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Staci Hart, Wasted Words

Cameron Emerson and Tyler Knight have been roommates and good friends for more than a year. Cam is also attracted to Tyler, but she knows they could never be more than friends; they just aren’t a good match. Tyler is an exceptionally handsome ex-football player, the epitome of the popular jock, while Cam is a short, “nerdy” girl who loves comics and doesn’t wear makeup. Of course, that doesn’t stop them from eventually taking their friendship to the next level, but Cam’s insecurities might sabotage their relationship before it truly begins. I wanted to like this book because it’s “inspired by” Jane Austen’s Emma, but I would say the similarities are superficial at best. Cam likes matchmaking and being in control, but that’s really the only Emma-esque aspect of the plot or characters. The writing style isn’t great; the dialogue is unrealistic and the descriptions of love overwrought. I also got very impatient with the conflict, which basically boils down to a lack of communication. I hate when characters who are supposed to be in love won’t TALK to each other! Overall, I was disappointed, and I won’t seek out more by this author.

Jen DeLuca, Well Played

Stacey loves her small town of Willow Creek, Maryland, and she loves her summer job as a bar wench at the local Renaissance Faire, but she’s starting to feel stuck in a rut. When she impulsively emails Dex MacLean, a Faire musician with whom she had a casual fling, she’s just looking to change things up a little. She never expected that they’d end up corresponding throughout the year — or that he would be so sensitive, vulnerable, and caring. When the next Faire season comes around, Stacey is excited to begin a real relationship with Dex, but life has a few big surprises in store. As with the previous book in the series, this is a fun, low-stakes read. It might almost be TOO low-conflict, and I’m not someone who needs a lot of angst in my books! But the main problem is resolved around halfway through, so there’s not a lot going on in the rest of the book. Still, I liked the setting and the characters, and I’m excited to read the next (and final?) book, Well Matched, when it comes out in 2021!

Nancy Campbell Allen, Beauty and the Clockwork Beast

In this gothic, steampunk fairytale, plucky botanist Lucy Pickett goes to visit the estate of the enigmatic Lord Blackwell to care for her cousin, who has married Blackwell’s brother and who has a mysterious illness. Miles, Lord Blackwell, certainly doesn’t need Lucy distracting him from his own problems, particularly the fact that he’s secretly a werewolf. But of course, they are mutually attracted and must work together to discover what’s really going on with Lucy’s cousin and who, among Miles’s friends and neighbors, might be at the bottom of it. I enjoyed this book so much more than I was expecting to! It’s not great literature, but it is fun escapist fiction, and I’m definitely planning to continue with the series!