Tag: Contemporary Romance

Goodreads Monday – Mr. Right Across the Street by Kathryn Freeman

Dini @ dinipandareads6 Comments

Welcome back to Goodreads Monday! It’s been a very hot minute since I did one but I figured I might as well get back into it! This weekly meme was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners and it invites you to pick a book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it. Easy enough, right? Feel free to join in if you want to! I’ll be using a random number generator to pick my books from my insanely long GR Want-to-read list.*

*Sorry if a book has been featured twice. I need to make better note of which ones I’ve done already!

This week’s featured book is Mr. Right Across the Street by Kathryn Freeman. This is a contemporary romance that is set to be published this month (22 Jan 2021) and currently has a 3.76 rating on Goodreads with just over 50 reviews.

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First Lines Friday – 25 December

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🎄 Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all friends who celebrate! 🎄

Happy Friday book lovers! We’re back with another First Lines Friday, a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here are the rules:

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First lines:

“I’ve never understood why the heart always reacts. A shot of adrenaline is all it takes, triggered by a thought. A word. A memory. And every time the reaction is singular, a fingerprint of a moment.”

Do you recognize the book these first lines come from?

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ARC Review: Boone by Emily March

Dini @ dinipandareads1 Comment

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Boone (Eternity Springs: The McBrides of Texas)
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: 29 December 2020
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Panda Rating:


With his smooth talk, rugged good looks, and deep pockets, native Texan Boone McBride appears to be a man who has it all. Few people know about the heartbreak behind his decision to leave home, family, and career for the isolation of a small town in the Colorado Rockies. Luckily, time and life in Eternity Springs has worked its healing magic upon his wounded soul, so when he meets obviously troubled Hannah Dupree, Boone sees a chance to pay his good fortune forward. The last thing he anticipates is tumbling into love.

Tragedy has taken everything Hannah loves, and her will to keep going is failing. So when Boone strides into her life determined to save her, it’s easier to go along with him than to resist. Soon she is drawn into the fabric of life in Eternity Springs, and as her spirit begins to heal, her strength returns, and she’s able to go toe-to-toe with this hardheaded, big-hearted Texan. But just when love blooms and happiness is within their grasp, shadows from the past threaten. Hannah and Boone must stand strong and united in order to defeat old ghosts—if they are to create a brand-new life together. 

CW: mentions of suicide, child abuse, and death of a child and partner (all instances occurred in the past and off-page).

I’ve been on a serious fantasy binge over the last few months and I only recently started reading romances again when this book came onto my radar. Boone is the third book in a series and can easily be read as a standalone, but my curiosity was definitely piqued about the first two books because the characters make appearances and I was intrigued by them.

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First Lines Friday – 11 December

Dini @ dinipandareads15 Comments

Happy Friday book lovers! We’re back with another First Lines Friday, a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here are the rules:

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First lines:

“There was nothing cute about the first time Kerry Fuller met Jesse Strong.
He broke her glasses; she bloodied his nose and they both ended up in a tangle of yarn on the floor in the loft space of Strong Knits being scolded by Mama Joy.”

Do you recognize the book these first lines come from?

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ARC Review: Love Thy Neighbor by Teagan Hunter

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Thanks to the author for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Goodreads: Love Thy Neighbor (Roommate Romps #2)
Publication Date: 10 December 2020
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Panda Rating:


Don’t fall for your roommate…especially when he’s your best friend.

Cooper Bennett is my best friend. That’s all he is and all he ever will be. Nothing will change that.

Accidentally seeing him naked? Please. So not a big deal.
Having less-than-tame thoughts? I mean, have you seen this guy? Who could blame me?
Kissing him? It was a one-time mistake, and it will not be repeated.
Falling into bed with him? Uh-oh…

It’s fine. We’re fine.
We’re Caroline and Cooper. Best friends until the end. Nothing has ever come our way that we couldn’t survive together. Surely, we can handle this too…

BUY NOW: Amazon: US / UK / CA / AU

I’m a Missouri-raised gal, but currently live in North Carolina with my US Marine husband and 9-year-old dog. I spend my days begging him for a cat, and I survive off coffee, pizza, and sarcasm. When I’m not writing, you can find me binge-watching various TV shows, especially Supernatural and One Tree Hill. I like cold weather, buy more paperbacks than I’ll ever read, and I never say no to brownies.

Writing is my passion, and this is just the beginning of my journey.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Newsletter | Reader Group

TL;DR: I loved Caroline and Cooper! Their friendship was so real and you could tell they genuinely understood and respected each other, despite any mistakes that were made. Their connection and especially their chemistry was incredible and oof, the steaminess in this one! It’s an 8/5 on the steamy scale. Overall, this romance was a solid win for me, I definitely enjoyed it more than the first, and I can’t wait to read the next book in the Roommate Romps series!

I didn’t plan on reading this so quickly but once I picked it up I didn’t want to put it back down! Am I glad I read this or what?! Reading Love Thy Neighbor gave me the same feelings I had when reading Hunter’s Texting series, two of which are part of my all-time faves, so you know I was totally here for the swooning and plenty of laugh-out-loud moments in this friends-to-lovers romance!

