★★★★
“This isn’t a game. Not for me. Not since I realized you didn’t give a toss who I was. That you only cared about how I was. You make me a better person, Morgan.”
A. Meredith Walters absolutely slays when it comes to writing emotional romances. My two favorite books by her, Butterfly Dreams and One Day Soon, left me in tears and I immediately added her to my auto-buy list after that. But when I heard that Walters was writing a sports romance, I did a bit of a double-take as this is not her usual brand of romance so I wasn’t quite sure to expect. I could only hope that my fave wouldn’t let me down…
After landing a job across the pond, Morgan Carter hopes that this experience will bring about new adventures and possibly a new career. However, keeping up with the work load has proven to be a struggle and she starts to doubt ever accepting the job in the first place. But a night out on the town and one too many drinks leads to a wild night with famous British football player, Lucas Bradley. Sparks fly and the two eventually develop feelings for one another. But love comes at a cost and these two are going to have to decide whether or not their love is worth the price.
Since I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with this book, I went into it with low expectations. It ended up being a good thing because if I went in expecting a story like Walter’s previous ones, I would’ve been disappointed. While not as emotional and gut-wrenching, The Beautiful Game is still an entertaining and sexy read. It’s a bit more on the dramatic side with lots of angst and hilarious banter and Walter’s did a pretty decent job at writing her first sports romance.
I liked Morgan right from the start. She’s a hard-working and determined and despite things not going as smoothly as she had hoped, she didn’t crack under pressure. As for Lucas, if it wasn’t for that sexy accent, I wouldn’t have given him the time of day. While he has had a rough life and is trying to make up for mistakes from the past, his attitude just irked my damn nerves! I’m hoping he ends up winning me over in the sequel. Speaking of sequels, I really, really hope that Alan and Anna get their own book because the chemistry between these two is off the charts! The Beautiful Game may not by my new favorite Walter’s book, but it was still a fun read and I’m excited to see what’s next for Lucas and Morgan.
LOVE ME IN THE DARK by MIA ASHER★★★★
“In a world built on dreams, he became my one truth.”
Whenever I pick up a new release by Mia Asher, I know I’m in for a ride. She’s one of those authors who could write a story using all my most hated tropes and I would still read it (and probably love it) because her writing is just that good and I don’t think I will ever get enough of it.
Love Me in the Dark is a dark romance about having love, losing love and finding love again. I don’t want to give too much away since the synopsis is rather vague, but essentially this story follows a couple, Valentina and William, whose marriage is on the rocks. Deciding that they need space to work out their problems, Valentina decides to spend some time in the city of love where she meets a stranger who ends up giving her a new outlook on life and helps her to discover herself once again.
I swear, Mia Asher is the only author who can write a book that involves cheating and I will read it, even though I completely despise cheating in books. Ironically, all of Asher’s previous books have cheating so I wasn’t too surprised with these turn of events. Asher’s writing was just as intoxicating and beautiful as her previous novels. Her writing is why I will never give up on her books. The romance was a slow-burn and even though it was so wrong, it felt so right.
I actually ended up not really caring too much for any of these characters in this book. Valentina was just way too forgiving for my liking. I couldn’t have put up with the shit she put up with and I wish she had stood up for herself sooner rather than later. Don’t even get me started on Williams because I thought Arsen was bad enough, but William is just on a whole other level of fuck-up and I can’t deal with his lying ass. Not even sweet, sexy Sébastien could win me over, although I did feel sorry for him and all that he’s been through. Despite my hate for the characters, Love Me in the Dark is still a beautiful written story and I think fans of Asher’s previous book will enjoy this one as well. It’s always an experience reading a Mia Asher book and I can’t wait to devour whatever she writes next.
100 PROOF by SHANORA WILLIAMS★★★★
“I was his whiskey and he was the glass.”
100 Proof was a book that caught my attention after seeing it being promoted by so many bloggers on my Instagram feed and the title had me intrigued so I knew I had to check this one out. This is also the first book I’ve ever read by Shanora Williams and I’ve got to say that I’m impressed. It’s not often new-to-me authors win me over, but this new release was so addicting that I couldn’t stop reading until I knew how this story ended.
Two years ago, Vincent Chambers watched the love of his life walk away from him after his life spiraled out of control. It was then that he decided to change his ways, to get clean and hoped he’d find some way to win back the heart of Marlena Winters. But when he goes looking for her he may not like what he finds. And what he finds is the last thing he ever expected: the love of his life now engaged to his brother.
100 Proof is a second-chance forbidden romance filled with angst and family drama. This book has no chill when it comes to drama, but I was so entertained by it! Seriously though, a romance where the hero finds out that the heroine is marrying his brother…it doesn’t get more scandalous than that. I liked the way this story was written, with the flashbacks from the past to the present because it allowed us to see how the main characters have grown and changed and bettered their lives. While this book is entertaining, it does deal with some heavy subject matter, like addiction, drug and alcohol abuse and parental abuse so don’t go into this one expecting any type of sweetness because you won’t find that here.
I freakin’ loved Vincent as soon as I read his POV. There’s just something about him that makes you heart break for the guy. He’s had the worst luck ever, but he finally overcame his addiction and was ready to get his life together and I just wanted so many good things for him. Also, Vincent has a mouth on him and I was totally charmed by him. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Marlena’s character. I liked ‘past Marlena’ because she was so badass and assertive and she never took shit from anyone. But ‘present Marlena’ let people walk all over her and I totally understand why she let certain things happen, I just hoped she would’ve found the courage to walk away sooner rather than later. The ending of this book had me on edge! It was touch-and-go for a minute, but luckily things worked out like I’d hoped. 100 Proof may be the first book I’ve read by Williams, but it most definitely won’t be my last!
