice to see both Izzy and Ethan’s stories explored. Ethan’s story was particularly interesting as we explore his grief after being widowed at a young age when his high school sweetheart lost her life following a cancer battle. I quickly warmed to Ethan’s character and it was great to see him grow over the course of the book from grumpy cowboy to someone open to love again. Izzy was another brilliant character and I enjoyed the exploration of her reconnecting with her roots and finding a true home in Drylanders' Hope. There is also a fantastic cast of supporting characters in the Drylanders' Hope community, all of whom were really interesting to read about.

As you can expect with a romance novella, this is a very fast-burn story and Izzy and Ethan’s relationship progresses very quickly over the course of a few weeks. We do still get a good amount of relationship building scenes though which was nice to see. I perhaps would have liked even more, just to get us really rooting for their relationship, and it would have been nice to also have an epilogue exploring their relationship later down the line.

There is a heavy Christian element to the story which I wasn’t expecting. Although as someone who isn’t particularly religious I clearly wasn’t the target audience, I’m sure this will appeal to anyone who likes to read clean romances with Christian messaging. This is a clean romance with nothing more than kisses.

Overall, Romancing The Drylander is a quick and easy read, perfect for anyone who wants a cowboy romance without any spice. 

Review: The Quit List by Katie Bailey*

*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 Quit List
Author: Katie Bailey
Genre: Romance

Trigger warnings:  Text

Rating: ★★★

Spice Level: 🌶️ (Only Kisses)

He quit believing in love a long time ago. She won't quit until she finds the One... and he's everything she's NOT looking for.

Holly Greene is on a mission to find her happily ever after. And her journey to love does not include a detour to Bad Boy Bartenderville, population Jax Grainger.

Jax may be witty, smart-mouthed, and handsome, but he’s the kind of guy who views love as a four-letter word… and the last thing Holly needs is to waste any more time.

She’s in her seeking Prince Charming era, not her playboy villain era.

But after he saves her from the world’s worst date, Holly sees an opportunity: Jax may not check any of the boxes on her list, but he’s the perfect person to help her find a man who does.

All she has to do is stick to the plan—and stay out of the sexy bartender’s arms.

Easy peasy lemon sque... Oops.

The Quit List is the latest low spice romance novel from author Katie Bailey. This was my first time reading anything from the author and it was a cute generally low-angst easy read, perfect for the summer months.

Told through a dual POV narrative, The Quit List explores the dating coach trope as unlucky in love Holly seeks help finding ‘the one’ from bartender turned wilderness mountain man Jax. Holly and Jax had brilliant banter which added a nice element to the story as we followed them from strangers to friends to lovers. I’m a sucker for a ‘Screw It’ moment and there’s a brilliant one that I went absolutely nuts for. There’s also an ‘Only One Tent’ moment which is a great variation on the typical ‘Only One Bed’ trope.

Holly was a likeable FMC who I was really rooting for. But I did find that she generally read as a younger character than she actually was. Jax was my personal favourite character (bartender AND rugged mountain man? YES PLEASE) and I loved seeing his growth over the course of the book, becoming someone who was open to love and understood that he deserved to be loved. The way he takes care of Holly throughout the story was wonderful to see.

However, the main thing that I think let the book down was the fact that the narrative skips over the majority of their time in the wilderness, which is where most of their relationship building happens. We’re told afterwards how significant it was for their relationship and how it gave them the opportunity to really get to know each other on both a personal and romantic level, but as readers we’re not given the opportunity to witness this. Taking us out of these scenes really impacted on how emotionally connected we were to the characters and their relationship, particularly when we’ve already skipped over other important relationship building scenes such as when Jax dropped Holly off at her house. These frequent jumps forward in the timeline and abrupt endings to chapters did also affect the flow of the narrative which made it less engaging overall.

We do also have to go through a good 70% of the book before we get any real romance. I do like a slow burn romance but I will admit that this started to really drag. Personally, I think the narrative would have worked better had we got to the wilderness section much earlier. That would also have given us the additional page space needed for the relationship building scenes to have been explored in greater depth.

If you are looking for a cute low-angst romance which is packed full of your favourite tropes without any spice, you will like The Quit List.