My first interlude of the year! I haven’t posted one since August last year and will try to be better with posting these, maybe once a month. It’s not that I haven’t been reading romance novels. I’ve been reading lots of romance novels but have been procrastinating on reviews, if you could really call these reviews. Heh… They’re less review-y and more reactions.

One liner: It’s love at first sight for Cal but before he can have a relationship with Stella, he needs to talk to figure out how to talk to her first.

Stella and Cal were wonderful characters and have such great chemistry. I immediately shipped them. I loved Stella’s determined, no nonsense personality while Cal’s adoration of her is swoon worthy–he’s completely head over heels for her. It’s all lust on his part though. He’s only loved her from afar and then it crosses over pretty fast into love territory for him. He’s pretty much ready to ask her to marry a few pages into the book. I was a little iffy on that whole thing. The most surprising element for me was Stella’s fears about dating, which I don’t think was integrated well into the story, or maybe I didn’t pay attention well to the hints to how great a barrier it was. While I enjoyed the book, Stella’s conflict threw me off a bit. This was my first book by Kate Caterbary, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.

One liner: Ellie becomes a contestant on a dating show to get more exposure for her t-shirt company but ends up with more than she bargained for.

I loved this book! I’m not a big fan of reality television, but I really liked sThe Bachelor when it first aired. I also do not reach for books that feature reality dating shows either, so I was surprised at how much I loved this book. I like books when the guy falls first and this one hits the spot just right because Gage has all these willing partners but he’s attracted to the one person who really wants him to send her home. Gage and Ellie have such great chemistry, and their conversations are entertaining especially as they both fight their attraction. I was just a little disappointed by the ending, which is why it ended up not being the full five stars. It was close though.

One liner: Penelope and Hayden are best friends but it’s not until it looks like Penelope is in love that Hayden realizes he will lose her to someone else.

The book jumps back and forth between the past and present as well as alternates between Penelope and Hayden, who can’t stand each other but become besties. I liked the chapters in the past a lot more than the ones in the present, but found they complemented each other well. Their banter and friendship are the reasons why I enjoyed the book so much. I also liked past Penelope a lot more than present Penelope mostly because present Penelope falls in love and ditches Hayden a lot. Best friends aren’t supposed to do that! Unexpectedly, one of my favorite characters is actually Penelope’s former ice skating rival turned frenemy turned friend. I think she deserves her own book. I dropped half a star because the ending ruined it for me. Everything was pretty good up until that point.