Where Love Blooms. Kimberly Brown. 2022. b. love publications. 284 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] The debut book of the Jareau Family novels starts with the eldest son, Jamison. A father of four, he was widowed at the birth of his youngest son. After more than two years of struggling as a single parent, he finally gives in by hiring a live-in nanny. All he expects is to get some live-in help in managing a household with four kids; what he gets is a battle to fight his attraction to his new, beautiful, nanny Aliveyah. This is certainly a trope I’ve seen (and enjoyed before), but it’s not super cliche here. There’s the obvious question around integrity of sleeping with your boss, but to her credit, Aliveyah is a professional focused on what’s best for the children involved. She’s great for them, readily stepping into a mother-ish role for the three older girls, and a mother figure for the toddler who has never known a mother. In her role, she also has to balance Jamison’s late wife’s own family in addition to Jamison’s — these interactions provide depth to the story as it confronts the grief that Jamison and his kids…

Bookmarked. Bella Jay. 2022. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of author.] I’ve heard of honeymoons. Babymoons, even. A divorcemoon, though? This will either be a complete disaster or the greatest thing ever. Either way, Brooklin’s about to find out when she accepts her estranged husband Elgin’s invitation for a final baecation before they divorce. It’s a bit unconventional, but what does she really have to lose? Brooklin, aka Books, and Elgin, aka Juice, have been together more than a decade; long enough to see his unexpected pivot into Hollywood stardom and her own ascent as a host of a popular romance book podcast. It’s no small thing to part ways after so much time and so many changes. To his credit, Juice creates the perfect getaway for the two, with a book-inspired itenery that’s entirely suited to Books’ love of reading and will ensure she doesn’t forget how very good they were together. Throughout their story, Bella Jay brilliantly captures the complex emotional and mental journey it is for them to consider what’s ahead of them. This book was an emotional roller-coaster as it explored Books’ and Juice’s search for clarity about the decision to end their marriage. One moment they…

Brunch at Ruby’s. DL White. 2015. 408 pages. [Source: personal copy.] I love a good story about lifelong friends experiencing the ups and downs of life. Brunch at Ruby’s is no exception. The book centers three thirty-something year old women who’ve experienced myriad ups and downs of life, and share it over a meal at one of Atlanta’s beloved diners. Renee left the nest but came back to care for an ailing father. Debra is a married mother who finds herself embroiled in a scandal at her school. And Maxine is an upwardly mobile real estate mogul who just wants to find her match. Brunch at Ruby’s stands out to me because as much as this book is a romance, it’s about so much more. The complexities of life, love, and career all play out in different ways for the three women. Even their friendship is complex. There’s an honesty here about the unspoken challenges of adulthood and it plays out differently for each of the three women. I had such conflicted feelings about the main characters while reading this book. So often books are written to make the reader root for the main characters simply because they’re the focus….

Hold You Down. Tracy Brown. 2022. St. Martin’s Griffin. 336 pages. [Source: ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.] Expertly written as always, Brown produces another relatable work. Both her gift and curse, she spanned the characters whole lifetime. I found myself at times thinking surely this book has come to an end, but I was significantly far from the ending. It not often that I say a book could have been a successful part one and two, but Hold You Down could’ve been just that. I would’ve loved more detail to part 1, transitioning into part 2, and would’ve happily acceptable the rest as a sequel. Great characters and character development with an unexpected twist, she never disappoints. 5 stars.

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty. Akwaeke Emezi. 2022. Atria Books. 288 pages. [Source: ARC provided by the publisher courtesy of Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.] They say you can’t always judge a book by its cover, but in the case of You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty, I did exactly that and came out a winner. I was struck by the vivid, indulgent vibe I got from the cover’s illustration, and I wasn’t surprised to pick up on this throughout the book. You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty is centered on Feyi, a 29-year-old Nigerian-American artist who is at a turning point in her life. She’s been widowed five years and is finally coming out the stupor that her grieving kept her in. She’s committed to picking up the pieces and moving her life forward, though she’s not always sure what moving forward looks like. Part of reinventing herself includes opening herself up to love (or lust). As Feyi leans further into her plan to rebuild her life, she steps into the “dating” scene. She easily meets different men, but actually being vulnerable enough to make a sustained…