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#TopTenTuesday: Christmas Romances for the Holidays!

Dini @ dinipandareads44 Comments

So, we’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: Holiday/Seasonal Freebie (holiday books/covers/titles, wintry reads, snow on cover, cool color covers, takes place in cold settings, cozy scenes on cover, etc.), so I’ve gone for Christmas Romances that I hope to be reading!

Since it’s a holiday/seasonal freebie today, I was debating whether to do a post on the books I want to read before the end of 2020, but I thought it’d end up being not very festive, so I decided to share ten Christmas romances that I’d like to read at some point this month (but also maybe even in January). I’m quite new to seasonal romances but I went a bit wild last year looking at all the gorgeous Christmas covers, and ended up snagging a fair few for 99p on Kindle! I can’t remember what many of these are about but just looking at them gives me those cosy and comforting feels. As with many holiday themed things, I find that sometimes holiday romances can get a little cheesy, but y’know what? We’re here for the cheesy feel-good vibes, especially when so much has been a hot mess this year!

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First Lines Friday – 27 November

Dini @ dinipandareads10 Comments

Happy Friday book lovers! We’re back with another First Lines Friday, a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here are the rules:

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First lines:

“Picking up hitchhikers never worked out for Easton Lockett. It would start fine, but then things always got really weird, really fast.”

Do you recognize the book these first lines come from?

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Can’t Wait Wednesday + Cover Reveal: Love Thy Neighbor by Teagan Hunter

Dini @ dinipandareads9 Comments

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine. 

Goodreads: Love Thy Neighbor (Roommate Romps #2)
Publication Date: 10 December 2020
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Don’t fall for your roommate…especially when he’s your best friend.

Cooper Bennett is my best friend.
That’s all he is and all he ever will be.
Nothing will change that.

Accidentally seeing him naked? Please. So not a big deal.
Having less-than-tame thoughts? I mean, have you seen this guy? Who could blame me?
Kissing him? It was a one-time mistake, and it will not be repeated.
Falling into bed with him? Uh-oh…

It’s fine. We’re fine.
We’re Caroline and Cooper. Best friends until the end. Nothing has ever come our way that we couldn’t survive together.
Surely, we can handle this too… 

So… I’m not the biggest fan of romance covers where the men/women are half-naked or baring a lot of skin but let’s take a moment to appreciate this one because I do quite like it! LOL 😉 I actually quite dig the covers for Hunter’s Roommate Romps series. They give the impression of a fun, steamy read and well, that’s pretty on-the-mark for Hunter’s books! 😍 Plus, I’m a fan of the friends-to-lovers trope and I remember meeting these two in book one and I already recognised the suppressed chemistry there, so I’m excited to dive into their story! You know when they say “it’s fine” that it’s definitely not fine and it’s going to be a fun time getting to actually being fine again 😂

Have you read any books by Teagan Hunter or the first Roommate Romps book? Are you excited for the second book as well?!

Book Review: The Tourist Attraction by Sarah Morgenthaler

Dini @ dinipandareads6 Comments

The Tourist Attraction (Moose Springs #1)
Publisher: SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca
Publication Date: 05 May 2020
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Panda Rating:


How the moose (almost) stole Christmas.
Lana Montgomery is everything the quirky small town of Moose Springs, Alaska can’t stand: a rich socialite with dreams of changing things for the better. But Lana’s determined to prove that she belongs…even if it means trading her stilettos for snow boots and tracking one of the town’s hairiest Christmas mysteries: the Santa Moose, an antlered Grinch hell-bent on destroying every bit of holiday cheer (and tinsel) it can sink its teeth into.

And really…how hard could it be?
The last few years have been tough on Rick Harding, and it’s not getting any easier now that his dream girl’s back in town. When Lana accidentally tranquilizes him instead of the Santa Moose, it’s clear she needs help, fast…and this could be his chance to finally catch her eye. It’s an all-out Christmas war, but if they can nab that darn moose before it destroys the town, Rick and Lana might finally find a place where they both belong…together.

It took a little while for me to get into the story but when I did, I fell hard and fast for these two insanely adorable and incredibly weird (like, really weird) characters! I didn’t think this level of weirdness would work for me initially but y’know what? It did and I really enjoyed it! If there was ever a couple that was destined to be together in all of their glorious oddity, Graham and Zoey would be IT. I also need to give an honorary mention to JAKE, the most adorable doggo in the doggo-sphere because I literally died of cuteness overload whenever he would appear, and he appeared often! 

Me every time Jake was mentioned
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Goodreads Monday – The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez

Dini @ dinipandareads14 Comments

Welcome back to Goodreads Monday! It’s been a very hot minute since I did one but I figured I might as well get back into it! This weekly meme was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners and it invites you to pick a book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it. Easy enough, right? Feel free to join in if you want to! I’ll be using a random number generator to pick my books from my insanely long GR Want-to-read list.

This week’s featured book is The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez. This is a contemporary romance that while fun and flirty, also covers the more serious topic of infertility. It has a 3.89 star rating on Goodreads with several thousand ratings and reviews.

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